Buzz
Creating a piece of work doesn’t always mean you want your name associated with it. Directors, writers, and actors sometimes adopt pseudonyms to hide their true identity for works they feel less proud of, or for reasons like modesty, political or religious persecution, or simply for fun. Here are eight movie pseudonyms you might not have known about.
1. Aliases: Peter Andrews, Mary Ann Bernard, and Sam Lowry
True Identity: Steven Soderbergh
Director Steven Soderbergh is known for writing his own films, as well as serving as his own cinematographer and editor. The 50-year-old filmmaker prefers to avoid having his name appear too many times, so he has taken to using pseudonyms for various credits in his films.
While working on the 2000 film Traffic, Soderbergh wanted a credit that read ‘Photographed and Directed by.’ However, the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) enforces strict rules against such credits being placed between a writer’s and director’s credits, prompting Soderbergh to adopt the pseudonym ‘Peter Andrews,’ which is derived from his father’s first and middle name. He later used ‘Mary Ann Bernard,’ his mother’s maiden name, for his editing credits, starting with his 2002 film Solaris. At times, he has also used the pseudonym ‘Sam Lowry’ for writing credits.
2. Pseudonyms: Ian McLellan Hunter and Robert Rich
True Identity: Dalton Trumbo
In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) blacklisted Dalton Trumbo due to his suspected ties with the Communist Party. Unable to continue his work in Hollywood, Trumbo resorted to using the aliases ‘Ian McLellan Hunter’ and ‘Robert Rich’ to remain active as a screenwriter. Both of these pseudonyms earned Academy Awards for Best Writing for their respective films: Roman Holiday (1954) and The Brave One (1957). Trumbo was eventually awarded the Oscar for The Brave One in 1975, just a year before his death. He posthumously received an Academy Award for Roman Holiday in 1992.
3. Alias: Douglas Sirk
True Name: Hans Detlef Sierck
Once a renowned writer and director in pre-war Europe, Hans Detlef Sierck adopted the name ‘Douglas Sirk’ when he fled Nazi Germany for the United States with his Jewish wife in 1937. Sirk’s career flourished in America, where he directed visually stunning melodramas like Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind, and A Time to Love and a Time to Die. His work left a lasting impact on future filmmakers, influencing directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Pedro Almodóvar, Wong Kar-Wai, and Todd Haynes.
4. Alias: Bob Robertson
True Name: Sergio Leone
Concerned that American audiences might reject a western made in Italy, Sergio Leone and composer Ennio Morricone used the pseudonyms ‘Bob Robertson’ and ‘Dan Savio’ for their work on A Fistful of Dollars in 1967. The film became a massive success in the United States, thanks to its innovative blend of genre elements and intense violence. This film also helped popularize the ‘Spaghetti Western,’ or Italian Western, genre in America, after which Sergio Leone returned to using his real name for all subsequent films.
5. Alias: Roderick Jaynes
True Names: Joel & Ethan Coen
The Coen Brothers, a dynamic filmmaking duo, work together with Joel as the director, Ethan as the producer, and both sharing writing duties. However, when it comes to editing, the Coens chose to use the pseudonym ‘Roderick Jaynes’ to avoid repeating their names in the credits. Roderick Jaynes has received two Academy Award nominations for editing work on Fargo and No Country For Old Men.
6. Alias: Donald Kaufman
Birth Name: Charlie Kaufman
Charlie Kaufman, the writer, credited his late twin brother, Donald, for a shared writing credit on the 2002 film Adaptation, directed by Spike Jonze (whose real name is Adam Spiegel, and the pseudonym ‘Spike Jonze’ honors musician Spike Jones). Both Kaufman brothers were nominated for the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Had they won, Charlie Kaufman would have received both Oscars—since Donald never existed in reality.
7. Alias: Woody Allen
True Name: Allan Stewart Konigsberg
Allan Stewart Konigsberg, better known as ‘Woody Allen,’ altered his name to ‘Heywood Allen’ at 17 after a difficult experience at an interfaith summer camp. By 19, he began writing for The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show, later rising to prominence as a playwright, writer, and director.
8. Alias: Alan Smithee
True Identity: Any Director Who Wishes To Remain Anonymous For A Film
The Director’s Guild of America (DGA) introduced the pseudonym ‘Alan Smithee’ for directors who felt they had lost control over a film's production and no longer wanted their names associated with it. The use of this alias allowed them to keep their reputation intact while distancing themselves from less-than-ideal projects. The first film to use this pseudonym was Death of a Gunfighter in 1969, where Robert Totten and Don Siegel both directed separately.
The DGA officially retired the Alan Smithee name in 2000 after Kiefer Sutherland used it on the film Woman Wanted. Other notable instances include David Lynch’s credit on the extended edition of Dune, Michael Mann’s involvement with the edited TV versions of Heat and The Insider, and Steve Langley’s work on the animated feature Mighty Ducks The Movie: The First Face-Off. Additionally, director Paul Verhoeven used the variation ‘Jan Jensen’ for the TV version of Showgirls.
Though officially retired, the Alan Smithee pseudonym still appears in TV, music video, and video game credits today.
