Test yourself! Take this Celebrity Birth Names Quiz | Birth and Stage Name

Answer: Muddy Waters

Born in Mississippi on April 4, 1913, Waters reputedly got his name because he enjoyed playing in the muddy Mississippi waters as a boy. He headed north to Chicago in 1943 in hopes of becoming a full-time musician. He stayed with a relative while he drove a truck and worked in a factory by day and began playing clubs at night. Big Bill Broonzy was one of the top blues men in Chicago at the time and gave Muddy a break into the club scene by letting him open for his shows. Muddy Waters became an inspiration for the British beat explosion in the 1960s, and is considered by many in the music business to be one of the most influential blues artists of the twentieth century.

In 2004 he was ranked number 17 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. "Big Bill" was born William Lee Conley Broonzy. Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins hailed from Houston, Texas. B. B. King was born Riley B. King.

Answer: Stan Laurel

Born June 16, 1890, British-born Stan Laurel met fellow actress Mae Dahlberg who suggested he change his name early in his acting career. It was common for British actors to adopt a stage name. Laurel working in England as a stage actor for a while then he joined Hal Roach's studios in Hollywood as a director.

He directed the 1926 production "Yes, Yes, Nanette". He wanted to work primarily as a writer and director. In 1927, Oliver Hardy was injured and Laurel was asked appear in a production. Laurel and Hardy then began sharing screen time together in the 1927 productions "Slipping Wives", "Duck Soup" and "With Love and Hisses".

The studio became aware that the two men had an on-screen chemistry and started casting them in their own features in the late twenties. George Burns was born Nat Birnbaum, Woody Allen's given name was Allen Konigsbern and Rodney Dangerfield's name was actually John Cohen.

Answer: Jack Benny

Jack Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky on February 14, 1894. In 1917 he formed a vaudeville musical duo playing the violin with pianist Cora Salisbury. The famous violinist Jan Kubelik believed an entertainer with a similar name would cause confusion or possibly damage his reputation. Kubelsky agreed to change his name to Ben K. Benny. Benny left show business briefly to join the Navy.

While enlisted he entertained the troops with his violin playing and gradually earned a reputation as a comedian as well as a musician. Shortly after the war Benny started a one-man act called "Ben K. Benny: Fiddle Funology".

A performer named Ben Bernie threatened to sue so Benny adopted the common sailor's nickname Jack. Skelton was born Richard Bernard Skelton. Emmy award winner Milton Berle was actually Milton Berlinger. Redd Foxx's given name was John Sanford.

Answer: Wolfman Jack

Born in Brooklyn on January 21, 1938, Robert Smith grew to be a fan of disc jockey Alan Freed. He adopted his signature howl from the late-night radio antics of Freed. He experimented with several different looks before he finally decided on his final Wolfman persona.

In addition to his radio work, Smith appeared in several television shows as Wolfman Jack including "The Wolfman Jack Show" (1976), "The Odd Couple" (1970-1975) and "What's Happening" (1967-1979). He was also occasionally featured on "Hollywood Squares" (1965-1981).

He was the regular announcer and occasional host for "The Midnight Special" between 1973 and 1981. Winston Conrad Martindale began as a disc jockey and went on to be a television game show host. Albert James "Alan" Freed was also known to his radio followers as "Moondog". Murray Kaufman was professionally known as Murray the K.

He frequently referred to himself as "The Fifth Beatle".

Answer: Rock Hudson

Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr. in Illinois on November 17, 1925, just before the depression. When the depression hit, his father abandoned the family. His mother remarried and his stepfather, Wallace "Wally" Fitzgerald, adopted him, thus changing his last name to Fitzgerald.

He served as an aircraft mechanic in the Navy during World War II. Upon his discharge he went to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. A 1948 fortuitous meeting with powerful Hollywood scout Henry Willson gave Hudson his break. Hudson related that Willson coined Roy's new screen name from a combination of the Rock of Gibraltar and Hudson River.

He went on to star in over 70 motion pictures as well as numerous television productions. Yves Montand was born Ivo Livi. Tony Curtis was given the birth name Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925. Garner was born as James Scott Bumgarner in Norman, Oklahoma.

Answer: Tab Hunter

Arthur Kelm was born July 11, 1931. As a teen growing up in California, he was an excellent figure skater and horseback rider. Arthur Kelm was named Tab Hunter by his agent when he signed a contract with Warner Brothers Studios. In 1952 his first major role came in "Island of Desire" opposite Linda Darnell.

