When Barbara Herzstein went to Hollywood in the late 60s, she had to change her name. After all, Herzstein is a tad too Jewy. Completely understandable.

Barbara went with... Barbara Seagull.

We immediately thought this was a reference to "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", a rather trendy inspirational novella that hit the zeitgeist of the period, but this was not the case. Barbara named herself after an actual, non-metaphorical, dead seagull, that was accidentally killed on the set of her movie. She thought the seagull's spirit possessed her. The late 60s were a strange time.

In any case, Barbara stayed Seagull for a few years, but didn't achieve fame until she renamed herself to Barbara Hershey, a rather simple Anglicization of her original surname. She went on to star in films as diverse as "Hannah and Her Sisters", "Beaches", "The Last Temptation of Christ" (as Mary Magdalene!), "Breakfast of Champions", and "Black Swan" and is considered one of the finest actresses of her generation.

Would have that been the case if she stuck with Seagull or Hersztein?...