If you take an interest in the Bill Gates quotes and speeches, you’d think some entrepreneurs would recommend computer programming be taught as a second language in school.

Bill Gates began programming when he was just 13 years old. It would only be a few years later that he met Steve Jobs at the Homebrew Computer Club where these 2 boys would go on to change the world, both together and separately.

It was Bill’s technological innovation, keen business strategy that he and partner Paul Allen built the world’s largest software business, Microsoft. In the process, Gates became one of the richest men in the world.

Bill Gates recently gave a speech to high school students about things they will not learn in school.

He talks about how the reality of the real world tends to be nothing like that described in the education system.

Bill Gates Quotes About The Real World

1.

"Life is not fair – get used to it!"

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2.

"It’s fine to celebrate success but it’s more important to heed the lessons of failure."

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3.

"I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it."

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4.

"If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good."Bill Gates

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5.

"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose."

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6.

"If you’re born poor, it’s not your mistake. But if you die poor, it is your mistake."Bill Gates

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7.

"The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself."

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8.

"In this business, by the time you realize you’re in trouble, it’s too late to save yourself. Unless you’re running scared all the time, you’re gone."

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9.

"You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both."

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10.

"If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. "Bill Gates

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11.

"Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity."

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12.

"If your business is not on the Internet, then your business will be out of business."

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13.

"If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them."Bill Gates

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14.

"Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room."

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15.

"Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life."

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16.

"I can understand wanting to have a million dollars … but once you get beyond that, I have to tell you, it’s the same hamburger."

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17.

"Life is not divided into semesters.. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time."

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18.

"Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs."

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19.

"Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one."Bill Gates

My young son loves Dr Seuss quotes and while reading to him before bed, it occurred to me how much wisdom is hidden within those quirky poems.

While my son’s favorite line of the moment doesn’t contain much wisdom, none-the-less it makes for a bit of fun.

"Shlopp, shlopp, beautiful shlopp. Beautiful shlopp with a cherry on top!"

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Perhaps there is something there that I’m not quite seeing; something along the lines of looking past negativity and focusing on something positive.

But then it was this one, as a blog writer, that inspired me.

1.

"So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads."

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Dr Seuss quotes can inspire us adult blog writers as much as the kids in his target audience.

Let’s continue to have a look at more Dr Seuss quotes to find some hidden wisdom.

More Dr Seuss Quotes

2.

"Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened."

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3.

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go."

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4.

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."

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5.

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living."

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6.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not."

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7.

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."

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8.

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"

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9.

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go."

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10.

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!"

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11.

"There’s no limit to how much you’ll know, depending how far beyond zebra you go."

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12.

"If things start happening, don’t worry, don’t stew, just go right along and you’ll start happening too."

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13.

"Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!"

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14.

"All alone! Whether you like it or not, alone is something you’ll be quite a lot!"

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15.

"You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

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16.

"Only you can control your future."

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17.

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."

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18.

"They say I’m old-fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast!"

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19.

"Remember me and smile, for it’s better to forget than to remember me and cry."

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20.

"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope."

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21.

"You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut."

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22.

"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues."

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23.

"Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them."

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24.

"Don’t give up. I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no matter how small."

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25.

"I am weird, you are weird. Everyone in this world is weird. One day two people come together in mutual weirdness and fall in love."

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26.

"Oh, the things you can find if you don’t stay behind!"

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27.

"Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered."

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28.

"I know, up on top you are seeing great sights, but down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights."

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29.

"To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world."

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30.

"You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child."

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31.

"It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become."

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32.

"And the turtles, of course…all the turtles are free, as turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be."

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33.

"And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!"

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34.

"It all began with a shoe on the wall. A shoe on the wall shouldn’t be there at all."

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35.

"I meant what I said and I said what I meant."

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Hope you enjoyed these Dr Seuss quotes as much as I did.

Sir Richard Branson is an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur! Many of us aspire to be as creative, inventive and successful as he’s been and we can learn a little something from Richard Branson quotes.

"Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming."Sir Richard Branson

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Sir Richard galloped right from the beginning working for a student newspaper to becoming the owner of one of the world’s most powerful companies, with an estimated personal net worth of US$4.6 billion.

