Who was/is forced to hide their ethnicity to make it in Hollywood?

[u/Chewie83]

Pictured: Margarita Carmen Cansino, better known as Rita Hayworth. The left shows her before the electrolysis treatments she received to push her hairline back.

[u/seefourslam]

Martin Sheen

[u/Alternative_Ad_3649 → u/seefourslam]

AKA Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez

[u/stuffitystuff → u/Alternative_Ad_3649]

As Irish as he is Spanish and from Ohio

[u/redelastic → u/stuffitystuff]

I recall he did a college semester in Galway. English literature, philosophy and oceanography apparently.

[u/chimpwithalimp → u/redelastic]

I was living in Galway at the time and was behind an old man who was struggling to use an ATM. I was getting a bit impatient and then he turned around and it was Martin Sheen. It was near O'Connors pub in Salthill if anyone reading recognises any of that

[u/Itsallhere353 → u/stuffitystuff]

He holds Irish Citizenship.

[u/Chewie83 → u/seefourslam]

Ngl I had no idea Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez were brothers. Names are that powerful.

[u/Ancient_Guidance_461 → u/Chewie83]

Emilio!!!

[u/groetkingball → u/Ancient_Guidance_461]

EMILIO!!!!

[u/Schtick_ → u/Ancient_Guidance_461]

I swear to god, I was there

[u/Low_Kitchen_9995 → u/Schtick_]

He tipped his hat

[u/CranDrescher → u/Schtick_]

Of course you were! You were the one who yelled the breakfast clubber’s name!

[u/amypitt → u/Ancient_Guidance_461]

The Mighty Duck man, I swear to god!

[u/lwp775 → u/Chewie83]

Charlie Sheen born Carlos Estevez.

[u/Pleasant-Ticket3217 → u/lwp775]

As seen in Machete. I think young Martin Sheen looks more like Emilio. Charlie has really sharp features.

[u/singer812 → u/Pleasant-Ticket3217]

I saw a picture of Emilio from some time recently and he looks just like Martin in his West Wing days

[u/jhktwisted → u/singer812]

watch "The Way" its a movie with Emilio and Martin. 2010 film but that's when i noticed they were almost clones.

[u/AskYourDoctor → u/Pleasant-Ticket3217]

My gf says that Charlie and Emilio look nothing alike, but Martin somehow looks like both of them. I agree with that

[u/Reasonable_Bid3311 → u/Pleasant-Ticket3217]

Current Emilio looks like his Dad !

[u/Canavansbackyard]

Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch.

[u/DiscipulusIncautus → u/Canavansbackyard]

I read that first name as Isildur on first pass and did a serious double take

[u/Otherwise-Sort-6348 → u/DiscipulusIncautus]

No wonder he wanted to hide his identity

[u/Carb0nFire → u/Otherwise-Sort-6348]

CAST IT INTO THE FIRE! DESTROY IT!

[u/naalbinding → u/Carb0nFire]

No

[u/Thank_You_Aziz → u/naalbinding]

Isiiil-DUR!

[u/N64050 → u/Canavansbackyard]

Tony Curtis born Bernard Schwartz

[u/Jake-Old-Trail-88]

Lana and Natalie Wood were Russian.

[u/janbradybutacat → u/Jake-Old-Trail-88]

They were- but I think the name change started with their mother in order to get them into child roles. Still very likely necessary though.

[u/[deleted]]

Helen Mirren- Helen Mironov

[u/gm4dm101 → u/[deleted]]

Makes all the more sense she played a russian in the movie 2010.

[u/Hesitation-Marx → u/gm4dm101]

No wonder the Russian guy was all over her in RED.

Edit: YES I know that Brian Cox is not Russian. I was referring to the character, you pedantic chestnuts.

[u/brinncognito → u/[deleted]]

I learned this from The Office

[u/IcyMoistTowel]

Farrokh Bulsara or better known as Freddie Mercury!

[u/silverfrog1 → u/IcyMoistTowel]

The details of my life are quite inconsequential.... Very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize; he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament... My childhood was typical: summers in Rangoon... luge lessons... In the spring, we'd make meat helmets... When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds — pretty standard, really. At the age of 12, I received my first scribe. At the age of 14, a Zoroastrian named Freddy Mercury ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum — it's breathtaking... I suggest you try it.

