Sterling K. Brown uses his name as a tribute to his late grandfather
The 49-year-old actor went by his middle name of Kelby until he was in his late teens, but explained that because by that point, he had been without his grandfather for six years, he adopted the moniker he uses now to remember him by
10 April 2025
Speaking on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show', he said: "I went by my middle name, I went by Kelby til i was 16 years old. My dad's Sterling Brown Jr. My grandfather Sterling Brown Sr. I'm Sterling Kelby Brown.
"I wanted my own name, and it felt like Sterling was like an old man's name.
"But because he passed away when I was 10, by the time I turned 16 and I hadn't heard his name for five-and-a-half years, I was like, I kind of just want to hear that name again, so I asked people to call me Sterling."
The 'Behind These Hazel Eyes' hitmaker was left visibly moved by his revelation and was almost on the verge of tears.
She said: "Okay, okay, that was so sweet and beautiful."
Sterling has become a household name in recent years thanks to roles in 'This Is Us' and 'American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson' but in the early days of his career, he managed to avoid having to get another job by being "so frugal-minded" with the way he lived, including eating as cheaply as possible.
His manager of 25 years, Jennifer Wiley-Moxley, told Variety.com: "There are so many careers built on offers that Sterling had and wasn't available to do.
"Sterling just never had to work doing anything else. He was one of the rare actors who never had to have a side hustle because he was willing to live so frugal-minded that he rented a room in a Harlem townhouse, didn't have his own bathroom, couldn't afford a gym membership.
"He would get a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts and eat them in front of me at my desk like, 'Well, these are my calories for the day!' He was very fun and very quirky in that way. That grit of 'I'll do whatever I have to do to get it.'"
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