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In The Big Lebowski, Donny is always shown wearing a bowling shirt bearing different names (which are never his own name):

Donny

When The Dude and Walter are at the funeral home making the necessary arrangements for Donny's funeral, The Dude is shown wearing a bowling shirt bearing the name "Art" on it (which is obviously not his name):

dude

Is there any evidence from filmmakers that The Dude is wearing one of Donny's bowling shirts? Was this some kind of memorial to Donny?

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  • 1
    What about the size difference of the shirt? Obviously Dude may need much bigger shirt than Donny
    – Vishwa
    Jun 21, 2018 at 5:53
  • 2
    It's not that much of a different size and Donny's shirts are really loose fitting. I could understand if Walter was wearing the shirt, but it's not that much of a stretch for The Dude to wear one of his shirts, imo.
    – steelersquirrel
    Jun 21, 2018 at 14:39
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    – Napoleon Wilson ♦
    Jul 2, 2018 at 13:07

1 Answer 1

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Donny's full name was Theodore Donald Kerabatsos.

According to a local newspaper in Akron, Ohio, the "Medina Sod" bowling shirt The Dude wears in the movie is a real 1960s bowling shirt found in a thrift store in Los Angeles. It belonged to a man named Art Myers, who was the foreman at Medina Sod in Medina, Ohio.

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    That explains why the shirt has that name IRL, but neither confirms nor denies whether it's also a reference to Donny. I wouldn't be surprised if they're all vintage shirts.
    – sirjonsnow
    Jul 24, 2018 at 20:14

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