Follow That Cat Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alley Cat

"The Alley Cat Song" was released by Peggy Lee on her 1963 album "I'm A Woman". In a long and illustrious career that spanned some sixty years Peggy Lee became recognised as one of the most sophisticated singers of her time. From cool jazz to standards there was nothing she couldn't sing.

Her recordings of songs such as "Fever" and "The Folks Who Live On The Hill" brought her popular success. She was also a songwriter, contributing songs to films such as "Lady and The Tramp" (1955) for which she also supplied speaking and singing voices.

She received many awards in her lifetime, including three Grammys, and she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Answer: Doreen Tovey

Doreen Tovey was an English author who wrote about life with her Siamese cats, her husband Charles, the various characters who lived in her village, and Annabel the donkey. The antics of all of the characters who peopled her books were funny in a very gentle way, although some of the antics of the cats can have you crying with laughter.

She wrote fourteen books in all. She was also President of the Siamese Cat Club, and made a point of getting to as many of their functions as she could. She stopped writing when she became afflicted with arthritis, and when many of the characters she wrote about no longer lived in her village.

She died in 2008.

Answer: Jazz

The origin of "hep" or "hip" is uncertain. Certainly jazz musicians were using "hepcat" to describe those people who were into their music in the 1940s. It involved more than just the music though. There was a whole sub-culture of dress, language, use of cannabis, a relaxed attitude to life and often sarcastic humour that defined a "hep" person.

By the time swing started to become popular "hep" was being replaced by "hip" and "hipsters" became identified with those who liked hot jazz as opposed to cool jazz. "Hepcat" made it's way across the Atlantic to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s to be applied to those who adopted the beatnik life style.

Answer: Fritz

"Fritz the Cat", made in 1972, did not feature the cute and cuddly type of animated cat filmgoers had become used to. Fritz has adventures with ladies, uses bad language and takes drugs, all of which gained the film the first ever X rating given to an animated feature.

It was based on the comic strip drawn by Robert Crumb which featured in "Help" and "Cavalier" magazines from the mid 1960s. The comic strip gained almost iconic status amongst lovers of underground commix. The film, directed by Ralph Bakshi, became a world wide hit and brought Fritz to the attention of a much wider audience.

Answer: Jim Qwilleran

"The Cat Who.." series of books by Lilian Jackson Braun, features a pair of Siamese, Koko and Yum-Yum and their owner Jim Qwilleran. Set in the small town of Pickaxe, Moose County, where he moves to after inheriting a fortune provided he lives there for five years, Qwilleran solves local crimes.

In this he is often helped by clues provided by the cats, especially Koko. He used to be a reporter on the crime desk of a big city newspaper, so crime always interests him. He has a sort of romance with Polly Duncan, the local librarian, who has cats of her own, writes a humorous feature for the local newspaper, and generally does good works around the town.

The books are not demanding; they are a gentle read written to a certain formula.

Answer: Eartha Kitt

"Batman", starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin, aired for 120 episodes in the 1960s. During that time it had several famous stars as villians. Eartha Kitt appeared as Catwoman, as did Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether. Frank Gorshin appeared as The Riddler and Burgess Meredith was Penguin.

Eartha Kitt was known for her sex kitten persona. As a singer she recorded songs such as "Santa Baby" and "C'est Si Bon". She was also a fine actress, with a movie career that started in 1948 with "Casbah" and ended in 2007 with "And Then Came Love". She guest starred in many television productions over the years including "Mission Impossible", "Policewoman" and "Miami Vice".
She was an active civil rights campaigner.

Answer: Vienna

Vienna is a black and white cat owned by Rigsby. He seems to be there to be tripped over and trodden on at inopportune moments. Whilst he is not central to any plot he is always there and it would be hard to imagine Rigsby without him.

"Rising Damp" was a British television comedy series starring Leonard Rossiter as Rigsby, the owner of a somewhat seedy boarding house. He is in love with one of his tenants, Miss Jones, brilliantly played by Frances de la Tour. Other tenants include Philip Smith (Don Warrington) who claims to be the son of an African chief, and Richard Beckinsale as medical student Alan. Although others come and go these four are the core cast of the series. It ran from 1974 to 1978 and it often cited as Leonard Rossiter's finest television work.

Answer: From Russia with Love

Bloefeld and his cat are in all of these films, but the very first appearance was in 1963 in "From Russia with Love". It is interesting that throughout all the appearances the cat has made it has never been referred to by Blofeld, he just sits there stroking it. Neither does it appear to have a name.

Blofeld has been played by various actors over the years. One thing that changes is whether or not he has hair. Donald Pleasance ("You Only Live Twice - 1967) and Telly Savalas ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service - 1969) established him in the public mind as bald, yet by 1971 and "Diamonds are Forever" he has a full head of hair when played by Charles Grey. The cat is also played by different "actors", but is generally a white Persian.

Answer: T.S. Eliot

"Cats" is based on the stories told in "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T.S. Eliot. It is a collection of poems telling the story of the Jellicle tribe of cats who gather together once a year. The poems were all written during the 1930s, and were included in letters from the author to his godchildren. They were collected together and published in one volume in 1939.

"Cats" first appeared in London's West End in 1981, and on Broadway in 1982. It ran for twenty-one years in London and eighteen on Broadway. During that time it collected various awards, including Best Musical in both cities. The song from it that most people know is "Memory", which has gone on to become a standard.

Answer: The Stray Cats

The Stray Cats started life in America in 1979, and quickly became very popular in the clubs around New York. Their music was heavily influenced by early Sun recordings by people like Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent. Hearing that there was something of a rockabilly revival in England they came to London in mid 1979. and from then until 1982 performed under a variety of names.

Their break came when they were asked to join a Rolling Stones tour in 1982. This was when they started using the name The Stray Cats on a permanent basis.

In 1980 they were given a record deal by Arista. Their debut album produced hit singles "Stray Cat Strut" and "Rock This House". Although they split up in the mid 1980s they have reunited every so often for one off concerts or short tours.