Walter Plinge is a pseudonym traditionally used in British theatres when a part has not been cast, an actor is playing two parts, or an actor does not want their name in the programme. The name has also been used in radio and television credits. Another former Bensonian recalled the pseudonym "Hugh S. Hay" being used when the American actor
Walter Hampden was in the company. The actor-manager Murray Carrington recalled that in the 1920s his company had featured not only Walter Plinge Jr. but also a female counterpart, Juliet Plinge. The name Walter Plinge has been used occasionally in American theatre, where the more usual equivalent is "
George Spelvin". Analogous pseudonyms – for writers rather than actors – are
Alan Smithee in
Hollywood and
David Agnew at the
BBC. Walter Plinge is also used as the name of a character in
Terry Pratchett's novel
Maskerade, which is a parody of opera and musical theatre. The character is an amalgam of two parts played by
Michael Crawford:
Frank Spencer and the
Phantom of the Opera. ==Notes, references and sources==