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Michael Keaton wants to use his birth name: Why it's a challenge

When y'all carpool and fuck your Pilates instructors to fill the empty spaces in your lives. We'll see who has the last laugh. My mother grew up here in this old house. Sort of. Wait, the haunted house is your mother, Lydia's on a diet. Unfortunately, she's a fucking legend. The living can coexist with the dead. They know my chance. Ghosts don't exist, only gullible people. Believe bullshit like that. I can't believe I'm taking this beetlejuice, beetlejuice, beetlejuice. Uh, I need you to help me save my daughter. So how do I know you'll keep your word? I swear on my dead mother's soul. OK, Bob. You and the boys keep watch. No one's getting through. That's cool. Honey. Realize that. I've never seen a trip in my life or the afterlife when I did that. I need it up there. Bob. Hold the fort. Pour your heart out. Who wants to go first? All right, I'll see that I'm willing to do the work. You know, this is more of a nightmare, facing the unknown and overcoming your fears. There's nothing harder than deciding what the hell I want to say to all of you for coming to this special occasion. But right now, when we have so damn little privacy, that's OK.

Michael Keaton would like to use his birth name, but two things stand in the way

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

Michael Keaton doesn't even remember how he came up with his stage name. “I looked it up – I can't remember if it was a phone book,” the “Beetlejuice” star told People about the origin of his use of Keaton. “I must have thought, 'I don't know, let me come up with something here.' And I thought, 'Oh, that sounds reasonable.'” The actor, now 72, explained that although he was born “Michael Douglas,” he was not allowed to use that name in Hollywood because another Oscar-winning actor and Kirk Douglas' son, Michael Douglas, was already using it. The famous talk show host had also auditioned for Mike Douglas. The Screen Actors Guild prohibits two actors from using the same name, so Keaton settled on Keaton. And although he's made quite a name for himself, the actor would like to be known professionally as “Michael Keaton Douglas.” That's exactly what he had in mind for his latest directorial effort, “Knox Goes Away.” In the rush of filming, however, Keaton forgot to capture it on screen. “I said, 'Hey, just as a heads up, in my credits I'm going to credit Michael Keaton Douglas.' And it completely slipped my mind,” he explained. “And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and pull it off. But that's going to happen.” In his latest lead project, the sequel to “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” he is credited as “Michael Keaton.”

Michael Keaton can't even remember how he got his stage name.

“I looked through it — I can't remember if it was a phone book,” the “Beetlejuice” star told People about the origin of his use of the name Keaton. “I must have thought, 'I don't know, let me think of something here.' And I thought, 'Oh, that sounds reasonable.'”

The actor, now 72, explained that although he was born as “Michael Douglas,” he was not allowed to use that name in Hollywood because another Oscar-winning actor and son of Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas, already used that name.

The well-known talk show host also worked for Mike Douglas.

Michael Keaton

Yara Nardi/Reuters via CNN Newsource

Michael Keaton poses on the red carpet as he arrives for the screening of the film “Beetlejuice” in Venice, Italy on August 28.

The Screen Actors Guild prohibits two actors from using the same name, so Keaton chose Keaton. And although he has made quite a name for himself, the actor would like to be known professionally as “Michael Keaton Douglas.”

That's exactly what he had planned for his latest directorial effort, “Knox Goes Away.” In the hustle and bustle of filming, however, Keaton forgot to bring the film to the screen.

“I said, 'Hey, just a heads up, my name is going to be Michael Keaton Douglas.' And it completely slipped my mind,” he explained. “And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create it. But that's what's going to happen.”

In his latest major project, the sequel to Beetlejuice, he is credited as Michael Keaton.

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