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ONCE A CLOWN, ALWAYS A CLOWN a distinctive trade name useful. The public remembers an unusual name more easily, so long as it is pronounceable. The D'Wolf became DeWolf through a proneness on the part of the public to pronounce it "Dwolf."

I achieved stardom and made my first great success in "Wang." My name being only moderately familiar, nine ticket buyers in ten asked not for seats for Hopper, but for seats for "Wang." When my manager and I chose a bill to succeed "Wang", we purposely called the play by the meaningless syllables, "Panjandrum." Rather than stumble over "Panjandrum", the public asked for seats for Hopper, as we intended that they should. Showmen learned the fundamentals of advertising long before the business world.

My father and mother had intended me for the law. Joseph Choate, one of the greatest lawyers of the past generation, was my godfather and in due time I was to start reading law in his offices. But as my godfather observed me he became increasingly skeptical of my forensic future.

As I was emerging from adolescence, he said to my mother, "I don't think Willie will be a pronounced success at the desk, Rosalie. I fear