10 Hollywood Actors Names You Don't Really Know

Real Name: Caryn Johnson

Before Whoopi Goldberg embarked on her acting career she worked various jobs including as a bricklayer, bank teller and mortuary makeup artist under her distinctly less memorable birth name Caryn Johnson but took on her first name when she was working in theatre and stand-up early on in her career after her colleagues compared her to a whoopie cushion because of her legendarily rampant flatulence.

The origins of her adopted surname are a little more ambiguous, though. Some sources claim she opted for Goldberg on the advice of her mother who either suggested she pick a sensible-sounding surname in contrast with her first name, or because she thought a Jewish surname would serve her well in Hollywood.

According to the lady herself, however, Goldberg is an old family name that she took on as a nod to her Jewish roots. Which is kind of funny considering she played a Catholic nun in the Sister Act films.