Famous Johns, Dear Johns Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Belushi

That's right! He was one of "The Blues Brothers", a 1980 film by John Landis. John was born Jan 24, 1949 and died Mar 5, 1982. I really loved him because he was such a funny powerhouse! He really reached stardom in the 1970s because of his hyper funny style. He started out on "Second City" in 1971 (Chicago's legendary improvisational group).

He joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" (1975) a few years later and I loved one of the characters he played, the Samurai man. He then had a funny role in "Animal House" (1978). I loved him best in "The Blues Brothers" (1980) though. What a funny, talented guy he was and such a loss to the world of comedy when he died. On the 10th of March, John Belushi was buried in Abel's Hill Cemetery, on Martha's Vineyard. Dan Aykroyd led the procession on his motorcycle.

Answer: John Ritter

We all know him for his role as Jack Tripper on the long-running television sitcom, "Three's Company", which ran from 1977-1984 and earned him an Emmy. John Ritter was born on September 17, 1948. His father was Tex Ritter, a famous western singer and actor. He was a psychology major and wasn't going to follow in his father's footsteps, but then a drama class changed his mind. He then earned a degree in drama.

He was a wonderful actor and did so many other roles, too numerous to name. On September 11, 2003, John felt sick while he was rehearsing scenes for an episode of "8 Simple Rules" (2002-2005). He went to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, where he died less than an hour later. He was 54, and was in the same hospital in which he was born. The cause of death was an aortic aneurysm. What a very sad loss to the world. He truly was a great guy.

Answer: John Candy

That's right. John starred in a movie called "Uncle Buck" (1989). I thought he was just so lovable in this movie. He was born October 31, 1950 in Toronto, Canada. His given name was John Franklin Candy and he wanted to be an entertainer even while studying for a journalism degree in college.

He started out as a member of the "Second City" (1977-1980) comedy group in Toronto,Canada. He had a part in Steven Spielberg's big-budget comedy "1941" (1979) and had a supporting role as a parole officer in "The Blues Brothers" (1980). Then he played a lovable, mild-mannered Army recruit in 1981's "Stripes". He had a cameo spot in "National Lampoon's Vacation"(1983)and appeared on "Saturday Night Live"(1975-1979) twice.

He was honored by Canada Post by being featured on a postage stamp. This was in May of 2006. He died in his sleep of a heart attack on March 4, 1994, while on working on a film in Mexico, "Wagons East!". He was 43.

Answer: John Malkovich

He played the title role in the Charlie Kaufman-penned "Being John Malkovich" (1999). His given name was John Gavin Malkovich and he was born on December 9, 1953. In 1976 he became a charter member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois. Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Tony Award-winning Chicago theater company founded in 1974 by Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry.

He moved to New York City in 1983 and appeared in the play "True West" (1984). He acted on Broadway with Dustin Hoffman in "Death of a Salesman" (1984). He made his film debut in "Places in the Heart" (1984), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 1994, he was nominated for an Oscar in the same category for "In the Line of Fire" (1993). He refers to himself as a libertarian.

Answer: John Cusack

His sister Joan Cusack and he appeared in "Sixteen Candles" (1984) together and also appeared together in "Martian Child"(2007), "High Fidelity" (2000), "Grosse Pointe Blank"(1997), "Cradle Will Rock" (1999) and "Say Anything" (1989).

He was born as John Paul Cusack on June 28, 1966 and is an American film actor and writer. He started off in the mid 1980s appearing in teen movies such as "Better Off Dead" (1985), "The Sure Thing" (1985), "One Crazy Summer" (1986) and "Sixteen Candles" (1984). He won the 1990 Most Promising Actor CFCA Award for" Say Anything". He also won the 1998 Favorite Supporting Actor Blockbuster Entertainment Award for "Con Air" (1997). He protects his private life and is quoted as saying that "celebrity is the worst thing that can happen to an actor".

Answer: John Schneider

If you got it right then you know he played Bo Duke on "The Dukes of Hazard" television series that ran from 1979-1985. This handsome, tall drink of water stands 6 foot 4 inches and was born John Richard Schneider on April 8, 1960 in Mount Kisco, New York. He is also known to television audiences as Jonathan Kent, the adoptive father of Clark Kent on the hit show "Smallville" (2001-2006). He starred in 100 episodes before his character was killed off.

