On a Role Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tom Hagen

Robert Duvall has had a long and storied career, including his role as Lt. Col. Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now" where he uttered the iconic line, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Early on, Duvall portrayed Boo Radley, a neighbor of Atticus Finch, in the 1962 movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" about racism in the South, from the book by Harper Lee.

He was also the consigliere, Tom Hagen, in both Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" (1972) and "The Godfather: Part II" (1974) about the Corleone crime family.

Answer: Katherine Graham

Meryl Streep is an American treasure and one of the world's finest actresses, having been nominated for Oscars over 20 times. She played Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-chief of "Runway Magazine" in "The Devil Wears Prada", a 2006 movie based on the book by Lauren Weisberger. Streep took on the role of "Washington Post" publisher Katherine Graham in the 2017 film "The Post", about the publishing of the Pentagon Papers.

She has won Oscars for "Kramer vs. Kramer", "Sophie's Choice" and "The Iron Lady".

Answer: Harvey Milk

The common denominator here is the remarkable actor Sean Penn. He was death row inmate Matthew Poncelet in the poignant 1996 movie "Dead Man Walking". Penn won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of openly gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk in "Milk" (2008). Penn won another Oscar for playing Jimmy Markum whose daughter is murdered in the heart-wrenching 2003 movie "Mystic River", and he appeared as Willie Stark in the 2006 remake of "All the King's Men".

Answer: Maggie Pollitt

I couldn't leave out one of the world's most famous movie stars, Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011). Out of her many roles, I took one of the earlier films that helped her rise to fame, i.e. 1944's "National Velvet" where Velvet Brown helps train a horse for the Grand National.

In 1958, Taylor had the iconic role of Maggie "the cat" Pollitt in Tennessee William's play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" about the family of a Mississippi plantation owner. Taylor received two Best Actress Oscars for "Butterfield 8" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?".

Answer: Bob Roberts

Tim Robbins played Andy Dufresne, an innocent man sentenced to two life terms in prison in the great 1994 film "The Shawshank Redemption", based on a 1982 Stephen King novella. Robbins also had the title role in the 1992 political drama "Bob Roberts" about a wealthy conservative who launches a folk-singing campaign against an incumbent senator. Robbins was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for "Dead Man Walking" and won a Best Supporting Actor Award for "Mystic River".

Answer: Joan of Arc

The great actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) played Ilsa Lund, opposite Humphrey Bogart as American Rick Blaine, in the romantic 1942 World War II drama "Casablanca", set in French Morocco. In 1948, she played the teenage peasant and later saint Joan of Arc, who fought for France and was a heroine in the Hundred Years' War. Bergman is the recipient of three Academy Awards for "Gaslight" (1944), "Anastasia" (1956) and "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974).

Answer: Michael Dorsey

IMHO, Dustin Hoffman is one of this country's greatest actors, e.g. as Raymond Babbitt in "Rain Man", for which he won an Oscar. However, I chose his role as Ratso Rizzo in "Midnight Cowboy" (1969) about two hustlers who meet in New York City and develop an unlikely friendship. I also picked the 1982 film "Tootsie" where Hoffman portrays out-of-work actor Michael Dorsey who turns himself into Dorothy Michaels in order to get a role on a TV soap opera. Hoffman also won an Academy Award for "Kramer vs. Kramer" (1979).

Answer: Aibeleen Clark

Exceptional actress Viola Davis is the common bond between the above roles. She plays put-upon wife Rose Maxson in August Wilson's "Fences" (2016) about a bitter black man (played by Denzel Washington) denied the opportunity to play Major League baseball.

She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her emotionally charged portrayal of Rose. In "The Help" (2011), Davis plays Aibeleen Clark, a black housekeeper in Mississippi in 1960, for which she was nominated for an Oscar.

Answer: Iceman

Val Kilmer portrayed the life of the Doors' lead singer and rebellious icon Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie "The Doors". Kilmer was also Iceman or Lieutenant Tom Kazansky (Maverick's nemesis) in the action movie "Top Gun" (1986), about pilots at the Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School. One of his earliest roles was in the 1985 movie "Real Genius", and he was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for both the 1995 film "Heat" and the 2005 movie "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang".

Answer: Gertrude Stein

Kathy Bates won a Best Actress Academy Award for portraying former nurse and "number one fan" Annie Wilkes in "Misery" (1990), based on Stephen King's novel about an author's car accident and subsequent captivity. In 2011, Bates played novelist Gertrude Stein in Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" about an aspiring writer vacationing in Paris who goes back in time to spend an evening with icons from the Jazz Age. Bates was also nominated for Oscars for "Primary Colors" (1998) and "About Schmidt" (2002).

Answer: Gabriel Cash

Kurt Russell began acting at the age of 12, and became Disney's top star of the 1970s. In 1981, he played Snake Plissken (eye patch and all) in the science fiction fantasy "Escape from New York" about a dystopian future where New York has been turned into a maximum security prison. Russell was Gabe Cash, opposite Sylvester Stallone as Ray Tango, in "Tango and Cash" (1989).

They played police officers trying to bring down a drug lord. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in the 1983 movie "Silkwood".

Answer: Norma Rae

Sally Field has been acting in TV and movies since 1965 when she played typical teenager "Gidget". Her stellar career has included the wonderful comedy "Mrs. Doubtfire" (1993) where she played Miranda Hillard opposite Robin Williams as her husband Daniel who takes on the role of the nanny, Mrs. Doubtfire, so he can be with his kids. Field also appeared in the seminal film "Norma Rae" (1979), as the title character who rallies the workers to fight for better conditions. Sally won two Best Actress Oscars for "Norma Rae" and "Places in the Heart" (1985).

Answer: God

I am old enough to remember Morgan Freeman from "The Electric Company", and I have admired his work ever since. In 1989, he played former teacher Joe Clark who is appointed principal of the lowest-ranked high school in the state in "Lean on Me" (1989).

In an even higher promotion, Freeman plays God, opposite Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, in "Bruce Almighty" (2003), where God hands over his powers to Bruce. Morgan was wonderful as Red in "The Shawshank Redemption", and won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby" (2004).

Answer: Aurora Greenway

Shirley MacLaine is one of the most prolific actresses of all time, from her film debut in 1955 in "The Trouble with Harry" to the present. She has been nominated for a Best Actress Oscar several times, and won one as Aurora Greenway, who becomes a devoted mother to her cancer-stricken daughter in "Terms of Endearment" in 1983 (and she reprised the role in "The Evening Star" in 1996). MacLaine was also nominated earlier for playing naive, elevator operator Fran Kubelik in "The Apartment" (1960).

Answer: Peter Parker

Tobey Maguire got his first roles on TV shows like "Roseanne" and "Blossom" before becoming a movie star. He has been in "Pleasantville" and "The Cider House Rules", but his break-out role might be as teenage superhero Peter Parker in "Spider-Man" (2002) (and reprised in "Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man 3").

In between, in 2003, Maguire played the part of Red Pollard, the Canadian horse racing jockey who rode the famous Seabiscuit. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in the 2009 film "Brothers".