What's HIS Name? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mark

Born Mark Sinclair, Vin Diesel started his career in film with roles in major motion pictures like "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Iron Giant", but his biggest pushes into becoming a household name came from his roles as Riddick in "Pitch Black" and the "Chronicles of Riddick" series and as Dom Toretto in the long-running "Fast and the Furious" franchise. Since then, he's also been the voice of Groot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sinclair's stage name of 'Vin Diesel', which has since become a household name, was one he adopted while working as a nightclub bouncer in New York City. He kept the name when he moved to Los Angeles.

Answer: Edward

London-born actor Edward Thomas Hardy started his career in the late 1990s, but built himself up through theatre work before quickly rising to Hollywood caliber films, getting cast in Christopher Nolan movies like "Inception" and "The Dark Knight Rises" (in which he played Bane). Nominated for an Oscar in "The Revenant" in 2016 (for which Leonardo DiCaprio took Best Actor), he would go on to be the lead in "Mad Max: Fury Road" and the Sony-made comic book trilogy of "Venom". On TV, he starred in five seasons of the BBC series "Peaky Blinders".

Answer: Enrique

Born in Puerto Rico, Enrique Martin Morales would take on the name when he started performing, doing so when he was only twelve years old joining the rotating roster of the Latin dance-pop group Menudo. Of course, he hit it big solo, performing Latin-inspired pop tracks like "Livin' la Vida Loca" and "She Bangs", both of which became major radio hits at the turn of the century. One of the best-selling Latin music artists of all-time, he's been the recipient of Grammy Awards for 'Best Latin Pop Album' and been a multi-platinum recording artist with international renown.

Answer: Maurice

Michael Caine's full name is Maurice J. Micklewhite, and it probably doesn't come as a surprise that he changed it prior to commencing his lengthy film career which spanned eight decades of cinema--everything from early leading roles in "Zulu" and "The Italian Job" in the 1960s to later roles in the films of Christopher Nolan.

In addition to being knighted in 2000, Caine is the recipient of two Academy Awards (for performances in "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "The Cider House Rules") with six nominations. Caine retired from acting in 2023 with credits in more than ten dozen films.

Answer: Walter

Bruce Willis ended up performing with his middle name; the full name is Walter Bruce Willis. With only a handful of credits to his name, Bruce ended up getting the Emmy-winning lead role on the 1980s sitcom "Moonlighting", and from there he headed into a long career as a larger-than-life action film star (with movies like "Die Hard", "The Fifth Element", and "Armageddon") with brief forays into R&B music and restaurant owning (he was one of the investors in Planet Hollywood). Willis retired from acting in 2022 due to declining health.

Answer: Ferdinand

Although we may know him as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, this famous basketball player was actually born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.; he took the name in 1971 after winning his first of six NBA Championships, this one with the Milwaukee Bucks. He would spend six seasons with them before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers with whom he'd spend the remainder of his long professional career.

Off the court, Abdul-Jabbar also appeared in several TV shows and films and acted as a White House-designated cultural ambassador during the Obama years.

Answer: Krishna

Award-winning British actor Sir Ben Kingsley, knighted in 2002, was actually born in Yorkshire with the name Krishna Pandit Bhanji. The Indian heritage actually came from his father's side; his grandfather was an Indian spice trader who immigrated to Zanzibar.

Kingsley is best-known for his Oscar-winning performance as Mahatma Gandhi in the 1982 Richard Attenborough film "Gandhi" (which won eight Oscars including Best Picture). This said, he's also an accomplished Shakespearean actor and has appeared in dozens upon dozens of popular films and TV shows.

Answer: John

A major figure in Hollywood cinema in the twentieth century, Charlton Heston was born John Charles Carter in 1923. Winner of countless awards including a Best Actor Oscar for his role in "Ben-Hur", a Kennedy Center Honor, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Heston was in everything from historical epics to futuristic science fiction.

Heston also dabbled heavily in politics over the course of his lifetime, eventually becoming the President of the National Rifle Association. He would pass away in his home in California in 2008.

Answer: Eric

Kicking off his career in comedy and music in the early 1990s, Jamie Foxx would transition from being on shows like "In Living Color" to taking on Oscar-level roles over the course of the next couple decades, winning the Best Actor statuette for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biopic, "Ray". Interestingly, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the same year for his role in "Collateral". He would remain in Hollywood, eventually taking a more substantial role on TV shows like "Beat Shazam", which features his daughter, Corinne.

Jamie Foxx is only a stage name, though; he was born Eric Marlon Bishop.

Answer: Peter

One of the most accomplished pop musicians of the early twenty-first century, Bruno Mars came up from humble early tracks like "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade", eventually building his sound and pop supremacy with hit singles like "24K Magic", "Uptown Funk", and the Lady Gaga collaboration, "Die With a Smile". With more than a dozen Grammy Awards to his name, a year as lead performer of the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and several Guinness World Records, he's one of the most-listened-to artists of the early streaming era.

Oh yeah, and his real name isn't Bruno Mars-- it's Peter Gene Hernandez. Bruno was just a childhood nickname.