Gone Before Their Time #2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: James Dean

James Dean died on September 30, 1955.

Dean was a promising young method-actor who had studied at the Lee Strasberg School in NYC before making his mark in three important movies, all of which were filmed shortly before his untimely death. "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) may be the role he is best remembered for, but he was nominated for Best Actor Oscars posthumously for two other films, "East of Eden" (1955) and "Giant" (1956). Dean is the only actor to have received two such nominations after his death.

Dean loved car-racing, and went from being an amateur to competing professionally in 1955, the year he died. His first official race was in March, followed by a second race a month later in Bakersfield, where he came in third. Dean had to withdraw from his third professional race due to mechanical problems with his car. He was on his way to another race in a Porche 550 Spyder that he had bought for that purpose on the day he died. He was driving it up to the venue to "break the car in", when another driver turned into traffic in front of Dean's car. Dean was driving very fast and couldn't avoid hitting the other vehicle. The driver of that car escaped with only minor injuries, a passenger in Dean's car was thrown from the Porche and wasn't severely harmed either, but Dean sustained a broken neck and other injuries which proved fatal. He died before reaching the hospital and never took part in that last professional race.

Answer: John Lennon

John Lennon died on December 8, 1980.

Though Lennon was best known as a member of the Beatles until the band broke up in 1970, he was also a peace activist, a film producer and an actor. Lennon's film appearances included "A Hard Day's Night" (1964), "Help" (1965), "How I Won the War" (1967), "Magical Mystery Tour" (1967), "Yellow Submarine" (1968), "Two Virgins (1968, short film), "Apotheosis" (1970, short film), and "Let It Be" (1970). He also made a guest appearance on a British Television show "Not Only... But Also" playing a janitor in 1965.

John Lennon and his second wife Yoko Ono were returning to their home at the Dakota Hotel in Manhattan just before 11:00 pm when Mark David Chapman, a fan of Lennon's, shot him in the back four times. Ironically, Lennon had signed a copy of an album, "Double Fantasy", for Chapman earlier that same day. Though Lennon was taken to a nearby hospital within minutes, he was pronounced dead there at 11:00 pm.

Answer: Sal Mineo

Sal Mineo died on February 12, 1976.

Mineo was a gifted and promising young actor, perhaps best known for his turn with James Dean and Natalie Wood in "Rebel Without a Cause". He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for that performance, and again for his work in "Exodus".

After his early success in "Rebel", Mineo soon became typecast as a troubled teenager. By the early 1960s, he was getting too old to play that type of role. He had also come out as bisexual, well before it was socially acceptable to do so, which blocked his being selected for leading roles. Mineo's later roles were as someone with some type of mental problem, which showed the biases of the day regarding LGBT people.

On the night he was killed, Mineo was returning to his apartment after a rehearsal for a show. He was stabbed once through the heart, which caused extensive internal bleeding and death. Though there were other accounts of his death at the time, they were speculation and rumors that were not based on fact. Police investigations found that Mineo had been killed by a pizza delivery man who was later linked to many other robberies and assaults in that area.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977.

Presley was an American singer-songwriter, sex symbol and actor, who became an almost cult-like figure in terms of the devotion of his fans. Their die-hard idolizing of Presley started in his early days of performing and continues until today. Presley was a ground-breaking performer, whose hip-swaying gyrations caused scandal and fascination. He was also known as the King of Rock and Roll.

Presley served in the armed forces from 1958 to 1960, and it was while he was a serviceman in Germany that he discovered amphetamines. Though he was out of the public eye for almost two years while in the military, his manager, Colonel "Tom" Parker, made sure that there was new music available to release every couple of months, so that the public's awareness of Presley would not die out.

Presley appeared in 30 films during his lifetime, with a debut in 1958's "Love Me Tender". His last feature film was "Change of Habit" in 1969 with Mary Tyler Moore, though he did appear as himself in two documentaries after that in 1970 and 1972. After giving up his career as an actor, Presley once again toured as a musician until his death.

By the end of his life, Presley was obese and almost a caricature of his former self. He had divorced his wife, Priscilla, in 1973, and his health took a turn for the worse at that time. After years of unhealthy eating habits, drug dependency and more, he suffered from liver disease, glaucoma, an enlarged colon, migraines and heart problems. He was due to go on tour on the day he died. His girlfriend found Presley on the floor of the bathroom at his home, unresponsive. He was declared dead at 3:16 pm.

Answer: Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee died on July 20, 1973.

Lee was probably the first Chinese-American to contribute to changing the way Asians were viewed in American films. He was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents, and was raised in Hong Kong. He returned to the US to do his college education at the age of 18 (majoring in drama with a minor in philosophy), and got involved with teaching martial arts while there.

Lee was an actor, martial arts expert, instructor and philosopher. He came up with his own version of a martial art, called Jute Kune Do ("The Way of the Intercepting Fist"). Lee ran into trouble with purists who thought that kung fu should be taught only to Chinese, but Lee refused to comply and taught westerners as well.

