Name Changers a to z

Rapper and hip-hop entrepreneur Jay-Z has won Grammy Awards, helmed Def Jam Records, created a clothing line, and married Beyoncé Knowles.

Elton John is a British singer, pianist and composer who was one of the most popular musicians of the 20th century. Along with selling more than 250 million records he has found success on Broadway, composing the music score for the Tony award winning hit Billy Elliot (2008).

Al Jolson was a Russian-born U.S. singer, songwriter, and blackface comedian who performed in vaudeville and minstrel shows and starred in The Jazz Singer.

Jennifer Jones was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-winning performance in the film The Song of Bernadette.

Spike Jonze is best known for his films Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Where the Wild Things Are. He produced MTV's Jackass.

Wynonna Judd is a country music superstar, famous for her solo hits and alongside her mother, Naomi Judd.

Boris Karloff was an English-born actor whose name became synonymous with horror movies.

In addition to his career of talk show host on Larry King Live, Larry King has appeared as himself in several movies and television shows.

Actor Klaus Kinski made his mark in such films as Aguirre (1972), Nosferatu (1979) and Fitzcarraldo (1982).

Michael Kors is a fashion designer and judge on the television show, Project Runway. He designed the Michelle Obama's dress for her first official portrait.

Pop icon Lady Gaga's debut album The Fame included hits "Just Dance" and "Poker Face." Her follow-up, The Fame Monster, was nominated for six Grammys.

Dame Cleo Laine was a Grammy Award-winning British jazz vocalist as well as a stage actress. She was known as the "Queen of Jazz" in her singing prime.

Extraordinarily beautiful, Hedy Lamarr was a Austrian-American actress during MGM's "Golden Age."

Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director and producer known for his roles in I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie.

Estée Lauder started her own beauty company in 1946. Her business, which includes such product lines as Estée Lauder, MAC Cosmetics and Clinique, continues to thrive to this day.

Author John Le Carré’s first published novel, Call for the Dead, introduced his ‘anti-hero’ George Smiley, who appears in most of his stories.

Gypsy Rose Lee rose from an early life in vaudeville to America's most famed burlesque performers, becoming the subject of the Broadway show Gypsy.

Film actress Janet Leigh, once Tony Curtis’s wife, is best remembered for her shower scene as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller, Psycho.

Marc Lepine went on a shooting spree in 1989 that became known as the Montreal Massacre, which killed 14 people.

Meat Loaf is a multi-platinum musician, made famous for his rock opera, Bat Out of Hell. He's acted in cult-hit films, Rocky Horror Picture Show and Fight Club.

Jack London was a 19th century American author and journalist, best known for the adventure novels White Fang and The Call of the Wild.

Lucky Luciano was an Italian-born American mobster best known for engineering the structure of modern organized crime in the United States.

Model Elle Macpherson put the super in "supermodel." In her day, she was known as "The Body" because of her stunning height and figure.

Taj Mahal is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music blends various folk traditions and was influential in the creation of the world music genre.

Jayne Mansfield was an American actress best known for her bombshell curves and roles in films during the 1950s and '60s.

Carlos Marcello was best known as the mob boss of New Orleans, and for the FBI's investigation of his possible involvement in JFK's assassination.

American professional boxer and world heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano beat Jersey Joe Walcott for the title and won an unrivaled 49 straight fights.

After several years as one of pop music's premier songwriters, Bruno Mars broke out as a singer in his own right with the 2010 hit "Nothin' on You."

Master P is a rapper and hip-hop mogul who founded No Limit Records.

Billy the Kid is best known for his time as a thief and gunfighter, constantly on the run from law enforcement.

Kweisi Mfume is the former President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Grammy Award-winning pop singer George Michael was one of the leading performers in the 1980s. His 1987 album Faith won a Grammy for best album of the year.

Hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj was featured in seven songs on Billboard's Hot 100 at the same time, even before the release of her debut album in 2010.

Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, responsible for hits such as "Both Sides Now" and "Big Yellow Taxi," is widely considered 1960s and '70s folk royalty.

Actress Marilyn Monroe overcame a difficult childhood to become of the world's biggest and most enduring sex symbols. She died of a drug overdose in 1962.

Contrasting her edgy, tomboyish style with that of her female popstar peers, Pink has had huge success with hits like "You Make Me Sick" and "There You Go".

