My Old Name, and My New Name! Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Big Bopper

Jiles Perry Richardson Jr. (1930-1959) was born in Texas, graduated from Beaumont High School in 1947, and then studied pre-law at Lamar College. At the same time, he was a part-time radio disc jockey at Beaumont, Texas, radio station KTRM (now KZZB). In 1949, he was hired as a full-time employee and rose through the ranks at the station. From 1955 to 1957 he was drafted into the United States Army. When he was discharged he returned to KTRM where he had a daily program.

Richardson once saw some students dancing "The Bop", and decided to call himself "The Big Bopper". He was an excellent songwriter and radio disc jockey. He wrote many songs for other people to perform, including George Jone's Number 1 country hit "White Lightning" (1958); he finally got his big break with the release of "Chantilly Lace" in the same year. He left the radio station to join Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, and Ritchie Valens for a "Winter Dance Party" bus tour across 24 Midwestern cities, starting on January 23, 1959. On February 3, after a show in Clear Lake, TX, Holly chartered a plane to take some of them to their next show in Moorhead, MN. In addition to Peterson the pilot, Holly, Valens, and Richardson were on the flight. The plane crashed only minutes after taking off, killing everyone on board. The accident is referred to as "The Day the Music Died".

Answer: Charles Bronson

Charles Dennis Buchinsky (1921-2003), known as Charles Bronson, was the eleventh of fifteen children from a family of Lithuanian immigrants who experienced great financial difficulties. He didn't speak any English at home during his childhood. Only when he began school did he learn English. Charles was able to travel when he enlisted in the US Air Force in 1943, where he participated in 25 missions and received a Purple Heart for being wounded in battle.

After the war, he took several small jobs until he joined a theater group in New York. He participated in several uncredited works for both TV and cinema and changed his name to Charles Bronson. During his 50-year acting career in the United States and Europe, Bronson worked with legendary directors such as Sergio Leone, Robert Aldrich, Walter Hill, and J. Lee Thompson across a wide variety of genres. He played heroes, western outlaws, ambiguous cops, along with other roles. Among his best films are: "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968), "The Great Escape" (1963) and "The Magnificent Seven" (1960).

Answer: Cantinflas

Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reys (1911-1993), known as Cantinflas, was a Mexican comedian, actor, and film producer. He was born into a poor family with eight children, going through difficult situations which he later explored in his shows. He had several jobs until he got involved, in 1930, in Mexico City's "carpa" (traveling tent) with variety shows. Initially, he tried to copy Al Jonson, the Lithuanian-American singer-actor and famous vaudevillian comedian from the 1920s. However, he decided to assume the identity of one impoverished slum dweller with baggy pants and a distinctive mustache.

His nickname "Cantinflas" is a meaningless name invented to prevent his family from knowing that he was in the entertainment business that at that time was considered a shameful occupation. He had a long film career in Mexico (1937 to 1982) and made three films in the United States. The movie "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956), produced by Michael Todd, and starring David Niven and Cantinflas, won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Answer: George Burns

George Burns was the stage name of Nathan Birnbaum (1896-1996), son of a large Jewish immigrant family, from Galicia, now part of Poland. He started his career at age seven as a singer in the Pee-Wee Quartet, which was made up of boys who previously worked in a syrup factory.

In order to hide his Jewish heritage, he adopted a stage name, George Burns, in honor of two active baseball players of that era. In the 1920s he married Gracie Allen, a young Irish Catholic woman. For nearly 20 years they had a show on American radio, playing a fictional version of their real life. They were successful on radio and in movies. His most famous film was "A Damsel in Distress"(1937), in which the couple and Fred Astaire present memorable dance scenes. In the period from 1950 to 1958, Burns started a new show about a middle-aged couple; the show ended when Allen withdrew due to ill health. In 1975, Burns won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the movie "The Sunshine Boys". He remained active until almost age 100.

Answer: Bruno Mars

Peter Gene Hernandez was born in Hawaii in 1985 into a musical family. He is a singer, songwriter, dancer, showman, and producer, known for his performance in a wide range of musical styles. He is accompanied by his band, the Hooligans; its members, in addition to playing various instruments, serve as backup singers and dancers. Bruno Mars is considered one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

He received the nickname Bruno because as a toddler he looked like the famous wrestler, Bruno Sammartino. Later on, he changed his surname to "Mars", because it sounded as though he came from another planet.

