Dying to Get An Oscar: Actors Trivia Quiz

Answer: Broderick Crawford

Broderick Crawford won for playing Willie Stark in "All the King's Men" (1948). Stark was a corrupt politician modeled on Louisiana Governor Huey Long, who was assassinated in real life in 1935. Penn won his second Oscar in 2009 for playing gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who was assassinated by Dan White in November 1978. Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Oscar in 2013 for playing Abraham Lincoln, who was shot by John Wilkes Booth in April 1865. Kingsley won for playing Mohandas Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement, who was assassinated in January 1948.

In all three cases of real people, the winning film titles were their last names: "Gandhi" (1982), "Milk" (2008) and "Lincoln" (2012).

Answer: William Hurt

William Hurt won for playing Luis Molina, who was in a Brazilian jail for being a homosexual, in "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (1985). Molina was shot in a gun battle with revolutionaries, and later died in police custody. Spacey was shot by Colonel Fitts (Chris Cooper), after he mistook Lester Burnham for a homosexual, in ("American Beauty" 1995). McLaglen was gunned down by revolutionaries, but they were members of the Irish Republican Army ("The Informer" 1935). Finch was also gunned down by revolutionaries as Howard Beale in "Network" (1976), but those revolutionaries were members of the Ecumenical Liberation Army.

Answer: Lee Marvin

Lee Marvin won for the dual role of Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn in "Cat Ballou" (1965). Sheleen was a washed-up, alcoholic gunfighter hired by Cat Ballou (Jane Fonda) to avenge her father. Strawn was the villain of the movie. When he sobered up, Shelleen gunned down Strawn, who turned out to be his brother. Chaplin was nominated in 1940 for his dual role in "The Great Dictator" playing a Jewish barber and comic parody of Hitler. Sellers was nominated for his triple role in "Doctor Strangelove" (1964). Guinness quite notably played eight characters in "Kind Hearts and Coronets" (1949).

Answer: Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage won for playing Ben Sanderson in "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995). Cage played a washed up Hollywood screenwriter who strikes up a strange relationship with a prostitute (Elisabeth Shue) while slowly drinking himself to death in a Las Vegas hotel room. Milland won for playing alcoholic Don Birnam in "The Lost Weekend" (1945), but he was alive at the end of the film. Jack Lemmon was nominated for playing an alcoholic in "The Days of Wine and Roses" (1962), but did not win. Lemmon did win for "Save the Tiger" (1973) but his character did not die. Dudley Moore was nominated for his turn as an alcoholic in "Arthur" (1981), and of course, Arthur was alive and well at the end of the film (even starred in a bad sequel).

Answer: "What Have I Done?"

"The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) was based on a true incident, of British troops being forced to construct a bridge for the Japanese. Guinness played Colonel Nicholson, who was obsessive about constructing the bridge. At the end, when faced by a dying William Holden, he realized the insanity of his actions and asked, "What have I done?"
Nicholson was struck by mortar fire as a group of commandos attempted to blow up the bridge. In his dying act, Nicholson blew up the bridge he had spent months constructing. It was Major Clipton (James Donald) who commented on the scene with "Madness, Madness."
"The Horror" were Marlon Brando's last words in "Apocalypse Now" and came from the Joseph Conrad novel "Heart of Darkness". "Oh God" were the last words of Mohandas Gandhi, after he was shot.

Answer: Chief Bromden

McMurphy attacked Ratched after Billy Bibbitt committed suicide. As a result, McMurphy was lobotomized. When Chief Bromden found McMurphy in a vegetative state, the chief smothered him with a pillow, and then escaped from the hospital. Louise Fletcher won the Best Actress Oscar for playing the vile Nurse Ratched. Nathan George played Attendant Washington, and Dean Brooks was Doctor Spivey.

Answer: Henry VIII

Scofield played Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons" (1966). More, the Lord Chancellor of England, split with Henry VIII over his divorce and the formation of the Anglican Church. More was arrested and beheaded in London on July 6, 1535. The film had an outstanding cast including Orson Welles as Cardinal Woolsey and Robert Shaw as Henry VIII. Peter O'Toole was nominated for playing Henry II in "The Lion in Winter" (1968). Laurence Olivier was nominated for playing Henry V in the 1946 film based on the Shakespeare play, and Kenneth Branagh was nominated for the same role in 1989. Colin Firth won the Best Actor award for playing George VI in "The King's Speech" (2010).

Answer: Wallace Beery

Wallace Beery won his Oscar for "The Champ" (1930), in which he played an alcoholic, gambling former heavyweight champion seeking to make a comeback. At the end of the movie, he fought the champion and won, but the injuries he suffered were so severe that he died afterwards. Jannings played Duke Sergius Alexander, a former aristocrat ousted in the Russian Revolution.

He died from the strain of inspiring his troops patriotically. ("The Last Command" 1928). Yul Brynner had a fairly peaceful death as King Mongkhut in "The King and I" (1956), and Marlon Brando keeled over while playing with his grandson in "The Godfather" (1972).

Answer: Tom Hanks, AIDS

Tom Hanks won his first Academy Award for playing Andrew Beckett, an attorney who was dying of AIDS, in "Philadelphia" (1993). The film featured great performances from Denzel Washington and Antonio Banderas as well. Olivier was poisoned and stabbed by Laertes in the title role of "Hamlet" (1948), Benigni was executed by Nazis in "Life is Beautiful" (1998), and Jose Ferrer was run over by a carriage in "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1950).

Answer: Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington won his first Oscar as the doomed Private Silas Tripp, who died at the Battle of Fort Wagner in "Glory" (1989). Washington won the Best Actor Oscar for "Training Day" (2002), in which he was gunned down by Russian gangsters.
Brando did die in "The Godfather" (1972) but was alive at the end of "On the Waterfront" (1954). Kevin Spacey was shot in "American Beauty" (1999) but was one of the few people to survive in "The Usual Suspects" (1995). Spencer Tracy died in "Captains Courageous" (1937) but survived as Father Flanagan in "Boys Town" (1938).