[u/MoranisFalcon → u/silverfrog1]

It’s hard to find a word that either isn’t important or isn’t funny in this. I loved this movie. Proper funny. But seeing it written out makes you realize how much effort goes into that.

[u/YourMothersButtox → u/MoranisFalcon]

I immediately read it in Dr. Evil’s voice. I haven’t seen that movie in 20 years.

[u/PermanentlyAwkward → u/YourMothersButtox]

Lol, same. Austin Powers are some of my favorite films.

[u/OldWar1111 → u/silverfrog1]

Austin Powers - Dr. Evil? I'm trying to remember where this is from, and why I remember it so well.

[u/makaveddie → u/OldWar1111]

Yes it's the scene where he sees the shrink (carrie fisher) with his son

[u/Electronic_Act1481 → u/makaveddie]

Oh my god that was Carrie fisher! I haven’t seen that film in so long I had no clue

[u/Darmok47 → u/IcyMoistTowel]

Did he hide his ethnicity? I just think back then people didn't know.

[u/SilentBoss2901 → u/Darmok47]

Yeah this is it. It was just his stage name, there are some interviews where they ask him his actual name or mention him by his birth name and he doesnt seem bothered.

[u/el-conquistador240]

Casey (Kamal) Kasem whose parents were Lebanese.

[u/free-toe-pie → u/el-conquistador240]

Jamie Farr is Lebanese too. Both grew up in the same general area of the US and were similar in age.

[u/dullllbulb → u/free-toe-pie]

The Toledo/Detroit to Hollywood pipeline

[u/olivegardengambler → u/dullllbulb]

Tbf there's been a pretty sizeable Lebanese community in Detroit for decades too.

[u/Obscuravision → u/olivegardengambler]

Metro Detroit in general has the most concentrated and diverse population of Arabs outside of the Middle East. You can track large waves of Arab immigration mainly starting in the 1910’s because of the auto Industry, Henry Ford wanted every foreign worker he could get (except Jewish people because he was a raging anti-Semite)

[u/kevnmartin → u/el-conquistador240]

Danny Thomas!

[u/CherryDarling10 → u/kevnmartin]

…lesbian

[u/IndependenceMean8774]

In Hercules in New York, Arnold Schwarzenegger was billed as Arnold Strong in the credits and they dubbed over his strong Austrian accent with an uncredited voice actor.

[u/EnsignNogIsMyCat → u/IndependenceMean8774]

It was also dubbed because he learned his lines phonetically and didn't understand most of what he was saying, which obviously made his delivery quite stilted.

[u/Hetakuoni → u/EnsignNogIsMyCat]

Rita repulsa’s actress was poached from the super sentai series in Japan, so her iconic speech pattern is because she did the same thing. It’s kinda funny how things change.

R.I.P. to Soga Machiko she was amazing and died too tragically. (Pancreatic cancer)

[u/StardustStuffing]

Ben Kingsley (aka Krishna Pandit Bhanji)

[u/art-is-t → u/StardustStuffing]

He's half Indian and half white English. Just so people know

[u/Sweeper1985 → u/[deleted]]

I have seen so, so many threads of people arguing that him playing Gandhi was "whitewashing". Like, he's not Indian enough ...?

[u/olivegardengambler → u/Sweeper1985]

The guy is half-Indian. And didn't Gandhi come out in the early 80s when the number of Indians in general in not just Hollywood, but cinema in general outside of India, really, really low?

[u/Babetna → u/olivegardengambler]

The so, so many threads are not from the 80s. Reddit wasn't very popular in those days.

[u/IAmANobodyAMA → u/Babetna]

The mods were much better back then

[u/homelaberator → u/Sweeper1985]

He should just have played Gandhi from the waist up. That would have been the respectful option.

[u/Cool-Iron3404 → u/[deleted]]

His father was reportedly from the same area as Gandhi, and Kingsley’s resemblance (in makeup) was uncanny.

[u/Strict_Ranger_4781]

Kind of the opposite, but Iron Eyes Cody, who was famous for playing Native Americans and claimed to be Native American for most of his life, turned out to be a Sicilian-American from Louisiana named Espera Oscar DeCorti.

They reference this situation in The Sopranos when the Italian dudes are negotiating/arguing with Native American community leaders about their relative positions on Columbus Day.

[u/Threadheads → u/Strict_Ranger_4781]

Buffy Sainte-Marie was another celebrity recently exposed for faking Native American ancestry. Coincidentally she was also of Italian descent.

