Colorful People Trivia Quiz

Answer: Byron White

Byron "Whizzer" White (1917-2002) was not only a talented athlete but also an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. White was appointed to the Supreme Court by President John F. Kennedy, and he held the position from 1962 to 1993.

He was succeeded by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Prior to that he played football, baseball and basketball and the University of Colorado and was runner- up for the Heisman Trophy in 1937.

Answer: Violet Gibson

Violet Gibson (1876-1956) was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her father, Edward Gibson, was an Irish lawyer and politician who was appointed Baron Ashbourne in 1886. Violet's claim to fame, or rather infamy, came on April 7, 1926 when she attempted to assassinate Italy's Fascist leader Benito Mussolini as he walked the streets of Rome.

She fired two shots from her revolver, only slightly injuring Mussolini. She spent the rest of her life in a mental asylum in England.

Answer: John Brown

Abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859) believed the only way to end slavery in the United States was with "armed insurrection". In 1859 he led a raid at the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). The attack failed and Brown was arrested and tried for treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia. On December 2, 1859 John Brown was executed by hanging.

Answer: Pink

Alecia Beth Moore is included in this quiz because of her stage name, i.e., Pink. Moore was born in 1979 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Pink is a multi-talented singer-songwriter, dancer and actress. In 1995 she founded the R&B girl group called Choice.

She went on to a solo career with hits like "Get the Party Started" and "Just Give Me a Reason". In 2003 she won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Answer: Jack Black

Jack Black is an actor and musician born in Santa Monica, California in 1969. He has appeared in comedies like "Shallow Hal" (2001), "Kung Fu Panda" (as Po) in 2008 and "Nacho Libre" in 2006. In 2003, in "School of Rock" Jack played guitarist Dewey Finn who loses his job and then poses as a music teacher in an exclusive elementary school. He is also part of the rock band Tenacious D.

Answer: Neneh Cherry

Swedish singer Neneh Cherry was born Neneh Mariann Karlsson in Stockholm in 1964.
Her mother was a painter and her biological father was a musician. Neneh's mother married American jazz musician Don Cherry, and Neneh adopted her stepfather's surname. In 1989 she released her first album "Raw Like Sushi" which included her first big hit "Buffalo Stance". In 2014 Neneh's album "Blank Project" was released.

Answer: Brian Austin Green

If you're old enough to remember the character David Silver from "Beverly Hills, 90210", then you know who Brian Austin Green is. Green was born in Los Angeles, California in 1973. Prior to his role on "90210", Brian had a recurring role on the prime time soap opera "Knots Landing" from 1986 to 1989. He has appeared on many TV shows, e.g., "Melrose Place". He married Megan Fox in 2010.

Answer: Coral Browne

Australian actress Coral Browne (1913-1991) was born in Melbourne, Australia. She was a star of stage and screen, having been in Broadway productions of plays such as "Macbeth" in 1956 and "The Rehearsal" in 1963. In 1984 Coral won a BAFTA TV Award for best actress for "An Englishman Abroad". However, her best known role might have been as the wacky Vera Charles in "Auntie Mame" (1958).

Answer: Billy Rose

What is an impresario? An impresario organizes events and often finances them; in modern terminology, an impresario is a producer. Billy Rose (1899-1966) was born in New York City at the turn of the century. Like P.T. Barnum, Billy had a huge influence in entertainment, mainly in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

As a songwriter, he is credited with having written "Me and My Shadow" (1927) and "Paper Moon" (1933). He was also married to Fannie Brice from 1929 to 1938.

Answer: Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee (1922-2014) was an actress, author and civil rights activist. She originated the film role of Ruth Younger, based on Lorraine Hansberry's powerful play "A Raisin in the Sun" in 1961, opposite Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands and Lou Gossett Jr (in his film debut). She was also in Spike Lee's racially charged movie "Do the Right Thing" in 1989. Ruby was married to the great actor Ossie Davis from 1949 until his death in 2005.

Answer: Mathias Rust

Mathias Rust is not exactly a household name. In fact, if you can't remember back as far as May 28, 1987, you may never have heard of him. Rust was born in Germany in 1968. As a teenager and an amateur pilot, Mathias flew from Helsinki, Finland to Red Square in Moscow, Russia, all the while being tracked by Soviet fighter planes.

When he was caught he explained that he was trying to ease Cold War tensions. He was sentenced to four years, but was pardoned after fourteen months.

Answer: Tracey Gold

Former child star Tracey Gold was born in New York City in 1969. Her first appearance on TV was in the acclaimed 1977 miniseries "Roots" where she played a young Missy Reynolds. From 1985 to 1992, Tracey played Carol Seaver, the middle child on "Growing Pains".

She has appeared on many TV shows and in several movies, e.g., "Shoot the Moon", and authored her autobiography, "Room to Grow".

Answer: Elijah Blue

Elijah Blue Allman is the son of Cher and her second husband, Gregg Allman. Cher and Gregg were married from 1975 to 1979. Elijah was born in Beverly Hills, California in 1976. He is a musician whose stage name is P. Exeter Blue, and he has played for the rock band Deadsy.

His half-siblings include Chaz Bono and Delilah, Michael, Layla and Devon Allman. In 2013 he married English singer Marieangela King of the band KING.

Answer: Pearl Buck

Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (1892-1973) was born in West Virginia but traveled with her missionary parents to Asia when she was a child, and spent most of her early years in Zhenjiang, China. Pearl married her first husband, John Lossing Buck, in 1917. Her first novel, published in 1930, was "East Wind, West Wind".

She won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1932 for "The Good Earth", and was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938.

Answer: Ron Silver

Born in New York City, Ron Silver (1946-2009) was a prolific actor. Among his many film roles was Alan Dershowitz in "Reversal of Fortune" in 1990, and Angelo Dundee in "Ali" in 2001. Ron played Henry Kissinger in the 1995 TV movie "Kissinger and Nixon" and Bobby Riggs in TV's "When Billy Beat Bobbie" in 2001.

He also won a Tony Award in 1988 for Best Actor in "Speed-the-Plough". He died in 2009 of esophageal cancer.