They Died in a February Trivia Quiz

Answer: Don Cornelius

Don Cortez Cornelius was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1936. He joined the US marines at Korea for a year and a half. Cornelius began his career in show business as a DJ at WVON-Radio, and then he created a TV talk show called "A Black's View of the News" in 1968.

He created an African-American version of Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" with his hit enduring program "Soul Train", which he hosted from its inception in 1971 to 1993. Even after he left, the show remained a TV fixture until 2006. Many stars appeared on "Soul Train", including The Jackson Five, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, and Elton John. Cornelius had suffered numerous health issues including brain surgery in the 1980s and an aneurysm in 1997.

He called his son at 3AM on February 1, 2012 and informed him he could no longer deal with the seizures he had suffered since up to then.

He died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head shortly thereafter.

Answer: Boris Karloff

Born William Henry Pratt in London, England, Karloff played the nameless monster in Universal's "Frankenstein" in 1931. He reprised the role in "The Bride of Frankenstein" in 1935, but refused to play the part of his "best friend" again, though he continued to act for decades.

In 1966, he voiced the title character in the animated Christmas special "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", which has played annually on American TV ever since. He met his Maker (and I don't mean the Baron) on February 2, 1969.

Answer: Al Lewis

Born Albert Meister in New York, he first worked as a circus performer. He reportedly earned a Ph.D. in child psychology at Columbia, but he decided to return to acting. After Broadway and vaudeville, Lewis landed a role as Officer Leo Schnauser on "Car 54, Where Are You?" (1961-1963).

His most famous role was, of course Grandpa Munster, but he made guest appearances on other shows including "Lost in Space" (1967). He hosted his own political talk show on the radio, and in 1998 ran for Governor of New York on the Green Party ticket.

He fought the Board of Elections, who refused to allow him to be listed as "Grandpa Al Lewis", but lost his case. He remained politically active until his death on February 3, 2006.

Answer: W.S. Van Dyke

Van Dyke (1889-1943) directed Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan in the original Hollywood adaptation of the novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. (This is the film that introduced Cheeta the chimpanzee, a character never appearing in the Burroughs novels.) At the 1940 Democratic National Convention, Van Dyke served as delegate from California.

A Christian Scientist, he declined medical treatment for his heart disease and cancer, and he ended his life on February 5, 1943.

Answer: Adventures in Good Music

When it went off the air in 2007, "Adventures in Good Music", which began in 1959 on WJR in Detroit, had been the longest-running classical-music program on Earth at the time. It had begun national syndication out of WCLV in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1970. WCLV might have continued broadcasting longer, but the number of stations carrying the program dropped precipitously in the 2000s.

Its opening theme was a well-known passage from the second movement of the "Pachelbel" Sonata by Ludwig von Beethoven, a tune made into "Midnight Blue (So Lonely Without You)" sung by Louise Tucker in 1983. Dr. Haas made his last new episode in 2002 (WCLV issued repeats for five years after that), and three years later he went to the great music hall in the sky on February 6, 2005.

Answer: Bobby Troup

Robert William "Bobby" Troup Jr. wrote "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" back in 1946, though it served much later as the theme song for the hit TV series "Route 66" (1960-64). It was originally recorded by Nat King Cole, and then covered by Chuck Berry and many others. Troup served as a panelist in the game show "Musical Chairs" in 1955, and in 1959 he played Tommy Dorsey in the movie "The Gene Krupa Story".

In Jack Webb's "Emergency!", Troup played Dr. Joe Early and co-starred with his wife Julie London as Nurse Dixie McCall.

He played his last note on February 7, 1999.

Answer: Anna Nicole Smith

Her birth name was Vickie Lynn Hogan. The Texas-born beauty queen rose to fame as the "adult" magazine's Playmate of the Year in 1993. After she married oil magnate J. Howard Marshall, she became a tabloid figure, as paparazzi relentlessly covered her struggles with her weight and with Marshall's relatives.

