Put Her There, Partner! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sons of the Desert

Stan Laurel was still alive when this organisation was funded, but Oliver Hardy had died several years earlier. Stan good-naturedly edited the constitution of the new organisation, suggesting that members wear a fez and carry the motto "Two Minds without a Single Thought". Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957) first worked together on the screen in 1921, and made their last film, with their partnership still intact, in 1950, shortly before both retired. Stan wrote much of the dialogue and gags for their movies and eventually became the team's head writer.

He was the brains of the business, in spite of the less than intelligent character he usually played. They were absolutely hilarious together, a perfect partnership and friendship, which endured until their separation by death.

Their films are considered classics of comedy. One fact that always makes me smile is that for most of their scenes together, Stan had to avoid looking at Oliver directly. Why? Because even looking at his jolly tubby friend at times was enough to see Stan drop out of character and become helpless with laughter. And that's just what this wonderful pair gave to the world for so long - the precious gift of laughter.

Answer: Chesney Allen

Known popularly as Flanagan and Allen, Bud Flanagan (1896-1968) and Chesney Allen (1892-1983) had a career ranging from live stage performances during the days of music hall, to working together in both film and television, and making many successful recordings of their music.

They came together in 1926 in a music hall revue, and by the Second World War, when they were at the height of their popularity, they were also making films together. Their music was usually gently comical, and the majority of their overall performances together was usually based on the lives of everyday characters.

Their most famous song perhaps is the lovely old 1932 number "Underneath the Arches" which was co-written by Flanagan with song writer Reg Connelly. The grand old team Flanagan and Allen first met during World War One when both were serving in the army, but it wouldn't be for some years before their famous act was launched.

They then worked together until 1945, when Allen retired from the stage to concentrate on a business career. Flanagan continued working until his death.

His last recording, believe it or not, is the voice you hear singing the theme song to the comical British television series "Dad's Army" which ran from 1968 to 1977, and which features the comical exploits of the British Home Guard during World War Two. Allen, who had retired from the partnership as a result of poor health, and concentrated on a career as a theatrical agent from that time, outlived his old stage partner and friend by some fifteen years.

Answer: John McCallum

Googie, from the age of twelve, had a long career on stage, in film and in television. She moved with her actor husband John, and their three children, to live in Australia in the 1950s and there they became a much loved acting partnership in various productions on stage and in film.

She was constantly in demand as a character actress during her career, appearing in such films as Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 production of "The Lady Vanishes". Her husband John, a fine actor in his own right, seldom appeared in films after the 1950s.

He concentrated instead on writing, directing, producing, and developing the talents of young Australian actors. Born in that country in 1918, he moved to England as a young man and built up an excellent reputation as an actor there, before moving back to Australia to live and work.

His was the pen and directing skills that gave us the television series "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" in the late 1960s. For his services to the performing arts, he was awarded the British CBE in 1971, and the Australian AO in 1992. Googie was awarded the AO in 1980 and the CBE in 2002. John McCallum died in 2010 and Googie passed away the following year.

Their long partnership as husband and wife, and in the performing arts, spanned almost sixty years.

Answer: Hamish

Sherlock Holmes, the literary detective created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was a man of exceptional intelligence and keen observation skills, who used his many abilities to solve assorted nefarious crimes with startling brilliance. Bit of a fathead if you ask me, but readers of the time, and still today, were and are enthralled by these early detective stories.

He first appeared in print in 1887, and from then until 1927, continued to show up periodically in novel, short story or serial form. Eventually these stories made their way into film and television as well. Holmes' trusty offsider, Dr John H Watson, is the narrator of all but four of those early printed yarns.

His role is that of sounding board for Holmes, mouthpiece, assistant and friend, whose sterling lack of perception and mental acuity is the perfect foil for the brilliance of Holmes.

Their literary life together lasted for seventeen years, from Watson's first appearance in the murder investigation in "A Study in Scarlet" (1887) to his final participation in the 1917 spy story "His Last Bow". On the retirement of Holmes from the detecting business, Watson tells of his many exploits by referring to the copious notes he kept on their life and adventures together.

Answer: Bill and Ben

This children's show, which commenced in 1952, ran for twenty years. An updated version with the same story line began in the year 2000. The original story line saw Bill and Ben living at the bottom of a garden and becoming involved in numerous little adventures designed to stimulate children's imaginations, while providing a few giggles along the way. Each episode always ended happily of course.

There were only ever two female flowerpot characters. Their names were Jill and Jen, but they appeared in one episode only. That was in 1954, and the little flowerpot bachelors continued to live happily on their own ever since that unsettling experience. Comically so, and because Bill and Ben had their own special language known as Oddle Poddle, the show was criticised for holding children back from learning correctly spoken English.

