2016 --- THE END! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder's passing on August 29, 2016, left the world a little sadder. Actor, comedian, director and writer, Gene Wilder, nee Jerome Silberman, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1933. In 1967, he played accountant Leo Bloom, opposite Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock, in Mel Brooks' wonderful comedy "The Producers". Soon after Gene was the lead in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" in 1971.
In 1974, he had us all hysterical in "Young Frankenstein" (or "Fronkenshteen") as the eponymous Dr. Frederick Frankenstein. That same year, he was one of the main characters in one of the funniest Westerns ever made, i.e., "Blazing Saddles".

Answer: Patty Duke

There was "Cathy, who's lived most everywhere,/From Zanzibar to Barclay Square", while "Patty's only seen the sights/A girl can see from Brooklyn Heights". The premise of the early TV show "The Patty Duke Show" (1963-1966), that is, "identical cousins", is quite far-fetched, but we watched it anyway. Patty Duke was the star of her own show while still a teenager. What was even more remarkable is that she had already won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress, at 16 years old, for her role as Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker" in 1962.

She was also an author, president of the Screen Actors' Guild, mental health advocate and so much more.

Answer: Glenn Frey

Glenn Frey was a founding member of the great rock band, the Eagles. Among his many hits was the song "Hotel California", from the album of the same name. It won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1976. Frey was lead singer on a list of songs that represent a "who's who" of music: "Take It Easy", "Peaceful Easy Feeling" Tequila Sunrise", "Already Gone", "Lyin' Eyes", "New Kid in Town" and "Heartache Tonight".

In 1998, the Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2016, the Eagles were acclaimed by "Kennedy Center Honors...". Sadly, in between the other members of the Eagles, there was his empty chair.

Answer: Joe Garagiola

Joe Garagiola was a professional baseball catcher who played for a number of MLB teams - the Cardinals, Pirates, Cubs and Giants, from 1946 through 1954. He joked "I went through baseball as 'a player to be named later'. He was more successful at his second career, i.e., as a sports announcer. Based on his experience, his humor and his colorful stories, he made watching baseball fun.

In addition, he was a panelist on "The Today Show", and a frequent game show contestant. He also wrote two books about his beloved sport, "It's Anybody's Ballgame" (1980) and "Just Play Ball" (2007).

Answer: Elie Wiesel

Born in Romania in 1928, Eliezer Wiesel was a writer, a political reformer and a Holocaust survivor. In 1956, his book "Night" was published; it told of his existence as an inmate in the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. He helped create the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and spoke out for victims of abuse, oppression and genocide, worldwide. Wiesel was awarded the Noble Peace Prize in 1986, for his survival over inhumanity and for "his practical work in the cause of peace".

He also was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Answer: Grant Tinker

Television executive Grant Tinker was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1926. He was Chairman and CEO of NBC from 1981 to 1986. Tinker is also known as the co-founder of the successful production company, MTM Enterprises in 1969. He and his then wife, Mary Tyler Moore, produced successful shows like "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Rhoda", "The Bob Newhart Show", "WKRP in Cincinnati", "Hill Street Blues" and "St. Elsewhere".

Their logo, a spoof of MGM, was a cat instead of a lion, and a "meow" instead of a roar.

In 1997, Tinker was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

Answer: Edward Albee

One of America's most successful playwrights, Edward Albee was born in Virginia in 1928. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama three times (1967, 1975, 1994); in addition, he won two Tony Awards for Best Play (1963 and 2002). Perhaps his best known work was the play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in 1962.

The play was later made into a gut-wrenching 1966 Mike Nichols film, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Albee wrote "The Zoo Story" in 1958, later followed by "A Delicate Balance", "Seascape" and "Three Tall Women" -- the last three garnering Pulitzer Prizes.

In 1985, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Answer: Janet Reno

Janet Reno was the first woman to serve as United States Attorney General. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed in 1993. She served from 1993 until 2001. Reno was born in Miami, Florida in 1938, was valedictorian of her high school, and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School in 1963.