She died on February 8, 2007 from an overdose of chloral hydrate in combination with diazepam and several other prescription drugs. Her son Daniel Wayne Smith by first husband Billy Smith had predeceased her by five months. (He too, had died of an accidental drug overdose.)

Answer: Jim Varney

Kentucky-born Jim Varney used to appear as "Ernest P. Worrell" in many commercials, for various products and services, talking to an off-camera figure named "Vern". The popularity of the commercials propelled him to play the Ernest character in a number of movies, such as "Ernest Saves Christmas" (1988), and in a children's TV show called "Hey Vern, It's Ernest" (1988). One of his last roles was to play the voice of Slinky Dog in "Toy Story" (1995) and "Toy Story 2" (1999). Suffering from lung cancer, "Ernest" bid his final farewell on February 10, 2000.

Answer: Sorrell Booke

Although best known for portraying the greedy, corrupt Hazzard county commissioner Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg, Booke had a respectable career beginning in the 1950s. He appeared in scores of television programs and had minor roles in movies such as "Fail-Safe" (1964).

He continued as a voice actor after "Dukes" ended. He was able to speak in many languages, and he had worked in counter-intelligence during the Korean War. He passed away on February 11, 1994.

Answer: Sal Mineo

Bronx-born Salvatore Mineo, Jr., the child of a Sicilian coffin-maker, spent some of his childhood as part of a street gang in New York, but he was able to escape the fate of most gangsters and make it to Hollywood. Besides "Rebel Without a Cause", he starred in "Giant" (1956) and "Exodus" (1960), for which he won a Golden Globe Award.

As he grew older, he made guest appearances on TV shows like "Mission: Impossible" and "Columbo". He was one of the first US movie stars to be openly gay. As he returned home from a rehearsal on February 12, 1976, a man named Lionel Williams stabbed Mineo to death.

He was 37.

Answer: David Janssen

Born David Harold Mayer in Nebraska in 1931, Janssen moved to Los Angeles, California when his mother remarried. The actor had many other TV gigs, including the title roles in "Harry O" and "Richard Diamond, Private Eye", although his performance as the falsely accused doctor in "The Fugitive" (1963-1967) remains the best known.

In 1993, "The Fugitive" was remade into a feature film starring Harrison Ford as the Kimble character. Janssen did not live to see it, however, as he had died of a heart attack on February 13, 1980, at age 48.

Answer: Ethel Merman

Born in 1908 in Astoria, Queens, New York, Ethel Merman's real last name was Zimmerman. She married four times; her final marriage, to Ernest Borgnine, lasted only 32 days. There is almost no aspect of entertainment that this formidable mezzo-soprano did not touch! On Broadway, she starred in musicals like "Anything Goes" and "Gypsy". She immortalized many American standards, including "Everything's Coming up Roses" and "There's No Business like Show Business". On television, she made many guest appearances, including one as a villainess on "Batman". In 1979, she released "The Ethel Merman Disco Album" (really). Her last film appearance was a cameo in "Airplane!" (1980). Ten months after surgery to remove a brain tumor, she died in her sleep on February 15, 1984.

Other notables who died on February 15: Singer-actor Nat King Cole (1919-1965), TV actor McLean Stevenson (1927-1996), and Lew Wallace (1827-1905), whose novel "Ben Hur" (1880) was made into two Hollywood movies.

Answer: Kevin Tod Smith II

Smith also played Ares in two other TV shows, "Hercules, The Legendary Journeys" (1995-1999) and in "Young Hercules" (1998-1999). Born in 1963 in Auckland, New Zealand, Smith formed an improvisational comedy group called Scared Scriptless in Christchurch. While on location in China for the film "Warriors of Virtue", he fell three stories on February 6, 2002. He died of head injuries on February 16 in a Beijing hospital.

N.B. Some sources online, including Wikipedia and IMDb, state that Smith's death was on the 15th, but official sources from New Zealand state his death was on 16th.

