Hollywood's actor and actrees Screen names

HOLLYWOOD STYLE

Source: Speak Up

Speaker: Chuck Rollando

Language level: Upper Intermediate

In the golden age of Hollywood studios created personas for their stars. They chose names that sounded sexier, more American or simply memorable. These days actors are not owned by studios, but still make adjustments to the names they were born with. Why?

SEXY

Frances Gumm sounds ordinary and boring, but Judy Garland is adorable, Virginia McMath doesn’t sound like a dancing sensation, but Ginger Rogers does  (a child’s mispronunciation of Virgina, plus her stepfather’s surname). Lauren Bacall was a wonderful femme fatale, but would she have won Humphrey Bogart’s heart if she was still Betty Joan Perske? The sexiest improvement was surely from Norma Jeane Baker to Marilyn Monroe.

It works for men, too. Archibald Leach sounds like a tired old shopkeeper. Cary Grant is much more sophisticated. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV makes little impression, but we all know Tom Cruise.

SIMPLICITY AND STYLE

Simplicity is crucial for all actors, from comedians to romantic stars. Stan Laurel, of comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, sounds funnier than Arthur Stanley Jefferson. Maurice Micklewhite might be a great actor, but his iconic status is helped by the name Michael Cain.camille Javal sounds interesting, but surely not as memorable as Brigitte Bardot.

Sometimes a small change does wonders. Jodie foster, Sigourney Weaver an Meryl  Streep have a movie magic about them that Alicia Foster, Susan Weaver and Mary Louise Streep do not. Frank cooper could not be the western hero that Gary Cooper became.

The starts of My Fair Lady both simplified their names: Reginald Harrison became the archetypal English gentlemen  Rex Harrison; Edda Van Heemstra Ruston disguised her European origins with the name Audrey Hepburn.

EXOTIC/

Many stars hope to hide ethnic origins –or just want their names to be easier to pronounce. The Graduate’s Anne Bancroft had to change form Anne Italiano. Alan Alda, from M*A*S*H, created his surname from initial letters of his real name, Alphonso D”Abruzzo. Would comedy partners Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin have been as popular as Joseph Levitch and Dino Crocetti?

Al Jolson sounds more American than Asa Yoelson. Woody Allen and Mel Brooks are easier to recognize than Allen Kronigsberg and Mel Kaminsky. Walter Matthau is memorable, but would you remember Walter Matasschanskayasky:  Doris Kappelhoff lacks the girl-next-door magic of Doris day. Freeric Austerlitz hid his German roots by becoming Fred Astaire. Issur Demsky’s Russian family turned him into heroic Kirk Douglas. Charles Buchinksky sounds tougher as Charles Bronson, while Martin Sheen won star roles by changing from Ramones Estevez.

English actor William Pratt is the exception. He became screen legend Boris Karloff a middle European name, perfect for horror movies.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Some try to avoid accusations of nepotism. Emilio Estevez his father’s real surname, while Brother Charlie Sheen kept the screen name. Would Nicholas Cage have succeeded sooner if he had still been Nicholas Coppola, nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola?

Others changed embarrassing names: Marion Morrison, a woman’s name was no good for the epitome of masculinity John Wayne.

The strangest story is that of Yul Brynner. He often claimed he was Taidje Khan, of Mongolian-Japanese origins, but his name was really Yul Brynner and has parents Russian.

SCREEN NAME	REAL NAME
Joan Crawford	Lucille Fay LeSueur
Cher	Cherllyn Sarkisian
Dirk Bogarde	Derek Jules Caspard Ulric Niven Van den Bogaerde
Lou Costello	Louis Francis Cristillo
Tony Curtis	Bernard Schwartz
Bette Davis	Ruth Elizabeth Davis
Marlene Dietrich	Marie Magdalene Deitrich
Mia Farrow	Maria de Lourdes Villers-Farrow
Jean Harlow	Harlean Carpentier
Rita Hayworth	Margarita Carmen Cansino
Bob Hope	Leslie Townes Hope
Rock Hudson	Roy Harold Scherer Jr.
Buster Keaton	Joseph Frank Keaton VI
Michael Keaton	Michael John Douglas
Natassja Kinski	Nastassja Naksyzns
Hedy Lamarr	Hedwig Eva Maria Kiester
Bruce Lee	Lee Jun Fan
Vivien Leigh	Vivian Hartley
Sophia Loren	Sofia villani Scicolone
Bela Lugosi	Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko
Shirley MacLaine	Rosmarie Magdelena Albach
Barbara Stanwyck	Ruby Stevens
Rudolph Valentino	Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina
Gloria Swanson	Gloria Svensson
Shelley Winters	Shirley Schrift.

