Actors Who Used One Name

1. Aaliyah

Talented. Beautiful. Modest. These three words described R&B singer-turned-actress Aaliyah perfectly.

Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Diane (Hankerson) and Michael Haughton. Her uncle was music manager Barry Hankerson and her brother is director Rashad Haughton. Aaliyah was ...

2. Abigail

Actress | Number 96

Abigail became Australia's undisputed number 1 female sex symbol through her role as virginal blonde Bev Houghton in Number 96 (1972). English born Abigail was educated in France. Her mother was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) of Dutch Burgher/Eurasian ethnicity. Abigail came to Australia in 1971 and ...

3. Acquanetta

Actress | Captive Wild Woman

Born as Mildred Davenport, Acquanetta was a movie actress of genre motion pictures. She was nicknamed the "Venezualan Volcano" by Universal Studios, although she doesn't appear to have been from that country. At one point, when asked for paperwork related to her birth, she said she was half Arapaho...

4. Ako

Actress | Shôgun

Ako is known for Shōgun (2024), I Origins (2014) and 30 Rock (2006).

5. Amidou

Actor | Spy Game

Little known by the general public, Moroccan-born Amidou can nevertheless boast an onstage and on screen career spanning almost five decades. Appearing in French films most of the time, he also worked in Morocco, in Tunisia and in American action movies like William Friedkin's 'The Sorcerer' and '...

6. Awkwafina

Actress | Ocean's Eight

Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina, is an American actress and rapper. She has played supporting roles in the comedy films Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and her leading role in the comedy-drama The Farewell (2019) earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress nomination.

She ...

7. Beetlejuice

Actor | Bubble Boy

Beetlejuice was born on June 2, 1968 in Browns Mills, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor, known for Bubble Boy (2001), Scary Movie 2 (2001) and WCW Monday Nitro (1995).

8. Cantinflas

Actor | Around the World in Eighty Days

Cantinflas, born Mario Moreno as the son of a Mexican postal employee, was a prolific and productive Mexican comedian/producer/writer/singer who also knew a fair bit about agriculture and medicine. He was married to Valentina Ivanova from 1936 until her death. He appeared in more than 55 films, ...

9. Capucine

Actress | The Pink Panther

With classic patrician features and an independent, non-conformist personality, Capucine began her film debut in 1949 at the age of 21 with an appearance in the film Rendezvous in July (1949). She attended school in France and received a BA degree in foreign languages. Married for six months in her...

10. Charo

Actress | Thumbelina

Charo was born on January 15, 1951 in Murcia, Spain. She is an actress, known for Thumbelina (1994), The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979) and Tiger by the Tail (1970). She was previously married to Kjell Rasten and Xavier Cugat.

11. Common

Actor | John Wick: Chapter 2

First known as a rapper who became one of the more prominent voices in hip-hop's new millennium renaissance, Common later transitioned into acting. He was born in Chicago, and is the son of educator Dr. Mahalia Ann Hines and Lonnie Lynn, an ABA basketball player turned youth counselor.

On October 6,...

12. Coolio

Soundtrack | Dangerous Minds

With over 17 million records sold worldwide, Grammy award-winning and multi-platinum recording artist Coolio is an artist known around the world as a musical and cooking master of extraordinary reinvention. Growing up during the time of tremendous change in Compton, Calif., Coolio fed on struggle ...

13. Criswell

Actor | Plan 9 from Outer Space

"87% of Criswell's predictions have come true!" -- The ones he reminds you of. Whereas it is true Criswell made an amazing forecast on The Jack Paar Program (1962) on March 10, 1963: "I predict that President Kennedy will not run for reelection in 1964, because of something that will happen to him ...

14. Dakar

Actor | Due mafiosi contro Goldginger

Dakar was born in 1920 in Lima, Peru. He was an actor, known for The Amazing Doctor G (1965), Le tigri di Mompracem (1970) and I pirati della Malesia (1964). He died on September 14, 2004 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

15. Dalida

Soundtrack | No Time to Die

Dalida was a French-Italian singer, born to Italian parents in Egypt. She moved to France in her 30's, where she enjoyed the most successful part of her career. She was born on January 17, 1933 in Cairo, Egypt as Yolande Christina Gigliotti. She was married to Lucien Morisse. She died on May 3, ...

