Mary Pickford ... aka Dolly Nicholson?

[Brooksie]

Here's an extraordinary piece of trivia I've just come across. Starting in around 1910, you find many references in Australian sources to a popular film actress known sometimes as Dolly Nicholson, and sometimes as Dorothy Nicholson. She's frequently singled out in articles as an audience favourite - one 1913 article goes so far as to call her 'a household name'. The more you read, the more familiar she sounds. Then, in mid 1914, she suddenly turns into somebody else.

A 1916 Photoplay explains the mystery to an Australian reader:

In the old Biograph days Mary Pickford was known to her friends in England and the Colonies as Dorothy or Dolly Nicholson, and Mabel Normand as Muriel Fortesque. At that time the producing companies did not announce the names of players in their pictures, and the British distributors found it necessary to supply them because of the public clamour to know the identity of their favourites.

As late as 1916, you still see advertisements for films that star 'Mary Pickford, Better Known as Dolly Nicholson'. The situation gave rise to some very interesting stories, including disbelieving fans comparing the performances of Mary and Dolly and concluding that, despite their physical similarity, they cannot possibly be the same person!

So Mary was Dolly Nicholson, Mabel Normand was Muriel Fortesque, and another article says Owen Moore was known as Bob Gorman. Is anyone aware of any others?

[Bruce Long]

Here is an item listing 14 of the renames (bottom right of page):
http://archive.org/stream/pictureg09odh ... 1/mode/1up" target="_blank

[Mike Gebert]

MURIEL FORTESQUE?

That's hilarious.

[Steve Massa]

I also love Sydney Pankhurst for Fred Mace - a name perfect for many of his screen characters.

[Brooksie]

Thanks for the list, Bruce - extraordinary!

The situation with Mabel Normand is even more confusing - though she was officially Muriel, her character in her early films was usually known as Mabel anyway, and so she became colloquially referred to as Mabel ... it really gives an interesting perspective on the evolution of the star system. Add in the way they're mentioned alongside people we do know, like Florence Turner and Maurice Costello, and it becomes quite surreal.