Nameonyms II Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Ford

Renowned American film director John Ford (1894-1973) has the distinction of having won four Academy Awards for Best Director for: "The Informer" (1936), "The Grapes of Wrath" (1941), "How Green Was My Valley" (1942) and "The Quiet Man" (1953). His career spanned more than 50 years, and also featured a long collaboration with John Wayne ("The Duke") in fourteen films.

English dramatist and poet John Ford (1586-1639) wrote during the reign of Charles I. He was responsible for the 1633 tragedy "'Tis Pity She's a Whore" which dealt with the subject of incest.

Answer: Robin Roberts

Some of my favorite nameonyms cross genders, as in the case of Robin Roberts.
Robin Roberts is a female American broadcaster born in 1960. Originally a sportscaster for ESPN for 15 years, she went on to become the anchor on "Good Morning America" on ABC. She went public with her diagnosis of breast cancer in 2007, and "came out" about her same sex relationship in 2013.

Robin Roberts (1926-2010) was a starting pitcher for the Major League baseball team the Philadelphia Phillies for most of his career, i.e., 1948 to 1961. In 1976 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Answer: Roger Taylor

Here we have not only two musicians but two drummers with the same name.
If you google the name, you first come up with the Roger Taylor, born in 1949, who was the drummer for Queen, responsible for such hits as "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You". After Freddie Mercury's death in 1991, Taylor and Brian May continued to tour under the name Queen +.

The other Roger Taylor drummer was born in 1960 and started with Duran Duran at the age of 19 in 1979. Following "A View from a Kill", etc., after 1985 he took an almost 15 year break from the band, returning in 2001 to reform as a quintet.

Answer: Graham Greene

British novelist Graham Greene (1904-1991) has often been considered one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century. Among his most famous novels are "The Power and the Glory", first published in 1940, and "The End of the Affair" published in 1951. Among his books which were made into films was "The Third Man" (1949), starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles.

Canadian actor Graham Greene has appeared on stage and in films such as "The Green Mile" (1999) and "Dances with Wolves" (1990) for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award.

Answer: Eric Holder

American attorney Eric Holder was selected by former President Barack Obama to serve as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, holding the position from 2009 to 2015. He was the first African American to hold that position. Prior to that, he held positions in the Department of Justice, as a superior court judge and Deputy Attorney General under President Clinton.

Ironically, on the other side of the law, we have Eric Holder as the suspected killer of well-known rapper Nipsey Hussle on March 31, 2019. Holder was charged on April 8th and indicted for murder on May 9, 2019.

Answer: Mick Jones

Here we have two guitarists, with the same name but with different bands.
British musician Mick Jones, born in 1955, was one of the co-founders and lead guitarist of the punk rock band The Clash, formed in 1976. In 1983, he was fired from the band by Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon.

The other Mick Jones was born in 1944 and was one of the founding members of the British-American band Foreigner (also formed in 1976), along with Ian McDonald. Mick wrote their most successful song, i.e., "I Want to Know What Love Is" in 1984, with lead singer Lou Gramm.

Answer: Sam Shep(p)ard

Sam Shepard (1943-2017) was an American actor, author, screenwriter and director. He won an astonishing ten Obie (off-Broadway) Awards for writing and directing. In 1979 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play "Buried Child". He was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Chuck Yeager in "The Right Stuff" (1983).

Sam Sheppard (1923-1970) was an American neurosurgeon convicted of the 1954 murder of his wife; but the controversial conviction was overturned and he was exonerated in 1966.

Answer: Francis Bacon

Former Lord Chancellor Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was a British statesman and philosopher. He was a major force during the scientific revolution, credited with the development of the "scientific method", using inductive reasoning and observation. He has been called "the father of empiricism."

The more recent Francis Bacon (1909-1942) was a painter born in Dublin, Ireland. His works are emotionally charged and include depictions of popes, crucifixions, portraits and abstract figures. His 1944 triptych "Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion" is, possibly, his most famous work.

Answer: Eri(c)k Eri(c)kson

German born psychologist and psychoanalyst Erik Erikson (1902-1994) is known for his theories concerning human development. Initially, he was an artist until he met Anna Freud who encouraged him to study psychoanalysis in Vienna. He studied child development, created "life-stage virtues", and coined the term "identity crisis".

On the other end of the spectrum, we have right-wing American blogger and radio host Erick Erickson, born in 1975 in Louisiana. He hosts "Atlanta's Evening News with Erick Erickson", and was a political contributor for CNN.

Answer: Spike Jones/Jonze

Spike Jones (1911-1965) was an American musician and bandleader of Spike Jones and his City Slickers. In an era of big bands, Spike's music stood out for his comical arrangements of popular songs, ballads and classical music. Along with comic vocals, his music was filled with slide-whistles, cowbells and gunshots.

More recently, we have American filmmaker and actor Spike Jonze. He is credited with directing "Being John Malkovich" (1999) and "Adaptation" (2002). He has also written screenplays such as "Where the Wild Things Are" (2009) and "Her" (2013), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.