16. DezBaa'

Actress | Dark Winds

DezBaa' is an actor and filmmaker. A citizen of the Navajo (Diné) Nation, she was born in and is based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Born for the Tó'aheedlíinii (Water Flows Together clan), DezBaa' was raised in the culturally rich area of Española, in Northern New Mexico. She is of Basque, Spanish,...

17. Divine

Actor | Pink Flamingos

Originally born Harris Glen Milstead just after the end of WWII, Baltimore's most outrageous resident eventually became the international icon of bad taste cinema, as the always shocking and highly entertaining transvestite performer, Divine.

Milstead met maverick film director & good friend, John ...

18. Drake

Actor | Degrassi: The Next Generation

Aubrey Drake Graham was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Dennis Graham, an African-American musician born in Memphis, Tennessee, and Sandi (Sher) Graham, a Canadian Jewish educator. As a young man, Drake appeared in several commercials, for such retailers as Sears and GMC. In 2001, Drake rose ...

19. Elvy

Actress | The Office

Elvy was born in Los Angeles County, California, USA. She is an actress and casting director, known for The Office (2005), Resident Alien (2021) and Mildred Pierce (2011).

20. Eminem

Soundtrack | 8 Mile

Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Deborah R. (Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr., who were in a band together, Daddy Warbucks. He is of English, as well as some German, Scottish, and Swiss-German, ancestry. Marshall spent his early childhood being shoved ...

21. Fernandel

Actor | Don Camillo

The apocryphal biography of Fernand Contandin tells the invention of his artistic name Fernandel by his sister-in-law ("Voici le Fernand d'elles"). At the beginning of the thirties he became a typical actor of the comedy genre: popular, common, likable and with a concealed grain of drama. Marc ...

22. Flea

Actor | Baby Driver

Michael Peter Balzary was born on the sixteenth of October 1962, in Melbourne, Australia. When he was four, his parents divorced and Michael, his sister Karen and his mother Patricia headed for New York; they didn't stay long and soon ended up in L.A. (in 1972), where his step-father, a jazz ...

23. Jacqueline Giroux

Actress | To Live and Die in L.A.

Ms. Giroux is co-founder and a director of Global Universal Film Group, Inc., due to her expertise in film financing and World Wide business and film relationships. Giroux was President of the public Company FoneFriend Inc. (OTC: BB) until July 2003, as well as a founder and director. Ms. Giroux is...

Sometimes credited as Valdesta.

24. Gordito

Actor | Apple Pie

Gordito is known for Apple Pie (1975) and Dracula's Last Rites (1980).

25. David Gulpilil

Actor | Rabbit-Proof Fence

David Gulpilil is a legendary Yolngu actor, a First Nations person of Northern Australia, born around 1953. The local missionaries gave him his birthdate of July 1, 1953, just as they gave him his Christian name David, although he admits he liked that name from the start. His last name, Gulpilil, ...

Sometimes credited as Gulpilil.

26. Haji

Actress | Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Haji was a Cando-American actress renowned for starring in Russ Meyer's sexploitation classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), in which she made her theatrical film debut. Barbarella Catton was born in Quebec City, Quebec on January 24, 1946, and at the age of 14, began dancing topless. The ...

27. Jihae

Actress | Succession

Jihae is a South Korea-born actress, musician, and multimedia artist. She recurred on HBO's Emmy-winning drama Succession Season 3 as Berry Schneider, a public relations consultant. Jihae won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for this role.

She guest-starred in...

28. Jimeoin

Writer | The Craic

Jimeoin was born on January 24, 1966 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for The Craic (1999), The Extra (2005) and Jimeoin: Jimeoin on Ice (2010). He has been married to Catherine Arena since 2000. They have two children.

29. JoJo

Actress | Aquamarine

JoJo was born Joanna Noëlle Levesque on December 20, 1990 in Brattleboro, Vermont and raised in Foxborough, Massachusetts to Diana Lynn Levesque (née Blagden) & Joel Maurice Levesque. She has Polish, English, Irish & Scottish ancestry on Diana's side and French-Canadian ancestry on Joel's side. Her...

