Tom, Dick or Larry Trivia Quiz

Answer: Richard Harris

'The Field', released in 1990, is an Irish film based on the 1965 play of the same name by John B. Keane. It is set in rural Ireland in the 1930s and tells the story of a farmer named "Bull" McCabe (Richard Harris) who inadvertently becomes a murderer while battling an American developer for ownership of a barren and rocky piece of land - despite the fact that it is really only of sentimental value to him. The film also focuses on the violent and manipulative actions of McCabe's son Tadhg (Sean Bean) and past family tragedy, including the suicide of McCabe's other son many years earlier.

Harris received nominations for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for his portrayal of McCabe. He lost out to Jeremy Irons for 'Reversal of Fortune' on both occasions.

Answer: Laurence Fishburne

Laurence Fishburne portrayed Ike Turner, the husband of Tina Turner (Angela Bassett), in the 1993 film biopic 'What's Love Got to Do with It'. The film covers the early period of Tina Turner's life, from her childhood in Tennessee, back when she was still known by her real name of Anna Mae Bullock until the successful launch of her solo singing career. Along the way it depicts various major events, including the start of her music career after joining Ike Turner's band; their whirlwind romance followed by unhappy and violent marriage; and the popular success they enjoyed as a singing duo (despite the strife in their personal lives). The film was an adaptation of the autobiography 'I, Tina' by Turner and US writer Kurt Loder.

Bassett and Fishburne received Best Actress and Best Actor Oscar nominations respectively for their portrayals of the couple. Bassett lost out to Holly Hunter for 'The Piano', while Fishburne lost out to Tom Hanks and 'Philadelphia'.

Answer: Tom Hulce

The 1984 film 'Amadeus' - which tells the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's rivalry with fellow composer Antonio Salieri in the late 18th century - is often listed amongst the best films of all time and gained a total of eleven Oscar nominations, including two for the Best Actor award. F. Murray Abraham won the award for his portrayal of Salieri, leaving fellow star Tom Hulce with just a nomination for playing the title character.

'Amadeus' is based on the 1981 stage play of the same name by Peter Shaffer and is a fictionalised biography of the two composers' experiences of the Austrian court in the 1780s. There is no historical evidence to support either the play or the film's depiction of Salieri's deep jealousy of the former child prodigy, his campaign to undermine Mozart's position, his plot to pass off Mozart's compositions as his own work or his claim that he murdered him. However, its soundtrack did include a large amount of Mozart's work, including famous pieces such as 'The Marriage of Figaro' and 'Don Giovanni'.

Answer: Richard Jenkins

'The Visitor' (2007) was written and directed by Tom McCarthy and starred Richard Jenkins as a middle-aged widower named Walter who briefly finds a new purpose in life after befriending the illegal immigrants who had set up home in his New York flat. In addition to finding a new companion in both Tarek and - after Tarek is detained by the immigration services - Tarek's mother Mouna, Walter gains a new interest in playing the drums and a wider appreciation for different cultures.

The film was first released in 2007 but had its debut in the United States in 2008. At the 81st Academy Awards ceremony, Jenkins and 'The Visitor' lost out in the Best Actor category to Sean Penn's portrayal of Harvey Milk in 'Milk'.

Answer: Tommy Lee Jones

The 2007 crime drama 'In the Valley of Elah' was written and directed by Paul Haggis and starred Tommy Lee Jones as a former military police officer named Hank Deerfield. The film first follows Deerfield's efforts to find his son Mike, who had recently returned from serving in the Iraq War and subsequently disappeared. After Mike's body is discovered, Deerfield is left to try and get justice for his son by identifying his killers and discovering the reasons behind his murder. The plot is loosely based on the 2003 murder of veteran Richard T. Davis, whose father also launched a personal investigation into the circumstances of his son's death.

The Valley of Elah is described in the Bible as the scene of David's famous defeat of Goliath, while the real-life Elah Valley is located in Israel. Tommy Lee Jones was defeated at the Oscars by Daniel Day Lewis, who won the award for 'There Will Be Blood'.

