Stage name "h" from his original name, Stumph. It was still pronounced "stump," but the change ensured his audience wouldn't think to pronounce it "stumf." Singer Jason Derulo uses the phonetic spelling of his given name, Jason Desrouleaux. Andy Warhol dropped an "a" from his original name, Warhola, while couturier Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent dropped the first of his two surnames. Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Piero Filiberto Guglielmi adopted the stage name Rudolph Valentino in part because American casting directors found his original surname difficult to pronounce. Singer George Michael (the son of a Greek Cypriot restaurateur in North London) was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou.
Michael Pickering (footballer, born 1963) Michael Pickering (footballer, born 1963) Michael Pickering (born 30 November 1963) is a former Australian rules football player who played in the VFL/AFL between 1984 and 1991 for the Richmond Football Club and then from 1992 until 1993 for the Melbourne Football Club. Pickering was a talented footballer from Vermont whose fine marking was the trademark of his game. Courageous and determined in his approach to the ball Pickering won the Tigers' best and fairest award in 1988. That season he was made vice-captain and led the side well when Weightman was unavailable, he fell out of favour late in