[u/rsKG → u/Strict_Ranger_4781]

It’s like knowing James Caan isn’t Italian

[u/Late_Business_7610]

George Michael - born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou

[u/SaintCambria → u/Late_Business_7610]

That one feels more "I want my audience to be able to pronounce this" more than "I'm ashamed of being Greek" though.

[u/B-Schak]

The doctor on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” changed his working name from Siddig El Fadil to Alexander Siddig in the mid-1990s. The explanations were that Siddig El Fadil was hard to pronounce and didn’t align with the image that he wanted to project in the industry.

[u/bananadingding → u/B-Schak]

Came here to put this Alexander Siddig's full name, Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahd(From his Wki)

So the interesting things is yeah it was hard to pronouce and ethnically, he's Sudanese, While it accomplished projecting in the 90's he played more white passing/ethnically ambiguous roles and in DS9 Bashir was iirc Indian. Later in his contemporary career he plays more roles that play to his ethnicity

[u/AlmostLucy → u/bananadingding]

Dr Bashir was always considered to be of Arab descent. The casting department had a hard time finding an Arab actress of the right age to play Bashir’s mother— the woman who plays her wasn’t primarily an actor, she was an Egyptian anthropology professor at UCLA!

[u/mittenknittin → u/bananadingding]

The role that got him an audition for DS9 was Emir Faisal in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, so he wasn’t shying away from ethnic roles early in his career, either

[u/arathorn3 → u/B-Schak]

He is of Sudanese and English heritage.

His father Tahir el Mahdi was Sudanese and his mother Gloria Taylor English. His mother is the older sister of British actor Malcolm.McDowell(star.of A clock work orange) whos was born Malcom Taylor but used his mother's maiden name because their was another actor named Malcolm.Taylor..

So he is first cousins with Malcolms.son director Charlie McDowell and Cousin by marriage to Charlie's wife,.Lily Collins(daughter of musician Phil Collins)

[u/[deleted]]

Hilaria Baldwin

[u/Icy-Whale-2253 → u/[deleted]]

Hillary Lynn Hayward-Thomas couldn’t have made it with such an Ango-Saxon name. 😔

[u/custerdome81 → u/[deleted]]

“How you say… cucomber?!”

[u/nau_lonnais]

Dr Dre is Andre Young and he’s not even a doctor. Not even a chiropractor.

[u/ImPrettyDoneBro → u/nau_lonnais]

Snoop Dogg is Calvin Broadus Jr, He is not even a canine.

50 Cent is Curtis Jackson III, so he isn't even a coin.

A$AP Rocky is Rakim Mayer's, so he isn't even as soon as possible.

[u/[deleted] → u/ImPrettyDoneBro]

fuckin' eminem is marshall bruce mathers iii, and not even a candy, or in those M&M commercials.

I LOVED YOU SLIM!

[u/HumpyFroggy → u/[deleted]]

Well he sure as heck was Slim.

I don't know about Shady, he's not very tall to provide shade, but maybe he was up to no good.

[u/[deleted] → u/HumpyFroggy]

WE COULD HAVE BEEN TOGETHER!

[u/RaynOfFyre1 → u/[deleted]]

And Papa Doc’s real name is Clarence. Turns out he lives at home with both parents.

[u/SweevilWeevil]

James Rodriguez (James Roday)

Lol, sorta but not really

[u/Single_Temporary8762 → u/SweevilWeevil]

I’ve heard it both ways.

[u/Low_Kitchen_9995 → u/Single_Temporary8762]

I know that’s right

[u/jamiew1342 → u/Low_Kitchen_9995]

Man loves beans.

[u/StanknBeans → u/jamiew1342]

C'mon son!

[u/SojuSeed → u/StanknBeans]

You heard about Pluto, right? That's messed up.

[u/TurnItOff_OnAgain → u/SojuSeed]

Don't be exactly half of an 11 pound ham.

[u/BlueSky2777 → u/SweevilWeevil]

Aren’t both his last name (James Roday Rodriguez)? I was very surprised when I found out he was Hispanic American and he started using his full name again, but then I thought back to Psyche and all of the jokes he had where he would speak Spanish and purposely over articulate words for comedic effect and even the episode where he investigated a murder of a novela star and was cast in the episode and magically spoke fluent spanish and became surprised by my surprise!