Words and Their Stories: Hold Your Horses!

Source: http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/words-stories/Words-and-Their-Stories-Hold-Your-Horses-118296964.html

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

Today, we tell about "horse" expressions.  In the past, many people depended on horses for transportation, farming and other kinds of work.  A lot of people still like to ride horses.  And, horse racing is also popular.  So it is not surprising that Americans still use expressions about the animals.

Long ago, people who were rich or important rode horses that were very tall.  Today, if a girl acts like she is better than everyone else, you might say she should get off her high horse.

Yesterday my children wanted me to take them to the playground.  But I had to finish my work, so I told them to hold your horses. Wait until I finish what I am doing.  My two boys like to compete against each other and play in a violent way.  I always tell them to stop horsing around or someone could get hurt.

We live in a small town.  It does not have any exciting activities to offer visitors.  My children call it a one-horse town.

Last night, I got a telephone call while I was watching my favorite television show.  I decided not to answer it because wild horses could not drag me away from the television.  There was nothing that could stop me from doing what I wanted to do. 

Sometimes you get information straight from the horse's mouth. It comes directly from the person who knows most about the subject and is the best source.  Let us say your teacher tells you there is going to be a test tomorrow.  You could say you got the information straight from the horse's mouth.  However, you would not want to call your teacher a horse!

You may have heard this expression: You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.  That means you can give someone advice but you cannot force him to do something he does not want to do.

Sometimes a person fights a battle that has been decided or keeps arguing a question that has been settled.  We say this is like beating a dead horse.

In politics, a dark-horse candidate is someone who is not well known to the public.  Sometimes, a dark horse unexpectedly wins an election.

Another piece of advice is, do not change horses in midstream. You would not want to get off one horse and on to another in the middle of a river.  Or make major changes in an activity that has already begun.  In the past, this expression was used as an argument to re-elect a president, especially during a time when the country was at war.

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust.  I'm Faith Lapidus.  You can find more WORDS AND THEIR STORIES at our website, voaspecialenglish.com.

Lyrics, Billy Joe

The River of Dreams by Billy Joel Author of This Exercise:ESL Teacher Judith Jékél Source: English Exercises www.englishexercises.org Watch the video and do the following exercises. Write in the missing prepositions.  the middle   the night I go walking   my sleep  the mountains   faith  the river so deep I must be looking   something Something sacred I lost But the river is wide And it’s too hard to cross Choose the words that you can hear And even doughthroughthoughthought I know the river is widewhitewildwind  I waketaketalkwalk  down every evening and stand on the showshorestoresore  I try to cross to the opposite sideslidesightsite  So I cancan'tcanecannal  finally find what I’ve binbeanbeenbee  looking for Write in the missing words. The images may help . In the middle of the   I go   in my sleep Through the   of fear To a   so deep I’m a   for something Taken out of my soul Something I’d never   Something somebody   Match the beginning and the end of the following lines. I don’t know why                A  the rest of my life But now I’m tired and             B  I go walking at night     Hope it doesn’t take                      C   I don’t wanna walk anymore Until I find what it is              D   I’ve been looking for Unscramble the words in brackets. In the   (lieddm) of the night I go walking in my  (elesp) Through the   (lejung) of doubt To the river so   (edpe) I know I’m   (hcaengsir) for something Something so undefined That it can only be seen By the eyes of the  (inldb) In the middle of the night Write in the missing words. The images may help. I’m not sure about a life after this  knows I’ve never been a spiritual man Baptized by the , I wade into the river That is   to the promised land In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep Through the   of truth To the river so deep We all end in the   We all   in the streams We’re all carried along By the river of    In the middle of the night

World affairs

Brazilian teachers, schools, Students should got the signature of Maganews, it's excellent, I recommend it.

