Who's Who: Celebrity Santas Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tim Allen

Disney Legends are recognized for making an outstanding contribution to The Walt Disney Company. The annual award program was started in 1987, and since 2009, the program has been held every two years. The first recipient of the award was Fred MacMurray, for his contributions to Disney movies, such as "The Shaggy Dog" (1959). Since 1987, it has been the usual practice to choose more than one person to receive the award. Of course, Tim Allen is a logical choice for his portrayal of Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear in all four of the beloved "Toy Story" (1995, 1999, 2010, 2019) movies.

As it turns out, Allen's other contributions to The Walt Disney Company were made for playing the part that landed him in this quiz. To date he has starred in three movies in Disney's "The Santa Clause" (1994, 2002, 2006) as Scott Calvin, who finds himself taking Santa's place after accidentally causing the death of a man in a Santa suit.

Answer: Ed Asner

Ed Asner, starring as Lou Grant, won the 1971 Best Supporting Actor-Television Golden Globe award for his work on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"; it was a role he played from 1970-77, working at WJM-TV as the head of the news department. He also appeared as Lou Grant during that time on "Rhoda" (1974) and "Roseanne" (1996). After everyone at WJM-TV was fired due to low ratings, Lou had the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and be the city editor of "The Los Angeles Tribune".

Ed Asner provided the voice of Santa in "The Christmas Star The Story of Santa Claus" (2006) and "Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas" (2014). He was also Santa in "Elf" (2003) and "Christmas on the Bayou" (2013).

Answer: Edmund Gwenn

A British subject, Edmund Gwenn lost his home in London during WWII. Eventually he purchased a new home in Beverly Hills, California. Gwenn starred in Hitchcock's "The Skin Game" (1931), "Waltzes from Vienna" (1934), "Foreign Correspondent" (1940), and "The Trouble with Harry" (1955). He is credited with appearing in over 80 films during his career.

Gwenn, of course, was the original "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) Kris Kringle. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role.

Answer: Lloyd Bridges

Lloyd Bridges starred on television's "Sea Hunt" from 1958-1961, where he played a retired U.S. Navy frogman named Mike Nelson who had a rather adventurous life. This role came at a critical time in Bridges' career; he had just been blacklisted from acting after testifying to the House Un-American Activities Committee that he had been a member of a group that had ties to the Communist Party. Once given the role, Bridges had to learn how to look credible as a scuba diver pretty quickly, and eventually grew skilled enough to perform in all of his own scenes except for the ones that were considered to be too dangerous. He was the co-author of a book about diving called "Mask And Flippers: The Story of Skin Diving".

Lloyd Bridges starred as Santa Claus in the 1991 "In the Nick of Time", where Santa is given just seven days to find his own replacement.

Answer: James Earl Jones

Okay! I just have three words for you! Mustafa ("Lion King"). Darth Vader ("Star Wars"). Those characters have to be two of the most memorable of James Earl Jones. It is true, however, that as a young child he suffered from severe stuttering. When he was five years old the family moved from Mississippi to live with his grandparents in Michigan. The change was so traumatic that Jones was a functional mute for eight years, finally overcoming his stuttering with hard work and practice.

Jones provided Santa's voice in "Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street" (2001), a Disney film about friends telling stories while trapped in a snowbank during a storm.

Answer: Kurt Russell

Russell has a long list of acting credits during the 1960s which include "Gunsmoke", "The Fugitive", "The Virginian", and "Daniel Boone". By the late 1960s he had signed a ten year contract with Disney; even so, he continued to play little league and high school baseball. From 1970-73 he played second base for many minor league teams within the California Angels system, until a shoulder injury forced his early retirement. He returned to acting.

Kurt Russel finally got to play Santa! He was considered for a role in "The Santa Claus", but it went to Tim Allen instead. In 2018 he starred in "The Christmas Chronicles", with his significant other, Goldie Hawn, starring as Mrs. Klaus.

Answer: Brian Blessed

Brian Blessed has the distinction of performing over 130 roles in his long career, but his feats of physical strength and endurance are pretty impressive too! He claims that he sparred with the Dalai Lama. Although he never reached the summit of Mt. Everest, he was able to climb 28,200 feet. He did, however, reach the summit of Mount Aconcagua and Mount Kilimanjaro, and made it to the North Magnetic Pole, the oldest man to do so on foot. Amazing!

Blessed has been the voice of Santa twice in "The Amazing World of Gumball" (2012), and "Danger Mouse" (2015), and also played Santa in "Sooty" (2013).

Answer: Sebastian Cabot

While some may best remember Sebastian Cabot as Victor French in "Family Affair" (1966-71), he was also a very successful voice actor in many Disney movies. Not only did he narrate "The Sword in the Stone" (1963), he was the voice of Sir Ector. He also played Bagheera, the black panther, in "The Jungle Book" (1967). During the 1960s and 70s he was narrator for the beloved "Winnie the Pooh" movies.

In 1973 he played Kris Kringle in the made for television movie, a remake of "Miracle on 34th Street".

Answer: Art Carney

At the Battle of Normandy Art Carney was hit in the leg by shrapnel, which left him with one leg that was ¾" shorter than the other. He walked with a limp for the rest of his life. As the easygoing Ed Norton, neighbor and friend of Ralph Kramden, Carney won six Primetime Emmys. Jackie Gleason gave him 90% of the credit for the show's success.

In 1960 Carney played a department store Santa who was fired for drinking on the job and somehow becomes Santa Claus on an episode of the "Twilight Zone". He also starred as Santa in "The Night They Saved Christmas" (1984).

Answer: Jose Elias Moreno

The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema occurred from 1933-64; the years during WWII were especially productive for Mexican filmmakers because both European and U.S. filmmaking suffered a decline, and when they did produce films they were largely about WWII. It was during this time that Mexico began to produce a variety of types of films, including romance and horror for Latin American audiences. Moreno, who starred in 184 films, was known for his versatility during this time.

Moreno played Santa in "Santa Claus" (1959), where Santa saves the world from aliens and demons.