It was his co-starring role as a young Marine named Danny in 1955's "Battle Cry" that gave him a reputation as one of Hollywood's emerging romantic leads. Hunter has appeared in over 45 films and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6320 Hollywood Blvd. Salvatore "Sal" Mineo Jr. was a Golden Globe-winning film and theater actor. Frankie Avalon was born Francis Thomas Avallone on September 18, 1939, in Philadelphia.

Born Merle Johnson, Jr., Troy Donahue was initially a journalism student at Columbia University before deciding to become an actor.

Answer: John Denver

Born in Roswell, New Mexico, on New Years Eve of 1944, John Denver left for California and sang in folk clubs around Los Angeles. He adopted the surname Denver after the capital of his favorite state, when someone mentioned that 'Deutschendorf' wouldn't fit comfortably on a marquee. John is his middle name.

In 1965 he joined the Chad Mitchell Trio and later formed Denver, Boise, and Johnson. In 1969 he pursued a solo career and released his first album for RCA Records, "Rhymes and Reasons". It was not a commercial success at the time, but it did contain his composition "Leaving On A Jet Plane", which was a number one record for Peter, Paul and Mary.

In addition to his CMA and Grammy awards, John received an Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special in 1975 for "An Evening With John Denver". Looking at a road map, Harold Lloyd Jenkins spotted Conway, Arkansas and Twitty, Texas and adopted the stage name Conway Twitty. Robbins was born Martin David Robinson in Arizona. Stanley Robert Vinton, Jr. is the name given to Bobby Vinton at birth.

Answer: Douglas Fairbanks

Douglas' mother was married to a man named John Fairbanks who died. She then married a man named Wilcox who turned out to be abusive. Her divorce was handled by Hezekiah Charles Ullman who married her and fathered Douglas on May 23, 1883. Douglas moved to New York in the early 1900s to pursue an acting career and joined the acting troupe of British actor Frederick Warde.

He preferred the name Fairbanks as a stage name. By 1920 he had completed 29 films. His last silent film was "The Iron Mask" in 1929. Fairbanks did not adapt well to sound films.

He and Mary Pickford made their first talkie playing Petruchio and Kate in "The Taming of the Shrew", also released in 1929. The last movie he acted in before retiring was the British production "The Private Life of Don Juan". Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was born in Tasmania, Australia. Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Piero Filiberto Guglielmi was an Italian actor who went by the name Rudolph Valentino. Palance was born Volodymyr Palahnyuk.

Answer: Shelley Winters

Shirley came into the world on August 18, 1920. Her mother's maiden name was Rose Winters and she was called Shelley instead of Shirley growing up. After adopting the more Hollywood-sounding name of Shelley Winters her first movie was "There's Something About a Soldier" in 1943.

In 1959 she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for "The Diary of Anne Frank" and another for "A Patch of Blue" in 1965. Her final nomination was for her role as Mrs. Belle Rosen in the 1972 film, "The Poseidon Adventure".

She later appeared with "Poseidon" co-star Jack Albertson in a number of episodes of Albertson's sitcom "Chico and the Man" between 1974 and 1979. Proud of her Jewish heritage, she donated her Oscar for "Anne Frank" to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.

She passed in 2006 leaving a lengthy legacy of film, television and stage credits. Mae was born Mary Jane West in Woodhaven, New York. Nathalie Kay Hedren was nicknamed Tippi. Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens in New York City.

Answer: Boris Karloff

Pratt was born November 23, 1887. He claimed he later chose the name Boris because it sounded foreign and that Karloff was a family name. His daughter Sara disputes any knowledge of ancestors named Karloff. Karloff did concede that the reason he changed his stage name early in his career was because he didn't want to embarrass his proper English family when he decided on a career as a "lowly actor".

After he achieved fame in 1931's "Frankenstein", his relatives changed their mind. When he briefly returned to England in 1933 to film the "The Ghoul" Pratt's family was proud of their celebrity relative.

The 6-sheet "Frankenstein" movie poster featuring Karloff is probably the most valuable movie poster in the world because there is reportedly only 1 copy remaining. Peter Lorre was born Laszlo Lowenstein. Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was Price's given name and Bela Lugosi was christened Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko.

A statue of him is in Budapest.