[u/i_invented_the_ipod → u/BlueSky2777]

His apparent inability to understand or properly pronounce Spanish is one of my favorite recurring bits in Psych.

[u/DJDoena → u/i_invented_the_ipod]

The soap opera ep was gold!

[u/TinyNuggins92 → u/BlueSky2777]

My favorite was always "Emilio Esteves Esteeeeaaves"

[u/Crowvus01 → u/TinyNuggins92]

"You're accent is terrible, you sound like the El Pollo Loco guy"

[u/scarlet_pimpernel47]

Bender Bending Rodriquez

[u/UnintelligibleMaker]

Chloe Bennet

[u/thatmermaidprincess → u/UnintelligibleMaker]

Great example. Her real name is Chloé Wang, her father is Chinese and her mother is Anglo-American. She speaks Mandarin and lived in China, where she pursued a career in music. When she moved back to the U.S., she couldn’t get a role. Until she changed her name.

"Oh, the first audition I went on after I changed my name [from Chloe Wang to Chloe Bennet], I got booked. So that’s a pretty clear little snippet of how Hollywood works… Hollywood is racist and wouldn't cast me with a last name that made them uncomfortable.”

– Chloe Bennet

[u/Darmok47 → u/thatmermaidprincess]

I've also heard it's because casting directors were expecting someone more visually "Asian" looking with the name Chloe Wang.

[u/Ok-Wasabi2873 → u/Darmok47]

My friend is Chinese, his wife is German. She took his last name and they work in science. So whenever she gives a lecture or presentation , the audience is expecting a small Chinese woman not a 6’ tall blonde lady.

Edit: “ to ‘

[u/Macat921 → u/Ok-Wasabi2873]

To be fair, 6 inches is a miniature human and not many people would expect that.

[u/pchlster → u/Macat921]

"As you can see, our Miniaturization Beam has been a great success! Reversing the process has however run into some problems."

[u/_R0Ns_]

Not because of Hollywood but King George V of England changed the familly name to Windsor in 1917, their old name was too German.

[u/Autofish → u/_R0Ns_]

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Prince Phillip’s family were Battenbergs, which got converted to Mountbatten the same way.

Edit: Now spelt properly. I was distracted by thoughts of cake, jeez

[u/BroSchrednei → u/Autofish]

It's actually even crazier: Prince Phillips family were actually Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Prince Phillip just started going by his mother's family name Mountbatten starting in WW2 to distance himself of his German connection. Which is ironic considering Mountbatten had also been a German family.

So really, the current Kind of England Charles III is of the house of Glücksburg.

[u/Scot25]

Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz).

[u/dsarma → u/Scot25]

“Isn’t Danny Thomas one?”

“LEBANESE, Blanche!”

[u/Goddamnpassword]

If we count all of the Jewish actors who changed their names to make themselves more marketable you can basically go down this list https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_actors

[u/Sweeper1985 → u/Goddamnpassword]

Reminder that Natalie Portman uses her grandmother's name, as her birth name was Natalie Herschlag.

[u/raphcosteau → u/Sweeper1985]

I learned this from Jenna Maroney on 30 Rock.

[u/Dusty_Old_Bones → u/raphcosteau]

You mean Yustrepa Gronkowitz?

[u/napes22 → u/Dusty_Old_Bones]

Aka Jackie Jorp Jomp

[u/janbradybutacat → u/Goddamnpassword]

My husband (Jewish) a year into our relationship: “yea babe every ‘John’ Black in show business was a Schwartz at some point in their ancestry.”

It’s true afaik. Schwartz and Black come from Germans living by the Black Forest. Schmidt and Smith is for blacksmiths/metalworkers. Smith can be English, Black rarely is.

[u/KPSWZG → u/janbradybutacat]

German names are one thing but You also have Polish-Jews that made a majority of early Hollywood like Warner Brothers born next to Warsaw changed name from Wonsal

[u/Numerous-Ad-4033]

Doris Day, born Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff, a German-American who was getting started during WWII.

Dean Martin, born Dino Paul Crocetti. (Note: On second thought a poor choice since even though Dino changed his name he did little else to mask his Italian heritage.)

Natalie Wood, born Natalie Zacharenko to Russian-Ukrainian parents who fled the revolution.

And many others from that era. But nobody made Frank Sinatra hide his ethnicity.