Answer: RMS Titanic

Born in 1889 in Hoboken, New Jersey, Gibson's first occupation was modeling before she started appearing in silent films. Gibson and her mother were returning from a European vacation when they booked passage on the Titanic's fateful maiden voyage. Both women escaped on Lifeboat No. 7, the first to leave the ship. Back in the States, she starred in a film depicting her adventures, "Saved from the Titanic" (1912), in which she wore the very same clothes she had worn on that tragic night. Gibson and Mary Pickford were the two highest paid actresses in 1912.

She retired from acting shortly after the Titanic film was released. She lived in Paris for years, and was nearly sent to a concentration camp during the Nazi occupation of France, but she fled to Switzerland.

After the war she returned to Paris, where she died of a heart attack on February 17, 1946.

Answer: Madge Blake

Born in 1899 in Kinsley, Kansas, Madge Blake and her husband worked for the government on top secret work involving the construction of nuclear weapons during World War II. Blake did not begin acting until age fifty, after her children were grown. She is best known as Aunt Harriet in the television series "Batman" (1966-68) and in the movie "Batman" (1966), her last film role.

But she appeared in many television shows, including "I Love Lucy", "Lassie", and "The Dick Van Dyke Show". She was offered the role of Aunt Bee in "The Andy Griffith Show" but turned it down.

A heart attack took her from us on February 19, 1969.

Answer: Dick York

Richard Allen "Dick" York was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana but grew up in Illinois. York originally played Darrin Stephens on the ABC sitcom "Bewitched" for the first several seasons (1964-1969). Because of incapacitating back injuries, he had to quit the series, and he was replaced by Dick Sargent for the remainder of the show's run (1969-1974). Before "Bewitched", however, he had made his mark as the teacher and defendant Bertram Gates in "Inherit the Wind" (1960).

While ailing with back pain, he established and managed Acting for Life, an organization for the homeless.

He died of emphysema on February 20, 1992.

Answer: John Thaw

Born in 1942 in Manchester, England, John Edward Thaw debuted on screen in "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" (1962). He became a major star in the UK after playing detective Jack Regan in "The Sweeney" (1974-78), but he became internationally famous as the grumpy, learned, and cynical lead detective in "Inspector Morse" (1987-93, 1995-98, 2000). No health nut, he became a teetotaler in 1995, but never reduced his smoking. John Thaw died of esophageal cancer on February 21, 2002.

Answer: Chuck Jones

The other answer choices were also animators from Warner Brothers Cartoons, Inc. during the Golden Age of American animation, but only Jones directed the Grinch on TV.

Born in Spokane, Washington in 1912, Charles Martin Jones began in show business early, as a child extra. His first job in animation was as a cel washer for Ubbe Iwerks, Walt Disney's former partner, in 1932. Eventually he worked for Leon Schlessinger, who at the time produced the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. "The Night Watchman" (1938) was the first cartoon that Jones directed. Jones also worked with Theodore Giesel (Dr. Seuss) to create propaganda films during World War II. At Warner Brothers, Jones continued to direct Looney Tunes and created Pepé LePew, Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote. As director of the "Grinch" special, Jones won two Peabody Awards for Television Excellence. He died of heart failure on February 22, 2002.

Answer: Stan Laurel

Of course, we are talking about Laurel & Hardy (Abbott & Costello were both American, and they never made any silent movies, their first picture having been released in the late 1930s).

Arthur Stanley Jefferson, born 1890 in Cumbria, grew up in show business, as his father managed several vaudeville theaters. As soon as he finish schooling, he began to work for his father at the Metropole Theatre. At an early point in his career he was the stand-in for Charlie Chaplin. He cohabited with a married Australian woman for many years; it was she who suggested he adopt the name Stan Laurel. He met Oliver Hardy in 1917, but they didn't become partners, the famous Laurel & Hardy, until 1925. Together they performed in many films over the next four decades, including "The Music Box" (1931), which won the Oscar for Best Comedy Short Subject. In 1960, Laurel won an Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement. He died of a heart attack on February 23, 1965.

