Muffin's Common Bond Quiz # 5

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Name the year that Margaret Mitchell's famous novel "Gone With The Wind" was first published. It was also the year that "King of the Road" Roger Miller and actress Mary Tyler Moore were born.

Answer: 1936

"Gone with the Wind" was first released in June 1936, and was made into the great blockbuster movie three years later. Country singer Roger Miller, who passed away in 1992, came into the world on January 2nd that year and Mary Tyler Moore made her entrance, just in time, on December 30th.

2. Actress Daryl Hannah first came to the fore in a 1984 fantasy movie directed by Ron Howard. She won a Saturn Award for Best Actress in the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA awards. What was the title of the movie that also starred Tom Hanks and John Candy?

Answer: Splash

Following her winning performance in "Splash", Daryl Hannah won another Saturn Award many years later by scoring Best Supporting Actress in the 2003 Quentin Tarantino epic "Kill Bill Vol 2".

3. What is the name of the New York public high school that had produced an institution world record of seven alumni who have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes for Physics?

Answer: Bronx High School of Science

The Bronx High School of Science, established in 1938 and commonly known as "Bronx Science", has also, since 1972, had at least six former students receive Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding Journalism and Literature achievement.

4. Under the widely accepted code determining the meaning of different rose colours, what is the one that is associated with joy and friendship?

Answer: Yellow Roses

Under the code, yellow roses represent friendship, joy and goodwill, while pink roses are for gratitude and appreciation. White are for purity, innocence and sympathy, and finally orange roses stand for enthusiasm and passion.

5. A 1963 movie starring Gregory Peck and Angie Dickinson was based on the experiences of Ralph Greenson, who was a medical officer helping to pioneer the understanding of post traumatic stress syndrome affecting World War II veterans. What is the name of this film that received three Oscar nominations?

Answer: Captain Newman MD

The all-star cast of "Captain Newman MD" also included Tony Curtis, Eddie Albert and Robert Duvall. The prominent psycho-analyst Ralph Greenson was, in later years, counselor for many famous people including Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Vivien Leigh.

6. What is the name of the revolutionary moisturising cream, containing fermented kelp, which was developed by a NASA scientist to treat his own work-related severe chemical burns? It is now owned by a reputable cosmetic company and freely available - albeit very expensive!

Answer: Creme de La Mer

Aerospace Physicist Max Huber formulated Creme de La Mer for his personal use, and it was so successful that he sold and marketed it himself. Giant cosmetic company Estee Lauder then purchased the rights from Max Huber's daughter after his death.

7. Who was the US senator cum Attorney General who led a relentless campaign in the Labor Rackets Committee against organised crime in the Teamsters' Union? He was also a champion for Civil Rights before his untimely death.

Answer: Robert F Kennedy

Robert Kennedy would perhaps be the most well known Attorney General in history because of his family's involvement in US politics, not the least being by his brother, President John F Kennedy. Robert's assassination in 1968, while he was campaigning for the office of President, was a great tragedy.

8. A very distinctive twelve sided structure at No. 1 Croydon, London once had a nickname attributed to its shape. Name it.

Answer: Threepenny Bit Building

No 1 Croydon was deemed to have resembled a pile of threepenny pieces piled on top of one another. Since decimal currency was introduced in the UK, The Threepenny Bit Building has been "renamed" the 50p Building. The other London buildings mentioned were The Gherkin, because of its phallic appearance, the Can of Ham, because of its resemblance to a tin of spam, and the Cheesegrater for its wedge-shaped appearance.

9. An actor who had a very inauspicious start in the movie industry by playing a subway thief in a 1986 movie entitled "Heartburn" has since gone on to win an Oscar in 1996 for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2000 he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Who is this performer?

Answer: Kevin Spacey

By 2009, Kevin Spacey had accumulated 41 award wins from 65 nominations in all categories, with the Best Supporting Actor coming for his part in "The Usual Suspects" and Best Actor in "American Beauty". This very versatile entertainer has been the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London since 2003.

10. The person in question is now deceased, but was a prolific singer and composer with twenty two entries into the Billboard Top 40 between 1958 and 1967. These hits include ten Top Tens, and the 1960 Grammy winner for Record of the Year. He appeared in several movies and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1999, he was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Who is the common bond?

Answer: Bobby Darin

As a notable good will ambassador for the American Heart Association, it was very ironic that Bobby Darin's death at the age of thirty seven was attributed to his failure to take heart medicine before a dental visit--after which he developed blood poisoning. From eight years of age he suffered a weakened heart because of recurring bouts of rheumatic fever, and this contributed to his failure to survive the subsequent operation to repair two artificial heart valves that he had previously received. At Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles he passed away in recovery on the 20th December 1973.

Now to explain the nine clues leading up to this:
1. Bobby was born on the 14th May 1936.
2. "Splish SPLASH" was his first entry onto the Billboard Charts and reached number three.
3. Bobby graduated from the BRONX HIGH SCHOOL OF SCIENCE.
4. "Eighteen YELLOW ROSES" was a Top Ten hit for him in 1963.
5. Bobby Darin was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the movie "CAPTAIN NEWMAN MD".
6. Bobby's number six hit "Beyond The Sea" is taken from the French song LA MER, meaning "the sea". "La Mer" is generally sub-titled with the song in Top 40 lists.
7. He was a friend of ROBERT KENNEDY and was working with him on the 1968 presidential campaign when RFK was murdered.
8. Bobby's monster hit "Mack the Knife", that reigned on the top of the Billboard Charts for nine weeks and won the Grammy Award, was originally the theme from The THREEPENNY Opera.
9. KEVIN SPACEY, who was a lifelong fan of Bobby Darin, bought the rights to his story and proceeded to produce, direct and play the main role in the movie "Beyond the Sea", based on Bobby Darin's life.

Source: Author muffin1708

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Pagiedamon before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Another famous entertainer of the 1950s and '60s will become known following nine relative clues referring to this person's identity.

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