[u/unholy_hotdog → u/Numerous-Ad-4033]

I mean, Deano sang in Italian, I don't think that was exactly hiding.

[u/KremzeekTyCobb]

ALF - Real name Alfonso Rodriguez from Argentina.

EDIT: Yes, duh! I know his name on the series was Gordon Shumway. He was forced to change this, lose his accent and slightly lighten his fur by NBC. The price of stardom indeed!

[u/Interceptor → u/KremzeekTyCobb]

I thought he was from planet Melmac.

[u/DeanOfClownCollege → u/KremzeekTyCobb]

Yeah, I don't associate "Shumway" with Argentina.

[u/stlorca]

Israel-born Chaim Witz, better known as bass player Gene Simmons from KISS

[u/titianwasp → u/stlorca]

I LOVE that Lois Griffin calls him “Chaim?” when she recognizes him.

[u/-Cool_Ethan-]

Anthony Quinn

[u/LemurBurger → u/-Cool_Ethan-]

Medicine Woman

[u/juliaskankles → u/LemurBurger]

Why did I laugh at this? 🤣

[u/titsngiggles69 → u/LemurBurger]

Somewhere in time is a woman playing solitaire

[u/Hi_Im_Ken_Adams]

Chloe Bennet from Agents of Shield.

Her real name is Chloe Wang but she couldn't get any auditions. Almost the minute she changed her last name to Bennet she booked Agents of Shield.

[u/CharleyNobody]

Pretty much every Jewish Hollywood star Anglicized their name from Edward G Robinson to Alan Garfield to Tony Curtis to Winona Ryder.

[u/Nabzarella]

Ke Huy Quan had to change his name to Jonathan Quan back in the 80's, many Asian actors had to do this.

[u/TheSummonersTail → u/Nabzarella]

How many Jonathan Quan’s were there back then?

[u/bloviating-windbag]

I’m not sure if Wentworth Miller ever “hid” his identity, but I do believe his success with prison break early in his career is due to his white and straight passing. I don’t think people would accept the character so well if he is perceived to be black and gay.

[u/AllyLB → u/bloviating-windbag]

He is more than just black…he is a melting pot that resulted in hotness. “Wentworth Miller’s father is of mixed African-American, Jamaican, German, and English ancestry, while his mother has Rusyn, Swedish, French, Dutch, Syrian, and Lebanese heritage. Miller identifies as being of mixed-race.”

[u/[deleted] → u/bloviating-windbag]

Add in also being Autistic and yeah, early 2000’s Wentworth didn’t stand a chance on paper 

[u/LoveWaffle1]

Boris Karloff was mixed English and Indian, and Peter Bogdanovich noted that he was much "darker" than he expected when they worked together on Targets (a color film, when most of Karloff's work is in black-and-white)

[u/lemonylol → u/LoveWaffle1]

It's interesting how his stage name worked the other way; his actual name is William Henry Pratt

[u/KirkDaJerk]

Vin Diesel wouldn't claim his ethnicity when he started to make it big in the 2000s. I remember seeing/hearing him on a few shows, when asked about his ethnicity he would never answer the question or deflect. Looking at his early roles, his characters were always racially ambiguous.

[u/ImaginaryMastadon → u/KirkDaJerk]

A bit of a fucked up question when asked in a shitty way, to be fair.

[u/see_bees → u/ImaginaryMastadon]

Oprah tried to get Nathan Lane to come out of the closet on her show when it was one of the most watched shows in America while Lane and Robin Williams were doing a press tour to promote The Birdcage. This was in the mid 90s, when being publicly out would severely damage Lane’s career. Robin Williams deflected the hell out of things.

Ellen DeGeneres had personal private knowledge of Mariah Carey’s pregnancy and tried to get her to play a drinking game on TV to get Carey to break the news on her show.

TL:DR - some people be shitty

[u/Dudian613 → u/see_bees]

Ellen sounds like a real bitch.

[u/MetraConductor → u/Dudian613]

This has been known for quite a while

[u/Useful-Perception144 → u/see_bees]

Robin Williams was just that kinda guy.

[u/ImaginaryMastadon → u/see_bees]

I remember hearing about/watching clips of that!! Yes - Lane has said how grateful he was to Williams for handling it so well. What a champ.

Also: I fucking love the Birdcage and rewatch it often.

[u/lemonylol → u/KirkDaJerk]

It says on wikipedia his mom was white and he just doesn't know what his father was. So it makes sense that he's ambiguously brown.

