Deaths in the News: 2001 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Troy Donahue

Briefly married to actress Suzanne Pleshette at one time, actor Troy Donahue died of a heart attack on September 2, 2001, in Santa Monica, California, at age 65. TV producer David Angell ("Wings", "Frasier") and photographer Berry Berenson, the wife of the late Anthony Perkins, died in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Legal commentator Barbara Olson, the wife of Solicitor General Ted Olson, died in the attack on the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

Answer: "My Mother, The Car"

In 1965, NBC launched what has been called one of television's biggest turkeys. "My Mother, The Car" featured Jerry Van Dyke as Dave Crabtree, an ordinary family man who hears the voice of his deceased mother (Sothern) through an old 1928 Porter automobile. Like many other fantasy-type TV characters of the era, Crabtree was the only person who could hear the voice.

Answer: "Fail-Safe"

Although Kramer routinely tackled social issues in his movies, he may be best remembered for the movie "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", where he used an all-star cast to tackle a different subject, greed, with madcap zaniness. He did tackle nuclear proliferation in the film adaptation of Nevil Shute's novel, "On the Beach", but it was Sidney Lumet who directed the nuclear drama "Fail-Safe."

Answer: North Carolina

Though linked to Marquette, the Brooklyn-born McGuire had quite a connection to North Carolina. He coached for seven seasons at Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, a suburb of Charlotte. In 1974, his Warriors, as Marquette was known then, lost to NC State in the National Championship game in Greensboro. And in the 1977 Final Four, he had to beat both UNC-Charlotte and North Carolina, in Atlanta, to win it all.

After he retired from coaching, McGuire was a basketball commentator for both NBC and CBS, finally retiring in 2000 when his health began to fail.

Answer: Mississippi

Welty spent the majority of her life in Jackson, where she has been honored by having the main branch of the city's public library named for her. Among her many writing honors was the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for her novel "The Optimist's Daughter"; she also was a skilled photographer, publishing several volumes of her photos and holding an exhibition of her work at the Musuem of Modern Art in New York in 1973.

The home she spent most of her life in now belongs to the Mississippi Deparment of Archives & History. (Thanks to The Clarion-Ledger website for information on Eudora Welty.)

Answer: Lincoln, Nebraska

Hillegas got his idea for CliffsNotes from Toronto businessman Jack Cole, who had developed a similar series of learning guides for Canadian students. The first CliffsNotes, a series of 16 papers devoted to the works of William Shakespeare, appeared in 1958.

In 1999, Hillegas endowed a professorship chair in English at the University of Nebraska, shortly after he sold his famous company. (Thanks to CliffNotes.com and the University of Nebraska website for information on Cliff Hillegas.)

Answer: Pops

An excellent slugger who hit 475 homeruns during his long career, Stargell rewarded his teammates by giving them stars whenever they made outstanding plays. He helped lead the Pirates to World Series wins in 1971 and 1979. In the '79 series, best remembered for the Pirates' use of the Sister Sledge song "We Are Family" as a rallying point, Pittsburgh overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat the Baltimore Orioles. Stargell, at age 39, became the oldest person to that date to win the World Series MVP award. (Thanks to the National Baseball Hall of Fame website for information on Willie Stargell.)

Answer: MGM

Hanna and Barbera made their name with the "Tom and Jerry" series of cartoons, beginning with "Puss in Boots" in 1940. Among the many TV series they did were "The Flinstones", "Huckleberry Hound", "Speed Buggy" and "The Jetsons".

Answer: New England Patriots

Kiam's famous sales pitch for Remington's line of electric razors made him a household name during the 1980s and 1990s. But as the owner of the New England Patriots, he had to answer to a female reporter who sued the team after she claimed a player made lewd comments and exposed himself to her.

Answer: Dog attack

An All-American lacrosse player at Penn State and National Player of the Year in 1990, Whipple was attacked by two dogs as she tried to get into her apartment. At the time of her death, she was coaching the lacrosse team at St. Mary's College in Moraga, California.

The mauling case made national headlines. (Thanks to infoplease.com, the online edition of the Information Please Almanac, for information on Diane Whipple.)