Biopics Trivia Quiz

Answer: Angela Bassett

Singer Tina Turner, nee Anna Mae Bullock, was played by Angela Bassett in the film "What's Love Got to Do With It?" (1993). Bassett was born in Harlem, New York City and is also known for her other biographical portrayals, e.g., Betty Shabazz in both "Malcolm X" and "Panther", Rosa Parks in "The Rosa Parks Story", Coretta Scott King in "Betty and Coretta", Katherine Jackson in "The Jacksons: An American Dream" and as Voletta Wallace in "Notorious". I wonder who will play the lead in her biopic?

Answer: Robert De Niro

Professional Middleweight Boxer Jake LaMotta's life was the subject of the award winning file "Raging Bull" (1980). Martin Scorsese directed the film and Robert De Niro won a Best Actor Academy Award for his brilliant representation of LaMotta. De Niro set a record, at the time, by gaining 40 pounds to play the troubled boxer.

Answer: Tom Hulce

Tom Hulce did a remarkable job as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in "Amadeus" (1984).
"Amadeus" was a biographical movie about the brilliant and talented young Viennese composer and his rivalry with the jealous Antonio Salieri. The film won Oscars for Best Picture (produced by Saul Zaentz), Best Director (Milos Forman) and Best Supporting Actor for F. Murray Abraham as Salieri.

Answer: Ben Kingsley

How can anyone do justice to the role of the world-changing Mahatama Gandhi? Somehow, Ben Kingsley found a way to paint a beautiful picture of Mohandas K. Gandhi with his philosophy of non-resistance so well that he was awarded a Best Actor Oscar for "Gandhi" (1982). The movie also won the Academy Award for Best Picture and for Best Director (Richard Attenborough).

Answer: Gregory Peck

West Point graduate and later General Douglas MacArthur looks back over his career as General of the Army in the Pacific Theater during World War II, up to and including his removal from office by President Truman in 1952. He once uttered the famous line "I shall return" to the people of the Philippines and, in case you wondered, he did. "MacArthur" was a 1977 biography which starred the wonderful actor Eldred Gregory Peck, who had achieved fame years earlier as Atticus Finch in the 1962 film "To Kill a Mockingbird".

Answer: Diana Ross

"Lady Sings the Blues" (1972) is a poignant film about the life and times of jazz singer Billie Holiday ('Lady Day'). It describes her agonizing childhood, her early attempts at a career, her rise to stardom, her rocky personal life and her drug addiction.

The film starred pop singer Diana Ross who had just left The Supremes two years earlier to pursue a solo career. I don't think many people expected the spectacular performance which Ross turned in, nor that her portrayal would garner her a nomination for a Best Actress Oscar.

Answer: Kevin Spacey

Most everyone would agree that Kevin Spacey is one of the great actors of his time, e.g., "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty". However, who could have imagined that he could co-write, co-produce, direct, AND even sing the musical numbers for the 2004 movie "Beyond the Sea"? The biography depicts the life of singer and actor Bobby Darin in the 1950s and 1960s, his rise to fame as a singer with hits like "Mack the Knife", and as an actor with a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in "Captain Newman: M.D.".

Answer: Tom Hanks

"Saving Mr. Banks" (2013) is not really a biography of Walt Disney. It is about his efforts, over the course of two decades, to obtain the movie rights from author P.L. Travers (played by Emma Thompson). Disney eventually acquired the rights and, in 1964, produced the very popular "Mary Poppins".

The part of Walt Disney is played by the wonderful, award winning actor Tom Hanks. Hanks started out on TV in the sitcom "Bosom Buddies" and went on to win Oscars for "Philadelphia (1993) and "Forrest Gump" (1994).

Answer: Lou Diamond Phillips

Lou Diamond Phillips played the lead in "La Bamba" (1987), a film about the short life of singer Ritchie Valens, i.e. Richard Steven Valenzuela. Ritchie became an instant success with the 1958 song "Donna" which he wrote with his girlfriend (no, she was named Danielle!). Valens was to become a forefather of the Chicano rock movement with the song "La Bamba" which he had adapted from a Mexican folk song. Sadly, on February 3, 1959, he boarded a flight that was his last.

The role was, perhaps, Lou Diamond Phillips' best known.

Answer: Jessica Lange

The 1982 movie "Frances" was a biopic about the life of Hollywood actress Frances Farmer (1913-1970). Farmer was born in Seattle, Washington, but moved to Hollywood, California when she was still a teenager. She became a stage actress, film star and a TV host. Farmer's film debut was in 1936 in the movie "Too Many Parents", followed by films where she starred opposite leading men Bing Crosby and Cary Grant.

However, her erratic behavior led to her commitments to mental institutions where she was subjected to horrific treatment. Jessica Lange was nominated for an Oscar for her role. Lange, a great actress, has won many awards for both movies and TV.

Answer: Kirk Douglas

The movie "Lust for Life" (1956) was based on the Irving Stone novel published in 1934. It took over two decades before Vincente Minnelli and George Cukor brought this biography of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh to the screen. The film shows Van Gogh as a brilliant artist but, as with many creative geniuses, with a very troubled and tormented mind.

It also includes Van Gogh's time with the volatile artist Paul Gauguin. Vincent was played to perfection by actor Kirk Douglas (for you youngsters, Michael's father), a major star for over 60 years. Douglas was so good that he even looked like Van Gogh!

Answer: Kurt Russell

The year was 1980, the height of the Cold War; the setting: the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. College coach Herb Brooks was hired to helm the men's hockey team. They were badly defeated in an earlier game and now had to face the heavily-favored Russian team.

The US team won 4:3, as depicted in the 2004 movie "Miracle". The game was so important psychologically, that most people don't realize this was NOT for the gold medal; the USA then went on to win the gold against Finland. As for Kurt Russell, he has been putting in excellent performances since he was in the Elvis Presley movie "It Happened at the World's Fair" in 1963.

Answer: Reese Witherspoon

"Walk the Line" (2005) was actually the biography of the legendary country singer Johnny Cash, 'the Man in Black', played by Joaquin Phoenix. The film is about Cash's younger days, his move to Memphis and his road to stardom. The film also focuses on his relationship and romance with country singer June Carter (of the Carter Sisters) who became Cash's second wife. Reese Witherspoon, herself raised in Tennessee, began her career as a child actress.

She went on to win an Academy Award as Best Actress for her role as June Carter Cash.

Answer: Cate Blanchett

You have to be pretty secure as an actress to take on the role of four-time Academy Award winning actress Katharine Hepburn, but Cate Blanchett handled it so well that she won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "The Aviator" (2004).

The film was the biography of billionaire aviation tycoon, film director and germaphobe Howard Hughes, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. BTW, Blanchett is no slouch when it comes to awards, having been nominated and winning multiple Oscars and Golden Globes.

Answer: Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer played Jim Morrison, lead singer of the band The Doors, in the film "The Doors" (1991). Charismatic and rebellious poet and song-writer, Jim Morrison represented the hippie counter-culture of the times. Often called 'The Lizard King', In February 2013, Rolling Stone magazine named him 47th on the list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Sadly, he is also a member of 'the 27 club'. Val Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s, having acted in films like "Top Gun" (1986) and "Batman Forever" (1995).