Famous Missourians Trivia Quiz

Answer: Josephine Baker

Josephine Carson was born on June 3, 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri. She began working as a maid, for a white family, when she was eight. She married William Howard Baker at the tender age of fifteen. When she was 13, Josephine began working as a waitress.

Her first appearance on stage was at a the Booker T. Washington Theater. While working there, she became a member of the traveling troupe, the Dixie Steppers. She married Willie Baker in 1920. She soon began learning dance steps and routines and the audiences loved her.

She left her husband, joined the La Revue Negre, and moved to Paris. She was soon asked to join the Folies-Bergeres and she accepted. By 1926, Josephine was such a hit, dolls were made in her honor. Josephine continued to tour throughout Europe and starred in a few French movies. Throughout the 60s and 70s, Josephine endured many hospital stays due to various health troubles. Four days after the show, "Josephine", opened, she had a stroke while sleeping, fell into a coma and died later that day on April 12, 1975.

Answer: Vincent Price

Vincent Leonard Price Jr. was born on May 27, 1911. Vincent's grandfather was the founder of Price Baking Powder Company. His father was the president of National Candy Company. The candy company set up a few booths at the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904 and it soon became a success. Vincent studied history at Yale University and graduated in 1933.

He then moved to England and studied fine art at the University of London. He made his stage debut in the U.S. in 1935 in "Victoria Regina". Throughout the 40s, Vincent reigned on stage.

He achieved a successful hit in "The Fall of the House of Usher", the film version of Edgar Allan Poe's original. He starred in other films inspired by Poe such as, "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1961), "The Raven" (1963), "The Masque of the Red Death" (1964), and "The Oblong Box" (1969). Vincent had a recurring role in the TV series, "Batman" as the character, Egghead. During his lfetime, Vincent was married three times.

His first marriage was to Edith Barrett from 1938 to 1948 and they had one son, Vincent Jr.

His second marriage was to Mary Grant from 1949 to 1972 and they had one daughter, Mary. His final marriage was to Coral Brownefrom 1974 until her death in 1991. Vincent's struggle with lung cancer ended on October 25, 1993.

Answer: Jean Harlow

Harlean Carpenter was born on March 3, 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri. She got married at the age of 16 to Charles Fremont McGrew, a wealthy businessman. The couple moved to L.A. and she soon began experimenting with acting. Her small roles caught the eye of Howard Hughes and it was because of him, her stardom grew.

He cast her in her first big hit, "Hell's Angels" (1930). She soon dominated the headlines and was cast along side Clark Gable in a total of six films. By 1932, her first marriage was failing and she got a divorce.

She then married a second time, this time to Paul Bern. This marriage lasted but a few months when it was abruptly ended by Paul taking his own life. In 1933, she was married to Harold Rosson, only to have this marriage end in divorce a couple of years later in 1935.

As her career grew, she decided to change her name. In 1935, she legally changed her name to Jean Harlow. In May 1937, Jean achieved a great milestone, she was the first ever film actress to appear on the cover of "Life" magazine. Shortly after this, Jean suffered from kidney failure and died at the age of 26 on June 7, 1937 from cerebral edema.

Answer: Mark Twain

In 1825, John Marshall Clemens and his young wife, Jane Lampton, had their first child, a son, Orion. In 1827, their second child was born, a daughter, Pamela. In May 1830, their third child was born, Margaret. In June 1932, their fourth child, Benjamin, was born and on November 30, 1835, their fifth child, Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri.

Then, in July 1838, another son, Henry, was born to the Clemens. His older brother, Orion, founded the "Hannibal Journal". Samuel was 23 when he received his pilot's license and piloted boats for a couple of years. During this time, Samuel learned the term, Mark Twain, meaning the river was two fathoms deep, safe enough for navigation.

In 1864, Samuel moved to San Francisco, California to work as a reporter.

Here he wrote, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". Mark married Olivia Langdon in 1870 and they settled in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1876, his book, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", was published. A few years later, in 1882, "The Prince and the Pauper" was published.

In 1883, "Life on the Mississippi" was published. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was published in 1885 and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" was published in 1889. Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain, said his last words as his life came to an end on April 21, 1910.

