Flamboyant Floozies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mata Hari

Mata Hari was born in the Netherlands in 1876. Her moniker was a stage name. She married an older military man when she was quite young, and had two children, one of whom died during a period when the family was living in Java. Upon their return, her husband filed for divorce and obtained custody of the surviving child.

This was followed by Mata Hari's moving to France, where she developed her dance act, performing in a number of European countries, including both France and Germany, and branched out to become the mistress of a number of rich men.

In 1914, World War I broke out. Because she was known to have ties to influential German military men, she was recruited by the French to gather intelligence in the service of France. However, over time, she was suspected of being a double agent. Ultimately French authorities brought her in for questioning and she was unable to allay their suspicions. She was sentenced to death, and executed by firing squad on October 15, 1917.

Answer: Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe's fame arguably surpasses that of any other movie star. People have widely varying opinions of her talent and intellect, but few dispute her beauty and sex appeal. Tragic though her life was, it had all the elements of a story that will fascinate the public for generations to come.

Answer: Gypsy Rose Lee

Gypsy Rose Lee, born Rose Louise Hovick in 1911, was put on stage by a stage-struck mother in childhood and performed her first striptease at the age of 15. She continued to have a lucrative career as a stripper for a number of years, but made a few films and did some writing along the way.

When her mother died of cancer in 1954, Gypsy wrote her autobiography, which was a huge best seller and which spawned the musical "Gypsy", which has been widely hailed as one of the best stage productions in Broadway history.

Answer: Irma La Douce

"La Douce" translates to "the sweet". Irma La Douce is a romantic comedy full of twists and turns, the story of a love affair between a prostitute and her ex-cop lover. The story has been told both as a play and a movie. It popularized the phrase, "But that's another story" - in fact, that phrase ended the tale and left the audience with an unanswered question, and wanting more, but no sequel has been made as of mid-2015. Who was Lord X?

Answer: Nell Gwyn

Although she was Charles II's mistress, Ms. Gwyn was only one of a number of women who fulfilled that function in his life. Reportedly, she was well-liked by the citizenry, and Charles stated his esteem for her because she did not demand much in the way of material luxury in return for her services to him.

Answer: Mae West

Mae West had a long and colorful life and career. She was an actress, but also a playwright and screenwriter. She is best known for her ribald sense of humor, and for the life preservers that were nicknamed for her by soldiers in World War II, who conferred the name because of the silhouette of the wearer when the life jacket was donned.

Answer: Fanny Hill

Cleland wrote "Fanny Hill" while serving a sentence in debtors' prison. Cleland got it published in installments, but about a year after it was made available to the public, he was arrested for "corrupting the King's subjects". Cleland repudiated his work in court, and the book was withdrawn from sale, but copies had been sold and the book continued to circulate.

In the US, in 1821, "Fanny Hill" was outlawed in Massachusetts, in a case that may have been the first United States pornography trial.

The book continued to cause controversy in the US and England into the 1960s. In that decade, in the US it was finally judged to fall short of the day's standard for pornography. In Britain the pornography designation prevailed for a few more years, but even in Victorian times pirate editions appeared.

Answer: The Whore of Babylon

The Whore of Babylon, who appears in the Book of Revelation, is considered by many Biblical scholars not to be a person, but a metaphor for the personification of evil. Different religious denominations have varying interpretations of the significance of the Whore.

However, Biblical verse characterizes her as the "mother of harlots and abominations of the earth", and states that earth's inhabitants have been "made drunk with the wine of her fornication". Whether literal or figurative, the description of the Whore of Babylon clearly demonstrates the revulsion of the sinister influence that some felt was the essence of feminine evil.

Answer: Heidi Fleiss

While in her 20s, Ms. Fleiss started a prostitution ring that reportedly catered to the rich and famous of Hollywood. She was tried and convicted of pandering, but the conviction was overturned on appeal. A few years later, she was convicted of tax evasion and money laundering and served several years in a federal penitentiary.

She was believed to maintain a list of the clients who patronized her prostitution services, an infamous "black book", but she has never disclosed any names from the book, if in fact it exists. Actor Charlie Sheen admitted under oath that he was a paying customer of Fleiss' services.

Answer: Jayne Mansfield

Jayne Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She was married three times and had five children, one of whom is Mariska Hargitay, a daughter by Jayne's second husband, who starred in the long-running "Law and Order: SVU" TV series. Jayne Mansfield starred in a number of movies, had a nightclub act, and was one of the early "Playboy bunnies".

She was killed in a car accident in New Orleans along with two others in 1967. Three of her children riding in the back seat of the car sustained only minor injuries.