Answer: Laurence Harvey

'Room at the Top' was nominated for a total of six Oscars at the final ceremony of the 1950s, one of which was Laurence Harvey's Best Actor nomination. It won two of them (for Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay) but Harvey missed out when Charlton Heston took home the Best Actor Oscar for his role in 'Ben-Hur'.

The film is based on a novel by John Braine and tells the story of an ambitious young Yorkshireman, Joe Lampton (Harvey) who seeks to improve his social status by marrying the daughter of a well-to-do businessman, but instead ends up falling in love with an older married woman named Alice. He eventually makes the decision to seek happiness over wealth and the pair reveal their affair to Alice's husband in the hope that he will grant her a divorce. He doesn't - and Joe is left to deal with the double grief of both losing Alice and being forced to marry the rich woman he no longer wanted.

Answer: Larry Parks

'The Jolson Story' dates from 1946 and is a musical film about the life of the actor, comedian and singer Al Jolson. Larry Parks took the starring role as Jolson, but his Academy Award nomination for Best Actor was overlooked in favour of Frederic March's performance in 'The Best Years of Our Lives'.

The story follows Jolson's entire career in the entertainment business, beginning with him running away from home in order to gain permission to sing with an American burlesque show as a child and his eventual meeting with Oscar Hammerstein that led to a career on Broadway. The film then focuses on a fictionalised account of his marriage to Ruby Keeler, which was actually the third of his four marriages (the other three don't get a mention) and ends with him trying, but ultimately failing, to give up his successful music and film career in order to accommodate the wishes of his increasingly unhappy wife.

Answer: Richard Burton

The 1977 film 'Equus' resulted in the last of Richard Burton's seven unsuccessful nominations for an Academy Award for his acting - including six in the Best Actor category and one for Best Supporting Actor. On this final occasion he was overlooked in favour of Richard Dreyfuss, who had starred in 'The Goodbye Girl'.

'Equus' was based on the 1973 play of the same name by Peter Shaffer. It tells the somewhat disturbing story of a teenage boy called Alan Strang who develops a belief in a pagan horse God named Equus, which results in him exploiting his job as a stable boy to take horses for secret naked night-time rides in order to satisfy his sexual desires. After a failed attempt to have a sexual relationship with a female colleague, he exacts revenge against Equus by blinding six of the horses in his care. Richard Burton played the psychiatrist brought in to treat Alan after his violent rampage.

Answer: Tom Wilkinson

'In the Bedroom' is a 2001 film starring Tom Wilkinson as Matt Fowler, a doctor whose only son, Frank, is murdered by his girlfriend's jealous ex-husband. The film follows Matt and his wife Ruth's initial scepticism of their son's new relationship; their shock and grief when he is killed; their anger when his killer is freed on bail and the charge against him is downgraded; and the pressure all of these emotions place on their previously solid marriage. Finally, it covers their shocking decision for Matt to take justice into his own hands.

The film also starred Sissy Spacek as Ruth Fowler and Marisa Tomei as Frank's girlfriend, Natalie. All three received Academy Award nominations but failed to win the Oscar on the night. Tom Wilkinson missed out to Denzel Washington for 'Training Day'.

Answer: Tom Cruise

'Born on the Fourth of July' is a 1989 film based on the life of Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran and anti-war campaigner. The screenplay was adapted from Kovic's autobiography of the same name and Kovic was portrayed by Tom Cruise. The film begins by showing a young and somewhat naïve young man being inspired to do his patriotic duty and join the US armed services, but swiftly moves on to show the horrors of the Vietnam War, including Kovic's inadvertent role in the deaths of both innocent civilians and a member of his own platoon. After being seriously injured and paralysed from the chest down, the film also relates Kovic's experiences of military field medicine and his struggle to find a new life for himself as a disabled and disillusioned war veteran.

Tom Cruise was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role as Kovic but missed out to Daniel Day Lewis (who won for playing Christy Brown in 'My Left Foot').