Pittsburgh Native Michael Keaton Is Changing His Name

ROBINSON TOWNSHIP, PA — Award-winning actor Michael Keaton is known to millions by that moniker. But growing up in Robinson just outside of Pittsburgh, he went by his birth name: Michael Douglas.

Now, decades into a career that has brought him fame and acclaim, Keaton says his professional name moving forward will a hybrid of his stage and real names: Michael Keaton Douglas. Keaton announced the move in People magazine.

In case you were wondering though, his name is Michael Keaton in the credits for his latest movie, "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," which debuted in theater Friday. The film is a sequel to the 1988 smash hit "Bettlejuice."

When the 1969 Montour High School graduate started out in show business, he was restricted from using his birth name because the Screen Actors Guild doesn't permit anyone to use another member's name.

The guild already had a member named Michael Douglas, the star of such blockbuster hits as "Fatal Attraction," "Wall Street," and "Romancing the Stone."

Although Hollywood lore says the stage name was picked out of a phone book, Keaton - or Douglas or Keaton Douglas told people he doesn't recall specifically how his name was chosen.

Said Keaton: "I can't remember if it was a phone book."