Answer: John Goodman

John Goodman was born to Leslie and Virginia Goodman on June 20, 1952 in Affton, Missouri. He has an older brother, Leslie Jr. and a younger sister, Betty. After graduating from Affton Senior High, John attended Meramec Community College before going on to study speech and drama at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.

He then headed out east and landed a few spots in commercials and a few minor roles before hitting it big playing Roseanne's husband, Dan Connor, on the TV series, "Roseanne". John married Anna Elizabeth Hartzog in 1989 and together, they have a daughter, Molly Evangeline, born on August 31, 1990.

Answer: Ginger Rogers

Virginia Katherine McMath was born on on July 16, 1911, in Independence, Missouri. When she was 11 years old, her mother moved her to Kansas City, Missouri where she gained a few small advertising spots. A short time later, Ginger's mother moved her to Fort Worth, Texas and there she attended high school and began work in the theatre.

She made her debut at the age of 14 while with a vaudeville act. During her career, she made a total of nine movies with her dance partner, Fred Astaire. In 1940, Ginger won her first and only Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in "Kitty Foyle", in which she played Katherine 'Kitty' Foyle. Ginger was married a total of five times during her lifetime.

Her first marriage to Edward Jackson Culpepper lasted from 1929 until 1931.

She then married Lew Ayres in 1934 and they divorced in 1940. Her third marriage was to Jack Briggs. This marriage lasted from 1943 until 1949. Ginger's fourth marriage was to the French actor, Jacques Bergerac, in 1953 and it lasted until 1957.

Her fifth and final marriage was to William Marshall in 1961 and they were divorced in 1970. Ginger suffered greatly from diabetes and on April 15, 1995, Ginger's life ended from congestive heart failure.

Answer: Maya Angelou

Marguerite Annie Johnson was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Soon after her parents' marriage ended, she and her older brother, Bailey, moved to Arkansas. When she was just 7 years old, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend. Before she could testify against him, he was found beaten and murdered.

She became a recluse and during this time, she studied literature and music. She moved to San Francisco in 1940 where she attended high school and won a scholarship in dance and drama to the California Labor School. During this time, Maya worked part-time and became the first female African-American streetcar conductor. Shortly after graduation, in 1945, she gave birth to her first child, Clyde Johnson. Maya held jobs as a madam as well as a waitress trying to support her and her son. Maya took a form of her second husband's last name, Angelos, and made it her stage name for an appearance in a cabaret.

In the mid 1950s, Maya headed to New York and appeared in an off-Broadway play, "Calypso Heatwave" and also released a calypso album, " Miss Calypso". Maya moved to Egypt with her third husband and when that marriage ended in 1963, Maya moved to Ghana.

A few years later, in 1966, Maya returned to L.A. and wrote, "The Least of These" and a ten-part television series, "Black, Blues, Black". Maya's first book in her autobiography series, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", was published in 1970. Maya followed this book with four more, "Gather Together in My Name" (1974), "Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas" (1976), "The Heart of a Woman" (1981), and "All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes" (1986). In 1971, Maya was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her first book of poems, "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie". Maya was nominated for a Tony award in 1975 for her performance in "Look Away" and she earned an Emmy nomination in 1978 for her role of Nyo Boto, in the mini-series, "Roots". In 1993, Maya became the second only poet, (Robert Frost was the first), to recite their work, ("On the Pulse of Morning"), at a presidential inauguration ceremony. Maya won a Grammy for her recorded reading of this poem for Best Nonmusical Album. Three of Maya's books were on the New York Times Bestseller list in 1997, "I Know How the Caged Bird Sings", "The Heart of a Woman" and "Even the Stars Look Lonesome". Besides English, Maya is fluent in 5 other languages, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and the West African language of Fanti. In 1998, Maya was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Answer: J.C. Penney (JC Penneys)

James Cash Penney was born on September 16, 1875, on a small farm outside Hamilton, Missouri. After graduating high school, James worked a variety of jobs. The one that influenced him the most was working as a clerk in a dry goods store, there he learned to be a merchant.

