Cast Off Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ernie Kovacs

"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" is a 1963 film directed by Stanley Kramer which had almost every comedian (at that time) in the cast, including Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, Edie Adams... I could go on forever! The one famous comedian who was not in the film was Ernie Kovacs who died in 1962, but I'm sure his ghost must have haunted the set. Ernie and his signature cigar starred in the pioneering TV program "The Ernie Kovacs Show" with Edie Adams (his wife) from 1952 to 1956.

He was one of the most innovative artists of the era, winning a Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television.

Answer: Kevin Dillon

Did I fool you? Did you mistake Kevin Dillon for his brother, Matt Dillon? While such stars as Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard and Ryan Phillippe did appear, Kevin Dillon was not a member of the cast. Kevin Dillon's credits do include a continuing role in "NYPD Blue" (1998-2000) and playing Lonnie McRae on the show "24" in 2003.

He was also one of the stars of the TV series "Entourage", as Johnny 'Drama' Chase, from 2004 through 2011. Don Cheadle played Detective Graham Waters; Sandra Bullock was Jean Cabot and Tony Danza was Fred in "Crash", a movie about lives colliding.

Answer: Greg Kinnear

While Greg Kinnear did play Jack Kennedy in the 2011 TV mini-series "The Kennedys", was in the 2006 film "Little Miss Sunshine" and was one of the leads in 1997's "As Good As It Gets", it was Greg's co-star, Skeet Ulrich, who was in the original "Scream" in 1996, along with Drew Barrymore. Campbell, Cox and Arquette seemed to have had a longer shelf-life, appearing in three other "Scream"s. Courteney Cox was Gale Weathers; David Arquette was Deputy Dewey and Neve Campbell was Sidney.

Answer: Jeff Goldblum

Although "Mars Attacks!" had a large cast, including Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker and Michael J. Fox, Jeff Goldblum was not in it. Jeff, however, did appear in a blockbuster movie that same year, i.e. "Independence Day" and another earlier big box-office movie, "Jurassic Park", in 1993, as Dr. Ian Malcolm.

He also played one of the leads in the 1980 TV series "Tenspeed and Brownshoe", along with Ben Vereen. In "Mars Attacks!", Jack Nicholson played President James Dale/Art Land, Glenn Close was First Lady Marsha Dale and Annette Bening was Barbara Land.

Answer: Gary Cooper

While soft-spoken, Montana born Gary Cooper did appear in quite a few westerns in his thirty-six year career, including "The Virginian" (1929) and "The Plainsman" (1936), he is, perhaps, best remembered for his award-winning role as Marshall Will Kane in the 1952 movie "High Noon", where he is forced to face a gang of killers and the objections of his newly married Quaker wife. Mr. Cooper was not in the 1962 film "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" which included a cast of luminaries including 'The Duke' himself, John Wayne, along with James Stewart and Lee Marvin, and was directed by four time Academy Award winner, John Ford.

Answer: Ellen Burstyn

Although Ellen Burstyn's resume is quite impressive, including "The Exorcist" (as Linda Blair's mother), the powerful and depressing 2000 movie "Requium for a Dream", and as the original Alice Hyatt in 1974's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", for which she won an Oscar, she had no part in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

The actress who played the tyrannical Nurse Ratched (whose name says it all) was Louise Fletcher, the role for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Answer: Burgess Meredith

Burgess Meredith (1907-1997) did play the retired old boxer, Mickey, through all the "Rocky" pictures from 1-5, but he did not appear in Martin Scorsese's 1980 movie, "Raging Bull", about the explosive prizefighter Jake La Motta, played convincingly by Robert De Niro. Unlike the other actors mentioned, Meredith was never a leading man but was a truly gifted actor in movies, TV and on Broadway. I know this is a movie quiz but I must mention Burgess Meredith's outstanding role as Henry Bemis in Rod Serling's 1959 "Twilight Zone" episode "Time Enough at Last".

Answer: Penny Marshall

Did you confuse Laverne with Shirley? Cindy Williams did have a lead role in the film as Laurie, opposite Ronny Howard (as he was known then in his pre-"Splash" days), but Penny Marshall was nowhere to be found. Much like Ron Howard, Penny Marshall later found fame as a director, first with "Big" in 1988 (with a young Tom Hanks) and later in 1992's "A League of Their Own"; her more recent TV shows, "Sam and Cat" (2013) and "Mulaney" (2014), unfortunately did not fare so well. Did you also remember that a young Harrison Ford appeared in "American Graffiti" in a bit part as Bob Falfa?

Answer: Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck may have been a co-writer and star with Matt Damon in "Good Will Hunting" (1997), but he did not make an appearance in the World War 2 film "Saving Private Ryan". Ben did improve his movie credits by directing the 2012 film "Argo" which won the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of the Year and, more recently, starred in the 2014 David Fincher movie "Gone Girl". It appears as though his "Gigli" days may be long gone (we can only hope)!
As for Diesel, Damon and Danson, they played Private Caparzo, Private Ryan and Captain Hamill, respectively.

Answer: Meryl Streep

Of course Ms. Streep (born Mary Louise Streep) appeared opposite Robert Redford in "Out of Africa' (1985), and she played the role of Joanna Kramer who leaves her husband (Dustin Hoffman) and their son in "Kramer vs Kramer" (1979). She was also in Nora Efron's 1986 film "Heartburn". Nora was at one time married to Carl Bernstein, who was one of the subjects of the movie "All the President's Men" (1976) starring Hoffman as Bernstein and Redford as Bob Woodward... but Meryl Streep was not among the actors, thereby disproving the theory that she has been in every Hollywood movie ever made.