"Entrepreneurship is about turning what excites you in life into capital, so that you can do more of it and move forward with it."Sir Richard Branson

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In 1968, Richard started up a youth culture magazine called Student. This was followed by a cut price mail order record business which quickly transformed into the first Virgin record store on Oxford Street, London.

"I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator."Richard Branson

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The name Virgin was suggested by one of his friends due to the fact they were all beginners at starting up business.

Sir Richard’s willingness to look outside the square and go where no one else would tread led him to creating the record label Virgin Records and signing on the Sex Pistols.

"I never get the accountants in before I start up a business. It’s done on gut feeling."Richard Branson

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His go getter attitude and charisma gained masses of free publicity for his Virgin brand, increasing its success further.

"Don’t think what’s the cheapest way to do it or the fastest way to do it. Think what’s the most amazing way to do it!"Sir Richard Branson

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Due to Virgin’s overwhelming success, Richard decided to branch out again and enter the travel market by setting up his own airline called Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1985.

"I’ve had great fun turning quite a lot of different industries on their head and making sure those industries will never be the same again."Sir Richard Branson

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When asked to explain his decision for starting up Virgin Atlantic, he said,

"My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them."Sir Richard Branson

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Virgin Atlantic continued to grow despite the so called “Dirty Tricks” campaign where British Airways was taken to court for allegedly poaching their passengers, spreading negative publicity and allegedly hacking into Virgin’s computer systems.

"You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over, and it’s because you fall over that you learn to save yourself from falling over."

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The Virgin Records label was sold to EMI in 1992 for a cool $500 million pounds to allow Richard the capital to help prop up his failing airline company. Richard admitted that he cried when this sale went through as he knew he had just sold what was the birth of his Virgin Empire.

"My definition of success? The more you are actively and practically engaged, the more successful you will feel."

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But not one to dwell on past mistakes, Richard consequently set up V2 in 1996 to get back into the music business.

"I tend to make up my mind about people within thirty seconds of meeting them, I also make up my mind about whether a business proposal excites me within about thirty seconds of looking at it."

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Each time a company was launched, soundbites of Richard Branson quotes make it memorable. Consequently, he has attempted many world records, death defying stunts and dressed up in lots of costumes to gain more publicity for the events.

"A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts."

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Whether it was attempting to break records in a speedboat or travel across continents in a hot air balloon, he is no stranger to outlandish public display.

"Throwing yourself into a job you enjoy is one of the life’s greatest pleasures!"

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Richard is also not one to back down or avoid the spotlight, and the media were there to record it all when he appeared in a Virgin stewardess uniform as a blond bombshell, to serve passengers and demonstrate the safety features on his aircraft.

"It is only by being bold that you get anywhere. If you are a risk-taker, then the art is to protect the downside."

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This was all because he had lost a bet with Tony Fernandes, his fellow airline owner and motor-racing rival about who would win the 2010 Formula One Grand Prix.

"If you find yourself stuck in the middle there is only one way to go, forward."

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Mr Branson became Sir Branson in 1999, knighted by the British realm for “services to entrepreneurship”.

"I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics."

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Sir Richard’s Virgin Group of companies extend far and wide to mobile communications, bridal wear, high speed trains, space travel and underwear.

"As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation."

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He’s remained level headed about his businesses and is not afraid to shut down under-performing ones.

"I may be a businessman in that I set up and run companies for profit, but when I try to plan ahead and dream up new products and new companies, I’m an idealist."

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However in saying so, Richard’s first thoughts were for his employees and where possible they were given another position at a different company.

"A company is people. Employees want to know – am I being listened to or am I a cog in the wheel? People really need to feel wanted."Richard Branson

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The Virgin Empire has continued to grow under the helm of Sir Richard, as have his number of employees and his net worth.

"I was the captain of my ship and master of my fate. I believe in myself. I believe in the hands that work, in the brains that think, and in the hearts that love."Sir Richard Branson

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Does Richard have some final words of wisdom that we can all relate to? Yes, how about one of his favorite quotes of all time…

"Screw it, let’s just do it!"Richard Branson

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Quite often the famous names we’ve grown to know and love are not the celebrity’s real names at all. The reasons for using a stage name instead of their real names are, in most cases, more mundane than you may think.

