Another One Bites the Dust: 21 Quiz

Answer: Natalie Wood

The film which still forms part of the Christmas TV schedules is of course "Miracle on 34th Street". Natalie is best remembered for "Rebel Without A Cause" (1955) and "West Side Story" (1961). On 29 November 1981, she was on a yacht she was sharing with husband Robert Wagner and a friend.

It seems she fell into the water and drowned while trying to get into the dinghy moored alongside the yacht.

Answer: William Holden

In the 1970s he set up an animal sanctuary in Africa. He and Stefanie spent much time raising the profile of the illegal animal trade and animal poaching. On 16 October 1981 he slipped on a rug and hit his head on a table causing a laceration from which he bled to death.

Answer: Edith Head

During the 1920s she was a French teacher. She appears on a set of 2003 American stamps celebrating American film making behind the scenes. She died on 24 October 1981.

Answer: Jim Davis

His daughter looked very like Victoria Principal and was killed in a car crash aged 17. He grew very close to Victoria on the set of Dallas and had a picture of her and his daughter in his pocket when he was buried. He died 26 April 1981. His character was 'kept alive' on Dallas for some time after his actual death by means of a story line that he was drilling for oil in South America.

Answer: Bob Marley

In 1977 he was diagnosed with cancer under the nail of a toe. He refused to have the toe amputated because of his religious beliefs. He chose to have the nail-bed removed and a skin graft taken to cover the area. Unfortunately, the cancer spread and he died on 11 May 1981. He was given a State Funeral in Jamaica.

Answer: William Wyler

His career spanned 45 years from silent pictures to major Hollywood productions. He was assistant director on "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ" (1925) which won him an Oscar when he remade it in 1959. He permanently lost the hearing in his right ear while filming a bombing raid in 1944. He died on 27 July 1981.

Answer: Bernard Lee

He played "M" in all the Bond films up until "Moonraker" (1979). He died of stomach cancer on 16 January 1981 and his character "M" was not in the next Bond film. He had been preparing to make "For Your Eyes Only" (1981) when he died and the script was changed to say that he was "on leave". The character returned in "Octopussy" (1983).

Answer: Joe Louis

He was born as Joe Louis Barrow in Alabama. He joined the army in 1942 but realising his potential to raise the spirits of the men, the army put him in a Special Services division rather than a combat post. Following his death on 12 April 1981, President Ronald Reagan waved the rules for burial at Arlington National Cemetery and he was buried there with full military honours.

Answer: Bill Haley

Rock and Roll horrified the American establishment when it first appeared and it was thought that it was part of a Communist plot to corrupt the minds of American teenagers. Haley was already 30 years of age by the mid 1950s and was soon replaced by younger, good looking stars such as Elvis Presley.

His recording of "Rock Around the Clock" was the first record to sell over one million copies in both Britain and Germany. He died on 9 February 1981.

Answer: Vera-Ellen

She was famous for her long legs and tiny waist. Her parents used to share driving duties with the parents of Doris Day, with whom she went to the same dance studio as a child. She died 30 August 1981.