F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Trivia Quiz

Answer: True

He was named Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, after Francis Scott Key, a second cousin, three times removed, on his mother's side of the family. Scott was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24, 1896, to Edward and Mollie Fitzgerald. Having lost two daughters to an epidemic while pregnant with Scott, Mollie was very protective and indulgent with her son.

Answer: Princeton

Scott first entered Princeton University in 1913, and became part of the Triangle Club. He wrote several plays while there and contributed stories to the Princeton Tiger. Scott's devotion to his plays and stories caused him to suffer academically, and he was eventually forced to withdraw in 1917 without graduating.

Answer: Montgomery, Alabama

Zelda was the sixth child born to Anthony and Minnie Sayre. Born on July 24, 1900, Zelda was much younger than her siblings, and was allowed plenty of freedom by her indulgent mother. Zelda came from a respectable family (her father was appointed to the Alabama Supreme Court in 1909), but was known all over Montgomery as a free-spirited, fun-loving and fearless girl throughout her teens. According to 'Legend of Zelda' videogame series creator, Shirgeru Miyamoto, the Princess Zelda character was named after Zelda Fitzgerald.

Answer: military

After leaving Princeton, Scott received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. infantry. He was eventually stationed at Camp Sheridan in 1918. Scott met beautiful 18-year-old Zelda at a country club dance in nearby Montgomery. He was both intrigued and charmed by the vibrant Zelda, who was the most popular girl in Montgomery, attracting fraternity boys from nearby universities, soldiers and aviators stationed near Montgomery, as well as the local gentry.

As they began dating, Zelda and Scott continued to see other people.

The two of them corresponded and became unofficially engaged after Scott left Alabama.

Answer: This Side of Paradise

Originally titled "The Romantic Egoist", Scott's novel was rejected by Scribner's while he was in the military. Just before being sent to France, the Armistice was signed and Scott was released from the Army. He lived in New York briefly, working in advertising, while redoing his novel which was rejected a second time. During a visit Scott made to Montgomery, he and Zelda argued and they broke up. Scott's confidence was finally restored after his novel, now titled "This Side of Paradise", was accepted for publishing in September 1919. Scott and Zelda reconciled and were married in New York on April 3, 1920. "This Side of Paradise" was published on March 26, 1920, becoming popular and making Scott and Zelda a celebrity couple.

Their first year together as husband and wife was marked by excessive drinking and reckless behavior, which caused them to be evicted from a number of hotels they lived in.

Answer: 1

After Zelda became pregnant, the Fitzgeralds decided to vacation in Europe before the birth of their baby. They visited Montgomery briefly after returning from Europe, but soon moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. The Fitzgerald's daughter, named Frances Scott Fitzgerald, was born October 26, 1921. Scott and Zelda called her Scottie.

Answer: The Great Gatsby

The Fitzgeralds relocated from St. Paul to Great Neck, New York, renting a house where they became known for their wild parties. In 1924, the Fitzgeralds decided that living in Europe was less expensive than the United States, and moved to France. During the summer of 1924, they rented a villa near St. Raphael, on the French Riviera, where Scott worked on revisions of "The Great Gatsby".

They encountered many other expatriates living in France, among them Gerald and Sara Murphy, John Dos Passos and Ernest and Hadley Hemingway.

Answer: short stories

From the beginning, Scott and Zelda always lived above their means and Scott was almost always in debt. Scott wrote articles, essays and book reviews, but earned the most money from his short stories. The movie "The Last Time I Saw Paris" (1954), starring Van Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor, was based on Scott's story "Babylon Revisited". Scott's agent for his short stories, Harold Ober, would sell the stories to various periodicals such as "The Saturday Evening Post", "The Smart Set" "Hearst's International" and "Esquire". Scott's short stories include the Pat Hobby series, "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz", "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" and "Head and Shoulders".

Answer: singing

Zelda had lots of creative energy and wanted to have her own artistic identity, apart from Scott. Zelda began writing short stories early in her marriage, but often the stories would be sold with either her name underneath Scott's or under Scott's byline alone because his name would bring a higher fee.

In the late 1920s, Zelda became more serious about her ballet dancing and trained obsessively after they moved back to Europe. She suffered her first nervous breakdown in 1930 and was in and out of hospitals the rest of her life.

She created the majority of her paintings during this period.

Answer: Save Me the Waltz

Zelda's autobiographical novel was published in 1932. She had written the story while at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and submitted it to Max Perkins at Scribner's without first showing it to Scott. Scott was furious and demanded revisions because Zelda had used many elements and incidents from their lives which he was planning on using in his current novel, "Tender is the Night". Scott was also resentful that he had to write commercial stories and articles instead of working on his novel in order to pay for Zelda's medical expenses, while she had plenty of time to write her novel. Zelda also wrote another novel entitled "Caesar's Things" which was not published.

Answer: Three Comrades

Scott made several attempts at a screenwriting career in Hollywood. He and Zelda travelled there in 1927 for Scott to work on a screenplay for United Artists, which was ultimately rejected. Scott also made a brief trip in the early 1930s, and decided to move there in 1937 after an offer from MGM.

He also worked on the screenplays for "Red Headed Woman", "A Yank at Oxford" and "Winter Carnival".

Answer: Sheilah Graham

Scott met Sheilah (who bore some resemblence to Zelda) at a party in Hollywood, and the two began seeing each other. He never divorced Zelda and continued to take care of her financially. Scott and Sheilah maintained a tumultuous relationship until Scott's death.

Answer: heart attack

Years of drinking, stress and poor health eventually took its toll on Scott. He suffered his first heart attack in November 1940, after which he moved in with Sheilah. He had another, fatal heart attack on December 21, 1940, and died at age 44. At that point in his career, Scott regarded himself as a failure and died without knowing that he would one day be considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Answer: The Last Tycoon

Scott's good friend, noted author and critic Edmund Wilson, edited the unfinished novel which was published in 1941. The book included Scott's notes for the rest of the novel. "The Last Tycoon" is about a fictional movie producer named Monroe Stahr, who Fitzgerald based on MGM's Irving Thalberg.

A new edition of the book, entitled "The Love of the Last Tycoon" (which many believe Scott intended to call his novel) was edited by Matthew Bruccoli in 1994. Bruccoli is a Fitzgerald biographer and historian.

Answer: fire

Zelda spent the last years of her life living with her mother, her sister, or staying at Highland Hospital when necessary. In late 1947, Zelda had returned to Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina for treatment. She was in a room on the top floor of the hospital when a fire broke out on March 10, 1948. She and eight other women in the ward perished in the fire. Scottie became a writer and journalist after graduating from Vassar College. She married and had four children. Her daughter, Eleanor Lanahan, wrote a book about Scottie entitled, "Scottie, the Daughter of: The Life of Frances Scott Fitzgerald Lanahan Smith".

Many biographies have been written about both Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Other than "The Great Gatsby", I find Scott's books rather tedious to read and would much rather read the fascinating and poignant story of Scott and Zelda's lives. An in-depth book on Zelda is "Zelda Fitzgerald: Her Voice in Paradise" by Sally Cline.