At the time, she was one of sixteen women in a class of 500. Major events occurring during her tenure as Attorney General: The Waco siege of the Branch Davidian Complex (which left 76 dead), the anti-trust suit against Microsoft, the prosecution of the Montana Freemen, and the convictions of the Unabomber, the Oklahoma City bombers and the 1993 World Trade Center bombers.

Answer: Maurice White

Fusing elements of soul, jazz, R&B, funk, disco and pop, the rock band Earth, Wind and Fire was founded by Maurice "Moe" White in 1969. One of the most successful bands of all time, Earth, Wind and Fire won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. White was co-lead singer with Philip Bailey ("Easy Lover"), and Moe, himself, collected a total of seven Grammys.

He brought the use of the kalimba to the band, as well as the use of a full horn section, thereby creating a unique sound. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease which caused him to stop touring with the band in 1994.

He was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Answer: Shimon Peres

Statesman, orator and Israeli politician Shimon Peres was born in Belarus in 1928. He had a political career which spanned over six decades. Peres was the ninth president of Israel, serving from 2007 to 2014. A wise man and a pragmatist, one of his enduring comments was "If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time".

In 1994, while he was Foreign Minister, he, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to promote the Israel-Jordan peace accord.

In 1996 he founded the Peres Center for Peace to help foster cooperation in the Middle East.

Answer: Antonin Scalia

Antonin Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1936. In 1986, he was appointed by President Reagan to serve as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He served from 1986 until his death in February, 2016. He was one of the conservative justices on the court who believed in the power of the executive branch, i.e., the president, and he opposed policies like affirmative action. Scalia became the first Italian-American appointee to the nation's highest court.

A vocal dissenter, he often found himself espousing the minority opinion.

Answer: Noel Neill

When Phyllis Coates (TV's first Lois Lane in season one) had another commitment, Noel Neill was chosen to replace her. Did you know that before playing Lois Lane on TV in "The Adventures of Superman", Ms. Neill played that role in the film serials "Superman" and "Atom Man vs. Superman" in 1950? Noel was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1920.

In the 1940s, she was an actress and a model. But, throughout her career, she primarily portrayed the intrepid reporter, Clark Kent's colleague and Superman's girlfriend, Lois Lane. Neill appeared on TV shows in the 1980s ("Superboy") and the 1990s ("Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman"), and in Superman-related feature films in 1978 and 2006.

Answer: Merle Haggard

Country singer Merle Haggard was born in Oildale, California in 1937. He was a song-writer, guitar player and fiddler. His back-up band, The Strangers, was formed in Bakersfield, California in 1965. He mixed the guitar "twang" with a steel guitar sound, creating what became known as the "Bakersfield Sound".

At the height of his popularity (from the 1960s through the 1980s), Haggard had 38 number one hits on the country charts. He continued to release albums into the next century. Among his accolades: Kennedy Center Honoree (2010), Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006), and induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994.

Answer: Pat Summitt

It seems Pat Summitt lived and died a "Volunteer". She was born in Clarksville, Tennessee ("Take the last train...") in 1952, and died in Knoxville at the end of June. Summitt was the head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols from 1974 to 2012. During her tenure with the NCAA women's team, she won 1,098 games. Sadly, she was forced to retire at the age of 59 due to the development of "early-onset" Alzheimer's Disease. Before that, she won eight NCAA championships (an NCAA women's record at the time). Pat was the first NCAA coach with 1,000 victories, and the winner of two Olympic medals and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2012).

Answer: Robert Vaughn

Robert Vaughn was born in New York City, NY in 1932. Vaughn started out in an uncredited role as a spear carrier in Cecil B. Demille's 1956 epic "The Ten Commandments". He played the lead role of Napoleon Solo in the TV spy show "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", which ran from 1964 to 1968. Prior to that, Vaughn was one of "The Magnificent Seven" in the 1960 film, playing opposite such great stars as Yul Brynner and Charles Bronson.

He was also in the popular 1968 movie "Bullitt" with Steve McQueen. Vaughn continued to act in a number of TV shows like "Coronation Street" in 2012, and "Law and Order: SVU" between 2006 and 2015.