Source: MAGANEWS

World affairs

Barack Obama in Brazil

The objectives of president Barack Obama’s trip toBrazil are economic, political and social

   

   Brasília – According to the White House spokesman, Jay Carney, the objectives of president Barack Obama’s trip to Brazilare economic, political and social. The president will deal with a wide variety of issues in these areas with officials, business leaders and citizens, explained Carney.  Brazil is one of the few countries the United States is currently running a trade surplus with (last year it was almost $8 billion; five years ago, in 2006, Brazil had a $10 billion trade surplus with the US). So, on one hand, the Americans are really excited about partnership and cooperation opportunities in the booming Brazilian economy (now the seventh biggest in the world). On the other hand, the Brazilians are eager to reduce imports from the US and get back to a surplus. A Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (TECA) will be signed and it will make it easier for both sides to move ahead with their trade objectives.  Trade expansion is seen (by both sides) as the path to more jobs and growth.

         The political side of the trip is recognition of the rise of Latin America in world affairs and, especially, the leadership role of Brazil. Two days from the arrival of Obama officials from both countries are hammering out the details of between 10 and 20 agreements and memorandums that will be signed on Saturday in Brasilia. Some of them still face hard technical and legal obstacles.  The American president’s entourage will consist of around a thousand people. The president will be accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and two daughters.

        There is an undeniable symbolic aspect to the visit. America’s first Afro-American president meets Brazil’s first female president. There will definitely be a strong commitment by both governments to combating racial and gender discrimination, along with recognition of Brazil’s efforts to raise its poor out of poverty and make them participating citizens who are able to receive the benefits of citizenship (“inclusão social”).

     In Brasilia, Obama will deal with business and politics. He will meet business leaders from both countries at two different moments: a business forum (“Fórum Empresarial Brasil-Estados Unidos”) with 400 and a more intimate meeting with selected CEOs. Topics the president will discuss include renewable energy, such as ethanol (although the US will not reduce import barriers on Brazilian sugarcane-based ethanol, preferring to continue with corn-based ethanol) and investments in infrastructure in Brazil uniting the public and private sector. Among the opportunities: partnerships in the World Soccer Cup and Olympics Games that Brazil will host in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

     As he did in Berlin in 2008 and in Cairo in 2009, Obama will make a public speech in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, March 20. Without a doubt he will stress the common interests and shared values of Brazil and the United States, emphasizing the countries’ similarities: historical backgrounds, large size, diverse populations and democratic traditions. The speech will be shown on large screens with translation.

By – Renata Girardi / ABr and Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Pictures (Obama and family) – Marcello Casal Jr / ABr

The Statue of Liberty

Source: http://www.manythings.org/voa/places/11.html originally posted through VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH www.voanews.com

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember, and I'm Barbara Klein.

Later this week, Americans will celebrate the nation's Independence Day. On July 4, 1776, colonial leaders approved the final Declaration of Independence for the United States.

This year, the city of New York will also celebrate the opening of part of an important symbol of America that has been closed to the public for the past eight years.The Statue of Liberty has stood in New York Harbor for more than 100 years. It was a gift from the people of France in 1884. Its full name is "Liberty Enlightening the World".

The Statue of Liberty is 46 meters tall from its base. It is made mostly of copper. Throughout history, images of liberty have been represented as a woman. The statue is sometimes called "Lady Liberty."

The Statue of Liberty's face was created to look like the sculptor's mother. Her right arm holds a torch with a flame high in the air. Her left arm holds a tablet with the date of the Declaration of Independence -- July 4, 1776. On her head she wears a crown of seven points. Each is meant to represent the light of freedom as it shines on the seven seas and seven continents of the world.  Twenty-five windows in the crown represent gemstones found on Earth. A chain that represents oppression lies broken at her feet.

In 1903, a bronze plaque was placed on the inner wall of the statue's support structure or pedestal. On it are words from the poem "The New Colossus" written by Emma Lazarus in 1883. The plaque represents the statue's message of hope for people seeking freedom. These are some of its best known words:

READER:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!The United States and France have been friends and allies since the time of the American Revolution. France helped the American colonial armies defeat the British. The war officially ended in 1783. A few years later, the French rebelled against their king.

