1950s All American Entertainment Quiz

Answer: Jack Benny

Jack Benny had been offered one of the two lead roles in the Neil Simon movie "The Sunshine Boys" (1975) but failing health forced him to pull out of the production. His friend and fellow comedy pioneer George Burns replaced him and went on to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the role.

Answer: From Here to Eternity

James Jones won the National Book Award for "From Here to Eternity." The reference to the book's title is from Kipling's poem "Gentleman-rankers" which ends with the verse: "We're poor little lambs who've lost our way, Baa! Baa! Baa! We're little black sheep who've gone astray, Baa--aa--aa! Gentlemen-rankers out on the spree, damned from here to Eternity, God ha' mercy on such as we, Baa! Yah! Bah!"

Answer: Un-American activities.

Chaplin was born in England in 1889 and moved to the US in 1910. At Hoover's direction, the FBI put together a 2000 page dossier on Chaplin, although no evidence was presented that showed him to be a Communist or to have been involved in "treasonous activity." Nonetheless, two days after Chaplin sailed for England the US Attorney General revoked his re-entry permit. He and his wife Oona and their family took up residence in Switzerland where he died in 1977.

Answer: Playboy

Marilyn Monroe is perhaps the most famous woman to have appeared in "Playboy." Other well-known faces have been Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt, actresses Linda Evans and Darryl Hannah and singer LaToya Jackson.

Answer: George Balanchine

Balanchine was born Georgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze in 1904 in St. Petersburg. "The Nutcracker" is an adaptation by Alexandre Dumas of the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E.T.A. Hoffmann, set to the music of Peter Tchaikovsky.

Balanchine's version of what is one of the world's most famous ballets has become such a ritual during the Christmas season that the New York City Ballet has trademarked the name "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker."

Answer: Peter Pan

A woman has traditionally played Peter Pan. Others who have taken on the stage role are Sandy Duncan and Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby.

Mary Martin also created the Broadway characters Nellie Forbush in "South Pacific" and Fraulein Maria in "The Sound of Music." Her son, Larry Hagman, was famous for his portrayal of J.R. Ewing on the hugely popular television program "Dallas."

Answer: The Ten Commandments

The tickets sales information is from Boxofficemojo.com.

Though Robinson's New York accent made his role as Dathan in "The Ten Commandments" the unwitting object of laugher, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette it wasn't as bad as Tony Curtis uttering, "Yondah lies the castle of my faddah" with his thick Brooklyn patois in 1952's "Son of Ali Baba."

Answer: Philadelphia

"Bandstand' started on WFIL-TV (which was then changed to WPVI) in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952 as a local weekday program. Its first host was Bob Horn who was replaced by the perpetual teenager Dick Clark in 1956. ABC picked up the show and renamed it "American Bandstand" in 1957. In 1964 the show moved to Los Angeles where it was broadcast on Saturday mornings through 1987.

Answer: Sonny married Cher.

Sonny and Cher were married in 1964; she was 12 years old in 1958. At 41, Michael Jackson was the second youngest solo artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991; Stevie Wonder was the youngest at age 38. "Christmas Don't Be Late" re-entered the Top 100 charts (peaking at #70) in 2007 with the release of the movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks." At the time it was the only holiday song to have hit #1 on any chart. Presley's military career took him to Germany where he met 14 year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whose father was an Air Force officer.

Answer: Dion DiMucci (Dion and the Belmonts)

The Belmonts were so named for Belmont Avenue in their native Bronx, New York. In addition to "Teenager" they scored a chart topper with "I Wonder Why." Dion had hits as a solo artist with "The Wanderer" and "Abraham, Martin and John." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.