Matthew, Mark, Luke or John? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mark Blundell

Mark Blundell was born 8 April 1966, and started motocross racing as a teenager. He made his F1 debut in 1991 for the Brabham team and subsequently drove for Ligier, Tyrrell and McLaren. In 61 starts his best finish was third, which he accomplished three times.

His first CART victory came at Portland in 1997, and he has also seen victory at Le Mans, in 1992 in a Peugeot. For more information see www.mark-blundell.com, from which much of this information has been gleaned. Watson, from Northern Ireland, and the Italian Badoer are both former F1 drivers. Kenseth is a NASCAR driver.

Answer: Mathew Brady

The son of Irish immigrants, Mathew Brady was born in 1823 near Saratoga Springs, New York. He was a celebrated portrait photographer before the Civil War. He set out to create a visual record of that conflict, although many of the photos to which he obtained copyright were not taken by him, but by others under his direction. To read more about Brady see www.digitalcentury.com To view some of his photographs, visit www.multimedia.com

Answer: Mark Clark

Mark Wayne Clark (1896-1984) graduated from West Point in 1917 and was wounded during WWI. In 1942 he narrowly escaped capture by Vichy French forces whilst on the secret mission mentioned in the question. He went on to command the 5th Army in Italy and after WWII was commanding general of US forces in the Far East. (Information from Chambers Biographical Dictionary)

Answer: Johnny Crawford

'The Rifleman' ran from 1958 to 1963 and told the story of Lucas McCain (played by Chuck Connors) who helped the sheriff keep the peace in 'North Fork, New Mexico' helped by his specially modified Winchester rifle. Johnny Crawford, who played his son Mark, was born in Los Angeles 26 March 1946 and had previously been a Mouseketeer.

The Apacheland Movie Ranch, Apache Junction, Arizona stood in for North Fork. (Details from www.imdb.com)

Answer: John Howard Davies

Born in London, England in 1939, Davies also appeared in 'The Rocking Horse Winner' and 'Tom Brown's Schooldays.' His directing credits include 'Monty Python's Flying Circus,' 'The Goodies,' and 'The Vicar of Dibley.' Mark Lester appeared in 'Oliver,' the 1968 musical, with Ron Moody as Fagin.

Answer: Mark Fidrych

Mark Steven Fidrych played for the Detroit Tigers for five seasons, his entire career. He was famous for talking to the ball and bounding off the mound to shake hands when a team mate made a good play. He was American League Rookie of the Year in 1976 with a 19-9 record and 2.34 ERA.

He hurt his arm in 1977 and although he tried to make a comeback only managed a 10-10 record over the last four years of his career. He was born 14 August 1954 in Worcester, Mass. and a 2001 article at cnnsi.com revealed him to be living on a farm at Northboro, Mass. working as an independent subcontractor and making regular appearances as 'The Bird.' (Details from www.baseball-reference.com and www.hickoksports.com)

Answer: Luke Halpin

The dolphin, of course, was 'Flipper' played by Suzy. Halpin was born 4 April 1947 in New York, NY. His later film credits at imdb.com include 'Bounty Fisherman Number 3' in the 1996 movie 'Flipper.' He is also listed as a grip in the crew of 'Apollo 13.' Johnny Crawford was in 'The Rifleman'; Mark Miller in the '60s TV series 'Please Don't Eat The Daisies'; Matthew Perry is 'Chandler' in 'Friends.'

Answer: John Hersey

John Richard Hersey also wrote 'Hiroshima,' still a very effective description of the effects of nuclear warfare. He died at his home in Key West, Florida on 24 March 1993.

Answer: Mark Lester

Mark Lester was born in Oxford, England 11 July 1958. He made other films both before and after 'Oliver!,' but did not carry on with acting as an adult. He and his wife are both osteopaths in Cheltenham, Glos., England (according to www.imdb.com). My first knowledge of his career change was from 'Halliwell's Filmgoers' Companion.'

Answer: Luke O'Connor

Sgt O'Connor was born in Ireland in 1831 and died in London in 1915 having risen to the rank of Major-General. His act of bravery was performed on 20 Sept 1854 at the Battle of the Alma, in the Crimea as a member of the 23rd Regiment (later Royal Welch Fusiliers).

Although wounded he picked up the Colour which had been dropped by a dying officer and continued to carry it throughout the action. (Details from 'The Register of the Victoria Cross' published by 'This England' magazine; to see a painting of O'Connor's deed visit www.military-art.com) The very first man to perform a deed which garnered him the VC was Mate Charles Davies Lucas RN, of HMS Hecla on 21 June 1854, when he threw a live shell overboard.