30. Kieta

Actress | In the Cold of the Night

Kieta was born in Evergreen Park, Il. in 1967. She started her modeling career in Chcago with Elite Models. She continued her career in Paris, modeling with Jean-Luc's Karin's. She has graced magazines Seventeen, Glamour, and worked with Helmet Newton for a spread in Vanity Fair.

Moving to LA, she ...

31. Koyuki

Actress | The Last Samurai

She rose to fame in the drama Kimi wa petto (2003) with Jun Matsumoto and gained huge popularity.

Her first international film was The Last Samurai (2003) where she played Taka, wife of a Samurai slain by the character Nathan Algren, portrayed by Tom Cruise, Koyuki was well-known in Japan for years ...

32. Liberace

Soundtrack | Behind the Candelabra

Most remembered for his extravagant costumes and trademark candelabra placed on the lids of his flashy pianos, Liberace was loved by his audiences for his music talent and unique showmanship. He was born as Wladziu Valentino Liberace on May 16, 1919, into a musical family, in Wisconsin. His mother, ...

33. Lenka

Soundtrack | Moneyball

Lenka was born on March 19, 1978 in Bega, New South Wales, Australia. She is an actress and composer, known for Moneyball (2011), Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008) and Somersault (2004). She is married to James Gulliver Hancock. They have one child.

34. Louanne

Actress | Oh, God! Book II

Louanne was born on January 26, 1970 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. She is an actress, known for Oh, God! Book II (1980), A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988) and Mork & Mindy (1978).

35. Lulu

Soundtrack | To Sir, with Love

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns was born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie in Glasgow, Scotland on November 3, 1948. As a teenager, she toured the northern clubs with her band, the Luvvers. After her initial success with a cover of "Shout" reaching #7 in 1964, Lulu went on to establish herself as one of the ...

36. Mackenyu

Actor | One Piece

Mackenyu was born in Los Angeles, November 16, 1996, and is the son of actor, producer, director, and martial artist Shin'ichi Chiba. Growing up in Los Angeles, he appeared in a few films and TV shows while he was in school and had many interests that included learning to ride horseback, Kyokushin ...

37. Madonna

Soundtrack | A League of Their Own

The remarkable, hyper-ambitious Material Girl who never stops re-inventing herself, Madonna has sold over three hundred million records and CDs to adoring fans worldwide. Her film career, however, is another story. Her performances have consistently drawn scathing or laughable reviews from film ...

38. Maïwenn

Actress | Polisse

Maïwenn (sometimes credited as Maïwenn Besco or her birth name Maïwenn Le Besco, born 17 April 1976) is a French actress, film director and screenwriter.

Maïwenn Le Besco was born in Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis, France, a suburban area east of Paris. Maïwenn is of mixed Breton, Vietnamese, French, ...

39. Mako

Actor | Conan the Barbarian

Born in Japan, Makoto Iwamatsu was living there with his grandparents while his parents studied art in the United States, when Japan and the U.S. went to war in 1941. His parents remained in the U.S., working for the Office of War Information, and, at the cessation of the conflict, were granted U.S...

40. Maylia

Actress | Singapore

Gloria (Maylia) Fong was born Gloria Chin in Detroit, Michigan. She married actor Benson Fong and received great reviews for her first film, Singapore (1947). She and Benson later ran the fabulous "Ah-Fong" Chinese restaurant in Beverly Hills. They have five children including Pamela Kwong Fong and ...

41. Meeko

Actor | Queen of Glory

Meeko is known for Queen of Glory (2021), The Pale White Horse and The Obelisk.

42. Melise

Actress | The Shannara Chronicles

Malese Jow, originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, has developed into an actress, songstress, and entertainer.

Malese began her acting career in 1999 with McDonald's commercials when the head of advertising heard her sing and booked her in several spots and jingles. Then in 2002, at the ripe age of 11, ...

43. Miroslava

Actress | La muerte enamorada

Born in interwar Prague as Miroslava Stanclová, her father died and she was adopted by a Jewish doctor, the psychoanalyst Dr. Oskar Leo Stern (1900-1972) who married her mother, Miroslava (née Becka; 1898-1945). Dr. and Mrs. Stern had a son, Ivo (1931-2011), the actress's half-brother. The family ...

