Whoopi Goldberg is quite probably the owner of one of the least forgettable names in the entire acting profession. That may be down to the fact that it's slightly too ridiculous for most people to pull off, which is lucky for the oddly lovable Goldberg. It confuses people because she has a Jewish surname despite not being in any way Jewish, and also...well...Who exactly thinks that "Whoopi" is in any form a name? Her real name, however, is the rather less show business appropriate Caryn Johnson. Again, there's nothing in the slightest with that name, but it certainly does not make you think of a movie star. Personally, I conjure images of a school dinner lady, or perhaps even a female bouncer. The point is, if you say Whoopi Goldberg, people immediately know who you're talking about, you don't even need to get as far as her surname before people will tell you how much they loved The Colour Purple, or hated The Magic Roundabout. She's even managed to almost entirely disappear into voice acting recently and people still know exactly who she is, there's possibly people out there who have never even seen her, and think that a Whoopi Goldberg is a computer generated voice over.
