Actors and their Characters: Part 2 Quiz

Answer: Stanley Kowalski ("A Streetcar Named Desire")

Marlon Brando portrayed Stanley Kowalski in the Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" as did Kim Hunter and Karl Malden also played their same roles in the movie version. The role of Blanche DuBois was played by Jessica Tandy on the Broadway stage but Vivien Leigh played the role in the movie. Tennessee Williams wrote the play and was the screenwriter for the movie.

This was the only role of the four mentioned characters that Marlon Brando previously played on stage. Marlon Brando did win the Oscar for his portrayal of Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront".

He played Johnny Strabler in the 1953 movie "The Wild One" and Mark Antony in the 1953 movie "Julius Caesar" for which he received a nomination for Best Actor.

Answer: Cast Away

Tom Hanks portrayed Chuck Noland in the 2000 survival drama "Cast Away" - the sole survivor of a plane crash who is stranded alone on a South Pacific island. The story follows his attempts to survive and get back to civilisation. That year Russell Crowe won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in "Gladiator".

In the 1988 fantasy comedy "Big" he portrayed Josh Baskin for which he received a nomination for Best Actor, but that year was won by Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man". Tom Hanks won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Andrew Beckett as a senior partner but homosexual lawyer in the 1993 legal drama film "Philadelphia". Tom portrayed Fred Rogers, a children's television presenter, in the 2019 movie "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Answer: Benjamin Braddock

Dustin Hoffman received his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor for portraying Benjamin Braddock in the 1967 romantic comedy-drama "The Graduate", which received seven Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director (Mike Nichols). In "Midnight Cowboy" (1969) he received a nomination for Best Actor as Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" Rizzo alongside his co-star Jon Voight as Joe Buck. Sadly, both were beaten that year by John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit". Dustin did not receive any nominations for an Academy Award for his roles as Jack Crabb in the 1971 western "Little Big Man" or as Louis Dega in the 1973 prison drama "Papillon".

Answer: Gentleman's Agreement

It was in the 1947 drama film "Gentleman's Agreement" that he portrayed journalist Philip Schuyler Green. The movie was nominated for eight Oscars, winning three. The Oscar for Best Actor that year was Ronald Coleman in "A Double Life". In "Twelve O'Clock High" (1949), Gregory Peck portrayed Brigadier General Frank Savage.

However, the Best Actor Oscar went to Broderick Crawford in "All the King's Men". In the 1946 drama film "The Yearling" he portrayed Ezra "Penny" Baxter and the Best Actor Oscar that year went to Fredric March in "The Best Years of Our Lives". Gregory Peck portrayed Father Francis Chisholm in the 1944 film "The Keys of the Kingdom" with the Best Actor Oscar going to Ray Milland in "The Lost Weekend".

Answer: Pastor Rosier Pile ("Sergeant York")

It was in the 1941 biographical film "Sergeant York" that Walter Brennan portrayed Pastor Rosier Pile and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor went to Donald Crisp in "How Green Was My Valley".
His three winning Oscars were for playing Swan Bostrom in the 1936 film "Come and Get It", which was the first time that this category was introduced in the Academy Awards, Peter Goodwin in the 1938 film "Kentucky" and Judge Roy Bean in the 1940 film "The Westerner".

Answer: ...And Justice for All

In the 1979 courtroom drama film "...And Justice for All" he played the role of defence lawyer Arthur Kirkland. That year the Oscar was won by Dustin Hoffman in "Kramer vs Kramer". He played the role of the undercover cop Frank Serpico in the 1973 biographical crime film "Serpico", losing out to Jack Lemmon in "Save the Tiger".

In "The Godfather Part II" (1974) he again played the role of Michael Corleone, losing out to Art Carney in "Harry and Tonto" and in the 1975 crime drama "Dog Day Afternoon" he portrayed bank robber Sonny Wortzik, losing that year to Jack Nicholson in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

Answer: Det. John Book ("Witness")

Harrison Ford was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Detective Captain John Book in the crime thriller "Witness" (1985) at the 58th Academy Award ceremonies in March 1986. The award that year went to William Hurt for his role as Luis Molina in "Kiss of the Spider Woman". "Witness" was nominated for eight Oscars that year, winning two.

In the 1993 thriller "The Fugitive" the movie was nominated for seven Oscars, winning one, which was Tommy Lee Jones for Best Supporting Actor. Neither "Air Force One" or "Blade Runner" were successful at the Oscars.

Answer: Marathon Man

Laurence Olivier was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Nazi war criminal Dr. Christian Szell in the suspense thriller "Marathon Man" (1976) opposite Dustin Hoffman and Roy Scheider. In the mystery thriller "Sleuth" (1972) both he (Andrew Wyke) and Michael Caine (Milo Tindle) received nominations for Best Actor but they lost out to Marlon Brando in "The Godfather".

In the 1978 science fiction thriller "The Boys from Brazil", he played the Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman, and in the 1960 British drama "The Entertainer" he portrayed the fading and debt ridden vaudeville performer Archie Rice, for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor.

Answer: Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris ("Million Dollar Baby")

Morgan Freeman won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the elderly former one-eyed boxer, Eddie "Scapegoat-Iron" Dupris in the 2004 sports drama "Million Dollar Baby". Morgan Freeman received Oscar nominations for his roles in "Street Smart" (1987), "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989) and "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994).

He also received an Oscar nomination for his role in "Invictus" (2009).

Answer: Thomas Fowler

"The Quiet American" was a 2002 film adapted from the novel of the same name by Graham Greene. The period of the film is in the early 1950s in Vietnam during the French Indochina era. Thomas Fowler is a British reporter who gets involved when he befriends an American CIA agent played by Brendan Fraser.

The same movie was made in 1958 with Michael Redgrave playing the role of Thomas Fowler. Michael Caine played the character Alfie Elkins in the 1966 British romantic comedy "Alfie". He played Milo Tindle in the 1972 movie "Sleuth" where he and Laurence Olivier were nominated for Best Actor in the same film.

His character Professor Frank Bryant was in the 1983 drama/comedy film "Educating Rita". The two movies in which Michael Caine won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor were "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986) and "The Cider House Rules" (1999).