All Work and No Play? Trivia Quiz

Answer: His notoriously dreadful acting

Born into a very wealthy family, Robert Coates longed, not to manage the family fortune, but to become a leading dramatic star of the stage. His acting however was so dreadful that he developed quite a following for that instead. Yet, theatre managers continued to hire him - for the simple reason that he bribed them to do so. When he didn't like his lines, he made up others to suit his mood, he ad-libbed all over the countryside, he refused to die on stage without first taking out a handkerchief to carefully dust the floor, or he refused to die at all. He also refused to leave the stage when the directions called for this to happen, but, if he liked a scene he'd been in, he immediately acted it over again, several times in fact - and on and on it went.

In short he was a co-star's nightmare. His fellow actors often had to drag him off the stage, actresses detested him as he had a habit of slinging them over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. One actress playing Juliet actually refused to leave the stage with him at all in one production and clung desperately to a pillar instead. He often rewrote Shakespeare's great scenes, such as in one version of "Romeo and Juliet" where he dashed back onto stage and tried to prise open the Capulet tomb with a crowbar. Audiences jeered and booed him wherever he performed, but also continued to laugh helplessly at his antics as well. One is inclined to believe of Mr Coates that, in truth, he was indeed nothing at all like a great dramatic actor - but a very brilliant comedian instead.

Answer: "My agent was afraid of overexposure."

The great comedian, actor and writer George Burns, master of the quick quip, lived from 1896 until 1996. He performed in all facets of the entertainment business during his long career. These included vaudeville, radio, film, television, and even three recorded albums of his work. Amazingly, he was still performing right up until a few weeks before his death at the age of 100. He appeared in twenty-five movies in all, a number that would have been much higher had he not chosen to work in other areas of his craft.

Though he provided the narration for the film "The Solid Gold Cadillac" in 1956, George's previous foray into the world of film, in which he appeared in front of the camera, was the 1939 movie "Honolulu". This light-hearted musical comedy centers around lookalikes switching roles in life, and also features his much loved wife, Gracie Allen (1895-1964). The 1975 "Sunshine Boys", for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, also starred Walter Matthau. The plot is built around two legendary but extremely irascible old comedians who are coaxed into an attempt to appear one last time with their act - with disastrous results.

Answer: It was not up to his usual standard

American born Heywood Broun, who once ran for Congress under the banner "I'd rather be right than Roosevelt" was born in 1888 and died in 1939. Not only did he have a creditable reputation as a drama critic, he was also widely known for his social commentary, various newspaper columns, editorship, and sports articles. In writing a review of a 1917 play in which would-be actor Geoffrey Steyne was performing, he described Steyne's acting as the worst to be seen in contemporary theatre. The outraged Steyne promptly sued Broun for libel.

After the judge threw the case out of court with a snort, Steyne continued to act for a time, but he never in any way hit the big time. In fact it's hard to find any mention of him at all except in conjunction with his spat with the journalist. Broun, on the other hand, and just a tad annoyed at being dragged into court for what he saw as merely carrying out his job, bode his time until he once again had occasion to review a play in which Steyne was appearing. This time Broun completely left out all mention of the actor in the review, except for one small sentence at the conclusion. In that he stated, one imagines with a great deal of glee, that "Mr Steyne's performance was not up to its usual standard".

Answer: Hu is on first.

Taiwanese born Chin-Lung Hu was born in 1984, and, up until 2014, has played for the Dodgers, New York Mets, Adelaide Bite and EDA Rhinos. Vin Scully, born 1927, began sportscasting in 1949 and incredibly, has been calling for the Los Angeles Dodgers ever since, a total of 65 seasons. He made the comical call outlined in the question above in a game between the Dodgers and the Padres in 2007.