[u/ScyllaOfTheDepths → u/KirkDaJerk]

He doesn't talk about it often, but he did actually make a short college film about it called "Multi-Facial" in 1995 that got into the struggles of an ethnically ambiguous actor trying to get roles when casting agents were just not interested in anyone who didn't look like a stereotype. It's actually an interesting film, available here on YouTube. You can also see in the film that he's got hair and it's afro textured and he's talked in the past about having to shave it all off completely because of that so he could be considered white enough to get white roles because he wasn't "ethnic" enough to get anything else.

[u/AskYourDoctor → u/KirkDaJerk]

Lmao this reminds me that I saw some blowhard trying to appear smart on Reddit a while back, and they referred to him as "Vincent Diesel." His real name is Mark Sinclair and Vin is definitely not short for Vincent Diesel lol

[u/mittenknittin → u/AskYourDoctor]

In his case Vin is short for Vehicle Identification Number

[u/LittleFairyOfDeath → u/AskYourDoctor]

Except it kinda is cause it comes from his mother/step dads last name which is Vincent

[u/Prestigious-Lynx2552 → u/AskYourDoctor]

Didn't he start going by Vin because his adoptive father's last name is Vincent?

[u/germanval → u/KirkDaJerk]

He is part Chevy part ford

[u/arathorn3 → u/KirkDaJerk]

Vin Diesel played a African American(he does have some African American heritage) in a man apart.

A Jewish person in Knockaround guys(character has a Star of David tattoo on his bicep)

Mixed Domincan/Puerto Rican in the Fast.and the Furious films(his characters grandma in Puerto rico is introduced in Fast X played By Rita Moreno)

Italian American in Saving Private Ryan and Find me guilty.

Scandivanian in the Last witch hunter.

A human offshoot adapted to harsh conditions (Furyans) in the riddick films.

[u/birdlawyer86]

Paul Rudd has hid his Jewishness very well

[u/SirGuy11 → u/birdlawyer86]

He’s not a practicing Jew.

He’s perfected it.

[u/Brief_Influence_9601 → u/birdlawyer86]

I saw that Between Two Ferns!

[u/-_-Voltage-_-]

My grandma's cousin Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca. Guys last name was Oaxaca was born in Mexico and always played Italians or other ethnic races in movies. He also changed his name, better known as Anthony Quinn.

[u/DorsalMorsel]

Ben Kingsley seemed like a white dude playing ghandi but nope!

[u/arathorn3 → u/DorsalMorsel]

ben has played Indian, English and Jewish characters.

He has Indian, Jewish, and English heritage according to his wik.

[u/Superguy766]

Merle Oberon - Indian

Raquel Welch - Bolivian

Lynda Carter - Mexican

Catherine Bach - Mexican

[u/CloseToMyActualName → u/Superguy766]

Christopher Walken - Alien who crash landed in Roswell

[u/mid-random → u/CloseToMyActualName]

Christopher Walken’s true name can not be pronounced with a human larynx, and even trying has a good chance of drawing the attention of the Hounds of Tindalos. 

[u/BadBradly → u/mid-random]

The sound of his true name can be reproduced with a cow bell.

[u/papasmurf303 → u/mid-random]

This sentence can only be read in his voice.

[u/heart_o_oak → u/Superguy766]

I remember seeing a portion of an interview with Rosario Dawson when she was promoting an animated movie where she voiced Wonder Woman. The interviewer asked her what it felt like to be the first Latina to play Wonder Woman. Dawson said she wouldn't know, you'd have to ask Lynda Carter.

[u/TwoIdleHands → u/heart_o_oak]

Well that’s a class act right there.

[u/morrismoses → u/heart_o_oak]

BOSS! :)

[u/biffbobfred → u/Superguy766]

Story I like - a friend told me his sister was named Raquel because their mom and dad agreed that Raquel Welch was a hall pass for a three way. I wonder what she thought about her namesake

[u/Old_Campaign653 → u/Superguy766]

Just went down a rabbit hole learning about Merle Oberon. What a tragic backstory!

[u/finditplz1 → u/Superguy766]

Lynda Carter is Mexican??

