In the medieval period, ballads were an important form of storytelling. They were used to teach morals and values, celebrate weddings and other special occasions, and Medieval English.
Many famous names we know today began as ballads, including Madonna and Taylor Swift. Here are a few other celebrities who got their stage names from medieval English ballads.
Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase, a comedy writer and actor, received his stage name from a medieval english ballad. This folk song is about a skirmish between an English and Scottish group that led to a battle, so it makes sense that he got his nickname from this story.
Cheviot Hills
A large hunting party arrives in the Cheviot Hills, a range of rolling hills that straddle the border between England and Scotland, and is pursue by the Scottish Earl Douglas. This leads to a bloody battle between the two groups.
The battle inspired the ballads. They tell the story of an escorted hunting party that arrives in the hills, and the Scottish leader interprets it as a raid against his country.
The story was record in two extant medieval ballads, Child Ballad 162 (Roud 223) and Adult Ballad 212 (Roud 231). Both songs are about a border raid between the English and Scottish. Both stories evoke the same battle, which took place in 1388.
Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton is a quirky and handsome American actor who first achieved major fame as the fast-talking ideas man Bill Blazejowski, alongside Henry Winkler’s nerdish morgue attendant in Night Shift (1982). He later scored comedy hits like Mr. Mom, Johnny Dangerously and Beetlejuice, before turning his talents to dramatic roles in Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns.
While some fans complained that Keaton didn’t have the physicality needed to play the Caped Crusader, he surpassed their expectations and earned widespread acclaim for his performance. He has since become a staple in Hollywood, appearing in films that range from comedies to drama to action thrillers.
Film Making
Despite a lengthy hiatus from filmmaking, Keaton came out of the woodwork in 2014 with Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman, winning a Golden Globe for his performance. He then played a villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming and an aging CIA agent in American Assassin. He also direct a film about Fred Rogers called The Founder, which was well receive by critics.
Ben Kingsley
Born in Snainton, Yorkshire, England to Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, a Kenyan Asian doctor and Anna Lyna Mary Bhanji, an English actress, Ben Kingsley began acting as a teenager. He made his stage debut at the Royal Shakespeare Company and soon began appearing in film and television.
International Recognition
He first earned international recognition as Mohandas Gandhi in the 1981 biopic Gandhi, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. A number of other high-profile roles followed, including Harold Pinter’s Betrayal and EM Forster’s Maurice.
He has starred in a wide variety of films over the years, ranging from UK gangster film Sexy Beast (2000) to Hugo (2011) and Iron Man 3 (2016). He also made a guest appearance on The Sopranos in 2006. In 2016, he play high-wire artist Philippe Petit in Robert Zemeckis’s The Walk, which was nominate for a Golden Globe. He was knight in 2002. In 2018, he appeared in the historical drama Operation Finale.
David Tennant
David Tennant is one of Scotland’s most talented and popular actors. Medieval English is most well-known for his role as the Doctor on Doctor Who, but he has also been in numerous television shows and movies.
He has also starred in a number of stage plays, including Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost and Hamlet. Medieval English has received acclaim for his performances in both these roles, and has also won a number of awards for them.
Final Words:
His real name is David John McDonald, but he legally changed his name to Tennant when he was young. This was because there already was a David McDonald register in the actor’s union, and union rules prevented two actors from registering under the same name.
He has a lot of fans, and he’s known to be a very nice guy. Medieval English often supports charities, and spends a lot of time with his fans. He also enjoys spending time with his wife and five children.
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