FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!

Celebrities at War Trivia Quiz

A quiz about some well known folks and how they spent World War II.

A multiple-choice quiz by Tohemp. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
Tohemp

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
318,821

Updated
Dec 12 24

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
4 / 10

Plays
1845

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

Last 3 plays: WhiskeyZulu (9/10), Guest 172 (5/10), Guest 108 (5/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. What famous Hollywood film director once served as a combat engineer during the Battle of the Bulge? Hint

Billy Wilder

Mel Brooks

John Ford

Cecil B. DeMille

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. What did John Banner, who found fame as the portly and myopic Sergeant Schultz on Hogan's Heroes, do during WWII? Hint

Worked in a sandwich shop called "Hogan's Heroes"

Study Optometry

Modeled for recruiting posters

Guarded German prisoners of war

3. When stricken by appendicitis just before shipping out, this future legandary college coach was replaced at the last minute by an officer who was killed by a kamakazi pilot while manning his post. Hint

Paul "Bear" Bryant

John Wooden

Adolph Rupp

Ara Parseghian

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Due to eye problems, this actor memorized the recruitment center eye chart in a failed attempt to join the US Marines. Hint

Peter Falk

Jack Elam

Marty Feldman

Sammy Davis Jr.

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. The father of these famous siblings died while being held as a prisoner of war. Hint

Joe and Dom DiMaggio

Tom and Dick Smothers

Dick and Jerry Van Dyke

Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Later the butt of endless jokes on American television, this actor won five Bronze Stars. Hint

Don Knotts

Don Adams

Art Carney

Ted Knight

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. This Hollywood tough guy received a Purple Heart, having served as a tail gunner on a bomber during WWII. Hint

Humphrey Bogart

Charlton Heston

Gary Cooper

Charles Bronson

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. This British actor, who was assigned to the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, was among the first soldiers to land at Normandy on D-Day. Hint

John Gielgud

David Niven

Lawrence Olivier

Alec Guinness

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. This comedian boasted that he was the only celebrity to go into the war as a Private and come out of the war as a Private. Hint

Sid Caeser

Bob Hope

Red Skelton

Jack Benny

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. Although he appeared in 14 films set in WWII, this actor used his 3-A draft status to repeatedly postpone enlistment and never served in the war. Hint

John Wayne

Danny Kaye

Paul Lynde

Wally Cox

(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

Select a User ID:

Choose a Password:

Your Email:

Most Recent Scores

Today : WhiskeyZulu: 9/10
Today : Guest 172: 5/10
Dec 18 2024 : Guest 108: 5/10
Dec 16 2024 : Guest 198: 4/10
Dec 15 2024 : Guest 74: 5/10
Dec 14 2024 : Guest 74: 2/10
Dec 14 2024 : Guest 64: 5/10
Dec 14 2024 : Guest 108: 7/10
Dec 12 2024 : SUBVETSTEVE: 7/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What famous Hollywood film director once served as a combat engineer during the Battle of the Bulge?

Answer: Mel Brooks

During the battle, Brooks responded to a German call to surrender by doing his version of Al Jolson's Toot Toot Tootsie.

2. What did John Banner, who found fame as the portly and myopic Sergeant Schultz on Hogan's Heroes, do during WWII?

Answer: Modeled for recruiting posters

Ironicaly, both Banner and Werner Klemperer, who played Colonel Klink on "Hogan's Heroes", were Jews who escaped to America before the war.

Answer: John Wooden

Wooden, later of UCLA basketball fame, was to have served on the U.S.S. Franklin, an aircraft carrier that suffered extensive casualties at the battle of Leyte.

4. Due to eye problems, this actor memorized the recruitment center eye chart in a failed attempt to join the US Marines.

Answer: Peter Falk

Having lost his right eye to a tumor as a child, Falk failed to fool the examiner and spent the war as a cook in the Merchant Marines. He would go on to gain fame as TV detective Columbo.

5. The father of these famous siblings died while being held as a prisoner of war.

Answer: Tom and Dick Smothers

Major Thomas Smothers died on board a Japanese prison ship en route to Japan. The Smothers Brothers would later become vocal opponents of the war in Vietnam.

6. Later the butt of endless jokes on American television, this actor won five Bronze Stars.

Answer: Ted Knight

Born Tadewurz Wladziu Konopka, Knight is destined to be remembered as Ted Baxter, bumbling TV anchor on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show".

7. This Hollywood tough guy received a Purple Heart, having served as a tail gunner on a bomber during WWII.

Answer: Charles Bronson

Bronson flew 25 missions in the Pacific. He was discharged after the war ended. His first acting role was in 1951, uncredited, as Charles Buchinsky. He changed his name in 1954.

8. This British actor, who was assigned to the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, was among the first soldiers to land at Normandy on D-Day.

Answer: David Niven

Niven fought all the way to the Rhine river and was one of 25 Brits to be awarded the U.S. Legion of Merit medal. The orderly assigned to assist Niven throughout the war was actor Peter Ustinov.

9. This comedian boasted that he was the only celebrity to go into the war as a Private and come out of the war as a Private.

Answer: Red Skelton

Drafted into the Army, Skelton entertained the troops in Italy until his discharge.

10. Although he appeared in 14 films set in WWII, this actor used his 3-A draft status to repeatedly postpone enlistment and never served in the war.

Answer: John Wayne

To his credit, the diminutive Wally Cox tried but failed to make it through boot camp. After being hospitalized several times with heat stroke, he was given an honorable discharge for medical reasons.

Source: Author Tohemp

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

Related Quizzes

This quiz is part of series Categories in Other Categories:

One quiz for each of FunTrivia's categories... with a twist.

  1. Deadliest Animals in Video Games Average
  2. Biblical Brain Teasers Easier
  3. Celebrities at War Difficult
  4. It Was The Best of Entertainment Times Very Easy
  5. Essential Medicines For Children Average
  6. 'CSI' General Trivia Average
  7. Tennis Geography Easier
  8. Geographical History of Israel's Cities Difficult
  9. If Animals Had Hobbies Very Easy
  10. Humanities in Hiding Average
  11. Lighthouses in Poetry, Literature and History Average
  12. Movies and TV Tough