Robert Trebor has a face you know you’ve seen before. It makes sense because he’s been a character actor in movies like “52 Pick-up”, “Talk Radio”, and “The Devil’s Rejects.” He also played the role of “Salmoneus” in the TV shows “Xena” and “Hercules.” The thing is, I don’t think I’ve seen those movies and I’m really certain I’ve never watched those TV shows. But yet, somehow, Robert Trebor’s face still looks familiar to me. Maybe he just has one of those faces.
Face aside, the thing I find really interesting about this actor is his name (go figure!). He was given the name Robert Schenkman at birth. In an interview with Bret Ryan Rudnick, Trebor explains that when he went to sign up for the actor’s union, someone else had his exact name. (Wait a minute. There’s another actor with the name Robert Schenkman?) Trebor explained that it’s alright for actors to register with the same name, but it can cause a lot of confusion. In a field like acting where it’s all about name recognition, confusion is not a good thing. In explaining how he selected his new name he stated, “When I was about nine, I was a fan of Regal Crown sour candies, made by an English company called Trebor. And one day many years after, I just looked at the name “Trebor” and said ‘That’s my name backwards!’”
So Robert Trebor is a palindrome (check out my earlier post on palindromes.). Trebor described how his name change was not merely a stage name, but something more all-encompassing. He’s changed his passport, social security card, voter registration, etc. The Robert Trebor Facebook Fanpage is attestation to the actor’s cult-like following; his fans seem as devoted to the palindromic name as they are to the quirky, comedic actor.