A lot of stars back then used stage names.
Joan Crawford- Lucille LeSuer, Marylin Monroe-Norma Jean Baker
Judy Garland-Francis Gum. I wonder why.
its probably cause their real names are that popular and you want to stand out espeically when your in show business
shareThe heads of the studios always did that. Judy Garland is much more glamorous than Francis Gumm.
Sometimes, if the name was too "ethnic" it was chaged for that reason too. The studios back then, had publicity departments who planted pics and stories about the stars to build up their images. They worked tirelessly to make sure that their press was favorable, and nothing nasty was printed about the stars....not like today`s tabloids.