Godless Hollywood Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Solaris" (2002)

Director and producer Steven Soderbergh was raised in the Church of Rome but describes himself as a hardcore atheist. Soderbergh has been nominated for an Oscar several times and won Best Director for "Traffic" (2001).

George Clooney is both an actor and director. He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Syriana" in 2006. Interestingly he was also nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for "Good Night and Good Luck" in the same year. He became the first person ever to be nominated for an Oscar for directing one movie and acting in a second one in the same year. Clooney also won an Oscar as a Producer for "Argo" in 2013.

"Solaris" (2002) was a not bad remake of the original 1972 Russian flick based on the famous Polish novel by Stanislaw Lem. It's worth a look if you're into heavy metaphysical stuff.

Clooney has discussed his atheism several times in the media:
"I don't believe in Heaven and Hell," he says. "I don't know if I believe in God. All I know is that as an individual, I won't allow this life - the only thing I know to exist - to be wasted." September 28, 1997 special to "The Washington Post", writer Sharon Waxman.

"It's an interesting thing. I'll tell you what's tricky about this. In talking about religion, if you're well known, anything you say, it sort of takes off about a bunch of other people and attacks their belief. So I always try to say that, you know, first and foremost, that whatever anybody believes as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else, it's fair enough, and works, and I think, is real, and matters. I don't happen to have those beliefs, as much, you know, I don't believe in those things." -- Interview with Larry King, February 2006.

Question by LillianRock.

Answer: Piranha 2: The Spawning

As indicated by the "2", "Piranha 2: The Spawning" was a sequel to "Piranha" (1978). Even on a budget of only $145,000, the movie did so poorly at the box office that it probably lost the studio money. It starred Lance Henriksen and now veteran soap opera actor Ricky Paull Goldin.

Cameron is a well known atheist. His full quotation about agnosticism is:
"I've sworn off agnosticism, which I now call cowardly atheism. I've come to the position that in the complete absence of any supporting data whatsoever for the persistence of the individual in some spiritual form, it is necessary to operate under the provisional conclusion that there is no afterlife and then be ready to amend that if I find out otherwise."

In his quote he points out the difference between an evidence based position and one based on mere faith. He's saying that he is prepared to change his position if he can find out otherwise.

"Tarzan the Ape Man" (1981) was directed by John Derek, husband of star Bo Derek. "Inchon" (1981) was a bomb directed by veteran James Bond director Terence Young. "Zombie Lake" (1981) was a French film about zombie Nazis directed by schlock horror director Jean Rollin.

Question by LillianRock and parrotman2006.

Answer: Woody Allen

Allan Stewart Konigsberg was born December 1, 1935. Woody Allen worked as a writer in television before getting into movies. His first film was a parody of Japanese crime drama called "What's Up Tiger Lily" (1966). Woody's first film that he wrote completely and starred in was "Take the Money and Run" (1969). Allen had five films on the AFI 100 Funniest films list: "Take The Money And Run" (1969), "Bananas" (1971), "Sleeper" (1973), "Annie Hall" (#4; 1977) and "Manhattan" (1979).

Here are some of Woody's funnier quotes on God:
"If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank."
"If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans."
"Not only is there no God, but try finding a plumber on Sunday."
"To you I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition."

Question by parrotman2006.

Answer: Jodie Foster

It was Jodie Foster's role in the 1976 film which John Hinckley, Jr. claims started his obsession with impressing the actress and gaining her affection, the climax of which was his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in March of 1981.

Despite being an atheist, Foster has also spoken of her respect for and interest in all religions, including their divine texts, which she has spent time studying.

Foster has shared that she loves religions and even celebrates almost all of them with her family, even though she doesn't believe in God. When her kids ask what religion they identify with, she explains to them that they can answer that for themselves when they're 18.

Question by MacaroniPants.

Answer: Kevin Kline

Kline has appeared in many New York Shakespeare Festival productions of Shakespeare works. While he has been offered many film roles which could have boosted his box-office popularity, he has developed a reputation for being picky about accepting parts and keeping a distance from Hollywood-type stardom. He is the son of an agnostic and a Catholic.

When asked, "If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?" this actor responded with, "You see, I do exist."

Question by froggyx.

Answer: Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn was born May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut. Other than being an actress she also was a painter. In her youth she was a tomboy, and she called herself "Jimmy". She was an extremely private person as an actress.

She stated once about being an atheist, "I'm an atheist, and that's it. I believe there's nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for people." She died June 29, 2003 at the age of 96 years.

Question by Nammage.

Answer: George C. Scott

Apparently, Scott (1927-1999) did not believe in Oscar either! He called the whole production a "meat market" and warned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) that, if he won, he would not accept the statuette, properly known as the Academy Award of Merit, for "Patton" (1970).

Scott had been nominated twice previously for Best Supporting Actor for the films "Anatomy of a Murder" (1959) and "The Hustler" (1961), but lost. He received one more Supporting nod for "The Hospital" (1971). After the "Patton" fiasco, the voting membership decided not to risk further embarrassment. What a surprise!

An "actor's actor", Scott was also a five-time Tony Award nominee, winning four. Scott's disavowal of religion occurred on national television during an interview on the news magazine "60 Minutes".

Question by Humanist.

Answer: Burt Lancaster

Burt Lancaster won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of the title character in "Elmer Gantry". Some say he turned down the role in "Ben-Hur" (1959) because he didn't want to help promote Christianity, but there is some doubt as to whether or not this is true. Marlon Brando and Paul Newman also turned down the leading role in "Ben-Hur".

From Kate Buford's "Burt Lancaster: An American Life" (pp. 277):
"Jackie Bone [Lancaster's long-time girlfriend] remains certain that he was never the atheist he claimed to be, that "something happened, somewhere - perhaps his mother's death - to turn him off" from what he still, deep down in his 'Elmer Gantry' heart, believed. He tossed off any such identification. 'The Ten Commandments', he said, were fine - but not for him."

Whether on not he was an atheist, Lancaster was undeniably a Hollywood liberal. He was a long-time supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union and other liberal causes.

Question by drsteevo.

Answer: Dalton Trumbo

Dalton Trumbo wrote many screenplays while blacklisted, all under pseudonyms until "Exodus". By 2011 he was finally given full credit for all of his screenplays. But he is best known as the author of "Johnny Got His Gun", an anti-war novel that was banned during World War II.

Oddly enough, "Exodus" has been named as a reason for the surge in pro-Israeli and Zionist sentiment in the U.S., even thought it was written by this "godless Communist" (according to HUAC).

Trumbo was raised as a Christian Scientist, but likely fell away from faith as a teenager when his father died because Trumbo's mother refused to seek medical treatment.

Question by SweynForkbeard.

Answer: John Huston

John Huston's career as a director extended over more than 40 years, including such classics as "The Maltese Falcon" (1941), "The African Queen" (1951), "Under the Volcano" (1984) and yes, "The Bible: In the Beginning". Huston won two Academy Awards in 1949, for directing and writing "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948). The film was #38 on the American Film Institute Top 100 list in 2007. Huston died in August of 1987.

"The Bible" (1966) was an epic picture, running almost three hours. It had a powerhouse cast including Peter O'Toole, George C Scott, Richard Harris, Franco Nero and Ava Gardner. Director Huston played Noah.

He said that he was "not a religious person" and described religion as superstition.

Question by Catamount.