Billie Walter

At birth I was given the name Shirley Elizabeth Kuhn.  My dad tells me that my mother wanted to call me Shirley after Shirley Temple even though he never really liked the name.  I have to agree with him.  I never really felt like a Shirley.  Maybe the reason that I didn’t like the name is because my childhood was such a disaster and I associated that name with my childhood.

At twenty-two while at an interview for a modeling job, I met someone who suggested I contact a company called Marshall Management, a talent management firm in New York City.  During the meeting with them, they offered to manage me as an actress but suggested that I pick a new name.  I was thrilled at the chance to make the change and decided to go with Billie.   They liked Billie but the last name wasn’t so easy.  We finally picked up a phone book and decided to go with Perkins.  The name Billie Perkins sounded “All American” enough and from that point on, I started calling myself Billie Perkins.

I didn’t have another name change until I was twenty-nine, when I married Greg Jackson.  At that point I changed my name legally to Shirley Jackson.  Unfortunately, someone in the Screen Actor’s Guild was already using the name Billie Jackson so I wasn’t able to change my acting name.  Now I was Shirley Jackson on my license but everyone knew me as Billie Jackson.

At thirty-nine when I married Cullen Brueske I changed my name to Billie Brueske with the Screen Actor’s Guild but I was still Shirley Brueske on my Driver’s License.

By the year 2000, I was living with Tom Walter and about to start my career as a financial planner.  Since calling myself Billie and signing contracts with the name Shirley would invite lots of questions, I decided to go to court and finally, for the last time, legally change my name to Billie.  When you appear in court to change your name the Judge usually asks you why you’re requesting to change your name.  I had an easy answer.  I had been called Billie by almost everyone I knew for almost thirty years.  As for the last name, I told the judge that there was a good chance that I was going to marry Tom Walter so I may as well take his name now so that when I get married I won’t have to change my license, credit cards, social security card or anything else.  He said he liked my answer and he granted the change.  I have been Billie Walter ever since.  It was a little strange when Tom and I married in 2003 and the question was asked, “Do you Tom Walter take Billie Walter…..”