Please Stand Up Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tom Hanks

Thomas "Tom" Jeffrey Hanks received his first nominations and awards for his work on "Big" (1988), where he played the older half of a part where a boy made a wish to be big. His first Oscar nomination for Best Actor came with that role as well.

In 1994 he won for "Philadelphia" (1993), playing the part of a homosexual lawyer who also has AIDS, and what happens when that news is revealed. He won again the following year for portraying a simple man who nevertheless does great things in the movie "Forrest Gump" (1994), helping the film to also claim the Oscar for Best Picture.

In the 21st century, Tom Hanks has become known for directing, producing, and acting in such roles as the voice of cowboy doll Woody from the "Toy Story" animated films, and for the part of symbologist Robert Langdon in the movies made from Dan Brown's books "The Da Vinci Code" (2006) and "Angels & Demons" (2009).

Answer: Dame Maggie Smith

In the "Harry Potter" films, Dame Maggie Smith played Professor Minerva McGonagall, while Gemma Jones played Madam Pomfrey, Miriam Margoyles was Professor Sprout, and Emma Thompson was Professor Trelawney.

Dame Maggie Smith's storied career began on the stage in 1952, in an Oxford University production of "Twelfth Night" and she continued to perform on stage throughout her television and film career. In over fifty years of film acting she has been in more than fifty films and ten television series.

Of Dame Maggie Smith's first six Oscar acting nominations, she won twice (once for Best Actress at the 1970 Oscars, and once for a Supporting Role at the 1979 Oscars). She was also appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1970 and raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1990, and in 2010, Christopher Plummer presented her with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Legacy Award.

Answer: Mel Gibson

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson made an early name for himself in war and action films ("Mad Max" movies and war films "Gallipoli" (1981) and "Attack Force Z" (1982)), but his biggest success as an action star came with the "Lethal Weapon" movies that began with the first installment in 1987.

Mel did not limit himself to action, but also delved into dramatic and comedic roles as well. In the 1990s he turned his hand to directing, first with 1993's "The Man Without a Face", and then the highly successful Scottish historical action/drama "Braveheart" (1995), which won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.

After the 2002 films "We Were Soldiers" and "Signs", Mel announced that he was withdrawing from acting, unless something spectacular came his way. That did not come until 2010's crime thriller "Edge of Darkness".

Answer: Julia Roberts

Julia Fiona Roberts was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1967. Her acting family includes her older siblings Eric and Lisa, as well as her niece (Eric's daughter) Emma. Their parents both had an acting background - they actually met while performing in productions for the armed forces.

The references in the question were, of course, to her breakout hit "Pretty Woman" (1990) in which she played a prostitute brought out of her situation by the handsome Richard Gere. The role for which she received her Best Actress Oscar was "Erin Brokovich" (2000), a tough single mom who fought against big business and won. Lastly, the line 'who's the fairest one of all?' refers to her 2012 role as the wicked queen in the "Snow White" adaptation "Mirror Mirror".

Julia, apart from being a great actress, is perhaps best known for her incredible smile.

Answer: Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman received his first nomination for 1967's "The Graduate", following that up with "Midnight Cowboy" (1969) and "Lenny" (1974) before getting his first win for "Kramer vs. Kramer" (1979), a story he acted with Meryl Streep about a divorcing couple and how it affects all around them. His next nomination came for 1982's "Tootsie" and his second win came for the part of the autistic Raymond Babbitt in "Rain Man" (1988) opposite Tom Cruise. Hoffman received his seventh Oscar nomination for Best Actor for the 1997 film "Wag the Dog".

The year 2012 marked Hoffman's first credited effort in the Director's seat, as he took on the challenge of "Quartet", a comedy drama about a home for retired opera singers.

Answer: Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet also very nearly toppled the record for being the youngest actress to receive three Oscar nominations; Kate managed it by age 26 - Natalie Wood had three by the age of 25.

Her first film (after a bit of TV) was "Heavenly Creatures", based on a famous New Zealand murder case. She gained immediate notice from that role and various period films before landing the incredibly successful part of Rose in "Titanic" (1997). The part garnered her her second Oscar nomination.

But it was not until her sixth acting nomination for her role as the seductive Hanna Schmitz in "The Reader" (2008) that she finally took home the statue.

Answer: Jack Nicholson

John Joseph 'Jack' Nicholson had a rather curious upbringing. He was raised believing that his grandparents were actually his parents. The woman that he thought was his sister, was in fact his mother. He did not discover the truth until 1974, after both his (real) mother and grandmother had both passed away.

Career-wise, Jack Nicholson has been acting for more than 50 years, and his list of Academy recognized roles is impressive. His eight Best Actor nominations were for "Five Easy Pieces" (1970), "The Last Detail" (1973), "Chinatown" (1974), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), "Prizzi's Honor" (1985), "Ironweed" (1987), "As Good As It Gets" (1997), and "About Schmidt" (2002). He won for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" playing a man in an insane asylum who organizes a rebellion, and for "As Good As It Gets," playing a crotchety, reclusive author in a romance opposite Helen Hunt.

Nicholson's four Best Supporting Actor nominations were for "Easy Rider" (1969), "Reds" (1981), "Terms of Endearment" (1983), and "A Few Good Men" (1992). He won for "Terms of Endearment", playing an alcoholic ex-astronaut who becomes involved with main character Shirley MacLaine.

Answer: Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster's birth name was Alicia Christian Foster. Her early film experience came through her mother Evelyn's work as a film producer. At the age of 13 she received a lot of attention (and her first Oscar nomination) for her role as a young prostitute in "Taxi Driver" with Robert De Niro.

Jodie's Oscar wins were awarded for 1988's "Accused", in which she played the victim of a rape, and 1991's "The Silence of the Lambs", where she played a young FBI agent trying to track down a serial killer. She also received another Best Actress nomination for "Nell" in 1994.

In the early '90s, Jodie began to dedicate some of her efforts towards directing and producing films, beginning with 1991's "Little Man Tate" about a child prodigy. Foster also played a role in that movie as the child's (single, working-class) mother.

Answer: Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis may have had a part in a film at the age of 14 (in 1971), but it would be many years before he came back to film. After going to theatre school, Daniel began his career in earnest on the stage and in television. His return to film did not come until 1982 when he played a small part in "Gandhi".

From there, Daniel's film roles became more prominent in such films as "The Bounty" (1984) playing the loyal sailing master John Fryer, and "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (1987) playing a Czech surgeon with a sensual lifestyle that is upset by emotional attachment to Juliette Binoche's character.

In 1989, Day-Lewis played the part of a man with cerebral palsy, in "My Left Foot", and it earned him his first Oscar for Best Actor. He received two more nominations for "In the Name of the Father" (1993) and "Gangs of New York" (2002) before winning his second Oscar for 2007's "There Will Be Blood", playing a ruthless oil 'prospector' in California's Old West.

Answer: Hilary Swank

Hilary Swank was only the fifth actress in Academy Awards history to win two Oscars with only two nominations. The others were Vivien Leigh, Helen Hayes, Sally Field, and Luise Rainer. The films that Hilary earned her Oscars for were 1999's "Boys Don't Cry" where she played a young woman who identified as a man, and "Million Dollar Baby" where she played a young boxer who convinces a brilliant trainer to take her on.

Swank's first leading role, referred to in the question, was the fourth movie in the "Karate Kid" franchise, specifically "The Next Karate Kid" (1994).