Movie Actors Who Played Famous Generals Quiz

Answer: Robert Duvall

Sheen played Lee in 'Gettysburg'. Duvall is an Oscar winner for 'Tender Mercies'(1983). Greenstreet, an Oscar nominee for 'The Maltese Falcon'(1941), played Union General-In-Chief Winfield Scott in 'They Died With Their Boots On'(1941). Boone of TV 'Have Gun, Will Travel' fame played General Sam Houston in 'The Alamo'(1960).

This 'Gods and Generals' movie of 2003 covered events in the Civil War leading up to 'Gettysburg'.

Answer: Karl Malden

Malden was already an Oscar winner for 'A Streetcar Named Desire'(1951), and Scott won his for playing Patton. Hoffman was Little Big Man in the movie of the same name. Binns played General Walter Bedell Smith, Eisenhower's military whip, in 'Patton'(1970).

Answer: Henry Fonda

The other three actors played General Norman Cota, Raymond Barton, and James Gavin respectively in this 1962 film. I am fond of Fonda. He played a General Custer replica as Lieutenant Colonel Owen Thursday in the John Ford classic, 'Fort Apache'(1948). He has also played Admiral Chester Nimitz in two movies, 'Midway'(1976) and 'In Harm's Way(1965).

Answer: Jason Robards Jr.

Oscar Winner Robards played the short-sighted Army Commander at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. Robards won his Oscar for 'Julia'(1977). This was was very emotional for the actor because he was present and in the military in Hawaii in December of 1941. Andes played Chief Of Staff George Marshall and E.G. Marshall played an aide to General Marshall. Balsam played Admiral Kimmel.

Answer: Tom Berenger

Berenger is an Oscar nominee for 'Platoon'. Elliott, who would have been a good Longstreet, was a Union officer as was Daniels, who had played General George Washington in a prior movie. It is interesting that Stephen Lang played Confederate General George Pickett in this movie and General Stonewall Jackson in 'Faith in God and Generals'.

Answer: Charlton Heston

I had the pleaure of meeting Heston at the premiere of this movie in 1966 and found him to be friendly and intelligent. Heston won his Oscar for 'Ben-Hur'(1959). He had also played General Andrew Jackson in the 1958 movie 'The Buccaneer'. Caine and Baker were the officer heroes of the great movie 'Zulu'. Olivier was the Moslem General known as The Madhi in 'Khartoum'.

Answer: William Holden

Frederick, as a Lieutenant Colonel, organized a ranger unit of Canadian-American soldiers which was virtually wiped out in WWII combat in Italy. He eventually became Commanding General of the 45th Infantry Division. The other actors, Edwards and Oscar winner Robertson, were playing officers in that unit. Michael Rennie played Lieutenant General Mark Clark. Holden won an Oscar for 'Stalag 17'(1953).

Answer: Ronald Reagan

Believe it or not, it was Reagan. Flynn played Jeb Stuart and then was George Armstrong Custer in 'They Died With Their Boots On'. This 1940 movie also had Massey as John Brown. Massey also played Army Air Force General Claire Chennault in 'God is My Co-Pilot'(1945). Mulligan, a fine comedic actor, gave a bravado performance as Custer in his first movie ever, 'Little Big Man'.

Answer: Jeff Chandler

Merrill led an American unit, fighting the Japanese troops along the Burma Road in WWII Asia. This was Chandler's last movie as he died in 1961 of complications from surgery at age 42. Hoyt played General Joseph Stilwell in this movie. Sinatra and Flynn played other Japanese-fighting officers in Burma in other movies.

Answer: Laurence Olivier

Olivier has played many Generals in in his long career, six to be exact. Peck and Fonda played MacArthur in other movies. Cagney should have, but he was too short so he played Admiral Bull Halsey instead. Olivier won his Oscar in 'Hamlet'(1948).

Answer: Rod Steiger

Steiger was an Oscar winner for 'In the Heat of the Night'(1967) as was Brando who played Napoleon in 'Desiree'. Sellers would have made a great Napoleon if given the chance and patience. Lom played Bonaparte in three different movies.

Answer: Peter O'Toole

Caine was in 'Zulu' while the other three were in this less succesful film about the event preceding the battle at Roake's Drift. O'Toole was an Oscar nominee for 'Lawrence of Arabia (1962), 'Beckett'(1964), and 'The Lion in Winter'(1968).

