Jack of All Trades Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Nance Garner

Garner (1868-1967) was a Texas "politico" of the (really) old school, having been initially elected to the Texas legislature in 1898. By 1932 he had served in the US House of Representatives for 28 years and had aspirations to higher political office, running for President against Franklin Roosevelt.

In a classic example of compromise ticket-building at the Democratic Convention that year, Garner was given the Vice Presidential spot in order to secure FDR's nomination and eventual election. Garner and FDR did not see eye-to-eye on many key issues and programs: permissible labor union tactics, New Deal deficit spending, Supreme Court "packing," and various taxation issues. Garner's relationship with FDR gradually soured, and he actually ran again for president in 1940, although Roosevelt easily won renomination to an unprecedented third term. Garner was replaced on the ticket and as Vice President in 1940-1941 by Henry Wallace.

Answer: Jacki Weaver

Jacqueline Ruth ("Jacki") Weaver is an acclaimed Australian actress of theater, film, and television, winning several Australian Film Institute and Logie Awards in the 1970s, and appearing in prestigious Australian stage productions in the 1990s and 2000s.

She won a series of major awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Supporting Actress for her 2010 performance as the creepily-affectionate matriarch of a Melbourne crime family in "Animal Kingdom." Her 2012 performance as another mom, this time the supportive, long-suffering wife and mother to men dealing with emotional issues in "Silver Linings Playbook," was also widely acclaimed and resulted in another Oscar Nomination.

Answer: Jacques Plante

Jacques Plante played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1953-1963 and won six Stanley Cups with them. He was responsible for a series of innovations in goaltending, including regularly wearing a mask or mask/helmet, playing the puck behind the crease, and signaling to his teammates from behind the play. During the course of his career he played for five other NHL or WHA teams; and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. Plante was an astute trainer, talent developer, game analyst, and strategist.

In 1972 he wrote the book "Goaltending," which was published in both French and English and is still in print.

Answer: True

As implied by their name, steeplejacks repair and rebuild chimneys, church steeples, smokestacks, and other tall structures. They are skilled craftsmen whose work encompasses carpentry, masonry, painting, glazing, roofing, and cleaning. The work must also be accomplished while scaling and perching securely on architecture which by its very nature is precarious. Practitioners of this trade are adapting methods used by rock-climbers and mountaineers to improve efficiency and safety. Such materials as belay ropes, fall-arrest systems, abseil equipment, and suspended access cradles are being put into the service of these workers.

Answer: Jackie Collins

Englishwoman Jackie Collins, the younger sister of "Dynasty" star Joan Collins, is a wildly successful novelist, whose books have sold over 500 million copies. She arrived on the literary scene in 1968 with a novel "The World is Full of Married Men," which was banned in Australia and South Africa, thus ensuring its success in other parts of the world.

More scandalous and successful works followed. Her most successful novel was "Hollywood Wives"(1983) and her most successful character was Lucky Santangelo, a gangster's daughter, who has been featured in a series of novels and even a cookbook. Several of Jackie Collins' books have been adapted into hit TV movies and mini-series.

Answer: Jacques Pepin

Jacques Pepin was born and raised in France by parents who were restaurant owners in the years after World War II. He later trained as a chef at the famous Plaza Athenee hotel in Paris, and served as a personal chef to French President Charles de Gaulle. Pepin came to the US in 1959, eventually being recruited by Howard Johnson to co-develop menus for his eponymous chain of popular restaurants. Pepin received BA and MA degrees from Columbia University in the early 1970s.

In 1976 he published a very popular foundational book, "La Technique," on the fundamentals of French cuisine; and has written over twenty other books, cookbooks, and cooking columns.

His series of popular cooking shows on US Public Television began in 1997 with "The Essential Pepin," and he has taught in and administered culinary programs at several educational institutions. Pepin has won numerous US and French awards for his contributions to cuisine.

Answer: Jacqueline du Pre

Jacqueline du Pre was born in Oxford, England, in 1945. Her mother was a concert pianist who taught at the Royal Academy of Music. From a very early age young Jacqueline expressed an interest in the cello, and she began formal training on the instrument at the age of five.

She and her sister Hilary performed at and competed in musical events during their childhood and early teens. Du Pre made her formal concert debut at the age of 16 and first performed the Elgar Cello Concerto in public at the age of 17, recording it at the age of 20 with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Her recording of the work is considered "definitive". Du Pre was married to pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim in 1967. In 1971 du Pre began to experience symptoms (loss of sensitivity in her fingers and other parts of her body) which would be diagnosed as multiple sclerosis in 1973, the year she gave up performing in public altogether. Jacqueline du Pre died in 1987.

In 1997 her sister published a controversial account of their lives, "A Genius in the Family," which was later made into the equally-controversial 1998 film "Hilary and Jackie."

Answer: False

John Leonard ("Jack") Swigert was the backup NASA astronaut called in to replace Ken Mattingly in the crew of Apollo 13 in April, 1970. The Apollo 13 mission was, of course, the one in which an inflight explosion caused the mission to be halted and an eventually successful rescue operation to be mounted to bring the imperiled crew back to Earth. Swigert was brought onto the crew three days before Apollo 13 launched, when it was learned that Mattingly - a primary crew member who had never before had German measles - had been exposed to the disease through another backup astronaut. Jack Swigert was a test pilot and mechanical and aerospace engineer by training prior to joining NASA in 1966. Swigert left NASA in 1977 and was elected to Congress in 1982; but he died of cancer before he was able to take office.

Answer: Jack Straw

John Whitaker ("Jack") Straw grew up in Buckhurst Hill, Greater London, in the 1950s and early 1960s. Politically active throughout his schooling, he was elected President of the Leeds University Union when he was studying law there in 1967. He was first elected to Parliament in 1979; and he served as Home Secretary (1997-2001), Foreign Secretary (2001-2006), and Lord Privy Seal (2006-2007) in the Tony Blair government, and then as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (2007-2010) in the Gordon Brown government - both Labour. Straw's tenure was not without controversies: rendition and torture in terrorism cases, alleged anti-Muslim statements and even antisemitic sentiments.

He was also noted for his zeal in suppressing what he regarded as pornography.

Answer: Jackie Wilson

Jack Leroy ("Jackie") Wilson was a pioneer of the soul music genre. He began his singing career in the early 1950's in his hometown, Detroit, whose active music scene spawned many great singers and groups in that era. In 1958, Wilson's recording of "Lonely Teardrops" reached #7 and #1 on the US "Billboard" pop and R&B charts, respectively. Wilson had other hits, including "That's Why (I Love You So)" in 1958, "Doggin' Around" in 1960, "Baby Work Out" in 1963, and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" in 1967.

He was known for his extensive vocal range and energetic performance style, which inspired such greats as James Brown and Michael Jackson. Wilson suffered a heart attack while performing in 1975; the resultant lack of oxygen to his brain caused him to lapse into a coma from which he never fully recovered; and he died of pneumonia in 1984. Jackie Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.