Regarded as a very popular writer and director in pre-war Europe, Hans Detlef Sierck changed his name to “Douglas Sirk” when he fled Nazi Germany to the United States with his Jewish wife in 1937. Years later, Trumbo posthumously received the Academy Award for Roman Holiday in 1992. Dalton Trumbo was later given the Academy Award for The Brave One in 1975, one year before he died. In fact, Ian McLellan Hunter and Robert Rich received Academy Awards for Best Writing for the films Roman Holiday in 1954 and The Brave One in 1957. Unable to work in Hollywood, Trumbo used the pseudonyms “Ian McLellan Hunter” and “Robert Rich” to continue as a screenwriter. In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) blacklisted Dalton Trumbo for suspected involvement with the Communist Party.

Pseudonyms: Ian McLellan Hunter and Robert Rich

At times, Soderbergh also used the pseudonym “Sam Lowry” as a writer’s credit. He has since used the pseudonym “Mary Ann Bernard” (his mother’s maiden name) for his editing credits, starting with his 2002 film Solaris.

While working on the film Traffic in 2000, Soderbergh wanted to use the credit “Photographed and Directed by,” but the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) has firm rules against credits between a writer’s credit and a director’s, so Soderbergh decided to use the pseudonym “Peter Andrews” (his father’s first and middle name). The 50-year-old director doesn’t like to see his name used multiple times, so he adopted the practice of using pseudonyms for his various movie credits. Pseudonyms: Peter Andrews, Mary Ann Bernard, and Sam Lowryĭirector Steven Soderbergh often writes his own movies and works as his own cinematographer and editor.

Here are eight movie pseudonyms you may not have known. Sometimes directors, writers, and actors use pseudonyms to protect their true identity for works they are not proud of, while other various reasons include modesty, religious and political persecution, and just sheer entertainment value. Just because you created the work doesn’t mean you want credit for it.

The brave one 1957 film