A Bouquet of Sweet Williams Trivia Quiz

Answer: William the Conqueror

William the Conquerer or William I, sometimes called "William the Bastard" (but not by his friends), was born in 1028 in France and, in 1066, became the first Norman King of England. If the year 1066 sounds familiar, that's because that was the year he won the Battle of Hastings and was crowned King.

Although he never spoke English and was illiterate, he is often credited with making England the most powerful country in Europe. Now William's son was William II of Orange who fathered William III of Aquitane who married Mary Stuart but they had no children, so George III fathered William IV...Whew! William of Cambridge is the son of Charles and Diana.

Answer: Esther

Esther Williams, "America's Mermaid", was born in 1921 and set national and regional swimming records for the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. She had hoped to compete in the 1940 Olympics but they were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II.

She made her film debut in "Andy Hardy's Double Life" in 1942. In her first technicolor musical "Bathing Beauty" in 1944 she showed us what later became known as "synchronized swimming". The incorrect choices include Cindy Williams ("Laverne and Shirley"), talk show host Wendy Williams ("how YOU doin'?") and Kelli Williams from the legal drama "The Practice".

Answer: Kiss of the Spiderwoman

Although William Hurt was nominated for all the movies above, he won his Academy Award in "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" (1985) for playing Luis Molina, a gay man found guilty and locked up for "immoral behavior" opposite Raul Julia who played Valentin Arregui, a political prisoner. William McChord Hurt was born in Washington, D.C. in 1950.

He was trained at Julliard and made his film debut in the 1980 movie "Altered States" for which he received a Golden Globe Award. He played a speech teacher for the deaf in "Children of a Lesser God" in 1986; was a TV reporter opposite Holly Hunter in "Broadcast News" (1987); and in 2005 played Richie Cusack in "A History of Violence".

Answer: Buckley

William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008) was a well-known conservative or "libertarian" who hosted the PBS show "Firing Line" from 1966 until 1999. He also appeared on late night TV where he was quite outspoken and known for his large vocabulary. Buckley wrote a newspaper column and many books, both fiction and non-fiction, was a staunch anti-communist, a supporter of Republican presidential nominee, Barry Goldwater, and a defender of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

In addition to serving as editor-in-chief for "The National Review" until 1990, he was also known for his feud with Gore Vidal in 1968.

His nephew is political consultant Bill O'Reilly.

Answer: W.B. Mason

"Who but W.B. Mason?" The company was founded in 1898 by William Betts Mason in Brockton, Massachusetts. They mainly serve the New England and Mid-Atlantic States (for those in the West and beyond who have never heard of them), and are the "Official Office Supplier" for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, Philadephia Phillies, New York Yankeees and New York Mets. Williams-Sonoma is an American corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California and known for its high quality housewares and furnishings; W.R. Grace is a chemical conglomerate founded by William Russell Grace; W.W. Norton is an American publishing company.

Answer: Michelle

Michelle Williams is an actress born in Kalispell, Montana in 1980. She played the role of Jen Lindley ("the bad girl") on the teenage drama "Dawson's Creek" from 1998 to 2003. She has been in movies since then, but first received acclaim for her role in the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain" and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress as the wife of one of the cowboys.

In 2010 she was nominated for Best Leading Actress for "Blue Valentine" and again in 2011 for playing Marilyn Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn". Since Ledger's death, she has dated director Spike Jonze and actor Jason Segal.

Answer: William Wallace

..."but they'll never take away our freedom!" William Wallace, along with Andrew Moray, vanquished the English Army in 1297 at the Battle of Stirling Bridge and became Guardian of Scotland. His life has been celebrated in the writings of Sir Walter Scott and the epic poem "The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Noble of Elderslie".

He was also the subject of the 1995 Academy Award winning film "Braveheart" which has been criticized for its historical inaccuracies, e.g., Wallace was played by 5'10" Mel Gibson when Wallace himself stood at 6'7"! In 1305 he was defeated at the Battle of Falkirk and King Edward I had him hanged, drawn and quartered.

Answer: Andy

Howard Andrew 'Andy' Williams was born in 1927 in Wall Lake, Iowa. He hosted the TV variety program "The Andy Williams Show" from 1962-1971, a number of Christmas specials and is responsible for giving us the Osmond Family. Andy had that smooth style of "crooning" and recorded 17 gold and three platinum albums.

Henry Mancini's "Moon River", from the 1961 romantic comedy "Breakfast at Tiffany's", which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, became his signature song. The incorrect choices are all singers who happen to be Andy's older brothers. Together they all sang in The Williams Brothers Quartet before Andy went out on his own.

Answer: Boyd

William Lawrence Boyd (1895-1972) was brought up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and moved to California after his father's death. In California he did odd jobs (e.g. orange picker, auto salesman) before finding work as as an extra in Hollywood movies, which lead to his becoming a leading man in silent films for directors Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith.

In 1935 he won the role of Hopalong Cassidy, whose character was originally "a hard-drinking, rough-living wrangler" and changed into the clean-cut cowboy hero who never started a fight and became an icon in the Western movie genre.

As for the incorrect choices: a politician, a president and a poet.

Answer: Ted

Theodore Samuel 'Ted' Williams was born in 1918 and, if you believe the rumors, was cryogenically frozen in 2002. He played his entire career (1939-1942 and 1946-1960) as the Boston Red Sox's left fielder, "The Splendid Splinter". His statistics, to this day, remain unbelievable, especially when you factor in the time spent away from baseball, fighting in World War II. Williams was the last player in the 20th century to bat over .400 in a single season (.406 in 1941).

His amazing feats included "MVP" (twice), six-time league batting champ, Triple Crown winner (twice) and he retired with a .344 batting average and 521 home runs. Ted was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.