Who Was That Oscar Winner? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jack Nicholson

In "As Good as It Gets" (1997), Jack played Melvin Udall, a rather unpleasant man whose obsessive-compulsive nature turned many people away from him. Despite this, and himself, he formed a relationship with a waitress, Carol (Helen Hunt) and became friends with his gay neighbour, Simon (Greg Kinnear). He even looked after Simon's dog, and helped Carol with her ailing son.

The movie's seven Oscar nominations resulted in two wins: Nicholson for Best Actor, and Hunt as Best Actress. Kinnear lost out in the Supporting Actor category to Robin Williams in "Good Will Hunting".

Answer: Colin Firth

"The King's Speech" (2010) explored the difficulties suffered by King George VI (Firth) when it came to speaking in public, and the therapy he undertook in order to master it. Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue was played by Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter played the woman known in later life as the Queen Mother. The film also covered the abdication of Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) which led to George VI becoming king.

The movie won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Tom Hooper), Actor (Firth) and Writing (David Seidler). Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter were nominated in their respective Supporting categories, but lost out to Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, both in "The Fighter".

Answer: Forest Whitaker

"The Last King of Scotland" (2006) was just one of the honours that Idi Amin claimed for himself, with little right to do so, but it would have been a very brave person who challenged him on this account. The movie was based on a novel by Giles Foden, and looked at Amin's life from the viewpoint of a Scottish doctor (James McAvoy) who became part of the dictator's inner circle.

Whitaker's Oscar win came from the film's only nomination. He also won the Best Actor (Drama) Golden Globe for the same performance.

Answer: Sean Penn

In "Mystic River" (2003), Penn played Jimmy Markum, a somewhat shady ex-con whose teenage daughter was murdered. One of his childhood friends was the Boston PD detective investigating the case, and another was a prime suspect. Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins played these two, respectively. When nothing seemed to be happening through legal means, Jimmy decided to do something about the case himself.

Besides Penn's Best Actor Oscar, Robbins also won the Best Supporting Actor award. Clint Eastwood lost the Best Director race to Peter Jackson, who won for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King". Penn won another Best Actor Oscar for "Milk" (2008) in which he played the title role, Harvey Milk.

Answer: Henry Fonda

In "On Golden Pond" (1981), Fonda portrayed Norman Thayer Jr and his daughter, Jane Fonda played Norman's daughter Chelsea. Her attempts at a reconciliation with her father after years apart were complicated somewhat by his much more satisfactory relationship with her new step-son. Katharine Hepburn won her own Oscar for her portrayal of Ethel, Norman's wife and Chelsea's mother.

Henry Fonda's only other Best Actor nomination had come for "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940), but he lost that time to James Stewart in "The Philadelphia Story". By contrast, Hepburn's Oscar for "On Golden Pond" was her fourth, from 12 nominations.

Answer: Dustin Hoffman

Raymond Babbitt, the "Rain Man" (1988) of the title, had been institutionalised most of his life due to his autism which had made interaction with others difficult for him. Brother Charlie (Tom Cruise) found out about him when their father died and left nearly everything to Raymond. Charlie thought the trip together might have been the way to receive a larger inheritance, but instead he came to understand and even love his brother.

"Rain Man" also won Best Picture, Best Director (Barry Levinson) and Best Writing Academy Awards. Hoffman's was his second Best Actor Oscar, the first having come for "Kramer vs. Kramer" (1979).

Answer: Jamie Foxx

"Ray" (2004) told the story of legendary pianist, singer and composer Ray Charles whose versatility allowed him to perform in many different genres of music, including R&B, soul, jazz and rock and roll. In order to play the role, it is reported that Foxx learned Braille, wore devices that actually made him blind for part of the day during filming, and played the piano in all scenes himself. He also visited with 73 year old Ray Charles, who was able to read a Braille version of the script.

Foxx was also nominated, in the same year, for Best Supporting Actor in "Collateral" (2004), losing that category to Morgan Freeman's performance in "Million Dollar Baby".

Answer: Al Pacino

In "Scent of a Woman" (1992), Pacino played Frank Slade a bitter alcoholic ex-colonel who had lost his sight in a training accident. Chris O'Donnell, of TV's "NCIS: Los Angeles", played the student who took a holiday job looking after Slade for the Thanksgiving weekend. Slade's plans were somewhat more complex than anticipated, leading to some unexpected adventures.

Oddly enough, Pacino (like Foxx later on) was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor, for "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992), in the year he won in the Best Actor category. Gene Hackman in "Unforgiven" took the Supporting Actor statuette that time.

Answer: Denzel Washington

Washington's Oscar winning portrayal of detective Alonzo Harris in "Training Day" (2001) was enough to make one glad not to be a criminal in LA. Harris was brutal and vicious, and very likely corrupt, but believed this to be the best way to eliminate the drug trade from the city's streets. Ethan Hawke played new member of the team Jake Hoyt, whose training day was not what he had expected it to be.

Denzel Washington had earlier won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Glory" (1989). "Training Day" garnered two nominations, the other one being Hawke's for Supporting Actor. That award that year went to Jim Broadbent in "Iris".

Answer: Michael Douglas

Gordon Gekko, as played by Michael Douglas in "Wall Street" (1987), philosophised that "...greed, for lack of a better word, is good". Charlie Sheen played the younger stockbroker who was caught up in Gekko's dealings, not all of which were legal. Douglas won his Oscar from the movie's only nomination.

In 2010, director Oliver Stone reunited with Douglas who played an older, if not wiser, Gekko in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps", for which Douglas was nominated for a Supporting Actor Golden Globe, losing to Christian Bale in "The Fighter".