Towering Infernos of Film Trivia Quiz

Answer: Deborah Kerr

Nicknamed the "English Rose", Louis B. Mayer of MGM once billed her as "Kerr rhymes with Star". Kerr's ability to draw Oscar nominations should not have come as a surprise. Over the years she would prove to be a highly versatile actress playing roles as diverse as a repressed wife ("The End of the Affair", 1955), a mama's girl ("Separate Tables", 1958), a drover's wife ("The Sundowners", 1960), and a lustful enchantress in "Beloved Infidel" (1959). At the end of the twentieth century, she remained one of only four Scots to have been nominated for an Academy Award in acting, the others being Mary Ure, Tom Conti, and Sean Connery. The roles that earned her the nominations were "Edward, My Son" (1949), "From Here to Eternity" (1953), "The King and I" (1956), "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" (1957), "Separate Tables" (1958), and "The Sundowners" (1960).

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member pollucci19.

Answer: Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1967 to Australian parents, giving her dual citizenship. Interestingly, the same year she married Tom Cruise the two appeared in "Days of Thunder", a movie about an overly confident racer that suffers a terrible injury. Kidman was nominated for her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in "Moulin Rouge!", a film about a Scottish writer falling in love with a courtesan in Paris. In 2006, Kidman married Keith Urban who is well known as a country music singer.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member Triviaballer.

Answer: Two Mules for Sister Sara

"Two Mules for Sister Sara" is a western starring Shirley MacLaine and Clint Eastwood. In the movie, MacLaine's character, Sara, is a prostitute disguised as a nun who is helping revolutionaries in a fight against the French. She meets Eastwood's character, Hogan, after he rescues her from being raped by a group of bandits. Towards the end of the film, Sara reveals to Hogan who she really is and they both take part in a battle to attack a French fort. The film ends with Sara and Hogan riding off into the sunset together; however, this time Sara is dressed in civilian clothes instead of the nun's attire.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member zonko.

Answer: The Quiet Man

Maureen O'Hara co-starred with John Wayne in "Rio Grande" (1950), "The Quiet Man" (1952), "The Wings of Eagles" (1957), "McLintock!" (1963), and "Big Jake" (1971).

She died in 2015, aged 95, passing away peacefully whilst listening to the soundtrack to "The Quiet Man".

She was known for her vibrant red hair and a pale complexion, a legacy of her Irish ancestry. Dubbed the "Queen of Technicolor", she disliked the epithet as she felt it highlighted her looks more than her talent.

There is a museum in County Mayo dedicated to the film which you can visit to experience a "real Irish cottage".

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member smpdit.

Answer: Still Alice

Ms. Moore made the world take notice starring in the soapie "As the World Turns" (1985-1988). Small movie roles followed with her first world-wide exposure playing a small part as an annoyed doctor in Harrison Ford's 1993 movie "The Fugitive". Larger roles followed with Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations for "Boogie Nights" (1997) and "The Hours" (2002). She was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for "The End of the Affair" (1999) and "Far From Heaven" (2002). She won the Best Actress Oscar for "Still Alice" (2015), in which she played a middle-aged women with early-onset dementia in an acting tour de force.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1.

Answer: Ewan McGregor

The movie "Trainspotting" is based on a novel by Irvine Welsh with the same name. In the movie, Mark Renton, who is the main character, struggles to kick his heroin addiction and relapses into a life of crime. The film chronicles his ordeals and his subsequent resolve to lead a stable life.

In preparation for the role, Ewan McGregor read up about heroin and crack, as well as visited past heroin addicts who were in rehabilitation. McGregor received excellent reviews, in addition to several awards and nominations, for his portrayal of Mark Renton.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

Answer: Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman was not the typical Hollywood actor, but he was highly regarded in the film and theater industry. Indeed, his "New York Times" obituary opined that he was "perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation".

He poured his heart and soul into his work. Acting was laborious, even torturous for him, but he didn't think it should be any different. He believed it was that struggle that made for greatness. He gravitated towards negative characters. Journalist Ryan Gilbey wrote that "the more pathetic or deluded the character, the greater Hoffman's relish seemed in rescuing them from the realms of the merely monstrous". That's what Hoffman found so interesting in such roles. He sought characters that had a particular struggle to overcome, and imbued them with depth and dimension and humanity.

Hoffman masterfully portrayed American novelist Truman Capote in the 2005 biopic which dramatized events surrounding the composition of his pioneering true crime work, "In Cold Blood". After receiving his Best Actor Oscar for the role, he received Best Supporting Actor nominations by the Academy for "Charlie Wilson's War" (2008), "Doubt" (2009), and "The Master" (2013). He died tragically in 2014 at age 46 due to acute mixed drug intoxication after relapsing following 23 years of sobriety.

Toby Jones portrayed Truman Capote in "Infamous" (2006) and received high praise for his performance, but having been released first, "Capote" took the spoils. Bennett Miller directed Hoffman and Gerald Clarke authored the 1988 biography which inspired the film.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member JCSon.

Answer: Macbeth

Fassbender took a leaning toward acting in his late teens, but soon garnered critical acclaim and attention. He was nominated for acting Oscars in "Twelve Years a Slave" (2012) as a support, and "Steve Jobs" (2015) as the lead. He also became the fifth actor to win the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award more than once, the others being Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Robert Duvall, and Daniel Day-Lewis.

For the record, Welles is not the redhead in this question. He did play the role of King Richard III; however, that was not on-screen, but in a 1931 stage adaptation of "Winter of Our Discontent".

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member pollucci19.

Answer: He played the position of seeker for Gryffindor house.

Ron Weasley was the second-youngest of the Weasley children. At the end of the series we learn that Ron married Hermione Granger, and his younger sister, Ginny, married Harry Potter. In several different films, Ron's fear of spiders is tested when he encounters them. The position of seeker for Gryffindor was occupied by Harry Potter while Ron played keeper during a few of the films. After the "Harry Potter" series, Grint became more involved in theatre productions and television.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member Triviaballer.

Answer: Ghostbusters

Walter Peck was an agent for the EPA who ordered the containment system in "Ghostbusters" shut down. Due to the chaos in New York City, the next time we see Peck is in the mayor's office when Peter Venkman questions Peck's manhood in front of the entire mayor's staff. Due to the persuasiveness of Peter's argument to the mayor, and even more so when Peter says he will save millions of voters, the mayor orders Peck thrown out of the meeting. Peck gets his comeuppance in the movie when he's covered in marshmallow after the Ghostbusters destroy the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member zonko.