He has appeared in many films and TV series such as the miniseries "10.5" (2004) about an earthquake that hit the west coast. He had a recurring role on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (1993-1998) and guest-starred on such shows as "Diagnosis Murder" (1996-2000), "Touched by an Angel" (1995-2001), "JAG" (1998) and "Walker, Texas Ranger" (1999). He also appeared in the off-Broadway play "The Civil War" (Jan. 2008- March 2008) as a Confederate soldier. As far as music he has had several hit songs. He sold his "General Lee" car, a Dodge Charger, on 'Barrett-Jackson' car auction to a car dealer and collector in West Virginia.

Answer: John Wayne

World famous John Wayne was born Marion Morrison and was the son of a pharmacist. His father's health problems caused them to move from Iowa to California where he took up ranching. Marion (John Wayne) delivered medicines for his father, sold newspapers and had an Airedale dog named "Duke". This is where his nickname came from. He did well at school academically and in football. He went to USC on a football scholarship, 1925-1927. Tom Mix (a famous cowboy actor) got him a summer job as a prop man in exchange for football tickets. This is where he met and became friends with John Ford and started doing bit parts in his films.

His first featured film was "Men Without Women" (1930). He acted in more than 70 low-budget westerns and adventures. Ford cast him in "Stagecoach" (1939), and the movie made him a star. He appeared in nearly 250 movies, many of epic proportions. Among his favorite leisure activities were playing bridge, poker, and chess. He underwent surgery to have a cancerous left lung removed on September 16, 1964. He was a five packs a day smoker. Senator Barry Goldwater from Arizona introduced legislation to award him the Congressional Gold Medal. The bill was passed unanimously. John Wayne died of stomach cancer on June 11, 1979, at the UCLA Medical Center.

Answer: John Cleese

He had an award winning role as Archie Leach in the American/British comedy film "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988). He was born John Marwood Cleese on October 27, 1939 and is an English award-winning actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and singer. You probably know him best for his different roles in the British comedy "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969-1974), his role as Basil Fawlty in "Fawlty Towers" (1975) and his various roles in the British comedy "The Frost Report" (1966-1967).

He was born in Somerset, England and his mother was an acrobat and his father was in insurance sales. His family's surname was previously "Cheese", but his father changed his surname to "Cleese" in 1915, when he joined the army. I guess he thought it was too "cheesey". Oh, Ok, I'll stop trying to be a comedian. Did you know that a species of lemur, 'Avahi cleesei', has been named in his honour?

Answer: John Huston

He was the father of actress Anjelica Huston and director Danny Huston. John Marcellus Huston was born on August 5, 1906 and died August 28, 1987. He was an Academy Award-winning film director and actor. He directed many classic films such as " The Maltese Falcon" (1941), "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950), "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948), "Key Largo" (1948), "The African Queen" (1951), "The Misfits" (1960) and "The Man Who Would Be King" (1975).

Huston was an accomplished painter. He painted throughout his life and was interested in Cubism and the American school of Synchromism. He died from emphysema on August 28, 1987 in Middletown, Rhode Island. He was 81 years old.

Answer: John Gilbert

The clue dealing with "grapes" was that his last name in the movies was "Gilbert" and I thought of the movie "What's Eating Gilbert Grape". He was born John Cecil Pringle in Logan, Utah on July 10, 1895 and died January 9, 1936. He was known as the "Great Lover" and they say he rivaled even the great Rudolph Valentino as a box office draw. He starred in a film "Heart o' the Hills" (1919) opposite Mary Pickford. In 1921, he signed a three year contract with Fox Film Corporation. In 1924, he moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he had high profile films such as "His Hour" (1924), "He Who Gets Slapped" (1924), co-starring Lon Chaney, Sr. and "The Merry Widow" (1925). Gilbert was in the war epic "The Big Parade" (1925), which became the second highest grossing silent film in cinema history. He became a major star. The following year he was in the film "La Bohème" (1926) which also starred Lillian Gish.

They say he was an actor who was unsuccessful in making the transition to talkies. His decline as a star really seemed to do with studio politics and money rather than the sound of his screen voice. He died of a massive heart attack in January of 1936. He was only forty-one years old.