II, III or IV?

The part Cherokee, part Irish and part German actor has a simple enough birth name -- John Christopher Depp II.

He performed a wee bit of surgery on his name when he reached Hollywood, slicing off those undesirable Roman numerals.

By the way he almost didn't reach movieland because of a childhood obsession with music. Right till his late teens Depp was in and out of garage rock bands where he played the guitar until he landed a role in a Fox TV production.

Photograph: Johnny Depp attends the Tim Burton Golden Lion For Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony in Venice at the 64th Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. Photograph: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images