Penny Banner

When Mary Ann Kostecki left St Louis and began her professional wrestling career in the early 1950s, she decided she needed a new name to use in the ring.

Mary Ann chose "Penny" as a first name because a penny was pretty insignificant, and that is how she thought of herself.

She chose "Banner" as her last name because she had just seen Charlton Heston in Arrowhead, and thought his character's name was Banner. Actually, it was Bannon, but Mary Ann heard it as Banner so she became Penny Banner.

Penny became one of the top girl wrestlers of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and even got worldwide attention for dating Elvis Presley until he went into the army.

Penny's autobiography, "Banner Days" recounts how she chose her new name, and Penny apparently never realized that she had made a mistake as to the Heston character's name in Arrowhead.

Oh well, as a book title, "Banner Days" sounds a lot better than "Bannon Days."