Bud Abbott (1895-1974) and Lou Costello (1906-1959) were an American comedy duo who worked together in vaudeville, film, television and radio for many years. Of the 38 comedy films they made, they included their famous patter routine "Who's on first" in two. That was in their first film, the 1940 "One Night in the Tropics", and again in the 1945 film "The Naughty Nineties". This involves them talking about a group of baseball players with surnames such as Who, What, Naturally, I Don't Know, Why, Because, Tomorrow, Today and I Don't Give A Damn. It's such a silly improbable routine that it becomes really funny. It goes something along these lines:

Abbott: You throw the ball to second base, Naturally.
Costello: Then who gets it?
Abbott: No, Who's on first.
Costello: What?
Abbott: No, What's on Third.
Costello: Who?
Abbott: NO! Who's on First!
Costello: Naturally!

And so on.

Answer: He had a broken arm from a previous three foot fall

In the Harry Houdini movie "The Grim Game" in 1919, one scene called for him to be dangled by a rope between two planes. During the filming of this dangerous scene, the two biplanes collided and crashed to the ground below. Everyone held their breaths in shock, and then raced to the wreckage, expecting to see bodies splattered all over the place. Astonishingly so, nobody was hurt at all, including the stand-in dangling on the rope, and everyone walked away from the mess without a scratch. The whole sequence was captured on film, and subsequently incorporated into the plot of the movie.

Harry normally would have acted in this sequence himself, as he was a renowned escapologist, aviator of note, and fearless whenever it came to carrying out his own stunts on film. The scene however was carried out by U.S. Air Service pilot Robert E. Kennedy. Harry, who watched this event unfolding with the shocked spectators below, was incapacitated from an earlier injury. His arm was dangling in a sling from a jail cell escape scene filmed earlier that week. How? He'd slipped while crawling out of his jail cell window and fallen a mere three feet to the ground.

Answer: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and for ever."

That beautiful verse reads "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever." The sorrowful "Jesus wept" is from John 11:35. "And he rested on the seventh day" is an extract from Genesis 2:2. "He sunk down with sleep" is an extract from Acts:29. All quotations are from the King James version of the Bible.

"Abie's Irish Rose", which tells the story of the thwarted love between an Irish Catholic girl and her young Jewish swain, was so popular when it premiered in 1922 that it ran until 1927, with a total of 2,327 performances. Spare a thought for "Life" magazine's theatre critic Robert Benchley who had to write a fresh review for the play every week. After five years, he had become desperate, and his reviews featured remarks which included the following:

1. "Will the Marines never come?"
2. "In another two or three years, we'll have this play driven out of town"
3. "Where do people come from who keep this going?"
4. "All right if you never went beyond the fourth grade"
5. "The Phoenicians were among the earliest settlers of Britain"
6. "There is no letter 'w' in the French language"
7. "Flying fish are sometimes seen at as great a height as fifteen feet."

Finally, in desperation, he wrote "See Hebrews 13:8."

Answer: Achilles tendon

Based on the work "Iliad" penned by the ancient Greek writer Homer, the movie "Troy", which goes on and on interminably, starred, among many others, Brad Pitt as Achilles, Sean Bean as Odysseus, Peter O'Toole as Priam, and Orlando Bloom as Paris. The plot is centered around one of the great stories of Greek mythology, the famous Trojan War. If you like this sort of film, with blood and guts splattering the walls of the theatre, then "Troy" is for you.

Brad Pitt, looking as delectable as ever, won a Teen Choice Award for best actor in his role of Achilles, one of the most powerful warriors ever created. Rather comically though, Pitt injured his Achilles tendon during the shooting of this film, which held up production for quite some time. You can't have an epic hero hobbling round on crutches after all. Let us be thankful however. The mythological Achilles died from an injury incurred to that very same part of his anatomy.

Answer: Dear Jerry please pass the salt

Now that really is the mark of a fine comedian. British born Henry (Henny) Youngman (1906-1998) was famous for his comedy routines which were a combination of one-liners intermingled with his expert violin playing. Respected and liked by all who knew him, Youngman could never break through in Hollywood as his Miami dinner partner did. His forte instead were the nightclubs where he was always in demand, and the occasional guest appearances on television. The tragedy of that is that nightclub work is performed live, and is therefore brief and fleeting, but film is a permanent visual record of a life. Henny was married to his wife Sadie for sixty years, until her death in 1987. During her final years, and because of her fear of hospitals, he had an intensive care unit built into their bedroom at home, so she could always be kept safe and protected by his side.