Lee got his first taste of acting in the TV show "The Green Hornet" as Kato. When that show was cancelled, Lee's character was still popular, and he played it as a guest star in three episodes of the TV show "Batman". After not finding a lasting career in the US on television, Lee returned to Hong Kong and broke into the film industry there. It is hard to believe that Lee was only in five major films during his short life. Perhaps the most influential of these were "Enter the Dragon" and "Way of the Dragon". Lee's characters always showed pride in their Chinese heritage and culture. Lee's final film was "Game of Death".

Lee had suffered a similar symptoms (headache and seizures) as those of the day of his death a couple of months before he died. On the first occasion, he was rushed to the hospital, and was diagnosed with a cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). His symptoms were brought under control and he was released. On the night he died, he once again complained of a headache. A colleague gave him a pain reliever that contained aspirin and a tranquilizer, which appears to have aggravated the swelling of the brain. Lee went to take a nap and never got up again.

Answer: Andy Kaufman

Andy Kaufman died on May 16, 1984.

Kaufman was a multi-talented entertainer, actor, wrestler and comedian. He never liked being called the latter, because in his mind, he was an entertainer who didn't tell jokes, he simply tried to entertain his audiences with his wildly original personas and different ways of looking at things.

Kaufman's first big break came with an invitation to host "Saturday Night Live". He created the character of a foreign man who spoke gibberish for that appearance, which later became the basis of his character Latka on the sit-com "Taxi". Kaufman toured comedy clubs and appeared often on late-night television shows in the US. He also began to wrestle professionally.

Though Kaufman was a vegetarian and a non-smoker, he contracted a rare form of lung cancer. He decided not to pursue chemotherapy and other invasive treatments, preferring natural remedies. The cancer had spread to his brain by the time it killed him in 1984.

Answer: River Phoenix

River Phoenix died on October 31, 1993.

Phoenix was a gifted American actor, musician and environmental activist. He came from a family of actors, and was the older sibling to Rain, Joaquin, Summer and Liberty Phoenix. His and his siblings' names had been chosen by their parents when the family was deeply involved with the Children of God religious group.

Some of Phoenix's best-known performances were "Stand By Me" (1986), "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1990) and "My Own Private Idaho" (1991). His talents were undeniable, and he was much in demand at the time of his death.

Phoenix had a squeaky clean image, and was a vegan. Not many knew of his drug habits. On October 30, 1993, he had gone to the Viper Room in West Hollywood, a club that belonged (in part) to actor Johnny Depp, to see his friend and fellow musician, Flea (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) perform. While the musicians were playing, Phoenix complained that he felt bad and might be overdosing. He appeared to rally, however, and then went outside alone to get some air. Phoenix collapsed on the sidewalk and began convulsing. By the time paramedics arrived, his skin looked blue and he was in full cardiac arrest. Attempts to revive him failed, and he was declared dead at 1:51 a.m., on October 31, 1993.

Answer: John F. Kennedy, Jr.

John F. Kennedy, Jr., died on July 16, 1999.

JFK, Jr. was a journalist, lawyer and public figure, beloved since his childhood as the son of the assassinated president, who had been killed just days before the boy's third birthday. Kennedy, Jr., and his older sister Caroline, lived his life in the public eye. He had worked as an assistant district Attorney for some years before launching a political magazine called "George". Many felt that he would someday go into politics himself, as his father had done.

JFK, Jr. died when the plane he was piloting first to Martha's Vineyard and then to Hyannis Port, MA, to attend a cousin's wedding went down. Kennedy, Jr., his wife Caroline, and her sister Lauren, all died in the crash.

Answer: Lee Thompson Young

Lee Thompson Young died on August 19, 2013.

Young was a promising actor who seemed to have a promising career in television. Originally from South Carolina, Young had decided he wanted to be an actor at the age of ten, when he portrayed a young Martin Luther King, Jr. in a play called "A Night of Stars and Dreams".

Young found initial success in a couple of Disney productions after moving to New York in the late '90s and early 2000s. He starred in a Disney TV show called "The Famous Jeff Jackson". He made a feature film, "Friday Night Lights" in 2007, and then landed the role of Det. Barry Frost on the TV show "Rizzoli and Isles", which he appeared in for over 50 episodes, from 2010 until his death in 2014.

On the day he died, Young failed to show up for filming his television show. He had been diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder and depression, and he was taking medication. When the police were called to check on Young at his apartment, they found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Answer: Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin died on September 4, 2006.

Irwin was known the world over as "The Crocodile Hunter". He was an Australian conservationist and environmentalist, who operated the Australia Zoo with his American-born wife, Terri. Irwin was also a well-known television documentary star, and had several shows that dealt with wildlife in Australia and elsewhere.

Irwin died in a freak accident while filming an episode of his daughter Bindi Sue's television program. He was swimming up to a stingray, and the animal whipped its tail back at Irwin. The barb from the stingray's tail pierced Irwin's chest and penetrated his heart, killing him.