Girl with a Beatles' Connection Walks Into a Bar.. Quiz

Answer: Roosevelt

While Franklin D. Roosevelt was one of America's most respected presidents, Eleanor Roosevelt was a 'different' First Lady at that time. She was distinguished but outspoken, in particularly on racial issues. She was the first First lady to hold public forums and press conferences.

She wrote a daily newspaper column, and a monthly magazine column. She hosted radio shows, and once spoke at a national party convention. She even disagreed with her husband's policies on occasion. After her husband died in 1945, she worked for a further 17 years until her death, for the fledgling United Nations which her husband was instrumental in founding in 1945.

Answer: Prudence

Prudence Farrow Bruns (born 1948) is an American author and film producer. She is the daughter of film director John Farrow and younger sister of Mia Farrow who is a more famous actress. Her mother was also a famous actress.

Prudence Farrow met John Lennon and George Harrison whilst on a 'meditation camp' in India. Ms Farrow took her meditation tasks so seriously she became a recluse in the facility. The song was written by Mr Lennon to coax Prudence back into the real world. This explains the lines of the song "open up your eyes"; "see the sunny skies", and she needed to be "part of everything".

Ms Farrow went on to teach Transcendental Meditation for several decades after her India training. Her film industry credits include production positions on "The Muppets Take Manhattan" in 1984 "The Purple Rose of Cairo" She co-produced" the 1994 movie "Widows' Peak".

Answer: Maureen

Maureen O'Sullivan was born in Ireland in 1911. Hollywood studios executives were filming on location near where she lived in Boyle, County Roscommon, and was asked to take a screen test. Subsequently, in 1932 she was offered a contract with MGM where she became very well respected as an actress. Perhaps her best role was as Jane in "Pride and Prejudice" starring with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson in 1940. She appeared in the 1986 Oscar winning movie, "Hannah and her Sisters" with her daughter Mia playing the title role and Ms O'Sullivan naturally playing her mother.

Maureen "Mo" Starkey Tigrett (born Mary Cox in 1946), a hairdresser, married Ringo Starr in Liverpool in 1965. They had three children together Zac, in 1965, who went on to be a noted drummer in his own right, Jason in 1967 and daughter Lee in 1970. She divorced Mr Starr in 1975 and married Isaac Tigrett who had founded the Hard Rock Cafe franchise. They had a daughter together but unfortunately Maureen died from cancer in 1994 aged 48 with her children and both her husband and ex-husband with her when she passed.

You will find no "Maureen" song in the Beatles' catalog but on "Get Back" which had part of the Apple Studios Rooftop concert recorded and spliced into the song, you can here Paul McCartney say "Thanks Mo" when she clapped at the end of the "Get Back" song.

Answer: No-one knew what she looked like

Vera Farmiga, born 1973 in New Jersey is an American actress best known for her starring roles in "Up in the Air" starring opposite George Clooney and "Source Code" in 2011.

Vera Wang, born 1949 in New York City is a fashion designer but did not start designing wedding dresses until she was 40. She was an editor at "Vogue" after graduating from Syracuse University and stayed for 17 years, She spent a further two years with Ralph Lauren. Her designs have been worn by US Presidents' wives and daughters, noted rock stars and Olympic medallists.

Vera Peterson, long suffering wife of bar fly, Norm was never seen on "Cheers" but frequently mentioned, usually with a sigh from her husband. She did briefly appear on one episode but her face was obscured.

The Beatles' song "When I'm 64" features the lines:
"Grandchildren on your knee
Vera, Chuck and Dave".
It is not clear whether Vera's brothers Chuck and Dave were at the function.

Answer: Jane Asher

While John Lennon's marriage to his wife Cynthia (who has no song written about her by Mr Lennon) was kept from the public eye, Paul McCartney's relationship with Jane Asher (born 1946) was not. She was a child actress and in the public eye. They became a couple in December 1963 when Miss Asher interviewed Mr McCartney at Royal Albert Hall in London. They announced their engagement in 1967 but Ms Asher broke off the engagement less than a year later. While she is not named specifically in any specific Beatles' song, she is allegedly the inspiration behind "And I Love Her", "I'm Looking Through You", "We Can Work It Out", and "Here, There and Everywhere", particularly the last. Ms Asher's brother was Peter of the pop duo Peter and Gordon fame. Their number one hit, a "World Without Love" was penned by Mr McCartney himself.

Ms Ono's immortality in songs was achieved when husband John chronicled the first week after they got married in "The Ballad of John and Yoko".