American comedian Jerry Lewis (born 1926) combined acting, singing, producing, directing and writing in his life long association with the arts. Known for his slapstick humour in his comedic roles, he combined with fellow actor and straight man Dean Martin (1917-1995) in a decades long partnership of nightclub acts and comedy films. Jerry, however, is far more than a clown pulling silly faces at a camera. For more than forty years, he has devoted endless hours of his time in sponsoring and chairing associations working with that brutal genetic illness, Muscular Dystrophy. Winner of many awards during his long career, that, one is inclined to think, is the pinnacle of a long, honourable and illustrious life. Both Jerry and Henny are and were true champions. They gave the world laughter and compassion.

Answer: "What the hell is wrong with him now?"

What a classic. Baseball manager and playing legend Lawrence Peter Berra was born in Missouri in 1925. The nineteen years of his professional playing career were spent almost entirely with the New York Yankees, and any record of that career, and afterwards, will show Yogi to be outstanding in any field (pardon the pun). Winner of the Most Valuable Player of the American League three times, Yogi Berra is also the master of the hilarious quip, whether unintentional or deliberate, as evidenced by the quote used in this question. Now referred to as Yogiisms, a few of these follow:

1. On baseball: "90% of the game is half mental"
2. "When you come to a fork in the road, take it"
3. "It's déjà vu all over again"
4. "You can observe a lot by watching"
5. "Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't go to yours"
6. "I Really Didn't Say Everything I Said" (The title of one of his nine books)
7. "What Time Is It? You Mean Now?" (another title)

Answer: Big Bird

The much loved American puppeteer Jim Henson, who gave such joy to millions of children and the young at heart for so many years, was born in 1936 and died in 1990 after a long and troubling illness. His was the genius that gave the world those immensely entertaining and lovable characters, the Muppets, and in particular, Kermit the Frog. So closely was Jim Henson identified with Kermit, that, on his death, the producers of the show decided to retire "Kermie". Made redundant at such an early age, Kermit must have been hopping mad. However, to the delight of thousands, and with a somewhat modified voice, he was later resurrected.

Perhaps the song most readily associated with Jim and Kermit was the lovely "Rainbow Connection", with part of the lyrics reproduced below. The words are lovely and the melody has an elusive, rather sorrowful lilt to it. Yet it was the equally lovely "Bein' Green" that was sung at Jim's memorial service held at the Cathedral of St John the Divine on May 21, 1990. As per his wishes, nobody wore black, and each member of the congregation waved small foam butterflies on puppeteers rods during the singing of "Turn the World Around" by Harry Belafonte. This was followed, later in the service, by Caroll Spinney, dressed in his long term Big Bird outfit, walking out into the centre of the stage area and singing Kermit the Frog's other well known song "Bein' Green". If I may, I'd like to reproduce the following moving description of the conclusion of the service for you all:

"In the final minutes of the two-and-a-half-hour service, six of the core Muppet performers - Dave Goelz, Frank Oz, Kevin Clash, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson and Richard Hunt - sang, in their characters' voices, a medley of Jim Henson's favorite songs, eventually ending with a performance of "Just One Person" that began with Richard Hunt singing alone, as Scooter. Henson employee Chris Barry writes that during each verse, "each Muppeteer joined in with their own Muppets until the stage was filled with all the Muppet performers and their beloved characters." The funeral was later described by Life as "an epic and almost unbearably moving event."

"Have you been half asleep?
And have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name
Is this the sweet sound
That called the young sailors?
The voice might be one and the same

I've heard it too many times to ignore it
It's something that I'm supposed to be
Some day we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me"