Nine Ladies Dancing Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lucille Ball

With a career that spanned 57 years, Lucille Ball was a pioneer in several areas. She was the first woman to head a major television studio in Hollywood, one of the first winners of the Women in Film Crystal Award, and her production company initiated several changes in filming techniques.

Her company, Desilu, also made an unprecedented deal with CBS which gave the rights to the "I Love Lucy" show back to Desilu after the episodes were aired. She was nominated for numerous awards and won several, including four Emmy Awards.

In 1960 she earned two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - one for film, one for television. And, Lucille Ball was not a natural redhead - she was a brunette.

Answer: Paulette Goddard

Paulette Goddard's great-uncle Charles Goddard was instrumental in starting her career. He introduced her to Florenz Ziegfeld, who cast her as a dancer in 1926's Broadway production "No Foolin'". She worked a bit more on stage before heading to Hollywood in 1929, where she met and eventually married Charlie Chaplin. She made a number of movies and television appearances, and was nominated for an Academy Award for 1943's "So Proudly We Hail!". While she kept working into the '70s, her popularity and Hollywood stardom peaked in the '40s, and future roles were few and far between.

Goddard was married a total of four times. In addition to Chaplin, she was also married to Edgar James, Burgess Meredith and Erich Maria Remarque. Later in her life, she became a prominent figure in New York's high society, and developed a longstanding friendship with Andy Warhol.

Answer: Betty Grable

Betty Grable's first foray into the world of show business was in 1929's "Happy Days" as a chorus girl - when she was twelve years old. The next year she became a Goldwyn Girl, dancing in 1930's "Whoopee!", 1931's "Kiki" and "Palmy Days", and 1932's "The Kid from Spain".

She found work on both stage and film, and became the number one pin-up girl during World War II. In 1943 she was 20th Century Fox's most profitable star, and in 1947, her film "Mother Wore Tights" was Fox's biggest hit that year. Betty Grable was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and one on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

In 2009 she was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians.

Answer: Virginia Grey

Born in 1917 to a show business family, Virginia Grey made her debut in 1927's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", playing Eva St. Clare (Little Eva). After a few years acting, she left the business to finish her schooling, but returned to the film industry in the 1930s.

Some of her more memorable films include 1939's "The Women", 1941's "The Big Store" and 1955's "The Rose Tattoo". In addition to acting on film, she appeared on television, guest starring on programs such as "Bonanza" and "Marcus Welby, M.D.".

Her father, Ray Grey, was a film director, but he also acted - at one time as a Keystone Kop.

Answer: Virginia Mayo

Born Virginia Clara Jones in St. Louis, Missouri in 1920, Virginia Mayo began taking dance lessons when she was six years old. As a young woman, while performing in an act with six other young women, she was spotted by a vaudeville performer named Andy Mayo and asked to join his act.

She took his last name for her stage name, and performed in vaudeville for three years before getting into film and television. In 1954's "The Silver Chalice", she was Paul Newman's first leading lady. Virginia Mayo has two stars - one on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and one on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Answer: Dorothy Patrick

As a teenager in Canada, Dorothy Patrick was a photographic model for a number of popular retail catalogs. Following her move to the USA, Dorothy started out as a model at New York's John Robert Powers Agency, where she was known as 'the Chesterfield Girl'.

She used her birth name, Dorothea Davis, until she married a professional ice hockey player named Lynn Patrick. Following that event, she was billed as Dorothy Parker, even after their divorce. She was married a second time, to a dentist, and she had one child with each husband.

In addition to her film work, she also appeared on television in series that included "Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" and "Schlitz Playhouse".

Answer: True

Born Marion Pepper in 1915, Barbara Pepper met Lucille Ball when they both performed as Goldwyn Girls. Both had uncredited parts in 1933's "Roman Scandals", and while Lucille Ball's career rocketed, Barbara Pepper worked steadily, but seldom in major roles, and often in uncredited roles. With guest star roles on television programs such as "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" and "The Jack Benny Program", she became known as a supporting character actress.

She portrayed Doris Ziffel on "Petticoat Junction" in 1964, and on "Green Acres" from 1965 - 1968, when health problems prevented her from continuing.

She appeared just a few more times on television, and once on film, before passing away in 1969.

Answer: Ann Sothern

Ann Sothern was born Harriet Arlene Lake, in 1909, and showed an early interest in music and the performing arts. In 1927 she had a bit part as a fan dancer in "Broadway Nights", and she became a Goldwyn Girl in 1930. Her career included success on stage, radio, film and television.

In addition to her acting, she also starred in a nightclub act, formed a music company, a production company and a retail sewing company, and owned a cattle ranch. Her "Maisie" movies were very profitable, and she earned a nomination for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for 1987's "The Whales of August".

Included in her numerous television appearances is "My Mother the Car", where she provided the mother's voice. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television.

Answer: True

Born Lida Larrimore Thomas in 1932, Larri Thomas (also Lorri Thomas) first appeared on television in commercials. While working as a dancer and model, she worked in film, mostly in small uncredited roles. She was married from 1955 to 1959 to John Bromfield, the star of the television series "Sheriff of Cochise". Starting in the 1960s she guest starred on a number of television programs, with her biggest success coming in 1972, when she voiced Henrietta Hippo on the "New Zoo Revue" series.

Answer: Samuel Goldwyn

Born Schmuel Gelbfisz, and using the name Samuel Goldfish once he arrived in America, he formed a partnership with three others in 1913. That production company (Lasky Company) merged with the Famous Players Company, and Goldfish was eventually forced into a non-active role.

In 1916 he founded a production company with Edgar and Archibald Selwyn, and they combined their names to create the name of their new company - Goldwyn Pictures. Goldfish had his name legally changed to Samuel Goldwyn. The Goldwyn Girls appeared in numerous productions, including 1930's "Whoopee!", 1931's "Palmy Days", 1933's "Roman Scandals", the Gold Digger movies and the Chorus Girl movies. And, some of Hollywood's best-known actresses got their starts as Goldwyn Girls.