In the world of entertainment and business, perception matters and your name can have a large impact on first impressions.

In our companion article, we looked at 30 Celebrities Born With Awesome Names Who Don’t Use Stage Names. Having an ordinary name does you no favors and the lucky people on that list can thank their parents for being born with awesome real names.

But using a stage name has become common place among celebrities and they may do this to either hide their heritage, have some element of privacy or simply to create a more punchy name for publicity’s sake. For actors though, their reason may simply be due to rules governing the Screen Actors Guild that dictates there can be no two members with the exact same name.

Let’s take a look at some famous names you may have thought were their real birth names.

beargrylls.com

1. Bear Grylls (born Edward Grylls)

Master survivalist and all round nice guy, Bear Grylls wouldn’t hurt a fly. Well, that’s not quite true. He’d eat the fly and all the maggots he could find. No, I’m not being nasty. Bear would eat just about anything that wriggles, squirms and squishes between his teeth.

Bear joined the UK’s Territorial Army and served part-time with the SAS. In 1996, Bear was “within a whisker” of being paralyzed in a parachuting accident in Zambia.

His TV show, Man vs. Wild, features Grylls dropped into inhospitable places as he shows viewers how to survive. That includes drinking his own pee.

steviewonder.net

2. Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Judkins)

Blind since shortly after birth, Stevie signed with Motown’s Tamla label at age 11 and was considered to be a child prodigy, hence his stage name Little Stevie Wonder.

Some of his best known singles are “Superstition”, “Sir Duke”, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You”.

earthakitt.com

3. Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Keith)

With a unique, unmistakable voice and a purr that will send a tingle up your spine, Eartha Kitt was an American singer, actress and cabaret star.

She played the role of Catwoman in the third and final season of the 1960s Batman television series.

Freddie on IMDB

4. Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara)

Arguably one of the greatest rock singer of all time and the biggest Queen of them all, Freddie Mercury was lead vocalist of the rock band Queen.

Written by Freddie Mercury and reportedly the most expensive single ever made at the time, Bohemian Rhapsody shot to the top of the charts around the world first upon release in 1975, and then again after Mercury’s death in 1991. Once again, the song’s appearance in the 1992 film Wayne’s World revived Queen’s American popularity.

Greta on IMDB

5. Greta Garbo (born Greta Gustafsson)

Slang for the word garbage, Garbo was anything but. Cinematic legend Greta Gustafsson is considered to be one of greatest female stars of all time.

She starred in black and white films Anna Christie, Romance, Grand Hotel, Ninotchka amongst many others. Once voted the most beautiful woman who ever lived, she never married but came close, after leaving John Gilbert standing at the altar in 1927 when she got cold feet.

Garbo had helped Britain during Word World II by identifying influential Nazi sympathizers in Stockholm and by providing introductions and carrying messages for British agents.

Fred on Wikipedia

6. Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz)

An American film and Broadway stage dancer who could swiftly tap his way down a flight of stairs with ease, Frederick Austerlitz’s first screen test famously had evaluated him thusly: “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Balding. Can dance a little.”

Fred appears on the sleeve of The Beatles’ “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album and made a cameo appearance in John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Imagine”.

He’s quoted discussing John Travolta’s performance in Saturday Night Fever, “He’s not a dancer. What he did in those dance scenes was very attractive but he is basically not a dancer. I was dancing like that years ago, you know. Disco is just jitterbug.”

Dick on IMDB

7. Dick Sargent (born Richard Cox)

Star of 60s TV show Bewitch and I Dream of Jeannie, tricky Dick Cox prefers to use his stage name Dick Sargent to command the attention of fans.

An advocate for gay rights, Dick also appeared in Three’s Company, The Waltons, Charlie’s Angels, Knots Landing, Family Ties and two episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard.

