Honorary Royalty Trivia Quiz

Answer: Leona Helmsley

Leona Helmsley (1920-2007) was married to billionaire real estate mogul Harry Helmsley. She had a reputation for tyrannizing her employees and earned the sobriquet "The Queen of Mean". In 1989 she was found guilty of federal income tax evasion and other crimes, was sentenced to 16 years in prison, but only served 19 months (with another 2 months under 'house arrest').

A former housekeeper testified at her trial that she was heard saying "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes". It really DOES pay to be rich!

Answer: Wishful Thinking

In 1992 the English pop band "Go West" put out their forth album called "Indian Summer" which included their hit song "King of Wishful Thinking". The group, formed in 1982, consisted of lead vocalist Peter Cox, guitarist and back-up singer Richard Drummie and Martin West.

The original single was recorded in 1989 and released in 1990; it was featured in the film "Pretty Woman" and was on the movie's soundtrack.

Answer: The Sausage King

John Hughes produced and wrote the wonderful 1986 teen film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" which starred Matthew Broderick. Determined to cut classes once more before graduation, Bueller ("Bueller, Bueller, BUELLER"?) calls in sick and shows us the right way to spend the day. Aside from 'borrowing' a Ferrari, he tells the maitre d'hote of a restaurant that he is Abe Froman, "The Sausage King of Chicago". According to Ferris, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Good advice for us all!

Answer: Prince of Darkness

The term "Prince of Darkness" is used by John Milton in his poem "Paradise Lost"; as a fallen angel, Satan becomes the personification of evil. As an aside, John Carpenter made a horror movie called "Prince of Darkness" in 1987, where a student (Kelly) becomes infected by a large quantity of some 'recently discovered' otherworldly slime and transforms into Satan (Satan as a female... Gloria Steinem would be proud!).

The Bible lists 37 verses with names and titles for the 'antichrist', and he occasionally makes an appearance on "South Park".

Answer: Aretha Franklin

Aretha Frankln, the undisputed "Queen of Soul", was born in 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee. She got her start by singing gospel in her father's (Minister C.L. Frankin's) church. In 1960, she went out on her own and, in 1967, recorded the 'monster' hit "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" on the album "I Never Loved a Man the Way that I Love You", and followed it up with "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" in 1968 on the "Lady Soul" album.

By the end of the 1960s, she was crowned as "The Queen of Soul" and, to this day, she is still one of the "best-selling female artists of all time".

Answer: King of Queens

Doug Heffernan, played by Kevin James, is a delivery man (UPS-like) who comes home to his house in Queens, NY where his wife Carrie (Leah Remini - the former scientologist) is waiting for him; unfortunately, so is his nutty father-in-law, Arthur (Jerry Stiller). "The King of Queens" was a sitcom that first aired in 1998 and lasted for nine seasons. I'm sure it will be viewed in re-runs by many generations to come.

Answer: LeBron James

While there may be other good basketball player named James, it is the one-and-only LeBron James who has been anointed "King James". In case you are from a country other than the United States, I will tell you that LeBron, born in Ohio, is a 6'8" forward in the National Basketball Association who joined the professional basketball team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, after finishing high school.

In his time, 'the King' has caused some bitterness by leaving the Cavaliers to play for the Miami Heat, winning NBA titles for them in both 2012 and 2013 but, in July 2014, he announced he was returning to the Cavs...and "all's right with the world".

Answer: Henny Youngman

Most of you quizees may be too young to know the comedians listed above, which is a pity since they paved the way for all the Seinfelds and Louis C.K.s. Rodney Dangerfield got "no respect"; Jack Benny was cheap and "39", and Morey Amsterdam (from "The Dick Van Dyke Show") was called "the human joke machine"; but it is Henny Youngman (1906-1998), a British-born American stand-up comedian who played the violin and was called "King of the One Liners".

His most famous line was: "Take my wife...please"; another example was when his wife wanted to go somewhere she'd never been for their anniversary and Youngman replied "Try the kitchen!".

Answer: Cleopatra

Although all the choices above were Egyptian queens, Cleopatra VII Philopater (69-30 BC) is best known for that appellation; Cleopatra was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt and many stories have been told about her beauty. In 1934, Claudette Colbert played the role of the queen and, in 1963, the much hyped and expensive "Cleopatra" film came out starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Despite the fact that the 1963 movie was the highest grossing of the year, the talk was more about personal drama than historical epic. (Note: in 1961 an Italian film came out called "Nefertiti, Regina del Nilo", which is why Nefertiti is not an option.)

Answer: baseball

For those of you old enough to remember the National League baseball team called the Brooklyn Dodgers, you will certainly recall Edward Donald "Duke" Snider (1926-2011) as "The Duke of Flatbush". He played centerfield on the Dodgers' beginning in 1947, was on the winning World Series team of 1955, and remained with the team when they moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Duke later played for the NY Mets (1963) and the San Francisco Giants (1964).

He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.