Famous Wisconsinites Trivia Quiz

Answer: Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder is the author of the "Little House on the Prairie" series. She was born in Pepin County, Wisconsin on February 7, 1867. She passed away at the age of 90 in Mansfield, Missouri. Ma, Pa, Mary and Laura are all characters from her popular book series.

Betty Friedan, author of "The Feminine Mystique," was born in Peoria, Illinois.

Louisa Mary Alcott was born in Wolcott, New Haven, Connecticut.

Harriet Beecher Stow, author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was born in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Answer: Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe was born in Appleton, Wisconsin on July 22, 1955. He of course played the Green Goblin in the 2002 hit movie, "Spiderman".

Kevin Bacon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Jim Carrey was born in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. (Played the Grinch).

Mike Myers was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada (Played Shrek, the green ogre).

Answer: Georgia O'Keeffe

O'Keeffe is famous for her close-up depictions of flowers. Some of her better-known works include 'White Trumpet Flower' and 'Red Cana.' Sun Prairie is only about 20 minutes from my old town, Waunakee.

Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Norman Rockwell was born in New York City, New York.

Answer: Orson Welles

Orsen Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin on May 6, 1915. He starred in many films including "Jane Eyre" (1944), "The Third Man" (1949), "The Long, Hot Summer" (1958), "Compulsion" (1959), "A Man for All Seasons" (1966), and "Catch-22" (1970). He directed "Citizen Kane" in 1941 which starred Joseph Cotten and Dorothy Comingore.

George Lucas, director of the "Star Wars" films was born in Modesto, California.

Steven Spielberg, director of many films such as "ET: The Extraterrestrial," was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ron Howard director of "Splash," and many other films was born in Duncan, Oklahoma.

Answer: Jim Jensen

Jim Jensen was a longtime American anchor and reporter, most notably at Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). He was born on November 13, 1926 in Kenosha, Wisconsin and passed away in New York on October 16, 1999 due to a heart attack.

Walter Cronkite was born in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Kent Brockman is actually a fictional character from The Simpsons. He plays the anchor for KBBL-TV (Channel 6)in the show.

Tom Brokaw was born in Webster, South Dakota.

Answer: Liberace

Liberace, or Wladziu Valentino Liberace, was born in West Allis, Wisconsin ( a suburb near Milwaukee). His more popular works include "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Beer Bottle Polka."

Herbie Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois.

Oscar Peterson was born in Montréal, Quebec, Canada.

Lori Line was born in Reno, Nevada.

Answer: Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was born on in June 8, 1867 in Richland Center, Wisconsin. He is known as "America's Most Famous Architect".


Frank Gehry was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

William Holabird was born in Amenia Union, New York.

Louis Kahn was born in Saarama (Saaremaa), Estonia.

Answer: Les Paul

Les Paul was born Lester William Polfus in 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He is credited for his innovation of creating a solid-body electric guitar and also for developing revolutionary engineering techniques such as close miking, echo delay, overdubbing and multi-tracking.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Sam Cooke was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986. He was born in Chicago, Illinois.

Bill Monroe, "the father of bluegrass music," was inducted in 1997. He was born in Rosine, Kentucky.

James Brown was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986 also. He was born in Barnwell, South Carolina.

Answer: Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder, or Jerome Silberman, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 11, 1933. He of course played the original Willy Wonka in the 1971 film, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".

Richard Gere was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Johnny Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky. (He played Willy Wonka in the 2005 film, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".)

Cuba Gooding Jr. was born in The Bronx, New York.

Answer: Bob Uecker

Bob Uecker was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He spent six seasons in the major leagues with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Philadelphia Phillies. More impressively, however, he is the first former-player-turned- broadcaster to be inducted into The Radio Hall of Fame.

Robin Yount was born in Danville, Illinois.

Gorman Thomas was born in Charleston, South Carolina.

Bill Castro was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic.


All incorrect choices were players from the 1980 Milwaukee Brewers roster.
Yount was an infielder, Thomas was an outfielder and Castro was a pitcher. Castro is also currently a Brewer bullpen coach.