Henriksen Henricksen

[ethsnafu]

Hi folks,

Now this may seem like a pedantic question but it is something that has piqued my curiosity. Lance did a couple of films post-Millennium in which he is credited as Henricksen rather than the more common Henriksen. At first I guessed that this was a simple mistake but it isn't uncommon for actors to appear throughout their career in various project using more than one variation of the spelling of their stage name sometimes changing their name entirely from one run of projects to the next.

The reason I'm asking is, I recently read an autobiography by an actor who spoke of requesting payment for a particular project a year after he had completed it in order to prevent contractual obligations from interfering with that payment (or something like that) and I wondered if there was a more interesting explanation for why actors modify the spelling of their names every now and again. Could it be that it allows them pursue work outside of a contract or does it prevent a film being credited to their SAG name during a particular tax year or whatever.

Evidently I have no knowledge at all of 'the biz' but I wondered if anyone who did could share some light on the name game.

Eth

[The Old Man]

I have always been somewhat miffed to see Lance credited as Hendricksen, assuming also that it was a mistake on someone's part. However, now you've pointed that out, who honestly knows? Only Lance I guess. Perhaps he'll mention it in his autobiography. Unless he assumed that misnomer when its an an alimony film.

[Earthnut]

I was raised out in Southern California, and worked for PBS, and you know what, I don't have a clue either. I do know that many change their name because someone else already has it and using it. Another reason is to simplify it so it can be remembered easier. Some actors also just don't want anyone to know their real name, or they don't even like it, but people find out anyway. Here's a link to one page I found with a long list. Wow, to name a few, Jennifer Aniston's real name is Jennifer Anastassakis, Yul Brynner's is Yul Taidje Kahn, Jr., Joan Crawford's is Lucille Le Sueur, Tom Cruise's is Thomas Mapother IV, Judy Garland's is Frances Gumm, Walter Matthau's is Walter Matuschanskayaskyand, and John Denver's is Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. Oh wow, here's a doosey, Kirk Douglas' is Issur Danielovitch.

Actors Real Names

[ethsnafu]

Joan Crawford's real name was infinitely more star-like than her stage name wasn't it? She should have kept it.

I always assumed it was a mistake too. You see people generally spell his surname incorrectly but I always think that that's just down to an unfamiliarity with the correct spelling but when it comes to credits in films I know actors are generally quite keen as to where they are billed and how they are billed and it just makes me believe that when it comes to slapping someone's name on the credits that variations like these must be for a reason.

As far as I can gather Lance has used three variations of his name throughout his career, Henriksen, Henricksen and Hendrickson which is still not half as many variations some stars go through throughout their career.

Who knows eh?

Eth

[Guest SpooktalkGiGi]

If im guess right Lance's last name sounds of maybe a German decent and i know that a lot of immigrants coming to America changed their last names spelling to fit in better or to be able to pronounce it better by others, maybe his family changed the spelling around to make it easier for people to spell or understand. I know in my maiden name my dad's family all were German and the last name use to be Bookbinder which was shortened when they moved to America to Boocks and then shortend again by some of the family to Books so it would be easily pronounced and understood and spelled. :)

Laura :)

[Guest WaveCrest]

Now this is interesting. I had been spelling Lance's surname as "Henricksen", until a couple of years ago when I started spelling it as "Henriksen" (after seeing how other people spelt it and assumed that was the correct spelling.

[Guest teedub]

The one I found really odd was Lost Voyage, where he's in the credits as Henricksen, and Antibody where it's spelled correctly. They both have the same director. Perhaps he learned how to spell it correctly when Antibody came along.

I don't think spelling would make a difference in payment or taxes. The paycheck goes to the agent first, then the agent issues a check to the actor.

It's a curious question. Hmm.

[ethsnafu]

It is a curious question. I have no idea about any aspect of the acting profession but I had always assumed actors are rather precious about these types of things. In everyday situations I am sure we would all correct someone if they misspelled our name but when it comes to being credited for a film I would imagine someone attends to these details like his agent? Manager?

That said Terry O'Quinn has gone by Terrance O'Quinn, Terence Quinn and Terrance Quinn. He went by Terrance Quinn in almost everything he did between the years 2000 and 2003. He was even credited in The X-Files (Trust No 1) as Terrance Quinn and that was post-Millennium and there's no way on earth the Ten Thirteen crew got his name wrong given he had worked for them so many times.

I think this is going to be my latest obsession.

Eth