How Screened Are My Valleys? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Keira Knightley

In "The Edge of Love" (2008) Keira Knightley plays Vera Phillips, the third part of the love triangle also involving Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys) and his wife Caitlin (Sienna Miller). As a Welsh speaker myself, I was very impressed with her Welsh speaking in this film - though she makes no claims whatsoever to any Welsh lineage. Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley are often mistaken for one another - urban legend has it that when both where together whilst filming the "Star Wars" films; even their mothers had difficulties in telling them apart.

The little tips in the question referred to Ms Knightley's appearances in the Pirates of the Carribean series and in "Bend it like Beckham". Catherine Zeta Jones and Kate Winslet were the "red sewins" in this question! (red herrings)

Answer: Victor Spinetti

Victor Spinetti was born in Abergavenny, and educated at Monmouth School, and Sir Anthony Hopkins' Alma Mater, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. Mostly known for his work on theatre stages around the world, he appeared in the first three Beatles movies: "A Hard Day's Night" (1964), "Help!" (1965), and "Magical Mystery Tour" (1967) (TV). George Harrison asked Victor to be in the Beatles first films because George's mother loved Victor's work and George said to Victor "Me mum will only go to see them if you're in them".

Answer: Vinnie Jones

Vincent Peter Jones was born in Watford, near London, in 1965. He made his name as a footballer with Wimbledon, before going on to play for Leeds United, Chelsea, Sheffield United and Queens park Rangers. He qualified to play football for Wales through his grandfather, who was born in Rhyl in North Wales.

Always a controversial figure on the football pitch (he was once banned from the game indefinitely for his part in a video glorifying football violence), Jones turned his hard man reputation to the silver screen. He made his film debut in Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (1998), and had notched over 30 film credits over the next 10 years. He also had a special guest appearance in the WWF's "Capital Carnage" in 1998, re-enforcing his "Enforcer" image.

Answer: Swansea

She was born in Swansea in 1969. As well as a house in Swansea, she also acquired properties in the Bahamas, Spain and Quebec. She first rose to prominence on British TV screens in the series "Darling Buds of May" (1991-1993). Speaking about the internet, and its fascination with celebrity porn sites, she is once reported to have said "I don't go into the triple-X sites. I'm certainly not going to pay money to see myself naked, when I can just go into the bathroom and whip it off for free."

Answer: Terry Jones

Jones directed "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975), with fellow Python Terry Gilliam, "Life of Brian" (1979) and "The Meaning of Life" (1983). He has also directed the "non-Python" films "Erik the Viking" (1989) and "The Wind in the Willows" (1996).

He wrote the screenplays for these two films, as well as for "Labyrinth" (1986), which starred David Bowie. Terry Jones has hardly appeared at all as an actor outside the Python environment, though many will recall one of his rare but hilarious appearances as a drunken vicar in "The Young Ones" (a 980s sitcom).

He has an asteroid, "9622 Terryjones", named in his honour. So he is undoubtedly the biggest star of all the Pythons!

Answer: Magic

"Magic" (1987): one of Hopkins' less lauded films, yet one of my favourites. It tells the story of a ventriloquist who slowly gets taken over by his dummy. Lots of horrible things happen, all set in the sub context of the attempted rekindling of a childhood romance.

Intrigued? Try and watch this movie at all costs! Welshman Hopkins has played, amongst others, the parts of world leaders Richard I in "The Lion in Winter" (1968), Yitzhak Rabin in Victory at Entebbe (1976), Adolf Hitler in The Bunker (1981), Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995) and John Quincy Adams in Amistad (1997).

Answer: "Hedd Wyn" (1992)

Ellis Evans is a Private in the British Army, who is critically wounded at the Battle of Passchaendale. As he lies dying on the battlefield, he has a flashback to the pre-war times when he was an aspiring poet. Every Welsh poet's ultimate goal is to win the chair at the National Eisteddfod, and Ellis Evans (Hedd Wyn is his bardic name) was no different.

Having enlisted in the army, he writes a poem to compete for the chair at the Eisteddfod in Birkenhead in 1917 whilst living in the trenches of war torn France. He asks his Commanding Officer to mail his entry, but his CO initially refuses, thinking the poem (written of course in Welsh) is some sort of coded message to the Germans. Eventually, he was persuaded that it was an innocent poem, and put it in the mail.

Fast forward - Evans succumbs to his wounds, and some months later, the announcement of the winner of the Chair at the 1917 Eisteddfod is made. Normally, this leads on to an ornate ceremony where the winning bard is dressed and lauded in many ways. But in 1917, after the winner was announced, a simple black shroud was laid over the winner's chair on the Eisteddfod stage. Ellis Evans' sad poem about life and death in the trenches had posthumously won him the award he had cherished so much.

The other three options mentioned are also successful Welsh language films from the 1990s.

Answer: Kylie Minogue

Her mother's family ran the local Post Office in Maesteg for many years. Maesteg is a town in a former coal mining South Wales valley, some 20 miles or so north west of Cardiff. Her mother emigrated from there in the 1950s with her mother Millie to Queensland. From there she moved to Melbourne where she married Ron Minogue, and gave birth to two daughters (Kylie and Danii) and a son (Brendan). Kylie has often said that she would have been happy running the Post Office in Maesteg. We should be so lucky!

Answer: Tom Cruise

Flint is a town in north east Wales on the estuary of the River Dee. It is best known for its castle, built in 1277 by Edward I to keep the locals out!A part from Tom Cruise's great great grandfather, other well known people from Rhyl include the footballer Ian Rush (of Liverpool and Wales fame) and one of Lord Nelson's admirals, the wonderfully named Thomas Totty!

Answer: All three did

Glantaf became Cardiff's first ever Welsh language Secondary School in the late 1970s. A number of well known people in many fields have attended the school in its relatively brief existence. As well as the three stars of stage and screen mentioned above, other alumni include Huw Bunford and Guto Pryce of the Super Furry Animals pop group, Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens, MEP Eluned Morgan, William Hague's wife Ffion and three Welsh rugby stars - Nicky and Jamie Robinson, and 2009 British Lion Jamie Roberts.