Celebrities with Names in Common Quiz

Answer: Birth name of the singer of "Roar"

Kate Hudson came to fame with her role as groupie Penny Lane in the comedy drama "Almost Famous" in 2000. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe win and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Katy Perry released her eponymous debut album under her given name, "Katy Hudson" in 2001. Seven years later, reinvented from her Christian rock roots as a power pop star, her single "I Kissed a Girl" propelled her to stardom, hitting the top of the singles charts in numerous countries including the UK and the US. Numerous number ones followed over the next decade including another UK and US chart-topper, "Roar" in 2012.

Answer: Author of "Our Man in Havana"

Graham Greene the author started his writing career in journalism before his first novel ,"The Man Within", was published in 1929. Greene described himself as writing two kinds of book, "entertainments" and novels. The latter, more literary works such as "The Heart of the Matter" and "The End of the Affair" often centred around matters of Catholic faith. Many of his "entertainments" were made into films such as "Brighton Rock" and "The Quiet American". He also wrote directly for the screen, working particularly closely with director Carol Reed on films such as "The Fallen Idol" (1948) and "The Third Man" (1949).

His namesake, the First Nations Canadian actor Graham Greene made his name in Kevin Costner's western epic, "Dances With Wolves" (1990) for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His success with that movie led to a recurring role in "Northern Exposure" and further film roles in the likes of "Die Hard with a Vengeance" (1995) and "The Green Mile" (1999).

Answer: Actor from the "Creed" series of films

Michael B. Jordan had a very successful stint in television shows such as "The Wire" and "All My Children" prior before his big break in the movies with the role of Oscar Grant in "Fruitvale Station" (2013). Two years later he was cast in "Creed" (2015) as Adonis, the son of former champion Apollo Creed from the "Rocky" series of movies. In Creed he was trained by his father's great rival and friend Rocky Balboa to the world title. The film was followed by sequels in 2018 and 2023, the latter of which was Jordan's directorial debut.

In 15 seasons as an NBA star, Michael Jordan helped the Chicago Bulls to six championship wins between 1991 and 1998. He also helped to globalise the popularity of the sport, with his brilliance on court and with his marketing tie-ins, with many familiar with his name through the Nike footwear named after him long before they ever saw him play. His fame was further cemented with his star turn in the live action and animation movie classic "Space Jam" (1996).

Answer: Birth name of the actor from "Beetlejuice"

When Michael Douglas decided he wanted to become an actor he had to change his name because there was already a Michael Douglas in the business. So, as Michael Keaton he made his name in such films as "Beetlejuice" (1988) and "Batman" (1990).

The Michael Douglas that forced Keaton to change his name, had first come to prominence on television in "The Streets of San Francisco". But he soon became better known as a movie star with smash hits such as "Romancing the Stone" (1984) and "Fatal Attraction" (1987). He won an Academy Award as Best Actor for "Wall Street" (1987) to go with his Oscar as a producer for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975).

Answer: English director of "12 Years a Slave"

Steve McQueen, the actor, had a spectacular run of box office hits throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including such films as "Bullitt" (1968), "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) and "The Getaway" (1972). One of his most loved on-screen moments was a 60 foot jump on motorbike over the camp fence in "The Great Escape" (1962). Though legend says that McQueen performed the jump himself, as he was an actor that performed a lot of his own stunts, it was in fact undertaken by a stunt double as McQueen was too inexperienced on dirt bikes at the time to attempt it himself.

Steve McQueen, the movie director, first made his name when he won the British visual arts award, the Turner Prize in 1999, for his short film "Deadpan", a repetitious recreation of the famous Buster Keaton scene from "Steamboat Bill, Jr." (1928) in which a house front falls towards him but avoids hitting him as he is standing precisely where an open window in the house would fall. He was also awarded an Academy Award for Best Director for "12 Years a Slave" (2013), based on the memoir of Solomon Northup, a free born American who was kidnapped into slavery in Louisiana in the 19th century.

Answer: Drummer for Duran Duran

Roger Taylor joined Queen (at the time called Smile) after a friend spotted an advert on a noticeboard at university in London. The ad had been placed by guitarist Brian May. Over the course of more than 20 years, Taylor recorded multiple albums with the band, each of which included at least one track that he had composed or co-composed, such as "Radio Ga Ga", "The Invisible Man" and "These Are the Days of Our Lives".

The other Roger Taylor joined Duran Duran as their drummer in 1979. He played on their first three albums, "Duran Duran", "Rio" and "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" before quitting the band in 1985. He was also part of his former bandmates' side projects Arcadia and The Power Station. After more than a decade outside the music business, Taylor rejoined Duran Duran in 2001.

Answer: Birth name of singer of "Space Oddity"

Originally an actor before becoming a pop star, Davy Jones was recruited to be the lead singer of The Monkees for their television show of the same name. The band had huge success, especially in the US where they topped the Billboard Hot 100 three times including with "I'm a Believer", which also topped the UK Singles Chart.

David Bowie released a series of singles with different backing bands under his birth name of David or Davie Jones before changing his name to avoid confusion with The Monkees' singer. In 1967 he released his first album as David Bowie. It would be another two years before he had any chart success when "Space Oddity" (1969) reached the UK top ten. He became a superstar in the 1970s with the release of "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" (1972) and continued to record with albums reaching the UK top ten every decade up until his death in 2016.

Answer: Birth name of the actor from "Broadcast News"

Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist who published his theory of special relativity in 1905 and a theory of general relativity ten years later. The theory of special relativity concerned how we perceive time, space and energy, particularly at speeds close to the speed of light. It consequently led to Einstein's famous equation regarding mass-energy equivalence. The theory of general relativity updated Newtonian science regarding gravity, redefining it not as a force but as a curving of space-time through the influence of massive objects such as stars and planets.

Albert Einstein, the comedian, actor and writer, changed his professional name to Albert Brooks. After a successful early career in stand-up, Brooks moved into the movies with a role in Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" (1976) and his next movie appearance came in his directorial debut "Real Life" in 1979. In 1987 his performance as reporter Aaron Altman in "Broadcast News" earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He has also been a voice in several hugely successful animated features such as "The Secret Life of Pets" (2016) and "Finding Nemo" (2003).

Answer: American actor from "Captain America"

Chris Evans started out as a DJ in local radio in Manchester. He moved to Radio London before his big break came with a presenting role on TV's "The Big Breakfast". He followed that with the highly successful game show "Don't Forget Your Toothbrush", which in turn led to Evans being offered the prestigious position of host of "The Radio 1 Breakfast Show" in 1995.

Chris Evans, the American actor, is most commonly associated with his superhero roles. He starred in "Fantastic Four" (2005) and had a voice role in "TMNT" (2007). In 2011, he was cast as the lead in "Captain America: The First Avenger", the first of his numerous films in the Marvel Universe.

Answer: Actress from "Blue Valentine"

Destiny's Child are one of the most successful all-girl groups in pop music history. Michelle Williams was not an original member but joined Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland in 2000 to record the group's third album "Survivor". The first single to feature Williams was "Independent Woman", which took the group to the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. They would return to the number one spot in the UK with the follow-up single "Survivor" and in the US with the next single, "Bootylicious".

The actress Michelle Williams first made her name in TV with "Dawson's Creek", which she starred in for six seasons. After several supporting roles in films such as "The Station Agent" (2003), Williams breakthrough came with her role as Alma, the wife cheated on by Heath Ledger's Ennis in "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), a role which earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She would receive several further nominations for Academy Awards including two Best Actress nominations in the same year for "Blue Valentine" (2010) and as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn" (2011), for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.