Jean-Claude on Facebook

8. Jean-Claude Van Damme (born Jean-Claude Van Varenberg)

The muscles from Brussels, actor, professional beefcake and martial artist, Jean-Claude Van Damme once told journalists that he experienced a period of homelessness “sleeping on the street and starving in L.A.”

He’s been honored with a life-size statue of himself in his hometown of Brussels.

In the early 90s two game designers were working on a fighting game centered around Jean-Claude Van Damme. When the project fell through, they reworked the concept into what became known as Mortal Kombat.

Although a martial artist, he’s not experienced a hit at the box office.

Rip on IMDB

9. Rip Torn (born Elmore Torn)

Before gaining the reputation as an actor’s actor, Rip majored in animal husbandry. He’s also first cousins with Sissy Spacek.

Torn wom a defamation lawsuit against Dennis Hopper over a story Hopper told on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Hopper claimed that Torn pulled a knife on him during pre-production of the film Easy Rider (1969), but according to Torn’s suit, it was actually Hopper who pulled the knife on him, and Torn demanded a retraction from Hopper.

A trial court judge ruled in Torn’s favor and Hopper was ordered to pay $475,000 in compensatory damages plus another $475,000 for punitive damages.

Sissy on IMDB

10. Sissy Spacek (born Mary Elizabeth Spacek)

As a kid, she climbed trees, rode horses, swam, and played in the woods making Sissy Spacek no sissy at all. She initially aspired to be a singer but became interested in acting through her cousin Rip Torn.

Starring in the the lead role of horror film Carrie, she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in 1976.

She’s been quoted as saying “My cousin, Rip Torn, persuaded me not to change my name. You shouldn’t change what you are in the search for success.”
Both “Sissy” and “Rip” are not their birth names though, rather they are nicknames given during their childhoods.

Slim on IMDB

11. Slim Pickens (born Louis Lindley, Jr.)

I can hear farmers across the country lamenting their low-yield crops by screaming at the heavens “Argh! Not another season of slim pickin’s!” Slim Pickens’ brother has acted under the name Easy Pickens.

Slim was a real cowboy, inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame and standing tall at 6 foot 3 inches. He starred in Stanley Kubrick’s great black comedy Dr. Strangelove. Slim has said he had no desire to work for Kubrick again because of his directing style of multiple retakes was over the top.

He often acted in Westerns such as Blazing Saddles but didn’t need to “Method” act since he was frequently dressed in cowboy attire and had a thick Southern accent.

Vin on IMDB

12. Vin Diesel (born Mark Vincent)

Get your motor running and head out on the highway, Vin Diesel stars in several car movies such as The Fast and the Furious franchise and xXx and plays off his stage name being the founder of production companies One Race Films and Racetrack Records.

During his teens, Vin Diesel performed breakdancing in an instructional video on the subject.

Whoopi on Facebook

13. Whoopi Goldberg (born Caryn Johnson)

With a brilliantly comedic name, it’s no surprise Whoopi Goldberg rose to fame as a comedian but made her film debut and won a Golden Globe Award for her role in The Color Purple in 1985 alongside Oprah Winfrey.

Whoopi also won a second Golden Globe for her performance as a wacky psychic in Ghost, going on to star in Sister Act, Made in America, and in Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series as the bartender Guinan, a role she actually asked Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek creator) to give her.

A far cry from her early career working in a mortuary where her job was applying makeup to corpses.

Zsa Zsa on Wikipedia

14. Zsa Zsa Gabor (born Sári Gábor)

At the age of 15 crowned Miss Hungary, Zsa Zsa Gabor became a sought-after actress with “European flair and style” with a personality that “exuded charm and grace”.

Her 9th and final husband, Frédéric von Anhalt is the adopted son of German royalty, giving Zsa Zsa the title Princess Von Anhalt, Duchess of Saxony.

She has starred in the original film Moulin Rouge, Death of a Scoundrel, The Girl in the Kremlin and many others along with cameo appearances in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and The Naked Gun 2½.

Charlie on Wikipedia

15. Charlie Sheen (born Carlos Estévez)

Notorious party boy, son of Martin Sheen (born Ramón Estévez), brother of Emilio Estévez, Charlie Sheen has appeared in films such as Platoon, Wall Street, Major League, Hot Shots and his TV roles in Spin City, Two and a Half Men, and Anger Management.