Answer: True

He was graced with a fine singing voice and was the star of screen and stage in the musical 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown'. After appearing in several films, he seemed to vanish from sight in 1976. Twenty years later, he reappeared as a fine actor in films such as this and 'Fargo'.

Answer: James Stewart

It is ironic that Stewart was a real-life Air Force Major General, yet he never portrayed a real-life General in a movie although he played the fictitious General Sherwood in'The Big Sleep'(1978). Brando was Mark Antony in 'Julius Caesar'. Tracy was James Dolittle in 'Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'. Cooper was Billy Mitchell in 'The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell'.

Answer: John Wayne

Morgan, of TV 'M.A.S.H.' fame, played General Ulysses Grant along side of Wayne. Massey played Abraham Lincoln and Fonda played an Army Scout. Wayne won an Oscar for 'True Grit'(1969).

Answer: Trevor Howard

Howard gave another fine performance as the despicable Cardigan. Andrews was Lord Lucan, his brother-in-law, commanding officer, and nemesis. Gielgud was the properly befuddled Lord Raglan. Errol Flynn starred in the 1936 version of this movie.

Answer: James Mason

After this 1951 film, he again played Rommel in the 1953 movie 'The Desert Rats' with Richard Burton. Kurt Jurgens, a real German, played General Gunther Blumentritt in 'The Longest Day'. Plummer was the Duke of Wellington in 'Waterloo', and played Rommel in 'The Night of the Generals'(1966).

Answer: Rex Harrison

Harrison was an Oscar winner in 'My Fair Lady'(1964). Burton played Mark Antony. Rains played Caesar in 'Caesar and Cleopatra'(1946) and Napoleon in 'Hearts Divided'(1936). Calhern was Caesar in 'Julius Caesar'(1953).

Answer: Gary Cooper

Cooper played Colonel Mitchell of the Army Air Force who had been reduced in rank from Brigadier General for his criticisms of military air policies. Mitchell was a Brigadier General from 1918 to 1925, but was a Colonel at the time of his court-martial. Cooper also won Oscars for 'High Noon'(1952) and 'Sergeant York'(1941). Robinson played ex-General Carl Schurz in 'Cheyenne Autumn'. Bogart and Douglas never made it to the official rank of General.

Answer: Sean Connery

Connery won his Oscar for 'The Untouchables'(1967). Fox played General Brian Horrocks with exhuberance. Bogard played General Frederick Browning. Hopkins played Lieutenant Colonel Frost.

Answer: False

The Polish general was played by Oscar winner Gene Hackman. Schell played German General Wilhelm Bittrich. Schell won his Oscar for 'Judgement at Nuremberg'(1961). Hackman won Oscars for 'The French Connection'(1971) and 'Unforgiven'(1992).

Answer: Laurence Olivier

In this 1960 film, Laughton was Sempronius Gracchus, Ustinov was Lentulus Batiatus, and Gavin was Julius Caesar.

Answer: George Kennedy

Newman played General Leslie Groves in 'Fat Man and Little Boy'(1989). Arthur Kennedy played fictitious General Lesly (based on the real General Lucas) in 'Anzio'(1968). Barry Bostwick played that famous General in 'George Washington'(1986). George Kennedy won his Oscar appearing with Paul Newman in 'Cool Hand Luke'(1967).

Answer: Richard Burton

This not-so-good 1956 movie had the great American actor Fredric March as Alexander's father, Philip of Macedonia. Stanley Baker and Harry Andrews were also in the cast. Burton was repeatedly an Oscar nominee for 'Anne of the Thousand Days'(1969), 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'(1966), "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold'(1965), 'Beckett'(1964), 'The Robe'(1953), and 'My Cousin Rachel'(1952).

He never won that Best Actor Award.

Answer: Spencer Tracy

He played Dolittle when he was a Lieutenant Colonel and led the famous air raid on Tokyo early in WWII. Taylor played Colonel (later General) Paul Tibbits in 'Above and Beyond'(1953) about the dropping of the atomic bomb in WWII. Gable and Grant never portrayed a General in the movies. Tracy, of course, is one of the greatest American actors ever.