However, there doesn't appear to be many adults around, who were children back then, who can only converse in Oddle Poddle. The man who invented Bill and Ben's language, one Peter Hawkins, also hit the heights of fame when he voiced the Daleks in the long running science-fiction television series, "Doctor Who". Oddly enough, no adults speak Dalek today either, unless of course one counts politicians.

Answer: Diana Barry

Anne first meets Diana, a friend her own age, when Anne is adopted by the middle-aged brother and sister team of Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert who live on beautiful Prince Edward Island. The two girls become the best of friends and Diana stands by Anne through thick and thin, even if it sometimes means landing herself in hot water as well.

There was the time, for example, when Anne, thinking she was giving Diana several glasses of cordial, accidentally got her friend helplessly drunk instead on Marilla's home made wine. "Anne of Green Gables" by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, was first published in 1908, and has delighted the hearts of young girls everywhere ever since.

By the turn of the 21st century, it had sold more than fifty million copies, and has been translated many different languages. Such is this work's enduring popularity, it has also been made into various films, television series, plays, at least one musical, and even an animated cartoon series.

This beautiful story helps keep us all young at heart.

Answer: Horatio

Horatio has been Hamlet's friend for many years, and through this friendship, and Horatio's presence in most of the major scenes in the play, we learn much of the motivation for the troubled prince's actions. "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" was written by Shakespeare around the year 1599, but the exact date of publication and performance is still a matter of debate among scholars.

It has just about every literary theme thrown into the mix - murder, love, lust, revenge, genuine and feigned insanity, rage and troubled families.

A ripping good yarn, one might say, except where most ripping good yarns tend to end with the victory of the hero, and everyone but the villains living happily ever after, hardly anyone survives in Hamlet except Horatio.

He lives to tell the sorry tale to all and sundry. His role in the play could ultimately be said to be a combination of witness, Jiminy Cricket, friend, sounding board, balance and sanity.

Answer: Huckleberry Finn

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) by Mark Twain tells the life of a young boy growing up in a fictional town along the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Tom, who is being thoroughly civilised by his Aunt Polly, finds his wild and free side in the form of his friend, Huck Finn.

The two boys become involved in numerous escapades right throughout the book. A few of their adventures include witnessing a murder, running away to an island to become pirates, tricking the entire town into believing they're dead and then showing up at their own funeral, and hunting for buried treasure.

In the modern times of the 21st century, where children's stories have been carefully manicured and disinfected to make sure everything is politically correct, this tale, written so long ago, is a bit of a shock to the delicate system. Over time, it has become a symbol of a life-style in an era of history before government departments began to manage and direct every aspect of daily life.

It represents freedom, initiative, daring and bravery, values that were all part of the great American dream in the early days of that great country.

It is also a thorough attempt to reject the civilising effects and chains of society. Ultimately however, and with somewhat of a sense of loss, the ever growing force of civilisation wins out in the end over Tom. It would be left to Huck to continue to fight for freedom and individuality in the 1984 follow up book "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".

Answer: Julius Caesar Dithers

A very large proportion of the comic interaction between the main characters in this comic strip involve Dagwood's constant run-ins with his boss, Mr Dithers. Bossy and downright rude at times, Mr Dithers is perpetually kicking Dagwood out of his office, threatening to fire him, refusing to give him a raise, and more or less playing the role of permanent thorn in the side to the ineffectual but good-natured Dagwood.

The comic strip "Blondie" (Dagwood's wife) was created by cartoonist Chic Young and first appeared in 1930. Young passed away in 1973, but new cartoonists took over the work, and the perpetually young Dagwood was still going strong eighty years later, well into the 21st century. Mr Dithers has a love-hate relationship with Dagwood, for, apart from their fiery working relationship, he and his wife Cora are often portrayed as guests in Dagwood's home, where his more mellow side emerges.

Other permanent characters in Dagwood's life are his wife Blondie, his son Alexander, his daughter Cookie, his neighbour Herb Woodley (often involved in punch-ups with Dagwood), Herb's wife, Tootsie, and, of course, the family dog, Daisy.

Answer: Burns and Allen

George Burns (1896-1996) and Gracie Allen (1895-1964) were the perfect match, both in their marriage and in their long career in the entertainment business. Gracie usually played the clown in their double act, while George played the straight man. From their work on stage and in various radio shows, in which they became household names, they then graduated to making several short films together, before moving into television and then to their own television series, a situation comedy known as "The Burns and Allen Show" (1950-58). Gracie was born with one blue and one green eye, a fact about which she was extremely sensitive.

This was said to be the cause of her early retirement when their show was earmarked to be telecast in the new medium of colour.

The real reason she retired however was for health reasons. She had a bad heart, and died from a heart attack in 1964. George Burns was absolutely devastated by her death. Though he continued to act right into his nineties, he spoke of her constantly. On his own death in 1996, he left orders for their joint crypt to be engraved with the words "Gracie Allen and George Burns - Together Again".