44. Alla Nazimova

Actress | Salomé

The grand, highly flamboyant Russian star Alla Nazimova of Hollywood silent films lived an equally grand, flamboyant life off-camera, though her legendary status has not held up as firmly as that of a Rudolph Valentino today.

Alla Nazimova was born Miriam Edez Adelaida Leventon in 1879, in Yalta, ...

Dropped Alla after she became famous and then used Nazimova.

45. Nico

Soundtrack | Allegiant

Model and singer Nico was born in Cologne, Germany in 1938. She was a part of the Andy Warhol "scene" in the 1960s. A member of The Velvet Underground experimental rock band (with John Cale), circa 1967, she made several solo albums during the 1970s. A heroin addict for the latter part of her life,...

46. N!xau

Actor | The Gods Must Be Crazy

N!xau, a San from the Kalahari Desert, was discovered by director Jamie Uys and cast in the lead role in the 1980 movie The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980). He received only a few hundred dollars for his work in that film, but was astute enough to negotiate for over half a million for his appearance in ...

47. Ondine

Actor | Vinyl

Ondine, one of Andy Warhol's cinema superstars of the Sixties, was born Robert Olivio on June 16, 1937. He first met Warhol at an orgy held around 1961 or '62, and was dismayed by Warhol's failure to join in. He proceeded to kick Warhol out, not knowing who he was or understanding that the future ...

48. Paraluman

Actress | Sino ang maysala

Paraluman was born on December 14, 1923 in Tayabas, Tayabas [now Quezon], Philippines. She was an actress, known for Sino ang maysala (1957), Lilet (1971) and Anino ni Bathala (1958). She died on April 27, 2009 in Sucat, Paranaque City, Philippines.

49. Pelé

Actor | Victory

Simply he was, and for many people still is, the greatest football player of the world. Not a single thing was impossible for him: he won three World Cups with his National Team of Brazil (Sweden 1958, Chile 1962, Mexico 1970). He scored more than 1.200 goals during his long career (more than 1.300...

50. Cassandra Peterson

Actress | Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

Cassandra Peterson was born in Manhattan, Kansas, and grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She began her career at age 17 as the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history in the show "Vive Les Girls" at the Dunes Hotel. After receiving advice from "The King" himself, Elvis Presley, she traveled to ...

Better known as Elvira.

51. Prince

Soundtrack | Under the Cherry Moon

Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Mattie Shaw, a jazz singer and social worker, and John L. Nelson, a lyricist and pianist. His father's stage name was "Prince Rogers". His parents were both from African-American families from Louisiana. They separated during his youth, ...

52. Raimu

Actor | La femme du boulanger

Orson Welles once called beloved French character star Raimu (né Jules Auguste Cesar Muraire) "the greatest actor who ever lived." It is hard to argue the compliment of one genius to another.

The jowly, cigar-chomping comedian was born in Toulon, France on December 17, 1883 of very humble means, his...

53. Ramsey

Soundtrack | The Idol

Ramsey is known for The Idol (2023), Arcane (2021) and Euphoria (2019).

54. Retta

Actress | Parks and Recreation

Retta was born in Newark, New Jersey, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Parks and Recreation (2009), Fracture (2007) and The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017).

55. Rihanna

Actress | Battleship

Rihanna was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988 in Bridgetown, St. Michael, Barbados to Monica Braithwaite, an accountant & Ronald Fenty, a warehouse supervisor. Her mother is Afro-Guyanese and her father is of Afro-Barbadian and British Isles ancestry. Rihanna lived the life of a normal ...

56. Louise Robey

Actress | Friday the 13th: The Series

Louise Robey was born on March 14, 1960 in Montréal, Québec, Canada. She is an actress, known for Friday the 13th: The Series (1987), Raw Deal (1986) and The Money Pit (1986). She was previously married to Stan Shaffer and Charles Vere.

Also credited as Robey.

