Entertaining Common Bond Quiz 7

Answer: Natalie

Natalie Cole, daughter of the late Nat King Cole, won the Grammy for Best New Artist in the 1970's, had a career revival in the 1980's with her album "Everlasting", and recorded "Unforgettable With Love" in the early 1990's. On that album she sang her father's old songs and "duetted" with his recorded voice on the song "Unforgettable". It went platinum many times over and won seven Grammy awards. Cole can also be heard in the movie "Pretty Woman" singing "Wild Women Do".

Answer: Tony Blair

Indira Gandhi was 48 when she became the Prime Minister of India in 1966. Bill Clinton and Kim Campbell were each 46 when they took office in 1993 as President of the U.S. and Prime Minister of Canada, respectively. But Tony Blair took office in the U.K. just four days before his 44th birthday in 1997, making him the youngest of the four choices. (FYI: Benazir Bhutto was 35 when she became head of Pakistan in 1988, but there's no one named "Bhutto" who fits the common bond.)

Answer: Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity

According to the restaurants menu and commercials, it's two eggs, two bacon strips, two pork sausage links and two buttermilk pancakes crowned with your choice of fruit topping (blueberry, strawberry, or cinnamon-apple) and whipped topping. They say it's "TWO delicious!" The Grand Slam is from Denny's and the All Star is Cracker Barrel's.

Answer: Jo

The March family needed money, so Jo sold her hair to a wigmaker. Alcott's novel was first published in 1869. Since then, it has been reprinted many times and made into feature films and television mini-series. Jo, the character Alcott most likely based on herself, has been played by Katharine Hepburn (1933), June Allyson (1949), Winona Ryder (1994), on U.S. television by Susan Dey (1978) and for U.K. television by Angela Down (a now-obscure 1970 version).

Answer: a university in New York

The letters, when rearranged, spell CORNELL, an Ivy League University founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White. The main campus is located in Ithaca, NY. There are also two medical graduate and professional units in New York City, and one opened in 2002 in Doha, Qatar!

Answer: Molly Ringwald

Hard to believe, but Ms. Ringwald turned down a starring role in another film that year, "Pretty Woman". But wanting to play a bride rather than a prostituted woman is understandable. Although audiences flocked to the film she didn't choose, many critics preferred Alda's film. The late great Madeline Kahn played Betsy's mother.

Answer: Charlotte

Nashville is the capital of Tennessee, Boston is the capital of Massachusetts, and Olympia is the capital of Washington. Although Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina, the state's capital is Raleigh.

Answer: Edna

Harvey Fierstein won a Tony award for playing Edna Turnblad, and Marissa Jaret Winokur also won for playing daughter Tracy. In John Waters' classic 1988 film, Edna and Tracy were played by the late Divine (a.k.a. Glenn Milstead) and Ricki Lake, respectively.

Answer: Garrett

Kelly was played by Jaclyn Smith, the only one who appeared for the entire duration of the series. Duncan was Sabrina's (Kate Jackson's) last name, Rogers was Julie's (Tanya Roberts') last name, and Munroe was the last name of sisters Jill and Kris (Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Ladd).

Answer: The Facts of Life

"The Facts of Life" began in the fall of 1979 as a spin-off of "Diff'rent Strokes". The housekeeper on that show, Mrs. GARRETT, took over as house mother for Eastland Academy, A SCHOOL IN NEW YORK for girls. The show started with seven girls, including one played by a young MOLLY RINGWALD as Molly. By the end of the first season, all that remained of those seven were BLAIR (the rich snob), NATALIE (a wisecracker), and TOOTIE (the youngest, whose omnipresent roller skates were also gone after Season One). After that, the girls were joined by tough girl JO, and this foursome stayed intact for the remainder of the show. They went on to Langley college and lived with Mrs. Garret after she started her own gourmet food and catering business, EDNA's Edibles. Mrs. Garrett was played by CHARLOTTE Rae until the final season, when she left the show. Cloris Leachman took her place as her Edna's sister, Beverly. By then the girls no longer needed her chaperoning, so a boy was added. A young George Clooney came by to do the handiwork while the girls pursued white collar careers. When the show ended its run, it was the longest-running sitcom on NBC, and it kept that unforgettable (like it or not) theme song all the way through. Just try and get it out of your head!

A TV movie reunion, filmed in Toronto, aired in November 2001, but this time on ABC. Nancy McKeon did not return as Jo, but Lisa Whelchel, Mindy Cohn, and Kim Fields reprised their roles as Blair, Natalie, and Tootie, along with Charlotte Rae in her original role. It may not have been the television event of the year, but it did bring a smile to the faces of those fans who grew up watching the show.