CT Before the prequels, was Kenobi mainly referred to as Ben?

My first introduction to the movies was the SE. In the short time between those release and the PT I always referred to him as Obi-Wan.

 

Original, albeit late era original trilogy (pre SE) fan:

Ben Kenobi for me

 

No, mainly Obi-Wan. Ben was just his alias for a tiny part of IV.

 

I used to call OT Obi-Wan "Ben," just to differentiate Guiness's version from McGregor's version. I have lately just started calling both versions "Obi-Wan" though. This is coming from someone who first saw the OT 10 or 11 years ago though, so I wouldn't know what he was originally called in the past.

 

Incidentally, Obi-Wan fans, I just finished reading the KENOBI novel by John Jackson Miller.
I recommend this book to all Kenobi fans and for those interested in Tatooine and what everyday life is like there. Great material featuring Tusken Raiders.
Since the book takes place just after the events of RotS, everybody calls Obi-Wan "Ben," "Crazy Ben" or "old Ben". Some even use "Ben Kenobi."

 

I've always called him Obi Wan Kenobi cause it's a damn awesome name, the best in all of Star Wars, followed closely by Lando Calrissian.

 

He used it to cover his tracks ... Old Ben Kenobi sounds a lot like Obi-Wan Kenobi! Now he may not have been in exile like Yoda, but he was watching over Luke & Leia from afar ... I more or less think it was a cover for who he really was ... at least on Tatoonie anyway!

 

Pre-prequels, this was my interpretation as well, especially since in ANH, Kenobi says to Luke, "I haven't gone by the name of Obi-Wan since oh, before you were born."

I thought only his fellow Jedi, or people who called on them for help (ala Bail Organa), referred to him by that name.

 

Yes. He was referred to as Ben or Old Ben before the Prequels.

 

I know it's just one piece of pop culture, but in the Simpsons episode "Mayored to the Mob" (made in 1998, right before the prequels came out), Luke asks the crowd if they want to act out a scene with him playing the role of "Obi-Wan Kenobi". To me, that indicates this was always his "popular" name.

 

Indeed, Obi-Wan sounded more like a title and when they introduced Pada-Wan in the PT I thought that might something that gets stuck.

Being an old OT fossile I consciously and almost exclusively use "Ben Kenobi" when I refer to the character. I think it settles rightaway where I'm coming from. ;-)

 

I was 11 in 1977. I called (and thought of him) as Ben until ROTJ, when for whatever reason, I began to think of him as Obi-Wan. Dunno why. It wasn't a conscious decision.