George Harrison wooed his future wife, Pattie Boyd with such sublime songs as "Something" and "For You Blue". However, Mr Harrison's friend, Eric Clapton was able to woo Mrs Harrison from her husband with such a song as "Layla".

Answer: One of the characters is played by Kaley Cuoco

You would think anyone named Penelope or Penny would be a shoo-in at the Beatles function but the connection is tenuous. Nevertheless, two Penelopes turned up. Lady Penelope was the British agent connected to International Rescue as part of the "Thunderbirds" TV series from the 60s. As such she is a marionette. Her visible claim to fame was her six-wheeled pink Rolls Royce driven by the very reserved chauffeur Parker.

Penelope Pitstop was an animated character from the 60s cartoon, "Wacky Races". She was known for racing a pink car with huge rouged lips for bumpers called the Compact Pussycat. She was so popular she earned her own spin-off series.

Kaley Cuoco played Penny on "Big Bang Theory". The show's producers have revealed Penny's surname will never be revealed.

Penny Lane in Liverpool made famous in the song of the same name has nothing to do with the name "Penny" or "Penelope" but it is named for James Penny an 18th Century trader, slave shipowner and anti-abolitionist in Liverpool. Slavery was not always seen as a breach in human rights and Liverpool's wealth was based on its centre as a mercantile trading port.

Answer: She had both her names in a Beatles' song

On the Beatles' song "Get Back" (1969), the song was meant to be about the British Immigration policy but instead, fictional characters were invented to make the protest more obtuse. Loretta Martin's claim to fame is along with Eleanor Rigby, these are the arguably the only two Beatles songs which contain both first and surnames of girls.

There was speculation that she was real and related to George Martin who produced the Beatles records. Debunked by Mr McCartney. Similarly George R. R. Martin is the very real successful author of the books that inspired the "Game of Thrones" as is Chris Martin the very real and successful lead singer of Coldplay. Pamela Sue Martin has played Fallon Carrington Colby in "Dynasty", Nancy Drew and even survived "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972).

Answer: American actress, American actress, American figure skater

Michele Kwan was an American figure skater. She was two-time Olympic medalist -silver in 1998 and bronze in 2002. She was a five-time World champion (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003).

Michelle Monaghan, born 1946 in Iowa is an American actress who starred in "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (2005), Source Code (2011), and "Patriots Day" (2016).

Michelle Williams was born in Montan in 1980. She is an American actress whose breakthrough role was the TV series "Dawson's Creek" Her big screen breakthrough was "Brokeback Mountain" in 2005, in which her performance earned Ms Williams her first Academy Award nomination.

The name connection is the Beatles' song "Michelle" from the "Rubber Soul" album".

Answer: Lady Gaga

The two ladies were fighting over the rights to represent the song "Lady Madonna" which allegedly is about the Beatles' wives and girlfriends left behind when the lads tour.

Madonna Ciccone, born 1958, in Michigan, is a musical megastar. While she has been embroiled in several controversies, her musical talent was undeniable. She was labelled the "Queen of Pop" in the 1980s and the label stuck throughout her career.

In some ways one could suggest that Lady Gaga was Madonna's successor. Her real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta[a] (born in NYC in 1986). Her stage name comes from a name given to her by an early producer and boyfriend, the "Gaga" portion being from Queen's song "Radio Ga Ga).
Her biggest songs arguably are "The Fame" and "Poker Face" which won Best Dance/Electronica Album and Best Dance Recording Grammys, respectively at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2010.

Answer: Each and every one

Elizabeth Magill (born in Canada in 1959) is an Irish painter who studied in Ireland but lives and works in London. Some of her works appear in the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Australia.

Nancy Davis was a Hollywood actress who met her future husband Ronald in 1959 and married in 1962. She became the US First Lady when Mr Reagan became the 40th US president. After his term the Reagans retired to their home in Bel-Air, California where Mrs Reagan cared for her husband until he died in 2004. She outlived him by 12 years.

Lillian Gish (1893 - 1993) was an American screen and stage actress. Her film acting career started in silent film shorts and spanned 75 years from 1912 until 1987. Gish was known as the "First Lady of American Cinema".

The connection to each other is through the Beatles' song, "Rocky Raccoon" which has the lyrics:
"Rocky had come...To shoot off the legs of his rival
His rival it seems,had broken his dreams
By stealing the girl of his fancy
Her name was Magill, and she called herself Lil
But everyone knew her as Nancy"

In other words all three were the same person. Alas Rocky did not get any one of them as his rival Dan shot him first.