He was fired from Two and a Half Men after undergoing a substance rehabilitation program and took to Twitter to vent his rage at the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre, gaining even more followers and fans due to his bizarre behavior.

We still have 15 more famous names that may surprise you to find out are not the celebrity’s real names.

Some may surprise you.

Beau on IMDB

16. Beau Bridges (born Lloyd Vernet Bridges III)

Like his actor father Lloyd Bridges and brother Jeff Bridges, Beau also has a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame and was a very promising basketball player in his youth.

Beau wouldn’t have been able to act using his birth name Lloyd because of rules of the Screen Actors Guild dictating there can be no two members with the exact same name – his father already being the first member.

Beau was nicknamed by his parents after Ashley Wilkes’ son in Gone with the Wind.

engelbert.com

17. Engelbert Humperdinck (born Arnold Dorsey)

With possibly the greatest comical names in history, Engelbert Humperdinck, not to be confused with an 1800s German composer of the same (real) name, is a more modern pop singer best known for his number one hits “Release Me” and “The Last Waltz”, as well as “After the Lovin'” and “A Man Without Love”.

Arnold Dorsey, one of the wealthiest musicians in the business worth around $100 million dollars, co-opted his stage name after admiring the German composer.

ringostarr.com

18. Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey)

Inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, the English musician who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles certainly lived up to his stage name and become one of the biggest stars of the 1960s.

Starr famously narrated the first two series of the children’s television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. As a kid himself at the age of 15, Ringo dreamed of becoming a professional actor, but could barely read or write.

Before Ringo, The Beatles tried several other drummers. He’s said “I never studied anything, really. I didn’t study the drums. I joined bands and made all the mistakes onstage”.

Bobcat on IMDB

19. Bobcat Goldthwait (born Robert Goldthwait)

Widely known for his high pitch loud trembling voice during comedy acts and in films Police Academy 2,3 & 4, Bobcat Goldthwait did stand-up material as an opening act for Nirvana.

He’s been quoted as saying “I retired from acting the same time they stopped hiring me”.

michaeljfox.org

20. Michael “J” Fox (born Michael A Fox)

What’s the difference between an ‘A’ and a ‘J’? Due to rules governing the Screen Actor’s Guild, Michael Fox was already an established actor who played several roles in a show called Science Fiction Theatre in 1955, so our Michael A Fox used the microscopic change to his name so he could enroll.

The writers of Back To The Future, which stars Fox playing Marty McFly traveling back in time to 1955, where his father George McFly mentions he’s a huge fan of a show called Science Fiction Theatre. That show, an actual episode aired in 1955, featured a suburban couple finding out that their neighbors are time travelers from the future.

Michael J Fox has been championing the cause for Parkinson’s disease research since his own diagnosis in 1991.

Judge on IMDB

21. Judge Reinhold (born Edward Reinhold)

Known for co-starring in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Gremlins and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Judge Reinhold also played himself in an episode of Arrested Development where he had his own reality courtroom show, playing off his childhood nickname of “Judge”.

Reinhold was nominated for an Emmy for a role on Seinfeld in which he played the infamous “close talker” who developed an obsession with Jerry’s parents.

carmenelectra.com

22. Carmen Electra (born Tara Patrick)

Electrifying the eyeballs of men since the early 1990s showing lots of skin in Playboy magazine and on the TV series Baywatch, Carmen Electra only chose a stage name at the behest of mentor and singer Prince.

Carmen has also appeared in several horror movies such as American Vampire, Scary Movie, Disaster Movie and married basketball star Dennis Rodman for 5 months before filing for divorce in 1999.

American scientist, Neal Evenhuis, named an extinct genus of fly after her. The species is called Carmenelectra.

Nicolas on IMDB

23. Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Coppola)

Nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and an avid comic cook collector, Nicolas Cage wanted to make a name for himself instead of trading off his famous family. He got his stage name from Marvel comic book character Luke Cage.

Nicolas reportedly got Johnny Depp his first acting job and also married Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley (now divorced).