57. Sabu

Actor | The Thief of Bagdad

Sabu Dastagir (or Selar Shaik Sabu, depending on your resource) was born on January 27, 1924, in the little town of Mysore, India, which is nestled in the jungles of Karapur. The son of an elephant driver (mahout) in service for the Maharajah of his town, the young stable boy learned responsibility...

58. George Savalas

Actor | Kelly's Heroes

Greek-American actor George Savalas is best remembered for co-starring on his elder brother (Telly Savalas)'s popular television detective show Kojak (1973) (1973-78). He played Detective Stavros to Telly's Kojak and was billed as Demosthenes in the end credits to avoid confusion with the elder ...

Sometimes credited as Demosthenes.

59. Selena

Soundtrack | Don Juan DeMarco

Selena was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, 50 miles southeast of Houston, to Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and Marcella Quintanilla. Abraham opened a Mexican restaurant, Papagayo, in Lake Jackson. Selena was 9 years old when her father discovered her talent for singing. He formed a band consisting of Selena...

60. Sinbad

Actor | Jingle All the Way

Sinbad was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan to two parents, Louise and the Baptist Rev. Dr. Donald Beckley Adkins and was then known as David Adkins. He is primarily known as an actor and somewhat a writer and proved his comedic acting style in House Guest (1994), Jingle All the Way (1996), First ...

61. Sting

Soundtrack | The Emperor's New Groove

Sting was born Gordon Matthew Sumner on 2 October, 1951 in Wallsend, North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, the eldest of four children of Audrey (Cowell), a hairdresser, and Ernest Matthew Sumner, an engineer and milkman. He received his name from a striped sweater he wore which looked like a bee...

62. Topol

Actor | Fiddler on the Roof

Topol was born on September 9, 1935 in Tel Aviv, Palestine [now Israel]. He was an actor and producer, known for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Flash Gordon (1980) and For Your Eyes Only (1981). He was married to Galia Topol. He died on March 8, 2023 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

63. Totò

Actor | Guardie e ladri

'Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis di Bisanzio' was a descendant of the 'Comneno di Bizanzio' and also one of the most popular Italian film stars in history. His genre was undoubtedly the comedy where he achieved world fame. From 1917 he was an actor...

64. Tricky

Actor | Le Cinquième Élément

Tricky was born on January 27, 1968 in Knowle West, Bristol, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for The Fifth Element (1997), Face/Off (1997) and Virtuosity (1995).

65. Twiggy

Actress | The Boy Friend

Twiggy is a top model of the late 1960s, who made skinny an "inny," along with other famous skinny models such as Jean Shrimpton ("The Shrimp"), Veruschka von Lehndorff, and Penelope Tree ("The Tree"). She was born Leslie Hornby on September 19, 1949, in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, one of three...

66. Usher

Actor | The Faculty

Usher Raymond IV was born in Dallas, Texas, to Jonetta Patton (née O'Neal) and Usher Raymond III. He began singing when he was six years old, joining the local church choir at the behest of his mother who acted as choir director. Jonetta, a single mom, raised Usher and his younger brother, James, ...

67. Vanity

Actress | Action Jackson

Vanity was a glamorous Canadian model and lead singer of the all-girl group "Vanity 6." She specialized in playing sultry female characters often in trouble with the law.

Vanity was born Denise Katherine Matthews in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Helga Senyk and James Levia Matthews...

68. Xzibit

Actor | The X Files: I Want to Believe

Xzibit was born in Detroit, where he lived until his mother passed away when he was only nine years old. At the age of ten, he began to rap, very personally because of the loss of his mother. At the age of 14, he got into trouble and was removed from his home for two years after his father refused ...

69. Zendaya

Actress | Spider-Man: Homecoming

Zendaya (which means "to give thanks" in the language of Shona) is an American actress and singer born in Oakland, California. She began her career appearing as a child model working for Macy's, Mervyns and Old Navy. She was a backup dancer before gaining prominence for her role as Rocky Blue on ...

70. Zulu

Actor | I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew

Gilbert Francis Lani Damian Kauhi was born on October 17, 1937 on the Big Island of Hawaii. He was better known by the nickname his classmates gave him in high school, "Zulu". His most famous role was that of "Detective Kono Kalakaua" on the hit TV series, Hawaii Five-O (1968). The show helped ...