November 30 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Andrea Doria

Doria helped to drive the French out of Italy, although he worked with the French for a while. He spent much of his life trying to contain the Ottoman Empire. He was still active at age 84 fighting the Barbary pirates.

He gave his name to several Italian warships and two United States' ships. A luxury liner, the Andrea Doria, sank after a collision near Nantucket in 1956, costing 46 lives.

Answer: Oliver Winchester

Oliver Winchester is given credit for manufacturing and marketing the automatic rifle that could be reloaded in a matter of seconds, although the invention is often attributed to Samuel Colt. He died in 1880. His daughter-in-law Sarah believed that the weaponry invented by her father-in-law brought evil into the world.

She moved to San Jose, CA where she built a famous, strange and chaotic house.

Answer: Cricket

Abel was the first man to 'carry his bat', meaning that he continued batting without an out from the start to the end of an innings. He was the first to score 2000 runs in consecutive years. In one year, 1901, he scored a remarkable 3309 runs.

Answer: Gordon Parks

Renaissance man is a term used too freely. But Gordon Parks was a true Renaissance man. Parks was successful as photographer for Life Magazine, noted for his picture essays. He was a musician, a poet, a novelist, a journalist, an activist and a film-maker. "Learning Tree" was a semi-autobiographical film.

After "Learning Tree" he directed "Shaft" (1971) and the sequel "Shaft's Big Score" (1972). These were greeted as 'blaxploitation' films but were a hit with the main-stream audience.

Answer: Virginia Mayo

The director, Raoul Walsh, called her the most natural talent that he knew. Many of the leading men of the time were cast opposite Mayo including Bob Hope, Burt Lancaster, Paul Newman, Ronald Reagan, Kirk Douglas and Gregory Peck.

Answer: Allan Sherman

Sherman's rising star fell as quickly as it rose. He created the television program "I've Got a Secret". He issued a comedy album that reached number two on the Billboard survey. His Camp Granada with his "hello muddah, hello faddah" struck a cord with baby-boomers of the time.

His career was promoted by both Harpo Marx and George Burns. However, heavy drinking, diabetes, weight gain and emphysema cut short his career at 48.

Answer: Richard Crenna

Crenna was probably an under-rated actor as his early roles were in "Our Miss Brooks" as a clumsy crackly-voiced adolescent and Luke on "The Real McCoys". He pretty much escaped the sitcom characters and became a familiar face on television and films. Arguably, his best performance was as the Captain in "The Sand Pebbles" (1966), but many will remember him from the Rambo movies.

Answer: Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott's "Hannibal"(2001) gathered 58 million dollars on opening weekend. "Blade Runner" (1982) is a cult classic. My personal favorite is "G.I.Jane" (1997) with Demi Moore. Most over-rated Ridley film: "Black Hawk Down" (2001).

Answer: David Mamet

David Mamet is also a noted playwright. The dialogue he assigns to his characters is often very natural, such as people speak to each other day-to-day. Mamet also directs and produces.

Answer: Ivan Rodriguez

I-Rod is a 16 time All-Star. He has been awarded 13 Golden Gloves. His career batting average hovers around .300 and he has hit over 300 home runs.