Downside Up Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bettie Page

I'll freely admit that I had never heard of this celebrity before I saw the Forbes list, so I looked her up and a quiz was born.

Bettie Page was born in 1923 in Nashville, Tennessee, and died in Los Angeles California in 2008.

It was in the 1950, that Bettie made a name for herself. She started out in pin-up photography and moved into "glamour photography" which involved photos in erotic poses with or without clothes. She began to work for photographer Irving Klaw as a fetish and bondage model, in both films and still photos. She did some acting in television and films as well as a couple of feature length burlesque films. She was "Playmate of the Month" centrefold in "Playboy" in January 1955, which meant she was in demand for the next few years as a model.

In 1959 she became a born again Christian and got out of modelling. In 1979 she had a nervous breakdown; she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent twenty months in care. On release she had a fight with her landlord and was arrested but found not guilty by reason of insanity. She was placed under state supervision for eight years, being released in 1992.

During the 1980s Bettie was unaware that she had amassed a cult following built up around her pin-up and lingerie pictures from the 1950s. A fan magazine had been created telling stories of her life, the media started to pick up the story and the photos that were widely available began recirculating.

When Bettie became aware of her new found fame she hired a law firm to help recoup some of the profits people were making using her likeness. She later hired a management company to look after her interests.

According to "Forbes Magazine" she made eleven million dollars in 2016 from Betty Page Clothing and Accessories.

Answer: Physics

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany in 1879, and died in Princeton, New Jersey in 1955.

He spent much of his early life in Munich, and later Milan, Italy. He finished his high school education in Zurich, Switzerland and went on to university in Zurich. It was while at school in Zurich that he met his first wife Malina Maric.

Albert and Malina had a daughter in 1902, before they were married. Malina went back to her parents in Serbia to have the child, and little is known of what happened to her after that. It has been suggested that the child was left with Malina'a parents, that she was adopted out, or even that she died from illness at an early age. Her birth only came to light in 1986, when Einstein's granddaughter found old letters in which a daughter "Lieserl" was mentioned.

Albert and Malina were married in 1903, and they had two further children, both boys. They divorced in 1919, and in the same year he married his cousin Elsa Lowenthal. They stayed married till her death in 1936.

The eleven and a half million earned by Einstein's estate in 2016 was from Licensing and Salesforce Einstein.

Answer: He was cremated

John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool, England in 1940, and was murdered in Manhattan, New York in 1980.

After his death, there was no funeral, he was cremated and his ashes scattered in Central Park. Later the Strawberry Fields memorial was built in Central Park in remembrance.

The twelve million dollars earned by his estate in 2016 was from music sales and the Cirque du Soleil theatrical production "Love" which uses the music of "The Beatles".

Answer: The Cat in the Hat

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904 and died in La Jolla, California in 1991 of oral cancer.

Although best known for his children's books, Geisel started out as an illustrator and cartoonist for magazines and other publications. He did illustrations for advertising campaigns, he was a political cartoonist and during World War II he worked in the animation department for the army producing short films.

His first children's book "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street", was published in 1937. He went on to publish over 60 books, which have spawned television specials, television series, feature films and a Broadway musical.

His estate made twenty million dollars in 2016 from book sales.

Answer: Bob Marley

Robert Nesta Marley was born in Nine Miles, Parish of St. Ann, Jamaica in 1945. He died of cancer in Miami, Florida in 1981.

Marley was well known for his music, he was a singer-songwriter and guitar player who blended the reggae, ska and rocksteady genres in his work.

It is not this that his estate makes the most money from, however. The twenty- one million in earnings in 2016 is attributed to the sales of audio products through the "House of Marley" business, and the sale of beverages through the "Marley Beverage Company".

The other musicians mentioned actually passed away in 2016.

Answer: Happy Feet

Prince Rogers Nelson was born in 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and died from a drug overdose in Chanhassen, Minnesota in 2016.

Prince wasn't just a singer-songwriter, he was an actor, record producer, dancer, multiple instrument player and philanthropist.

His music combined a wide variety of musical styles from funk, rock, psychedelia and pop to R&B, soul and new wave.

The top selling dead celebrities list is determined by calculated pre-tax incomes before deducting expenses for agents, managers and lawyers. The incomes for the 2016 list were calculated between October 1st 2015 and October 1st 2016. So the combined incomes for Prince's record sales and live performances before he passed away came to twenty-five million.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1935 and died from heart failure in Memphis, Tennessee in 1977.

His music blending pop, blues and gospel is still popular today. His films, although not critically acclaimed mostly made profits, and many spawned soundtrack albums. His image and music captivated the world and earned him the title "King of Rock and Roll".

In January 1973 Elvis did the first ever global concert satellite broadcast called "Aloha from Hawaii". The double album from the concert, released in February 1973 was the last Elvis album to make US number one in his lifetime.

Elvis's estate made twenty seven million dollars in 2016.

Answer: Arnold Palmer

Arnold Daniel Palmer was born in 1929 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and passed away in hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania while awaiting heart surgery,

Arnold Palmer turned professional in 1954; he quickly became popular because of his humble beginnings and ability to engage with fans. He became one of the first television sports superstars and along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player became part of "The Big Three" of golf in the 1960s.

He won over 60 PGA Tour Titles, seven of these majors, he was "Player of the Year" twice and "Highest Money Winner in a Season" on four occasions. He was named "Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year" in 1960. He has a Congressional Gold Medal and was the first golfer to win the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004.

As Arnold passed away on September 25th of 2016, the majority of his earnings for the year occurred while he was still alive. His forty million earnings came mostly from Arnold Palmer Tea and sales of his many retail products.

Answer: Peanuts

Charles Schulz was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1922 and died in Santa Rosa, California in 2000 from colon cancer.

Peanuts, featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and all the gang debuted in 1950. At the height of its popularity it was published in over two and a half thousand newspapers in over seventy countries. The final strip was published in 2000. As well as the cartoon strip there were more than thirty television specials made, movies and musicals too.

The 3D movie released in 2015 called "The Peanuts Movie" as well as other licencing income contributed to the estate's forty eight million revenue in 2016.

Answer: Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana in 1958 and died in Los Angeles, California in 2009. He died from cardiac arrest brought on by propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication.

Michael started out with four of his brothers in the Jackson five in 1964, but it was his solo career that made him such a dominant force in popular music. His work in the early 1980s on music videos changed the way they were viewed, the music videos were not just a way to sell a song, they were an art form in themselves.

His distinctive look, which evolved over time and his easily recognisable dance moves streamed into popular culture. His albums rank amongst the best-selling albums of all time, the "Thriller" album alone sold over 65 million copies.

He received many awards over his lifetime for his music, song writing and philanthropy. He has also had over 30 Guinness World Records to his name.

His estate earnings came in at eight hundred and twenty five million in 2016, the highest in the history of the Forbes Top Dead Celebrities list to that date, the majority coming from the sale of the Sony/ATV music publishing catalogue.