Editing Stage name (section)

== Ethnicity ==
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| image1            = Sheen, Martin (2008).jpg
| image2            = Charlie Sheen March 2009.JPG
| image3            = Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen (cropped to Emilio).jpg
| footer            = Actor [[Martin Sheen]] ''(left)'', born Ramón Estévez, adopted as stage name due to potential racial discrimination. His son [[Charlie Sheen]] ''(middle)'', born Carlos Estévez, also adopted a stage name while his other son [[Emilio Estevez]] ''(right)'' did not.
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In the past, a stage name was often used when a performer's real name was considered to denote a specific ethnicity that faced potential discrimination. In other cases, actors have reinvented themselves with a more ethnic identity, when that gave them an advantage in playing "ethnic" roles.<ref name=Picayune>{{cite news |last=Aleiss |first=Angela |title=Native Son: After a Career as Hollywood's Noble Indian Hero, Iron Eyes Cody is Found to Have an Unexpected Heritage |newspaper=[[The New Orleans Times-Picayune]] |date=May 26, 1996}}</ref>

[[Steven Tyler]] of [[Aerosmith]] changed his name from Steven Victor Tallarico "for more promotional appeal".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.classic-rock-legends-start-here.com/aerosmith-3.html|title=Aerosmith - success, rehab and more recording success|website=www.classic-rock-legends-start-here.com}}</ref>

Historically, [[Jews]] in [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] were encouraged to [[anglicize]] their names to avoid possible discrimination. Examples of such name changes are [[Danny Kaye]] and [[Mel Brooks]], both of whom were born with the surname Kaminsky, the original two lineups of [[The Three Stooges]] (born Moses Horwitz, Jerome Horwitz, Samuel Horwitz and Louis Feinberg) and [[Woody Allen]] (born Allen Konigsberg).{{cn|date=June 2023}} [[Jon Stewart]] claims that he did not anglicize his name for career reasons, but because of his estranged relationship with his father.<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=TheDailyShow |number=330372182809133057 |title=Can't an overrated Jew have a complicated relationship with his dad without being accused of hiding his heritage? #FuckFaceVonClownstick}}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=June 2023}} Israeli-American [[Natalie Portman]], born Natalie Hershlag, changed her name allegedly to protect her privacy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/portman-natalie-1981|title=Portman, Natalie (1981–) &#124; Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> James Goldman, retired television anchorman, has stated that he chose the name [[Jim Gardner (broadcaster)|Jim Gardner]] because of the thought that there were too many people with Jewish last names on staff.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Gardner, a Broadcast Pioneer |url=https://www.broadcastpioneers.com/jimgardner.html |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=www.broadcastpioneers.com}}</ref>

Ramón Estévez changed his name to [[Martin Sheen]] as he felt it affected his job prospects owing to racial discrimination and bias, although he maintains his birth name for legal documents such as his passport;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latina.com/entertainment/buzz/true-identity-charlie-sheen-tracing-roots-estevez-family|title=The True Identity of Charlie Sheen: Tracing The Roots of The Estevez Family|last=Ramirez|first=Erika|date=February 28, 2011|publisher=[[Latina magazine]]|access-date=February 28, 2011}}</ref> his sons made divergent choices: Carlos Irwin Estévez is now [[Charlie Sheen]], while [[Emilio Estevez]] left his name unchanged. German-born actor Hans Gudegast adopted the stage name of [[Eric Braeden]].

Actors [[Anthony Quinn]] and [[Anne Bancroft]] were advised to anglicize their names because 'Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca' and 'Anna Maria Louisa Italiano', respectively, were considered too 'ethnic' for Hollywood and Broadway at the time. [[Eydie Gorme]] (born Edith Garmezano), [[Sophia Loren]] (born Sofia Villani Scicolone), [[Charles Bronson]] (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky), and [[Rita Hayworth]] (born Margarita Carmen Cansino), are four more well-known examples of this trend.

Broadcaster [[Dave Roberts (broadcaster)|Dave Roberts]] was born David T. Boreanaz but was known professionally as Dave Thomas and later Dave Roberts as ethnic surnames were discouraged when he first began his career during the 1950s; his son, actor [[David Boreanaz]], chose not to adopt a stage name.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-Vampire Turns Into Regular Guy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/arts/television/27bore.html?ref=television&_r=0|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 27, 2006}}</ref>

The use of stage names for ethnic purposes may vary widely depending on the [[media market]] the personality is representing. For example, in [[Buffalo, New York]], a city with a large [[Polish-American]] population, Polish-American media personalities typically work freely using their birth names.

Sicilian-American actor Espera Oscar de Corti, who built his film career portraying [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], reinvented himself as [[Iron Eyes Cody]].<ref name=Picayune/> He not only took his stage name as his legal name but eventually began [[Passing (racial identity)#Passing as Indigenous Americans|insisting that he actually was Native American]].<ref name=Picayune/>

Actress [[Bernadette Peters]] (born Bernadette Lazzara) was encouraged as a child actress to use her father's first name, Peter as her last name by her mother to avoid being type-cast in Italian roles.

[[Chloe Bennet]] had used her birth name, Chloe Wang, for her singing career in China, along with a short-lived [[TeenNick]] music series. She started using the surname Bennet, after her father's first name, when she failed to be welcomed by [[talent agent|Hollywood agents]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wong|first1=Tony|title=Actress Chloe Bennet says changing her name changed her luck {{!}} Toronto Star|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2014/05/11/actress_chloe_bennet_says_changing_her_name_changed_her_luck.html|website=thestar.com|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en|date=11 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Leon|first1=Melissa|title=Agents of SHIELD's Chloe Bennet: Why I Stopped Using My Chinese Last Name|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/05/agents-of-shield-s-chloe-bennet-why-movies-and-marvel-need-to-diversify.html|website=The Daily Beast|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en|date=5 April 2016}}</ref> In reverse, Nichole Bloom, an actress with mixed Japanese-Irish parentage, changed her stage name to her birth name of [[Nichole Sakura]] in the wake of the [[George Floyd protests|summer of 2020]], to honor her Japanese heritage; she had originally used Bloom, an English equivalent to Sakura (meaning [[cherry blossom]]) out of a fear of typecasting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CD4ONqQpawz/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/CD4ONqQpawz |archive-date=2021-12-24 |url-access=registration|title=Nichole Sakura Instagram post|work=Nichole Sakura|last=Sakura|first=Nichole|date=August 14, 2020|access-date=August 14, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>