He Became Famous As...? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Charlton Heston

John Charles Carter, born in the village of Wilmette, on the shores of Lake Michigan, in northern Illinois, in 1923, is better known as Charlton Heston. He received his first Golden Globe nomination for his performance as Moses in the 1956 epic "The Ten Commandments". He won the 1959 Best Actor Oscar for "Ben-Hur".

Of the alternatives, Czech-born actor Herbert Lom's real name was Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevic ze Schluderpacheru, Gregory Peck only dropped his first name; he was born Eldred Gregory Peck and English-born actor Sir Rex Harrison was born Reginald Carey Harrison.

Answer: Marilyn Manson

Brian Hugh Warner, born in Canton, Ohio in 1969, is better known by his stage name, Marilyn Manson, a name formed by joining the names of two American cultural icons, Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson.

Always a controversial figure, Manson released eight albums that made it into the Top 10 of the US chart, including the two number one albums mentioned in the question. He made his film debut as an actor in 1997, in David Lynch's "lost Highway".

Of the alternatives, Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier in 1948, Ice Cube was born O'Shea Jackson Sr. in 1969 and P Diddy was born Sean John Combs, also in 1969.

Answer: Yul Brynner

Yuly Borisovich Briner, born in 1920 in the city of Vladivostok in extreme the southeastern corner of Russia, is better known by the Anglicized version of his name, Yul Brynner. He played King Mongkut 4,625 times on stage in Rogers & Hammerstein's "The King & I", winning two Tony Awards, before starring in the 1956 film version for which he won a Best Actor Oscar. He is also remembered as Rameses II in the 1956 epic "The Ten Commandments".

Of the alternatives, double-Oscar winner Fredric March's real name was Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel, Puerto Rican-born Oscar winner Jose Ferrer full real name was Jose Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintron, and Gary Cooper's real name was Frank James Cooper.

Answer: Jason Alexander

Jay Scott Greenspan was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1959, and is best known as the actor Jason Alexander who played the hapless George Louis Costanza in the hit TV series "Seinfeld".

Alexander has enjoyed a successful career on Broadway, winning a Best Leading Actor Tony award in 1989 for his performance in the musical "Jerome Robbins' Broadway". In recent years, he has made numerous TV appearances as himself, as a more than competent poker player. In 2006, he won the eighth series of "Celebrity Poker Showdown", earning $500,000 for his chosen charity.

Of the alternatives, Alexander's "Seinfeld" co-star Michael Richards's real name is Michael Anthony Richards, "Cheers" star Ted Danson's full real name is Edward Bridge Danson III and Redd Foxx, star of "Sanford" and "The Royal Family", was born Jon Elroy Sanford in 1922.

Answer: Axl Rose

He was born William Bruce Rose Jr. in 1962 in the city of Lafayette in central Indiana and raised as William Bruce Bailey, after his 16-year old mother was remarried. We know him today as Axl Rose, the lead signer of Guns N' Roses.

Founded in Los Angeles in 1985, the group topped the US album chart with their debut release, "Appetite for Destruction" in 1987. Their fourth album, "Use Your Illusion II" topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

Of the alternatives, Black Sabbath lead singer was born John Michael Osbourne, The Police vocalist, Sting, was born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner and U2 frontman, Bono, was born Paul David Hewson.

Answer: Chubby Checker

Ernest Evans was born in 1941 in the small town of Spring Gully in southeastern South Carolina. Recording under the name Chubby Checker, he topped the US singles chart in 1960 with his cover of Hank Ballard's "The Twist", and in so doing he effectively changed the way people dance to music. There is little doubt that "The Twist" got adults dancing to teenage music for the first time. In 2008, 'Billboard' magazine named it the greatest hit of all time.

Checker's daughter, Mistie Bass, plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Women's National Basketball Association).

Of the alternatives, Eddie Cochran was born Edward Raymond Cochran in 1938, Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in 1936 and of course Elvis was born Elvis Aaron Presley in 1935.

Answer: Sid James

Solomon Joel Cohen was born in 1913 in the Johannesburg inner-city, residential neighbourhood of Hillbrow. He made his film debut in 1947 and became a familiar face on UK TV when he co-starred with Tony Hancock from 1956 until 1960. He made the first of his 19 appearances in the "Carry On" series in 1960, in the fourth film in the franchise, "Carry on Constable". His last appearance in the series was in the 26th film (out of 31), when he starred in the title role of "Carry on Dick", a spoof based on the legend of highwayman Dick Turpin.

Of the alternatives, Jim Dale was born James Smith, Charles Hawtrey was born George Frederick Joffre Hartree in 1914, and Kenneth Charles Williams was born in London in 1926.

Answer: Captain Sensible

Raymond Ian Burns was born in the south London suburb of Balham in 1954. In 1976, he was invited by a co-worker, Christopher John Millar, to join the band for which he was the drummer. Millar was also known by the stage name Rat Scabies and the band was The Damned. Burns adopted a distinctive red beret and the moniker Captain Sensible.

The Captain left The Damned in the early 1980s to concentrate on a solo career that spawned seven studio albums and more than twenty singles. The only hit single, though, was "Happy Talk", a cover of a song originally written for the musical "South Pacific" and previously recorded by Ella Fitzgerald. The captain Sensible version spent two weeks at the top of the UK singles chart in July 1982.

Of the alternatives, Billy Bragg was born Stephen William Bragg in Essex in 1957, Elvis Costello was born Declan Patrick MacManus and, like the Captain, also in London in 1954 and the Joe Strummer of The Clash was born John Graham Mellor in Somerset in 1952.

Answer: Blake Edwards

William Blake Crump was born in 1922 in the city of Tulsa in northeastern Oklahoma. Although his film career began as an actor in the 1940s, Blake Edwards made his name as a writer, director and producer. Edwards' best-known films include the 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote's novel "Breakfast at Tiffany's" starring Audrey Hepburn, the 1982 comedy "Victor/Victoria" starring his wife Julie Andrews and, of course, the "Pink Panther" series starring Peter Sellers.

Of the alternatives, Sidney Arthur Lumet, director of "12 Angry Men" and "Network" was born in Philadelphia in 1924, Robert Bernard Altman, director of "M*A*S*H" in 1970, was born in Kansas City, MO in 1925 and Elia Kazan, director of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "On the Waterfront", was born Elias Kazantzoglou in 1909 in Istanbul, Turkey (then part of the Ottoman Empire).

Answer: The Edge

David Howell Evans is today ranked as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. A founding and ever-present member of the internationally-acclaimed rock band U2, Evans is universally known today as The Edge - not to be confused with Edge, a Canadian professional wrestler born Adam Joseph Copeland in 1973.

Of the alternatives, Ultravox guitarist and frontman Midge Ure was born James Ure (Midge is a phonetic reversal of the diminutive form of his first name, Jim) in Scotland in 1953, former Yardbirds guitarist Geoffrey Arnold Beck was born in London in 1944 and the late King Crimson and Bad Company bassist, Boz Burrell, was born Raymond Burrell in Lincolnshire in 1946.