Makin' Whoopi Trivia Quiz

Answer: Celie Johnson

In 1985, Alice Walker's poignant Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Color Purple", was made into a movie. Steven Spielberg directed the film which dealt with a Southern, black woman in the 1930s. The story finds Celie having to deal with Mister, a violent man, her blind obedience, mistreatment and, finally, her attempt to escape to a more fulfilling life. Whoopi was wonderful in her portrayal of the many facets of this abused, yet unbowed woman. Bravo!
As an aside, Oprah Winfrey's debut performance as Sonia was dazzling.

Answer: Valerie Owens

The setting for the 1999 film "Girl, Interrupted" is a mental institution. The movie is based on a book by Susanna Kaysen, and the protagonist is a young woman who has had a nervous breakdown and made a suicide attempt. Whoopi's part, as Valerie Owens, is not the main character but, rather, the shawl-wearing registered nurse (RN) tending to the young, troubled patients in the ward. Aside from compassion, Valerie must sometimes deliver some 'hard reality', as when she tells her patient, Susanna (Winona Ryder), that she is "a lazy self-indulgent little girl who is driving herself crazy".

Answer: Delilah Abraham

Another film which does not present Whoopi's character as the protagonist is 1998's "How Stella Got Her Groove Back". The 'rom-com' is based on Terry McMillan's novel, and features Angela Bassett as Stella ("STELLAAAAAA") Payne, an upscale Californian stockbroker and mother. Whoopi is Delilah Abraham, Stella's college friend; it is Delilah who sets the plot in motion by convincing Stella to take a vacation.

They go to Jamaica where Stella meets Winston and...well, you can figure out the rest, except for the fate of Delilah.

Answer: Laurel Ayres

In this 1996 movie, Whoopi plays investment banker Laurel Ayres who is "The Associate". An up-and-coming Wall Street broker, Laurel finds that one of her less-qualified colleagues, a male, is promoted to a position which she has earned. When she tries to start her own company, she meets with failure; it seems nobody wants to invest with a black woman.

She remedies this by assuming the role of a white man whom she names Robert Cutty (after the whiskey, Cutty Sark). She enlists the aid of another overlooked female and together they build one of the most successful investment firms in the world.

Answer: Deloris Van Cartier

In the 1992 film "Sister Act", Whoopi gets to display both her acting and singing talents. Here she plays a Reno, Nevada lounge singer, Deloris Van Cartier, who (like in the film "Some Like It Hot") is on the run after being targeted by a mob boss. She winds up in protective custody, i.e., witness protection, as Sister Mary Clarence, a nun in a convent in San Francisco, California. Mary Clarence reinvigorates the choir and escapes danger from the mob with the help of the other nuns.

She winds up singing for the Pope ("I Will Follow Him") and, a year later, is "Back in the Habit" with "Sister Act 2" (1993).

Answer: Oda Mae Brown

In 1990, Whoopi portrayed fake psychic Oda Mae Brown in the story of murdered New York City banker Sam Wheat in "Ghost". Oda Mae steps in to help protect Sam's girlfriend Molly, who is now in danger. Somehow Sam is able to communicate with Oda Mae and finally convince Molly of his existence (albeit on another plane). The evil-doer is killed, Sam goes to Heaven and Whoopi wins an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Additionally, "Ghost" was the highest grossing film of 1990.

Answer: Bernadette Thompson

The four green crime fighting, sewer-dwelling, pizza eating reptiles made their first appearance in a comic book, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" #1, in May 1984. Our heroes are named after Renaissance artists Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and Rafael, and are based in New York City.

The franchise has blossomed into TV shows, video games, toys and movies. The quartet of turtles is covered by Channel 6 news reporter April O'Neil whose boss, Bernadette Thompson, is played by Whoopi Goldberg in the 2014 film.

In the original series, O'Neil's boss is a Caucasian male, but the gender was changed. Although her part in the film is small, Thompson is portrayed as a pig-headed, short-tempered, middle-aged editor who often finds herself at odds with both April and the "heroes on a half-shell".

Answer: Shenzi

The 1994 feature "The Lion King" is one of the most popular films of all time. It has led to sequels, TV series, video games and a highly successful Broadway musical. Supposedly, the plot mirrors aspects of Shakespeare's "Hamlet". In the movie, Whoopi (Caryn Elaine Johnson, as you probably know) is the voice of Shenzi, the hyena.

She is one of Scar's henchmen (henchwomen) along with Ed and Banzai, and the adversary of Simba, whom she tries to help ambush. In "The Lion King 1 1/2", we find out that her full name is Shenzi Marie Predatora Jacquelina Hyena, with her name, Shenzi, derived from Swahili for "savage" or "barbarous".

She even has an evil look to her, with her black and gray fur and eyes that shine with maleficence. Like her name, she is coarse and vicious, and has a tendency to be very bossy, especially with her fellow hyenas.

Answer: Myrlie Evers

In Rob Reiner's 1996 movie, "Ghosts of Mississippi", Whoopi plays the role of Myrlie Evers, the widow of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, who was assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963. In the film, Myrlie teams up with the Mississippi District Attorney, Bobby DeLaughter, to bring Evers' white supremacist, racist killer, Byron De La Beckwith, to justice.

It took over 30 years, on February 5, 1994, to finally get a conviction. One of Myrlie's famous quotes (from her husband): "When you hate, the only person who suffers is you, because most of the people you hate don't know it and the others don't care". FYI, De La Beckwith, sentenced to life in prison (without possibility of parole), died in 2001.

Answer: Terry Doolittle

Aside from being a Rolling Stones' song, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was the name of a 1986 movie. The plot is about a computer operator, Terry Doolittle, who works in a bank (which seems to be a popular setting). Terry often communicates with others through her computer (long before e-mail and iPhones). All of a sudden, she gets a coded message from a 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'.

She manages to decode it and winds up trying to help a British intelligence agent stuck in Eastern Europe and being pursued by the KGB.

Here again, her safety is threatened, as the enemy agents go after her to find out Jack's true identity. This film was Penny Marshall's directorial debut.