I’ve always been intrigued with the names of the characters played by movie stars, especially the iconic figures of the Golden Age—the interplay between actor and character name, and the roles those names played in establishing and perpetuating their screen personas.

　　It certainly comes as no surprise that John Wayne played numerous heroes named John and Jim or that Cary Grant portrayed three Nicks or how many good girl Pollys and Pennys there were, played by the likes of the young Shirley Temple and Judy Garland.  But there were a lot of interesting aberrations– for example, though to most of us Clark Gable will always be Rhett Butler, he was also Ace, Blackie (twice), Candy, Duke and Patch; Humphrey Bogart may live on eternally in video heaven as Rick, but he also answered to Baby Face, Bugs, Turkey, Duke, Gloves, Chips and Rocks, Joan Crawford was Bingo as well as Mildred Pierce, and Bette Davis was Fluff Phillips as well as Margo Channing.

　　Looking over some vintage cast credits, one thing that jumps out is the number of current trends that were anticipated in the movies of the 1930s, forties and fifties.  For example:

　　NICKNAME NAMES

　　In addition to those mentioned above, there were:

　　ACE – Cary Grant

　　AGGIE —  Linda Darnell

　　ALLIE – Joan Crawford

　　ARCHIE – Clark Gable

　　BUCK – Jack Benny

　　BUNNY—Bette Davis,  Katharine Hepburn and Lana Turner

　　BUSTER – Loretta Young

　　CHIP—Frank Sinatra

　　DUSKY – Marilyn Monroe

　　DUSTY—John Wayne, Gary Cooper

　　DUTCH –Spencer Tracy, James Stewart

　　EMMY —  Olivia de Havilland, Alice Faye

　　FRANKIE—Ann Sheridan

　　FREDDIE —  Betty Grable

　　GEORGIE —  Grace Kelly

　　HUCK —  Fred Astaire

　　JERRY —  Alice Faye

　　JOSIE —  Marlene Dietrich

　　KATIE —  Alice Faye

　　KIT – Lana Turner

　　KITTY – Ava Gardner, Paulette Goddard, Ginger Rogers

　　FLIP – Ginger Rogers

　　JIGGS – Kirk Douglas

　　LETTIE —  Loretta Young

　　LANK – Henry Fonda

　　LINK – Gary Cooper

　　LUCKY – Fred Astaire, Dorothy Lamour

　　LUTIE – Katharine Hepburn

　　MIDGE—Kirk Douglas

　　RANDY —  Ann Sheridan

　　RIP – James Stewart

　　ROXIE — Ginger Rogers

　　RUSTY —  Rita Hayworth

　　SAIRY—Judy Garland

　　SCOTTIE —  James Stewart

　　SMOKEY – Olivia de Havilland

　　VIN – Steve McQueen

　　VIRGIE —  Shirley Temple

　　WINNIE —  Betty Hutton

　　BOYS NAMES FOR GIRLS

　　Just in case you thought this was a new thing, it was also a rampant trend in Hollywood’s heyday, with such examples (in addition to those above) as:

　　BILL – Jean Arthur

　　CAL – Anne Baxter

　　CARY —  Jane Wyman

　　CECIL – Linda Darnell

　　CHRISTOPHER – Katharine Hepburn

　　DENNY – Jane Wyman

　　HANK – Ann Sheridan

　　JOHNNY – Ginger Rogers

　　LLOYD – Shirley Temple

　　MIKE – Jane Russell, Margaret O’Brien

　　PETER – Ida Lupino

　　RANDOLPH – Ida Lupino

　　REGGIE – Audrey Hepburn

　　REMY – Ava Gardner

　　ROY – Olivia de Havilland

　　STANLEY – Bette Davis

　　TEDDY – Veronica Lake

　　THEO – Lana Turner

　　VANCE – Barbara Stanwyck

　　WALLY – Janet Leigh

　　PLACE NAMES

　　In just about every World War II movie, it seemed that every ship and every squadron had at least one guy called Brooklyn, and a couple of Dakotas and Detroits.  Of course these were nicknames based on place of origin, but still—Golden Age films were filled with place-name characters, including:

　　ALABAM  —  Carole Lombard

　　ALABAMA —  Bette Davis, Jane Wyman

　　ALBANY —  Dorothy Lamour

　　ALGERIA  —   Linda Darnell

　　CHINA —  Jennifer Jones

　　DAKOTA —  Rory Calhoun

　　DALLAS —  Bette Davis

　　KANSAS  —  Dan Dailey

　　NEVADA —  Gary Cooper, Alan Ladd, Steve McQueen

　　PHILADELPHIA —  Shirley Temple

　　PITTSBURGH  —  John Wayne

　　RENO —  Robert Ryan

　　RIO —  Jane Russell

　　SIERRA NEVADA —  Barbara Stanwyck

　　TEXAS —  Gary Cooper

　　TULSA —  Elvis Presley

　　VIENNA – Joan Crawford

　　One thing that has changed is the perception of some specific names.  In the olde days, when W. C. Fields and Groucho Marx were looking for character names sure to produce a guffaw, they would come up with choices like Otis, Rufus, Quincy, Quentin, Augustus and Ambrose—names that now sound like handsome and perfectly acceptable names for babies.

　　Tomorrow look for some unusual monikers from vintage films that could make interesting choices today.

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