His films include Raising Arizona, Face/Off, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds, National Treasure and Ghost Rider and was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas.

Winona on IMDB

24. Winona Ryder (born Winona Laura Horowitz)

Riding her way to success in the 1980s, Winona Ryder’s first significant role came in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice followed with the cult film Heathers. She also starred in Burton’s Edward Scissorhands and Francis Ford Coppola’s gothic romance Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and also in Little Women, Reality Bites, Girl Interrupted and Black Swan.

Ryder’s personal life has attracted significant media attention through her relationship with Johnny Depp, who tattooed her name on his arm, and a 2001 arrest for shoplifting where Beverly Hills police described her as “very friendly, polite, and cooperative” and “a nice lady.”

Rodney on Wikipedia

25. Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Cohen)

He gets no respect at all, and it’s no wonder with his comedic roles in 1980s films Easy Money, Caddyshack, and Back to School. At the age of 15, he began to write for standup comedians but at age 20 began to perform comedy himself as Jack Roy, only later to be known as Rodney Dangerfield.

Dangerfield played an important role in comedian Jim Carrey’s rise to stardom in the 1980s. Rodney signed Carrey to open for his Las Vegas show and they would tour together for two years.

tomcruise.com

26. Tom Cruise (born Thomas Mapother IV)

With a career cruising along at altitude from his first leading role in Risky Business, Tom Cruise became a full-fledged movie star after starring in Top Gun, Rain Man, A Few Good Men and Jerry Maguire.

Cruise is actually Tom’s middle name, not his surname. He is known for his support of the Church of Scientology, being in the top echelons of the faith.

Tom famously (and bizarrely) jumped on Oprah’s couch during an interview professing his love for girlfriend Katie Holmes, who he would go on to marry, have daughter Suri and later divorce due to reported conflicts about his faith.

marilynmonroe.com

27. Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Mortenson)

One of the most celebrated and enduring icons of all time who had a pretty tough childhood, Marilyn Monroe became a model, singer and movie star in the 1950s who allegedly had affairs with both John and Robert Kennedy.

She starred in movies including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch, Some Like It Hot. Monroe made her last significant public appearance in 1962 singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” at a birthday party for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden.

Her cause of death was recorded as “acute barbiturate poisoning”, resulting from a “probable suicide” although conspiracy theories involve President Kennedy, who apparently, was the last person Monroe called.

alicecooper.com

28. Alice Cooper (born Vincent Furnier)

With a career spanning six decades and a stage show that featuring guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood and snakes, Alice Cooper became a hit with “School’s Out” in 1972 followed by Welcome To My Nightmare, Poison and Only Women Bleed.

Cooper made a famous cameo appearance in the 1992 hit comedy film Wayne’s World. The phrase uttered by characters Wayne and Garth in his presence, “We’re not worthy!”, became one of the most popular movie catchphrases of the decade.

Gene on IMDB

29. Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman)

Choosing the first part of his stage name in honor of his sick mother Jeanne, Gene Wilder’s performance as Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor and also an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as Leo Bloom in The Producers (original).

Starring with Richard Pryor in four movies: Silver Streak, Stir Crazy, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and Another You, Wilder later admitted “We were never good friends, contrary to popular belief. We turned it on for the camera, then turned it off. He was a pretty unpleasant person to be around during the time we worked together. He was going through his drug problems then and didn’t want a friendship outside of what we did on the screen.”

Queen on Twitter

30. Queen Latifah (born Dana Owens)

Fans may be disappointed to learn, she ain’t a real queen, Queen Latifah is a rapper, model, comedienne and actress who has won a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, and a Grammy Award for U.N.I.T.Y.

Queen Latifah has starred in Chicago, Bringing Down the House, Beauty Shop (paid $10 million for her role), Hairspray along with several TV gigs and her own talk show.

If you enjoyed reading this list of famous names that were not real, you’ll also enjoy reading about famous names that are indeed the celebrity’s birth name.

Take a look at 30 Celebrities Born With Awesome Names Who Don’t Use Stage Names

Let us know your favorite famous names that you know aren’t real.

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