She Became Famous As...? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lauren Bacall

Her parents divorced when she was still young and at that time she assumed her maternal grandmother's last name, Bacal. She later added the second 'L' to make the pronunciation clearer. We therefore know the actress with the distinctive voice and sultry look as Lauren Bacall.
Although Bacall never won a competitive Oscar, she was ranked at number 20 in the American Film Institute's list of Greatest Female Screen Legends. She was presented with an Academy Honorary Award in 2009. Bacall died in 2014 at the age of 89.
Of the alternatives, three more American actresses born in 1924. Doris Day was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff in Cincinnati OH. Eva Marie Saint was born in Newark NJ and Geraldine Page in Kirksville MO, and both became famous using their real names.

Answer: Mary Astor

Mary Astor was Sam Spade's 'femme fatale' client, Brigid O'Shaughnessy, in "The Maltese Falcon", although it was not for this performance, arguably her best-remembered role, that she won her Oscar that same year (see question). Her later film roles include family matriarch Anna Smith in "Meet Me in Saint Louis" in 1944 and "A Kiss Before Dying" in 1956. Of the alternatives, three more actresses born early in the mid-1910s, Joan Blondell was born Rose Joan Blondell in New York NY and Janet Gaynor was born Laura Augusta Gainor in Germantown PA, both also in 1906. Myrna Loy was born Myrna Adele Williams in Helena MT in 1905.

Answer: Kiki Dee

Kiki Dee released her eponymous debut album in 1968 and two years later signed for Tamla Records for her second album, "Great Expectations". She is best-known, though, for her time with Rocket Records, when her duet with Elton John, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" in 1976, gave both of them their first number one single, topping the chart on both sides of the Atlantic. "True Love", another duet with Elton John, reached number two in the UK chart in 1993. Of the alternatives, three more English singers born in 1947, Sandy Denny, born Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny in London was the lead vocalist with Fairport Convention and recorded a famous duet with Robert Plant, "The Battle of Evermore", in 1971. Sandie Shaw, born Sandra Ann Goodrich in Dagenham, Essex, was the first British singer to win the Eurovision Song Contest. Maddy Prior, born Madelaine Edith Prior in Blackpool, was the lead vocalist with Steeleye Span.

Answer: Yvonne de Carlo

She was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton in Vancouver BC, Canada. Her father abandoned the family when she was just two years old and her mother reverted to her maiden name, de Carlo. When she began acting, she combined her real middle name with her mother's maiden name.

Of the alternatives, three more actress born in 1922. Actress and soprano Kathryn Grayson was born Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick in Winston-Salem NC and Oscar-winner Kim Hunter was born Janet Cole in Detroit MI. Ava Gardner was born in Smithfield NC and became famous using her real name.

Answer: Tammy Wynette

Tammy Wynette was "The First Lady of Country Music". Her 1968 single, "Stand By Your Man" is one of the all-time best-selling country records by a female artist. Wynette and her third husband, country singer George Jones, recorded numerous singles and albums together.

It was her fourth marriage, to Michael Tomlin in the summer of 1976, that lasted less than two months. After many years of medical problems, Wynette died suddenly of a blood clot in her lung whilst asleep on her couch in 1998 at the age of 55. Of the alternatives, three more singers born in 1942, Carole King was born Carol Joan Klein in New York NY. Both Freda Payne, born in Detroit MI, and Aretha Franklin, born in Memphis TN, performed using their real names.

Answer: Dyan Cannon

Dyan Cannon spent ten years playing small TV parts and appearing on Broadway before getting her first big film role in 1969. She co-starred with Natalie Wood, Robert Culp and Elliott in "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice", for which she earned Best Supporting Actress Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.

Her other films include "The Anderson Tapes" with Sean Connery, "Shamus" with Burt Reynolds and "Revenge of the Pink Panther", Peter Sellers' last "Pink Panther" film. Of the alternatives, three more actresses born in the mid-1930s, Shirley Knight, born Shirley Knight Hopkins in Goessel KS in 1936 was also twice nominated for Best\Supporting Actress Oscars. Natalie Wood was born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko in San Francisco CA in 1938. Sandy Dennis, Oscar winner for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" was born in Hastings NE in 1937 and became famous using her real name.

Answer: Rita Hayworth

Simply shortening her real first name, she was credited as Rita Cansino for her first ten films. Not wanting to be perceived purely as an ethnic Latin, she chose to take on her mother's maiden name and she became Rita Hayworth.
Hayworth's best-known films include the film noir "Gilda" in 1946, where she played the title character, the ultimate femme fatale, opposite Glenn Ford, and the Biblical epic "Salome" in 1953, where she again played the title role. In the AFI's list of "Greatest Female Screen Legends", Hayworth was ranked number nineteen.
The alternatives, three more actresses born in the late 1910s, Oscar winner and one-time Mrs Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman was born Sarah Jane Mayfield in Saint Joseph, MO in 1917. Ida Lupino was born in London in 1918 and Celeste Holm was born in New York, NY in 1917 -- both became famous using their real name.

Answer: Wynonna Judd

The mother and daughter pairing of Naomi and Wynonna Judd formed the successful country music duo The Judds in the 1980s. They recorded 23 hits that made the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, including 14 number ones as well as eight studio albums and two Greatest Hits collections.

They were the biggest-selling country music duo until Brooks & Dunn came along a decade later. Using just her first name, Wynonna released her debut solo album in 1992. Of the alternatives, three more singers born in the early 1960s, Tori Amos was born Myra Ellen Amos in Newton NC in 1963. Eva Cassidy, born in Washington D.C. in 1963 and Vanessa L. Williams, a singer but also the first African-American to be crowned Miss America, born in Millwood NY in 1963, both became famous using their real names.

Answer: Morgan Fairchild

Morgan Fairchild played the neurotic Jennifer Pace in the soap "Search for Tomorrow" from 1973 until 1977, before moving on to prime time and "Dallas". In 1978, she portrayed Jenna Wade, Bobby Ewing's first true love. The character was later played by Francine Tacker in 1980 before Priscilla Presley took over from 1983-88. By that time, Fairchild was earning a Golden Globe nomination as the wealth and spoiled Constance Weldon Carlyle in another prime time soap, "Flamingo Road".

She went on to play attorney Jordan Roberts in "Falcon Crest" later in the 1980s. Of the alternatives, three more actresses born in the early 1950s, Victoria Principal, born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1950, is probably best-known for her ten years as Pamela Barnes Ewing in "Dallas". Oscar-winner Christine Lahti was born in Birmingham MI in 1950 and Oscar nominee Mary McDonnell was born in Wilkes-Barre, PA in 1952. All three became famous using their real name.

Answer: Meg Ryan

Who could forget that scene, opposite Billy Crystal, from "When Harry Met Sally..." The line "I'll have what she's having" will always instantly remind most people. When she joined the Screen Actors Guild, she shortened her real first name and adopted her grandmother's maiden name to produce Meg Ryan. Of the alternatives, three more actresses born in the early 1960s, Jennifer Jason Leigh was born Jennifer Leigh Morrow in Hollywood CA and Kelly Preston was born Kelly Kamalelehua Smith in Honolulu HI, both in 1962. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York NY in 1961 and became famous using her real name.