John Cleese: Something Completely Different Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. John Cleese was born on October 28, 1939 at which Somerset town?

Answer: Weston-super-Mare

His parents were Reginald Cleese and Muriel Cross. The family name was Cheese but Reginald changed it when he enlisted in the army.
Weston-super-Mare is a town on the Bristol channel about 18 miles from the city of Bristol.

2. Cleese could not go straight to university, due to lack of available places, so for two years he taught various subjects at his old prep school. Among those subjects was a classic language. Which one?

Answer: Latin

Apart from Latin, Cleese taught geography, history and sciences. John was a very tall man and he reached a height of 1.96 meters (6 feet 4 inches), which he used to great effect in Monty Python's sketch "Ministry of Silly Walks".

3. While studying at Cambridge, John Cleese, became a member of the University's amateur theatrical club. What was the club's name?

Answer: Footlights

John was both a writer and an actor of comedy reviews and here he met Graham Chapman a future fellow member in Monty Python. One of the reviews that was a great success toured under the name "Cambridge Circus".
Footlights were formed in 1883 with the name Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club.

4. "I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again" was one of the early successes of John Cleese which was transmitted on what type of media?

Answer: Radio

The show was broadcast by BBC Radio, on various channels, from 1964 until 1973.
Cleese was a regular script contributor together with two other members of Monty Python.
Three of the members of the cast were Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, who formed The Goodies.

5. In 1968 John Cleese married which American born actress and writer?

Answer: Connie Booth

John and Connie had one child together, Cynthia Cleese, before they divorced in 1978. They appeared together in various films, including "Romance with a Double Bass" is which both go skinny dipping in a lake.

6. In Monty Python's "Cheese Shop" sketch John Cleese plays a customer who tries to buy cheese from Ye National Cheese Emporium. What was the name of his character?

Answer: Mr. Mousebender

After listing almost every cheese in the world the exasperated customer shoots the proprietor Henry Wensleydale, played by Michael Palin, and says, "What a senseless waste of human life!"
Incubator-Jones and Brook-Hampster were characters in the "Upper Class Twit of the Year" sketch played by Cleese and Palin respectively.

7. In 1981 John Cleese married an American actress who had appeared in the film "Rollerball" as Daphne. What was her name?

Answer: Barbara Trentham

The couple had a daughter together, Camilla Cleese, born in 1984. They divorced in 1990.
Barbara Schilling was born August 27, 1944 in Brooklyn. While studying in Oxford she met and married Giles Trentham in 1967. After their divorce in 1970 she kept the surname Trentham.
Maud Adams did appear in "Rollerball" as Ella.

8. In 1988 John Cleese appeared in the film "A Fish Called Wanda" which was director's Charles Crichton's last film. What was the name of the character portrayed by John?

Answer: Archie Leach

The script was written by Crichton and John Cleese. Archie Leach was the birth name of Cary Grant. Later John Cleese explained that he chose this name "Because it was the closest, he would ever get to being Cary Grant".
The character Otto West was played by Kevin Cline.

9. In 1992 John Cleese was married for a third time. What was the Christian name of his American wife?

Answer: Alyce

Alyce Faye McBride was born in Fredrick Oklahoma in 1944. She married golfer Dave Eichelberger in 1966, with whom she had two children. They divorced in 1975.
She and Cleese divorced in 2008. The settlement must have been really large, because Cleese embarked on a world tour, that he named "Alimony Tour", so that he could pay up.
Cleese got married for a fourth time in 2012 to the American Jennifer Wade.

10. In 1986 John Cleese appeared in the comedy "Clockwise" as Brian Stimpson. What was Stimpson's occupation?

Answer: School Headmaster

Stimpson was the headmaster at a comprehensive school and was selected to address the Headmaster's Conference. The normally punctual headmaster's plans go haywire due to a series of unfortunate events.
The film was directed by Christopher Morahan and written by Michael Frayn.

Source: Author gme24

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor skunkee before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Bits and pieces about the great actor, comedian, writer and producer.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>