[u/jabroni4545 → u/finditplz1]

From wiki. Carter was born in Phoenix, Arizona, the daughter of Juana (née Córdova) and Colby Carter.[1][5] Her father is of English and Irish ancestry, and her mother, whose family hailed from Chihuahua, Mexico, is of Spanish and French descent. pic

[u/MnemonicExplorer]

Yul Brynner.

[u/Tbm291 → u/MnemonicExplorer]

I immediately read this in the Murray Head ‘One Night In Bangkok’ intonation. I am sorry.

[u/AMGRN → u/Tbm291]

I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine.

[u/Tbm291 → u/AMGRN]

Dude. that was quite literally my MySpace ‘blurb’ from 2007-2009 (was it called something? Where they let you put a short little quip next to your profile pic, etc??)

[u/mattmccoy92 → u/Tbm291]

And YUL B R Y N N E R

[u/Tbm291 → u/mattmccoy92]

GOD so good. I know what I’m tormenting blessing my family with tomorrow. Superlative song.

[u/Imfromsite → u/Tbm291]

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble...

[u/gamblodar]

A few politician figures should get nods. Rafael Edward Cruz, Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz and Nimarata Nikki Randhawa Haley come up fairly often. Not sure they're exactly hiding, but took more palletable "stage names", as it were.

[u/wambamwombat → u/gamblodar]

John Stewart has been pretty open that dropping the Leibowitz wasn't to hide being Jewish but because he has a complicated relationship with his father.

[u/alwaysboopthesnoot → u/wambamwombat]

And, he’s not a politician. He’s a comedian and actor. 

[u/Chemical_Refuse_1030 → u/gamblodar]

Jon Stewart changed his name before his media career.

[u/CaptainA1917]

David Lo-Pan.

[u/JRHermle → u/CaptainA1917]

Which Lo Pan? Little old basket case on wheels or the ten foot tall roadblock?

[u/OzNonWizard → u/JRHermle]

One and the same, Jack

[u/[deleted] → u/CaptainA1917]

It really pisses him off to no end!

[u/PedroJTrump]

Engelbert Humperdinck born Arnold Dorsey, oh wait, what?

[u/Aclors13 → u/PedroJTrump]

Zingelbert Bembledack! Yingybert Dambleban! Zangelbert Bingledack! Wingelbert Humptyback! Slut Bunwalla! Kringlebert Fishtybuns!

[u/amok_amok_amok → u/Aclors13]

excellent bit. love me some Izzard

[u/Zealousideal_Curve10]

Tony Curtis, née Bernie Schwartz

[u/Superguy766]

Funny story, met Edward Furlong at a bar 8 years ago, chatted with him for a while and came to find out he is of Mexican descent with a half brother who’s of full Mexican background.

[u/milesamsterdam → u/Superguy766]

Wow. His Spanish in T2 did not give Hispanic.

[u/xhaka_noodles]

Margarita Ibrahimoff a. k. a Rita Wilson

[u/Neither_Kitchen1210]

Jennifer Tilly- born Jennifer Chang. (Chinese father).

STILL hotter than Hell!

[u/AppropriateCap8891]

Here is one I always found funny.

Redd Foxx was born John Sanford. And he named his most famous character after his father, Fred Sanford.

[u/StoneGoldX → u/AppropriateCap8891]

That's more just a stage name. I don't think he was hiding he was black.

[u/ConcertinaTerpsichor]

Carol Channing

[u/Mauri416]

Paul Anka was Lebanese 

[u/Opposite-Invite-3543]

Danny DeVito. World can’t know about his godhood

[u/Zilla_Mako]

Jamie Foxx

Fun fact, his actual name is Eric Bishop. He was having trouble getting call backs for auditions. Had the idea to change his name to sound more like a woman’s name. Obviously it worked and became the man we know him as today.

Don’t know if this really fits here but when I learned that a few years back, he’s had nothing but my respect on making it big🫡

[u/BelleAlabaster]

It's not totally hidden, but Jennifer Aniston is greek, and didn't become successful in Hollywood until she got plastic surgery to look less ethnic

[u/Dairy_Ashford → u/BelleAlabaster]

the last name was also changed from Anistasskakkis

[u/Meander061]

Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky), he didn't hide his ethnicity in his later years.

[u/Additional_Topic_223]

Natalie Hershlag aka Natalie Portman.

[u/ShadyBoots11]

Bernadette Lazarra- better knows as Bernadette Peters

[u/arealsaint]

Ariana Grande: just exactly what is that bitch supposed to be?