Nom De Guerre Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tony Randall

Tony Randall was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on February 26th, 1920 and died in New York City, New York on May 17th, 2004. Klugman was Randall's co-star on the original television version of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" (1970 to 1975). He portrayed the slobbish sportswriter Oscar Madison to Randall's neat-freak Felix Unger. Unger's son in the show was named Leonard in a tribute to his birth name. Actor Leif Garrett portrayed Leonard Unger in two episodes of the series. Garrett is best known as a minor child star of the 1970s appearing in guest roles on television series such as "Nanny And The Professor", "Family Affair", "Cannon", "The F.B.I." and "Gunsmoke".

Answer: Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 23rd, 1920 and died in Studio City, California on April 6th, 2014. He also worked under the names Mickey McBan, Mickey McGuire and Mickey Yule before settling on the moniker Mickey Rooney. He was married eight times.

His first marriage was to famed actress Ava Gardner in 1942 which ended in divorce in 1943. His last marriage was to Jan Chamberlin in 1978 who he was still married to but separated from at the time of his death. Andy Hardy was a film character Rooney played in fifteen movies in the 1930s and 1940s.

He first played the role in 1937's "A Family Affair" and then for the last time in a sixteenth failed revival of the series in 1958's "Andy Hardy Comes Home".

Answer: Lois Maxwell

Lois Maxwell was born in Kitchener, Canada on February 14th, 1927 and died in Fremantle, Australia on September 29th, 2007. "James Bond" is the movie series she is best known for due to her portrayal of the original Miss Moneypenny character fourteen times in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s films in the series.

Her first appearance occurred in 1962's "Dr. No" and her last appearance occurred in 1985's "A View To A Kill". Apart from this signature role, her greatest success came playing the role of Julia Kane in 1942's "That Hagen Girl" for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer.

Answer: Cary Grant

Cary Grant was born on January 18th, 1904 in Horfield, England and died in Davenport, Iowa on November 29th, 1986. "North By Northwest" is the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock film he starred in, playing Roger O. Thornhill, an advertising executive mistaken for a US government agent by foreign spies.

It was the last of four Hitchcock movies Grant starred in. He previously appeared in 1941's "Suspicion", 1946's "Notorious" and 1955's "To Catch A Thief".

Answer: Jack Benny

Jack Benny was born on February 14th, 1894 in Chicago, Illinois and died in Los Angeles (Bel Air), California on December 26th, 1974. He was active for over sixty years in the entertainment industry starting out in vaudeville and then branching into radio, movies and television.

When he first started his career he was primarily a violinist and a famous violinist of the time with a similar sounding name to Kubelsky put legal pressure on him to change his name. He then began performing as Ben K. Benny and/or Bennie.

He then received further legal pressure from a fiddler with a similar sounding name to his new moniker and changed his name once and for all to Jack Benny. Eventually, one of his character's traits became that he played the violin very badly but in reality he was a fairly accomplished violinist.

Answer: Phyllis Diller

Phyllis Diller was born on July 17th, 1917 in Lima, Ohio and died in Los Angeles, California on August 20th, 2012. She was a stand-up comedian and was one of the first female stand-ups to enjoy name-recognition success, paving the way for later female stand-up comedians such as Joan Rivers.

She also acted in films and television. Her first film role was a small supporting one in 1961's "Splendor In The Grass" which starred Natalie Wood. She briefly starred in a 1960's television show called "The Pruitts Of Southampton", which was about a formerly wealthy family now poor and trying to keep the family mansion from the tax men.

The show only lasted 30 episodes before it was cancelled. She was best known for her signature cackling laugh, her frizzy wild hair-do, her loud colorful clothing and her imaginary husband Fang.

Answer: Don Adams

Don Adams was born on April 13th, 1923 in New York City, New York and died in Los Angeles, California on September 25th, 2005. Maxwell Smart is the iconic television character he played on his classic television series "Get Smart" (1965 to 1970). He played Agent 86 to his co-star Barbara Feldon's Agent 99 in the secret agent comedy series. Edward Platt played his long suffering spy boss Chief.

The story lines revolved around Smart and his fellow CONTROL agents' attempts to thwart the nefarious plots of the evil KAOS agents.

The show was revived briefly in 1995 with Agent 86 promoted to the new Chief of CONTROL. Platt had passed away in 1974 and was no longer available for the role. Feldon did reprise her role as Agent 99 but was now a Congresswoman. Andy Dick played Zach Smart, the spy progeny of 86 and 99.

The show only lasted 7 episodes.

Answer: Rock Hudson

Rock Hudson was born on November 17th, 1925 in Winnetka, Illinois and died in Beverly Hills, California on October 2nd, 1985. In his first credited movie appearance, in 1949's "Undertow", his stage name was Roc not Rock Hudson. He became a heartthrob for female movie-goers in the 1950s and 1960s and is probably best-remembered for the three romantic comedies he made with co-star Doris Day.

The films were 1959's "Pillow Talk", 1961's "Lover Come Back" and 1964's "Send Me No Flowers". Tony Randall also play a reliable third-banana role in all three of the films. Hudson also gained further notoriety portraying Police Commissioner Stewart McMillan on 1970s television. Sadly, he is probably most-remembered for being a closeted homosexual man whose private secret was revealed unwillingly by his untimely death from HIV/AIDS related complications.

Answer: Lorne Greene

Lorne Greene was born on February 12th, 1915 in Ottawa, Canada and died in Santa Monica, California on September 11th, 1987. He started out as a radio broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in the 1930s. He made his Hollywood film debut in 1954's "The Silver Chalice" playing Saint Peter in the Biblical epic, alongside Virginia Mayo, Paul Newman, Jack Palance and Natalie Wood.

However, he came to prominence playing widower Ben Cartwright on the long-running television series "Bonanza" (1959 to 1973).

He played patriarch to his three sons played by Michael Landon, Dan Blocker and Pernell Roberts. Prior to his death, Greene had signed on to appear in a television movie revival of the show but died prior to its production. "Bonanza: The Next Generation" was made and released in 1988 without his involvement.

Answer: Dean Martin

Dean Martin was born on June 7th, 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio and died in Beverly Hills, California on December 25th, 1995. Nicknamed the 'King Of Cool" he was much more than a self-assured charming singer. He starred on radio and also in movies and television. During the early 1940s he was singing as Dino Martini in bandleader Sammy Watkins' orchestra and Watkins suggested to him that he should change his name to Dean Martin.

His career took off when he met Jerry Lewis and they formed a comic duo that made its television debut on the first episode of 1948's "The Toast Of The Town", later to be renamed "The Ed Sullivan Show". That appearance evolved into a 1949 radio series for the duo that led to a string of box office successes through to 1956 when they broke up. Martin and Lewis reunited briefly on Lewis' Muscular Dystrophy Telethon annual show in 1976.