Good Old Benedict Trivia Quiz

Answer: William 'Billy' Benedict

William 'Billy' Benedict (1917-1999) appeared as Whitey in a number of "Bowery Boys" movies of the late 1940s and early '50s, and had the same moniker in "The Story of GI Joe" (1945) and "Adventures of Captain Marvel" (1941). Others of his over 300 acting credits at the Internet Movie DataBase list him simply as Telegraph Boy or Newsboy. He was the Roulette Dealer in "The Sting" (1973) and turned up as Old Man in an episode of "Hill Street Blues" in 1983.

He started out to be a dancer, but never danced in a movie, though he played almost every other sort of role. He married once, when he was over fifty.

Answer: Richard Benedict

Born Joseph Sciurba on the island of Sicily, Richard Benedict (1920-1984) began his movie career with an uncredited role as Drunken Seaman in "Winged Victory" (1944). A year later he played Pvt Tranella, one of the soldiers who took "A Walk in the Sun" in Italy with Dana Andrews as their sergeant. He was a drunken seaman again in 1949's "The Window", and graduated to being 'Curly' Steffans, one of Danny Ocean's crew in the 1960 version of "Ocean's Eleven", starring Frank Sinatra.

He was active on TV in the 1960s, often making guest appearances on westerns and detective shows of the time, even playing a number of different roles on shows like "Hawaiian Eye" and "Surfside 6". He also played the trapped man in Billy Wilder's movie "Ace in the Hole" (1951). He turned to directing in the 1960s, mostly television productions.

Answer: Paul Benedict

Even though he was born in New Mexico and grew up in Boston, Paul Benedict (1938-2008) played Englishman Harry Bentley, nosy neighbour of George and Louise on "The Jeffersons", appearing in 155 episodes from 1975-1985. Viewers of "Sesame Street" would have known him as The Mad Painter, who taught numbers by painting them in unusual places, usually getting in trouble for doing so. He appeared as The Mad Painter 32 times between 1972 and 1988.

As well as his television work, he appeared on stage both on Broadway and elsewhere, and in movies like "The Addams Family" (1991). He also directed one episode of "The Jeffersons" in 1985.

Answer: Dirk Benedict

Dirk Benedict (born Dirk Niewoehner in 1945) appeared in all but one episode (the pilot) of "The A-Team" (1983-87) as Templeton "Faceman" Peck, the ladies' man of the group. He appeared in a small role in the 2010 movie "The A-Team" as did fellow original, Dwight Schultz ("Howling Mad" Murdock). Before joining the team, he was Lieutenant Starbuck on the original series of "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-79) and the movie of that name (1978). In 2003 he provided Starbuck's voice for the video game of "Battlestar Galactica".

Before taking the role of Starbuck in 1978, he had already become a cancer survivor, attributing his recovery to a macrobiotic diet followed scrupulously. His nine year marriage to actress Toni Hudson resulted in two sons. He raised the boys in his home state of Montana.

Answer: Benedict Taylor

Much of Benedict Sean Taylor's acting work has been on television, whether in series, mini-series of made for TV movies. In the three part mini-series "The Far Pavilions" (1984), his character, Wally, was based on real-life Victoria Cross recipient, Lt. Walter Hamilton VC, who was killed at Kabul, Afghanistan several months after performing the deed for which he received the award. His death is depicted in the mini-series. In "The First Olympics: Athens 1896" (1984), a two part mini-series, he played Edwin Flack, the only Australian to participate in the first modern Olympics, and winner of two track gold medals at those games. In 1982, he played the title role in the mini-series "Beau Geste", based on the novel by P.C. Wren which told tales of adventure in the French Foreign Legion.

He has also appeared on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Answer: Benedict Wong

Benedict Wong's parents had immigrated to the UK from Hong Kong before he was born. Raised and educated in Salford, he considers himself "...British, and that's it."

He has appeared in several movies with a space theme, including "The Martian" (2015) in which he played Bruce Ng, the director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and "Sunshine" (2007). In the latter his character was an astronaut and navigator who blamed himself for causing the death of his captain, which jeopardized their mission to save humanity. At the other end of the spectrum he played the grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan in the historical TV series "Marco Polo" (2014-16). He also appeared in "Doctor Strange" (2016) with another "good old Benedict".

Answer: Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born to acting parents, Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham. He began acting whilst at Harrow and later studied drama at Manchester University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

He was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as mathematical and computer genius Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game" (2014). As the brilliant, if somewhat unstable, detective Sherlock Holmes in "Sherlock" (2010-) he has received numerous nominations for various awards. He won a Primetime Emmy for the 2014 episode "His Last Vow". The "unusual" doctor was an allusion to his role as Dr. Stephen Strange in "Doctor Strange" (2016) and again in "Thor: Ragnarok" (2017). He has also provided the voice for Smaug in "The Hobbit" movies for which he has won a voice acting award.

Answer: Benedict Wall

Benedict Wall studied journalism in his native New Zealand, before moving to New York to participate in the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. He has appeared extensively on stage and has also worked as a writer and director.

In 2016 he became the fourth person to play the character Duncan Stewart in the Australian soap opera "Home and Away", following Allana Ellis, an actress who played baby Duncan in 1989, Lewis Devaney and Brendan McKensy. The 2013 production "Breaker Morant: The Retrial" sought to take a new look at the court-martial of Australian officer Harry "Breaker" Morant, during the Boer War, which resulted in his execution and that of a co-defendant. Wall took the role of Morant.

Answer: Benedict Samuel

In seasons five and six of "The Walking Dead" the character Owen, played by Benedict Samuel, was the leader of a group called The Wolves, hence he was the Alpha Wolf, an antagonist who was eventually done away with by Morgan Jones (Lennie James). In "Gotham" (2014-), he played TheMad Hatter, a supervillain who was the alter ego of Jervis Tetch, a professional hypnotist. An early role was as gang leader Hammer Pirovic in "Home and Away" in 2011. After fewer than ten episodes the character was shot to death, before he could do the same to others, during a fight.

His older brother, Xavier Samuel, is also an actor, who has appeared in "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" (2010).

Answer: Benedict Clarke

Benedict Clarke made his acting debut playing young Severus Snape in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 2" (2011), having auditioned for both that role and also young James Potter. The other roles named were all in amateur short features produced between 2011 and 2014. Those films included "In The Wake of Sirens" (2012) and "Awkward Facades" (2011).

In order to play young Snape, Clarke had his brown hair dyed black and wore dark contact lenses to disguise his blue eyes.