Birth name

Heinrich Karl Bukowski was born in Germany and raised in Los Angeles after his family emigrated; he became known as Charles Bukowski (Hank to friends)—an anglicized given-name form, not a wholly invented surname (bukowski.net timeline; filmportal/literary bios). Bukowski remains the family name.

Writing career

A prolific poet and novelist of skid-row Los Angeles life, he published with Black Sparrow Press. Major prose includes Post Office, Factotum, Women, and Ham on Rye; the film Barfly (1987) fictionalized aspects of his life with Mickey Rourke. His poems and stories made him one of the most widely read American underground literary figures of the late twentieth century (ISFDB / standard bios).

He died of leukemia in 1994. This page sticks to public bibliographic facts.

Post Office by Charles Bukowski Ham on Rye Love Is a Dog from Hell / poetry collections

Why the "real name" question matters

Search interest in a celebrity's "real name" usually means a shortened everyday form, a middle name used as a handle, or a true stage/legal change. This page states which case applies and cites sources rather than gossip.

Readers comparing credits across IMDb, Wikipedia, and national filmographies sometimes find spelling variants (accents, hyphenation, maternal surnames). Where two reliable sources disagree on a middle name or exact birthplace wording, this draft notes both rather than inventing a single form.