His epitaph reads: "A Master of Comedy. His genius in the art of humor brought gladness to the world he loved".

Answer: Don Knotts

Jesse Donald Knotts was born in 1924 in Morgantown, West Virginia, where he began his career as a ventriloquist and stand-up comic. He appeared with Andy Griffith in "No Time for Sergeants" on stage (1955) and on screen (1958) as the high-strung Corporal Manual Dexterity. Griffith never forgot his friend, and brought him on "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960-1968) as Deputy Barney Fife.

In 1979, he replaced Norman Feldman as the landlord on "Three's Company". His many films included "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" (1964), "The Reluctant Astronaut" (1967), "The Apple Dumpling Gang" (1975), and "No Deposit, No Return" (1976).

His last TV appearance was on "Matlock" (again with Andy Griffith) and his last film role was in "Pleasantville" (1998). He died of lung cancer on February 24, 2006.

Answer: Darren McGavin

Born William Lyle Richardson in 1922, McGavin appeared in many TV series throughout his career, including "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer", "Murphy Brown", and the title role in "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" (1974), a horror series. He nearly replaced Larry Hagman as Tony Nelson in "I Dream of Jeannie", but the producers decided to cancel the program rather than "pull a Darrin" (replace a lead actor with no explanation, as in "Bewitched"). On February 25, 2006 -- just one day after his co-star from "No Deposit, No Return" (1976), Don Knotts, had passed away -- Darren McGavin died of natural causes.

Answer: Wendy Richard

Born Wendy Emerton in 1943 in Yorkshire, England, Wendy Richard did not have a stable home environment as the family moved many times. She had the misfortune of finding her father's body when he committed suicide in 1954. She played the shop-girl Miss Brahams through nearly the entire run of "Are You Being Served?" (1972-1985).

As Pauline Fowler on "EastEnders", she was one of only two cast members who had been with the show since its inception in 1985. She died of breast cancer on February 26, 2009 in a London clinic.

Answer: Fred Rogers

Fred McFeely Rogers was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1928. Besides his other occupations, he was also a Presbyterian minister. He worked as a puppeteer in the 1950s, during which time he invented X the Owl, Henrietta Pussycat, and many other puppets he would used later on his own show.

He was moved to create his television program, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", in the 1960s because he was dismayed at the quality of programming being offered children. "Neighborhood" won four Emmys. Rogers was an advocate of many causes.

In fact, we have his testimony to thank for the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that permitted individuals to videotape television programs in their homes, and for the creation of federal funding for public broadcasting in the USA. Mr. Rogers died of stomach cancer on February 27, 2003.

Answer: Jane Russell

Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell debuted on the silver screen in the film "The Outlaw" (1943). She also played Calamity Jane in "The Paleface" (1948) and co-starred with Marilyn Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953), which solidified her stardom.

Despite the rather sexy nature of the film, and the fact that she remained a sex symbol through the early sixties, by the time "Gentlemen" was produced Russell had long been a born-again Christian. Russell was introduced to a younger generation in the 1970s and 1980s as the spokeswoman for the Playtex 18-Hour Girdle and the Cross-Your-Heart bra.

She died on February 28, 2011.

Answer: Davy Jones

Born in 1945 in Lancashire, England, Davy Jones actually began his showbiz career as a child actor in the perennial UK soap opera "Coronation Street". Whereas the Beatles were known as the "Fab Four", the Monkees were the "Pre-fab Four" because producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider put the actor-musicians together in an imaginary band for a television show to capitalize on the youth music craze of the 1960s. That they became a real band that ended up touring the country long after "The Monkees" series (1966-1968) ceased production was serendipitous.

After "The Monkees", Jones appeared as a guest star in other programs such as "The Brady Bunch" and "Love, American Style". He also starred as Fagin in the the musical "Oliver!" He died of a heart attack on February 29, 2012.