He took what he learned and moved to Colorado and tried to build a business there but it was shady. in 1898, he went back to work at a dry goods store and the owners were so impressed by him, they offered him the chance to become a partner with them.

He then moved his wife and son to Wyoming where he opened his first store in 1902 called the Golden Rule Mercantile Company. In 1904, he opened another store and soon the other owners, offered to sell him their share, which he accepted. By 1912, he has successfully opened and maintained a total of 34 Golden Rule Stores.

In 1913, the name changed to J.C. Penney Company Incorporated. By 1915, there were 86 J.C. Penney stores throughout 13 states. By the early 1920s, there was a total of 197 stores from coast to coast. By 1971, there was a total of 1660 J.C. Penney stores.

In 1917, he decided to step down from being the company's president and at the age of 42, he became the Chairman of the Board of the corporation. On December 26, 1910, James' wife, Berta, died of pneumonia. In 1916, James met his second wife-to-be, Mary Hortense Kimball but in 1924, she died suddenly and left him alone to raise thier son. In 1925, in her memory, he founded the J.C. Penney Foundation. It helped out agencies related to youth services, adoption agencies, guidance centers, libraries and schools. James then established a community for farming and named it Penney Farms in 1923, built especially for farmers to work and live until they were able to stand on their own. Nearby, he built a center for retired ministers, church workers and their families and dedicated it to his parents. James married a third time in 1926 to Caroline Bertha Autenreith. She bore him 2 children, Mary Frances and Carol Marie. During the stock market crash in 1929, he lost the J.C. Penney Foundation. After he recovered from this devastating loss, he was able to rebuild his foundation and in 1956, he released the James C. Penney Foundation to the world. On December 26, 1970, James fell in his apartment on Park Avenue and he suffered from a broken hip. Not long after this, he suffered a heart attack and died on February 12, 1971.

Answer: True

Thomas Stearns Eliot was born on September 26, 1888, in St. Louis, Missouri. He lived in St. Louis for eighteen years before attending Harvard University. While at Harvard, he earned both undergraduate and masters degrees. In 1910, he attended the Sorbonne in Paris only to return a year later to Harvard to pursue a doctorate in philosophy.

He then relocated back to England where he married Vivian Haigh-Wood. There he worked as a schoolmaster and a bank clerk before becoming an editor at Faber and Faber, a job he would hold for the rest of his life. Thomas' first major work, "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock" was published in 1917.

In 1948, he earned the Nobel Prize in literature. Some of Thomas' other major works include, "Ash Wednesday" (1930) and "Four Quartets" (1943).

He also wrote books on literary and social criticism such as, "The Sacred Wood" (1920), "The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism" (1933), "After Strange Gods" (1934), and "Notes Towards the Definition of Culture" (1940).

In 1927, Thomas became a citizen of Britain. In 1933, he and Vivian separated and in 1947, she died in a mental institution. In 1957, Thomas married his assistant, Valerie Fletcher. The marriage lasted until hid death on January 4, 1965.

Answer: Betty Grable

Elizabeth Ruth Grable was born on December 18, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri to John Conn and Lillian Grable. She had a sister named Marjorie, born in 1909, and a brother, named John Karl, born in 1914, but he died while still an infant. At the age of 13, Betty accepted the chance to star in the chorus of "Let's Go Places".

She made her film debut in , "Whoopee!" (1930). She had a few small parts while appearing with Lucille Ball and Paulette Goddard as Goldwyn Girls in the films, "Palmy Days" and "The Kid From Spain". Betty married twice during her lifetime.

Her first marriage was to actor Jackie Coogan. They were married on November 20, 1937 and were divorced on October 9, 1940. Her second marriage was to band leader, Harry James. They were married on July 5, 1943 and divorced on October 8, 1965.

Her marriage to Harry James produced two children, Victoria, born on March 4, 1944, and Jessica, born on May 20, 1947. 20th Century-Fox had Betty's legs insured with Lloyd's of London for the sum of $1.25 million. Betty passed away on July 2, 1973 and is interred at at the Inglewood Park Cementary in Inglewood, California.