I’ve subjected my list of famous (and famous-ish) TV and movie stars to a few more tests, thanks to the pattern-finding program mentioned earlier and my other methods.
Here’s a few things I found out.
Director Kathryn Bigelow has a name that is all unique letters. Hers is the longest such name on the entire list. Bigelow is best known for Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker, and Point Break.
Star pairings that have the same letter patterns: Bebe Rexha and Coco Jones. Nicole Kidman and Shonda Rhimes. J.B. Smoove and T.J. Miller. Albert Brooks and Margot Robbie. Dick York, Ione Skye, and Joan Chen.
Not every such pairing feels especially notable: among them are Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Downey Sr. The elder Downey was known for making an indie film Putney Swope and being the subject of a tribute movie made by his son called Sr.
Sal Mineo is a letterbank for Liam Neeson.
Maybe the most impressive letterbank “growth spurt” is Tom Riley to Emily Mortimer. Riley is now appearing in the formidably titled The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. Mortimer has been in The Bookshop, Match Point, the Pink Panther remake, and Lars and the Real Girl.
John Drew Barrymore contains the name of his much more famous daughter Drew Barrymore.
The names HER, Cher, and David Fincher are like matroyoshka dolls.
The famous name found inside the most other famous names is Ell.
Mr. T is the same length but appears in nobody else’s name.
There are three longest star names, at 25 letters each. First is Christian Fandango Sundgren, who’s shown up in four TV series that debuted last year, most notable Evil and A Nearly Normal Family. Johannes Haukur Johannesson appeared in Game of Thrones and Alpha. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio did The Abyss, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Scarface.
The shortest famous name is IU, a Korean singer who’s won over a hundred awards for her music.
If we stop caring about spacing, the director Ang Lee shows up in the names of actors Brian Gleeson and Brendan Gleeson. Lee is a two-time Best Director winner for Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi. Brian Gleeson has done Snow White and the Huntsman, Assassin’s Creed, and Peaky Blinders; his father Brendan has played Winston Churchill and Donald Trump and recently got a best-supporting-actor nomination for The Banshees of Inisherin.
No one on the list has a name that is a palindrome or a reversal of another famous name. That seems like a missed opportunity! However, it does show that the list isn’t perfect, since the well-known singer Eve has a handful of movie and TV credits (including her own self-titled show and, more recently, Queens.)
Many star names are monovocalic, using only one vowel. Probably the most famous “A-only” names are Alan Alda, Zach Braff, KJ Apa, and J.J. Abrams—there are dozens of others. E-only names? Ellen Degeneres, Renee Zellweger, and Peter Sellers. I-only? Gotta be Will Smith. O-only? Bong Joon-Ho, John Ford, LL Cool J, Common. Blu Hunt, known for her roles in several sci-fi shows, is the only all-U celebrity on the list. Vowelless celebs are McG and Mr. T.
The best-known euryvocalic names are Jai Courtney and Tommy Wiseau. The best-known supervocalic names are Hugo Weaving, Julia Roberts, and Rosamund Pike.
Nice celebrity letterbanks!