Keeping Up with the Joneses Trivia Quiz

Answer: Writing the novel "From Here to Eternity"

The author of the novel was James Jones. Private Robert Jones of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment was one of eleven recipients of the VC for the action at Rorke's Drift in 1879. There were at least two pitchers named Bobby Jones in the National League in the 1990s.

It got confusing when they matched up against each other! The Reverend Bob Jones, of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina has been a frequent guest on Larry King's TV program.

Answer: Alan Jones

Australian Alan Jones won 12 Grand Prix during his career that spanned the years 1975-86, and drove his Williams to the championship in 1980. Barry Jones was a British character actor who had the leading role in the 1950s thriller "Seven Days to Noon".

The most famous Jack and Tom are singers, although a Canadian driver named Tom Jones did attempt to qualify for the 1967 Canadian GP. His Cooper-Climax was not quick enough to make the grid.

Answer: Carolyn Jones

Although Carolyn Jones was nominated for her role in "The Bachelor Party" (1957) the Best Supporting Actress award that year went to Miyoshi Umeki for her part in "Sayonara". Shirley won the 1960 Supporting Actress Oscar for "Elmer Gantry". Jennifer was Best Actress in 1943 for "Song of Bernadette" and Tommy Lee was 1993's Best Supporting Actor for "The Fugitive".

Answer: Tom Jones, singer of "Delilah"

It is somewhat strange that Jones should be considered a Welsh name, as the Welsh alphabet contains no letter 'J'. That said, the singer Tom Jones was born Thomas Jones Woodward in Pontypridd, South Wales in 1940. Herbert Jones VC and Inigo Jones were both born in London, England in 1940 and 1573 respectively. (The Queen's House at Greenwich was one of Inigo's designs.) John Paul "I have not yet begun to fight" Jones was born in Kirkcudbright, Scotland in 1747.

Answer: He won the Grand Slam of Golf in 1930.

The golfer was yet another Bobby Jones, who was the first to win all four golfing majors (the British Amateur and British Open, and the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open) in the same year. Having dominated golf from 1923 to 1930, he retired from competition soon after winning the Grand Slam, aged 28. Davy Jones of the Monkees was the cheeky British member of the group. British director David Hugh Jones was born in Dorset in 1934. Sgt David Jones of The King's (Liverpool) Regiment was killed in action on the Somme a month after earning the VC.

Answer: James Jones

"From Here to Eternity", set in Hawaii around the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, was the book that won this award for James Jones. New Zealander Lloyd Jones wrote "The Book of Fame", which won the Deutz medal for Fiction in 2001. Diana Wynne Jones has written numerous books in the fantasy genre for young adults. Veda Boyd Jones has written books and magazine articles for both adults and children.

Answer: Terry Jones

The Cannes award was for "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" (which was also nominated for the Golden Palm) which Terry Jones co-directed (with Terry Gilliam), co-wrote and co-starred in with the rest of the Monty Python gang. Lindley Armstrong 'Spike' Jones was popular during WWII with his band The City Slickers and appeared on several TV programs in the 1950s. Dean may be best remembered for starring with a Volkswagen named Herbie in "The Love Bug". Freddie is a British character actor who has appeared in movies and TV since the 1960s.

Answer: Brian Jones

Brian Jones was a founding member of The Rolling Stones. A certain amount of mystery has surrounded the circumstances of his death in 1969. Quincy Jones had to give up playing the trumpet as a result of a brain aneurysm, but continued to work as a composer and producer. Spike's music leaned toward comedy. Pianist Warren Jones has performed with such artists as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Answer: John Paul Jones, naval hero

Scotsman John Paul added Jones to his name some time after moving to the American colonies in the late 18th century. Shirley Mae Jones not only won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Elmer Gantry", but gained enduring fame as the mother of television's "The Partridge Family" and real-life stepmother of co-star David Cassidy. Larry Wayne Jones, Junior (better known as Chipper) broke in to baseball's major leagues in the mid-1990s with the Atlanta Braves. David Robert Hayward-Jones changed his name to Bowie, possibly to avoid being confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees who was quite famous at the time (late 1960s), though the roles had reversed within a decade.

Answer: Allan Jones (actor/singer) and Jack Jones (singer)

John Allan 'Jack' Jones, a very popular singer in the 1960s and '70s, may be best remembered for singing the theme to the series "The Love Boat". His father, Allan, is similarly remembered for his rendition of "Donkey Serenade", but he also had a long career in the movies, starting in 1935.
Carolyn (Morticia in "The Addams Family") was a Baker at birth, whilst Shirley has always been a Jones girl. Quincy was born in Chicago, Illinois whilst Atlanta Brave Andruw (he really spells his name with a 'u'!) was born in Curacao in the Caribbean. NASCAR driver Roy 'Buckshot' Jones entered his first Winston Cup Race in 1997. Rufus Parnell 'Parnelli' Jones won the Indy 500 in 1963. His son, P.J., became a CART driver in the 1990s.
Thanks go to my friend, Bob Jones (another one!), for reminding me about some of the people mentioned in this quiz.