Famous Jail Time Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tim Allen

Before the actor/comedian hit it big, Tim Allen went to the jail for attempting to traffic over 650 grams (1.43 lbs) of cocaine. Allen ended up avoiding a lifetime in prison because he agreed to provide information to officials about other criminals. He was paroled in 1981 and went on to star in the TV show "Home Improvement" from 1991 through 1999.

Answer: Kiefer Sutherland

Kiefer Sutherland pled no contest to charges of driving under the influence in 2007. He served 48 days in jail and was ordered to undergo an 18-month alcohol treatment program and weekly therapy sessions upon his release.

Answer: Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney served nine days of a seven year sentence in a Tokyo prison after he tried to take marijuana into Japan in 1980. Twenty years before that, Paul McCartney was briefly jailed in Hamburg, Germany. He was arrested when he and then-Beatle Pete Best lit a condom on fire and hung it on the wall of their living quarters.

They were arrested for attempted arson and put in jail for several hours before being deported back to England.

Answer: Felicity Huffman

Felicity Huffman pled guilty to fraud charges after admitting to fraudulent activity involving her daughter's SAT scores. She was sentenced to two weeks of jail time, plus community service, supervised release and a $30,000 fine. Other women were also charged in the College Admissions Scandal of 2019.

Answer: Alfred Hitchcock

When he was just a boy, Alfred Hitchcock's father had a London policeman arrest him for getting bad grades in school. He spent one night in jail, and reportedly developed a lifelong fear and hatred of jail (and the police).

Answer: Bill Gates

It seems that Mr. Gates had a number of run-ins with the law in his younger years. He was arrested in 1977 in Albuquerque. He likely only spent a few hours in a holding cell because it is believed that he was arrested for running a stop sign while driving without a license.

He was also arrested in 1975 for driving without a license and in 1989 for driving under the influence, although those charges were later reduced.

Answer: Zsa Zsa

In 1989, Zsa Zsa was charged with assault of a police officer after slapping an officer in Beverly Hills during a traffic stop. She was charged with driving without a license and carrying an open container of alcohol In her Rolls-Royce. She spent 3 days in jail and paid $13,000 in court fees. After she got out of jail, she reportedly said "He deserved the slap".

Answer: Vagrancy

Robert Mitchum seems to have started to act out when he was quite young. His mother sent him to live with relatives in Delaware when he was twelve years old. He was then thrown out of school for fighting with the principal. When he was wandering the country at 14, he was arrested for vagrancy and put on a chain gang in Georgia.

He eventually escaped and made his way to California where he started acting in the early 1940s. In 1948, he served another 60 days in jail for smoking marijuana.

Answer: 1

Johnny Cash was arrested El Paso in 1965 while returning to the U.S. from Mexico. He was investigated for smuggling heroin, but the charge was found to be untrue. It was found that his guitar case was stuffed with a large amount of tranquilizers and amphetamines. He spent the night in jail and paid a $1,000 fine.

Answer: Both of them

Babe Ruth was arrested for speeding on June 8, 1921. He was fined $100 and locked up in jail until 4 p.m. that day. Ty Cobb was a notorious racist and in 1914, he claimed that an African-American butcher's clerk had insulted his wife. In the ensuing fight, Cobb broke the other man's thumb and drew a pistol on the clerk. He was arrested and jailed for one day over the incident.