Answer: Lulu

Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie was born in 1948 in Scotland. She started her career very early as Marie Lawrie with her band, The Gleneagles. When she was 14, she met Marion Massey, who managed her career for 25 years. The first thing that Marion did was change her name from Marie Lawrie to "Lulu" and the band name to Luvvers. As a teenager, she performed in several clubs, having initial success with the cover version of the Isle Brothers' "Shout", in 1964. In the 60s, Lulu was already one of the biggest selling British female singers.

Her acting career began in 1967, with the film "To Sir, with Love", directed by James Clavell, which starred, among others, Sidney Poitier and Lulu, who sang the film's title song. This performance of Lulu peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the USA for five weeks in 1967.

Her long successful career continued, having received numerous awards. She was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honors for her services to entertainment, music, and charity.

Answer: Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers III, born in 1972, is an American rapper, actor, songwriter, and record producer. He is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. He has a solo career but also joined the group D12, known as the The Dirty Dozen. Their debut album "Infinite" (1996), was not a sales success. After meeting producer Dr. Dre, Eminem released "The Slim Shady" LP (1999), which sold millions of copies and received two Grammy Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards.

In 2002, he made his film debut with the musical "8 Mile", playing a version of himself. The movie's track "Lose Yourself" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Despite his troubled life, Eminem is one of the best-selling artists in the world and has received numerous awards. He assumed the M&M stage name, referring to his initials, which he later went on to write phonetically as Eminem.

Answer: Sting

Englishman Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (1951-), known as Sting, is a musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. From a young age, he was obsessed with an old guitar left by a friend of his father's. He held several jobs when young and attended the Northern Counties College of Education from 1971 to 1974 and qualified as a teacher. While working as a teacher he played with local bands. Because he wore a black and yellow jumper with hooped stripes, his bandmates said he looked like a wasp hence the nickname "Sting".

From 1977 to 1984 he formed the band The Police, with Stewart Copeland and Henry Padovani, who was later replaced by Andy Summers. The band was very successful and received numerous awards. The band's final album named "Synchronicity" (1983) includes their most successful song written by Sting, "Every Breath You Take". After that, he launched a highly successful solo career.

In addition to his musical career, Sting devotes much of his time to human rights movements and political affairs.

Answer: Twiggy

Lesley Horney was born in London in 1946 and was one of the most iconic figures in the fashion and art world in the 1960s. She has continued to be active in the media through the 21st century. When young, she was mocked by her family and friends, and was nicknamed Twigs, for being too thin and having an androgynous appearance, for her twig-like frame. Later, her then-boyfriend and hairdresser, Nigel Davis, changed her nickname Twigs to Twiggy, as a marketing name.

She is considered the world's first supermodel. Her unisex patterns that were then in vogue distinguished her from the curvaceous glamorous top models of the era. In the 1960s many products had her name or image, including the Barbie doll. After four years she ended her modeling career and dedicated herself to music, film, theater, and TV where she had her own talk show and wrote autobiographical books. Later on, she launched her own fashion line for older women, exclusively sold through Marks and Spencer stores. For her services to fashion and the arts, in 2019, Twiggy was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Answer: Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga was born to an Italian family in New York City in 1986. She began studying piano at age four and as a teenager started performing on stage. She started music studies but left school to pursue her career. She changed her name from Germanotta to Lady Gaga, a name derived from Queen's song "Radio Ga Ga" (1984).

Lady Gaga established herself as a singer, songwriter, and performer artist and became known for her flamboyant outfits, provocative lyrics, and strong vocal talent. She composed several songs that were recorded by various pop artists and was very successful with the songs "Just Dance" (2008), "Bad Romance" (2009), and "Born this Way" (2011). In 2009, she released her debut album titled "The Fame". Among her many successful albums, it is worth remembering "Cheek to Cheek" (2014) and "Love for Sale" (2021), recorded in partnership with Tony Bennett.

Lady Gaga also showed her gifts as an actress making occasional film appearances, such as "Machete Kills" (2013), and "Sin City: a Dame to Kill For" (2014), and in the television "American Horror History: Hotel", an anthology horror series. In the movie "A Star is Born" (2018), Lady Gaga played Ally and performed with Bradley Cooper a song she wrote, "Shadow", which received the Oscar for Best Original Song. Lady Gaga is the first person to win an Academy, Grammy, BAFTA, and a Golden Globe award in the same year.