A French historian and political leader, Edouard-Rene Lefebvre de Laboulaye, had the idea for the statue. In 1865, he suggested that the French and the Americans build a monument together to celebrate freedom. Artist Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi immediately agreed to design it.

In 1875, the French established an organization to raise money for Bartholdi's creation. Two years later, an American group was formed to raise money to pay for a pedestal to support the statue. American architect Richard Morris Hunt was chosen to design this support structure. It would stand 47 meters high.

In France, Bartholdi designed a very small statue. Then he built a series of larger copies. Workers created a wooden form covered with plaster for each part. Then they placed 300 pieces of copper on the forms. This copper skin was less than three centimeters thick.

The statue also needed a structure that could hold its weight of more than 200 tons. French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel created this new technology. Later, he would build the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Eiffel and others worked in Paris to produce a strong iron support system for the statue. The design also needed to permit the statue to move a little in strong winds.

France had wanted to give the statue to the United States on the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence -- July 4, 1876. But technical problems and lack of money delayed the project. France finally presented the statue to the United States in Paris in 1884. But the pedestal, being built in New York, was not finished. Not enough money had been given to complete the project.

The publisher of the New York World newspaper came to the rescue. Joseph Pulitzer used his newspaper to urge Americans to give more money to finish the pedestal. His efforts brought in another 100,000 dollars. And the pedestal was finished.

In France, workers separated the statue into 350 pieces, put them on a ship and sent them across the ocean. The statue arrived in New York in more than 200 wooden boxes. It took workers four months to put together the statue on the new pedestal. President Grover Cleveland officially accepted the statue in a ceremony on October 28, 1886. He said: "We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected."The Statue of Liberty became a symbol of hope for immigrants coming to the United States by ship from Europe. More than 12 million people passed the statue between 1892 and 1954 on their way to the immigration center on nearby Ellis Island.

More than 40% of Americans have an ancestor who passed through Ellis Island. Through the years, millions of people continued to visit the Statue of Liberty. A trip to New York City did not seem complete without it.

Still, the statue was old and becoming dangerous for visitors. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan asked businessman Lee Iacocca to lead a campaign to repair it. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation raised about 100 million dollars in private money to do the work. The repairs included replacing the torch and covering it with 24 carat gold. On July 4, 1986, New York City celebrated a restored and re-opened Statue of Liberty.

Officials closed the Statue of Liberty following the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001. It remained closed until August, 2004. When it re-opened, visitors could only go onto the statue's pedestal. But the Statue continued to attract visitors—more than three million a year.

This year, on July 4th, visitors once again will be able to climb inside the statue all the way to the top. It is not an easy thing to do. More than 350 steps lead to Lady Liberty's crown. The National Park Service says it will limit the number of climbers to about 200 a day. No more than ten people will be able to go up at one time. At that rate, officials estimate that more than 100,000 people will be able to climb to the top each year.

But if you want to visit the newly opened Statue of Liberty, you must do it within the next two years. That is because the National Park Service plans to close it again for more repairs. Officials say the improvements could take as long as two years. But they say the work will make it possible to safely double the number of visitors permitted inside.The Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island is one of America's national parks. It includes both Liberty Island, where the statue stands, and nearby Ellis Island, the former federal immigration processing center.

Officials at the center examined many of the immigrants who arrived by ship before they were permitted to enter the United States. The main building was restored and opened as a museum in 1990. The museum includes pictures, videos, interactive displays and recordings of immigrants who went through Ellis Island until it was closed in 1954.

One popular exhibit is the Immigrant Wall of Honor outside the main building. It honors all immigrants to the United States no matter where they entered the country. It now lists the names of more than 700,000 people. A new area of wall is being prepared for more names to be added.

An immigration history center on the island contains the ship records of passengers who entered through New York from 1892 through 1924. Those were the years of the great wave of European immigration, before the United States passed restrictive immigration laws.

One recent visitor said the Ellis Island immigration hall feels alive with the stories of people who left their native lands long ago to start a new life in a new country.This program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein. And I'm Steve Ember. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.