Bette Davis Eyes Trivia Quiz

Answer: moustache

Julius Henry Marx was the middle of five sons born to Minnie and Sam Marx. Family financial issues forced him to abandon his dream of studying to become a doctor, and he formed a vaudeville act singing with brothers Milton (later to be known as Gummo) and Adolph (Harpo), until they discovered that the audience was much more responsive to their off-the-cuff joking than to their singing. Oldest brother Leonard (Chico) joined them in an uproarious skit called 'Fun in Hi Skule', in the course of which their better-known performance personas were developed. Chico had an Italian accent and played the piano; Harpo wore a red wig and didn't speak; Groucho sported a greasepaint moustache and eyebrows to match, and was the prime exponent of the smart-aleck and witty repartee for which they became famous. From Vaudeville to Broadway to Hollywood and the Universe - it was a natural progression.

Answer: horn-rimmed glasses

While not now as instantly recognised as his contemporary Charlie Chaplin (because he refused for many years to allow re-release of his classic silent films with piano tracks instead of the organ accompaniment originally used), Harold Lloyd was very popular in his time, and made around 200 feature films in a career that spanned from 1914 until 1947.

He is perhaps best remembered for the fact that he performed almost all of his own stunts, including the scene in 'Safety Last!' (1923) in which his character can be seen dangling high above a street, holding on for dear life to the hands of a large clock.

This character was the one he called 'Glasses' (also sometimes just Harold), an energetic and resourceful young man with success firmly in his sights (often leading him into risky situations).

The character's lensless horn-rimmed glasses were adopted at the suggestion of Hal Roach, who felt that Lloyd was too good looking to be a successful comedy performer (go figure). Harold Lloyd's 1927 entry in the concrete outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre (as it was then called) includes an outline of a pair of glasses along with his hand and foot prints.

Answer: nose

Jimmy Durante's performances emphasized both his distinctive gravelly voice and his equally distinctive nose, which he called his 'schnozzola', from the Yiddish word for nose. He performed as a pianist, singer and comedian on stage, radio, television and movies in a lengthy career starting in the 1920s and continuing until his death in 1980. In 1934 he had a hit with the novelty song 'Inka Dinka Doo', which became his signature song for the rest of his career. His radio show used it as the opening theme, and the show closed with another trademark, him saying "Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are." He finally revealed in 1966 that this was a message to his wife, to whom he had given that nickname because she was so taken with a town of that name in which they once stopped.

Jimmy Durante may also have been the source for the well-known phrase 'the elephant in the room'. In a 1935 production of the Broadway play 'Billy Rose', Durante had a scene in which he led a live elephant across the stage, to be accosted by a police officer who asked him where he was taking the elephant. Durante's response ("What elephant?") had the audience rolling in the aisles every night.

Answer: ears

Darryl F. Zanuck's summary of Clark Gable after he auditioned for the lead in 'Little Caesar' (a part which was to become Edward G. Robinson's first major film role) was said to be, "His ears are too big and he looks like an ape." Not exactly a promising start to the career of a man who was to become one of Hollywood's major stars, and a legendary romantic lead! He overcame this obstacle to steam up the screen with such leading ladies as Joan Crawford in 'Possessed' (1931), Jean Harlow in 'Red Dust' (1932) and five more films, Claudette Colbert in 'It Happened One Night' (1934) and (wait for it) Vivien Leigh in 'Gone With the Wind' (1939).

Answer: legs

A poster of Betty Grable in a bathing suit which made her one of the most popular pin-up girls of World War II was included in a collection of '100 Photographs that Changed the World' produced by 'Life' magazine. She was a sex symbol throughout her career, and the 20th Century Fox studio once insured her legs for a million dollars as a publicity stunt. One of her last films was 'How to Marry a Millionaire' (1953), in which she co-starred with Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe (who got most of the publicity, despite Grable technically having top billing) as three gold diggers in search of love and/or money.

Answer: eyes

Marty Feldman suffered from a thyroid condition known as Graves' disease, the symptoms of which often include bulging eyes. In his case, the effect was made even more pronounced by an operation attempting to rectify the protrusion, leaving them misaligned as well as protuberant.

As a comedian, he used them to great advantage, especially in his portrayal of Igor (pronounced Eye-gore, thank you very much) in the Mel Brooks movie 'Young Frankenstein' (1974). Prior to this, he had success in a 1967 BBC sketch comedy show called 'At Last the 1948 Show' which also featured John Cleese and Graham Chapman (soon to become a part of Monty Python) and Tim Brooke-Taylor (later to join Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie in 'The Goodies').

These four originated the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch, frequently performed by the Python team in live performances.

Answer: voluptuous body

Norma Jean Mortensen grew up to be one of the major Hollywood sex symbols of the 1950s (and 1960s, until her death in 1962), best known for her 'dumb blonde' roles, such as the part of Lorelei Lee in 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' (1953), a role which included her performance of the song 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend'.

Her curvaceous hourglass figure was often emphasised by the movie cameras (and the focus of publicity shots such as those taken during the 1954 filming of the 'subway grate' scene of 'The Seven Year Itch', with her billowing white dress framing her figure.

Her apparent fragility was echoed in the title of the tribute song written by Elton John, 'Candle in the Wind'.

Answer: baldness

After establishing himself as a Shakespearian actor, and working on British television, Patrick Stewart became an international star when he took on the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', which originally aired from 1987 through 1994.

When he accepted the part and signed the required six-year contract, he reportedly did so on his agent's assurance that the show was likely to fail, and he would be released to return to live performance with a hefty amount of money earned from the experience. Following the success of the TV show, he portrayed the same character in a number of films, and then moved on to become Professor Charles Xavier in the 'X-Men' franchise. Throughout, he retained contact with the Royal Shakespeare Company during breaks in filming, as well as an assortment of other live theatre performances.

Answer: muscular physique

Arnie was still resident in his native Austria when he began weight training, and gained his first title - Mr Universe in 1967, which was to be followed by seven Mr Olympia titles. He moved to the US in 1968, where he continued his bodybuilding while learning English and trying to establish himself in movies.

His breakthrough as an action star came with 'Conan the Barbarian' (1982), but it was his performance in the 1984 film 'The Terminator' which is perhaps the one for which he is most remembered, and which led to his nickname of 'The Governator' during his term of office as Governor of California (2003-2011).

Answer: hair

So popular was the American sitcom 'Friends' (1994-2004) that the haircut sported during the first few seasons by Rachel Green, the character portrayed by Jennifer Aniston, was widely emulated, and most hairdressers knew exactly what the client wanted when they asked for 'A Rachel'. Apparently, Aniston herself disliked the haircut - she certainly seemed happy to leave it behind and move to a longer style.

The part, however, brought her international fame, multiple acting awards, and a significant amount of money - she earned a million dollars for each episode of the last season.

Her subsequent career has mostly involved romantic comedy films.