Stars of the Silent Screen Trivia Quiz

Answer: Buster Keaton

Joseph Francis Keaton was born in Kansas in 1895, the son of Vaudeville mime artists. He starred in his first film, 'The Butcher Boy' in 1917 and started his own company in 1920. For eight years, as writer, star and director, he made almost thirty short films and features, but things went downhill for him when pantomime was replaced by the spoken word.

Although he did appear in a few films between the mid 1940s and 1960s, his popularity still very much stems from his silent movie days. Buster died in 1966.

Answer: Charlie Chaplin

Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London in 1889, the son of musical hall performers. His comedies, made at the rate of two a week, were phenomenally successful, and by the early 1920s he only appeared in movies produced by himself, as no studio could afford him! Charlie died in 1977.

Answer: Mary Pickford

Gladys Mary Smith was born in 1893 in Toronto. At the height of her career she was one of the richest and most famous women in America. She retired from motion pictures in the early 1930s and died in California in 1979.

Answer: Cecil B DeMille

Cecil Blount DeMille was born in 1881, the son of playwright, Henry Churchill DeMille. In 1913 he joined Lassky, Goldwyn and Freed in forming a company which was later to become Paramount Pictures. He died in Hollywood in 1959 and his name is ____ ?

Answer: Rudolph Valentino

Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Gugielmi was born in Italy in 1895. He moved to America in 1913, finding employment as a gardener, dishwasher and dancer before making his mark in the movies. He died from a ruptured ulcer in 1926 in New York, sparking worldwide hysteria, riots and suicides.

Answer: Clara Bow

Born in 1905 into a poor family, sexually abused and neglected, Clara left school at the age of thirteen. Three years later she entered a beauty contest and won. Part of the prize was a small role in the 1922 film 'Beyond the Rainbow'. She never looked back. She died in Los Angeles in 1965.

Answer: Roscoe Arbuckle

Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle, otherwise known as 'Fatty' Arbuckle, was born in Kansas in 1887. At the height of his fame Fatty was forced into retirement and his films were banned. This was as the result of an accusation by a starlet that he had sexually assaulted her.

She later died of complications relating to the assault, and, although Fatty was acquitted of manslaughter charges, his career never recovered from the scandal. He died in New York in 1933.

Answer: Douglas Fairbanks

Douglas Elton Ulman was born in 1883 in Colorado. By 1914 he had become a popular Broadway actor, and three years later was the head of his own production company. He retired from acting in 1936, but continued producing until his death in 1939.

Answer: Harold Lloyd

Harold Lloyd was born in Nebraska in 1893, the son of an itinerant commercial photographer. He performed his own stunts and was the first comedian to use physical danger as a source of comedy. He died in Hollywood in 1971.

Answer: Tom Mix

Thomas Hezikiah Mix was born in Pennsylvania in 1880. After joining a wildwest show and circus he graduated to acting. As with many of his contemporaries, the coming of sound heralded the beginning of the end for Tom Mix. He was killed in a car accident in 1940.