Another One Bites the Dust: 3 Trivia Quiz

Answer: James Stewart

Frank Capra directed James's first two big hits "You Can't Take It With You" and "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington". Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" was a massive hit for James and is still a regular on the Christmas TV schedules each year. Films made by Alfred Hitchcock include "Rear Window", "Vertigo" and "The Man Who Knew Too Much".

The invisible film character was a 6 foot rabbit in "Harvey". During World War II, James served in the U.S. Army Air Force and rose to the rank of colonel. After the war, he continued serving in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, ultimately becoming a brigadier general.

He died 2nd July 1997.

Answer: Burgess Meredith

Burgess made his first film in 1936. He was a captain in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He continued making films until he was named an unfriendly witness by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the early 1950s, whereupon studio work disappeared. Work slowly picked up again and he became "The Penguin" in the Batman TV series of the late 1960's.

He was Rocky Balboa's trainer Mickey in the "Rocky" films. He died 9th September 1997.

Answer: Robert Mitchum

He was a bit of a rebel in his early years spending a lot of time adventuring on the open road. On one of these trips, at the age of 14, he was charged with vagrancy and sentenced to a Georgia chain gang, from which he escaped. He died July 1st 1997.

Answer: John Denver

The son of an Air Force officer, he moved around a bit in his childhood. The family settled in Fort Worth, Texas but John moved on to California where he was soon noticed. In 1975 he became the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year and the American Guild of Variety Artists' Singing Star of the Year.

He became a political activist in later years especially on environmental issues. The song "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" was one of his biggest hits. He died 12th October 1997 when the plane he was piloting crashed into Monterey Bay, California.

Answer: Gene Kelly

The ballet sequence with Leslie Caron in "An American in Paris" cost a half million US dollars to make in 1951. Just imagine how much that would be today! The wet film was of course "Singin' in the Rain" (1952). He won an honorary Oscar in 1952 in appreciation of his versatility as an actor, singer, director and dancer, and specifically for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film.

He died 2nd February 1996.

Answer: George Burns

George's wife was Gracie Allen and their CBS TV show ran for 8 seasons in the 1950's after being on radio for about 16 years before that. He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1976 for "The Sunshine Boys" and at 80 years old was the oldest ever recipient of that honour at that time. Considering his lifetime as a cigar smoker, it is perhaps remarkable that he died aged just over 100 years of age on March 9th 1996.

Answer: Claudette Colbert

She was so convinced that she would lose the Oscar competition in 1935 to Bette Davis, that she decided not to attend the awards ceremony and had to be summoned from a train station to pick up her Oscar in her everyday clothes rather than a evening gown. She died on 30th July 1996 after a series of strokes.

Answer: Dorothy Lamour

No doubt she will be remembered for the seven "Road" films she made with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. These were "The Road to" Singapore, Zanzibar, Morocco, Utopia, Rio, Bali and Hong Kong. She was Miss New Orleans 1931. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for Motion Pictures at 6332 Hollywood Blvd and a radio star at 6240 Hollywood Blvd. She died 22nd September 1996.

Answer: Greer Garson

She holds the record for the longest acceptance speech in Oscar history at 5 1/2 minutes. She was nominated for an Oscar in five consecutive years from 1941 to 1945 which was first done by Bette Davis from 1939 to 1943 and has never been done since (as of 2014). She died 6th April 1996.

Answer: Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli

Cubby created the James Bond Films with Harry Saltzman who held the film rights to the books. The last non James Bond film made by Cubby was "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968) which was also created by James Bond author Ian Fleming. His last Bond film was "Licence To Kill" (1989).

The other series close to the Bond films in terms of box office success is the "Star Wars" franchise. Broccoli died June 27th 1996.