Jelly Roll Morton was an American pianist and songwriter best known for influencing the formation of modern day jazz during the 1920s.

French artist Nadar was a caricaturist and photographer who became famous for his portrait studio and the images snapped from his giant hot air balloon.

As housewife and mother on the hit series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Harriet Nelson became one of television's best-loved characters during the 1950s.

Queen Latifah is an American rapper, record producer and actress known for her roles in the films Set it Off, Bone Collector, Last Holiday and Chicago.

Jack Palance was an American actor best known for playing villainous roles in the 1960s and for his award-winning appearance in the film City Slickers.

A member of three Brazilian World Cup-champion teams, Pelé is considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time.

Molly Pitcher was a patriot who--during the American Revolution--carried pitchers of water to American soldiers for cooling the cannons.

Pol Pot was the political leader of Cambodia who was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people under his reign.

William Sydney Porter was a prolific short story writer whose work appeared under the name O. Henry.

Experimental jazz pianist, songwriter, composer and bandleader Sun Ra formed the band Arkestra in the 1950s and played in it until his death in 1993.

Tony Randall was an actor who played popular television character Felix Unger on the hit series The Odd Couple.

Man Ray was primarily known for his photography, which spanned both the Dada and Surrealism movements.

Sugar Ray Robinson was an American professional boxer who is frequently cited as the greatest boxer in history.

When it came to musician Kid Rock, record labels weren't quite sure how to promote a white rapper who blended heavy metal and country rock.

Roy Rogers was an American actor and singer best known as the “King of the Cowboys” for his heroic roles in musical westerns. His sidekick palomino, Trigger, and dog, Bullet often appeared with him.

Mickey Rooney was a child star best known for his role as Andy Hardy in a long-running film series. He a starred in a number of musicals with Judy Garland.

Tokyo Rose, whose real name was Iva Toguri, was an American-born Japanese woman who hosted a Japanese propaganda radio program aimed at U.S. troops during World War II.

Nightclub owner Jack Ruby murdered Lee Harvey Oswald before Oswald could stand trial for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Ja Rule is one of the biggest rappers from the early 2000s, known for hits like "Between Me and You," "Always on Time" and "Put It on Me."

French author Amandine Aaurore Lucile Dudevant wrote many popular novels during the Romantic period under the pseudonym George Sand.

Dick Sargent was an actor of film and television mostly remembered for his portrayal of Darrin Stephens on TV's Bewitched.

Emmy Award-winning British actress Jane Seymour starred on the dramatic TV series Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, and was in the James Bond film Live and Let Die.

Ravi Shankar was an Indian musician and composer best known for popularizing the sitar and Indian classical music in Western culture.

Actor Charlie Sheen, star of such films as Platoon and of TV's Two and a Half Men, is the brother of actor Emilio Estévez and the son of actor Martin Sheen.

Martin Sheen is an American actor best known for his roles in films Badlands (1973) and Apocalypse Now (1979). He has won numerous awards for his role as President Bartlet on the TV series The West Wing.

Kate Sheppard was a leader in the New Zealand women's suffrage movement, helping women gain the right to vote in New Zealand.

Beverly Sills is best known for her soprano voice as an opera performer. After many successful decades, she made her debut with the Met in 1975.

Gene Simmons is best known as the frontman for KISS, the rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s, as well as for his TV show Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

Siouxsie Sioux is best known as the lead singer of the group Siouxsie and the Banshees, whose most popular singles include "Peek-A-Boo," "Cities in Dust," "The Killing Jar" and "Kiss Them For Me."

Anna Nicole Smith gained early fame as a model for Guess and Playboy magazine, and later became known for her marriage to 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II.

Brett Somers was a TV actress and personality perhaps best known for her appearances on Match Game, the top game show during much of the 1970s.

Trey Songz is a Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter known for hits like "Can't Help but Wait."

Hailed as Britain's "best ever pop singer" by Rolling Stone, the English-born Dusty Springfield charted several 1960s hits, including "Son of a Preacher Man."

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union for more than two decades, instituting a reign of terror while modernizing Russia and helping to defeat Nazism.

Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress who had a 60-year career in film and TV. Usually playing strong-willed women, Stanwyck defined the femme fatale.

Ringo Starr first rose to fame in the early 1960s as the drummer for the legendary rock group the Beatles.