nicknames

Johann Sebastian Bach - In his lifetime, the great composer's music was considered so boring and out of date that even his own family called him "The Old Wig."  

Claudette Colbert - The Oscar-winning actress worried so much about the way she looked during filming that her cameraman dubbed her "The Fretting Frog."  

Christopher Columbus - Historians call him a great explorer, but his own crew wasn't so kind. When his quest for riches led him to insect-infested tropical islands instead of gold and silver, they christened him "The Admiral of the Mosquitoes."  

Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson - The heroes of Western legends and prime-time TV shows were apparently as interested in other pursuits as they were in law and order. On various ccasions they owned saloons, gambling establishments, and even a brothel or two. In their home, Dodge City, Kansas, they were known as "The Fighting Pimps."  

Billy Graham - In his early days, the famous crusading evangelist was known as "The Preaching Windmill" because of "his exuberant arm flailing."  

Leo Tolstoy - The author of War and Peace is considered one of the greatest novelists in history. But people who knew him as a child - even his own family and close friends - called the troubled youth "Crybaby Leo."  

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - The famous French painter suffered through childhood accidents that gave him the appearance of a dwarf - but not in every way. When he lived in a brothel, the prostitutes, amused by the contrast in size between "his large male member" and the rest of his body, dubbed him "the Teapot."  

[From The Dictionary of Historic Nicknames by Carl Sifakis.]