Neither Tom nor Harry Quiz | People

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What did Richard Stanley "Dick" Francis (1920-2010) do for a living before he became a world-famous writer of crime novels?

Answer: steeplechase jockey

The young Francis volunteered to serve in WWII hoping to be in the cavalry. Instead, he piloted aircraft (both fighters and bombers) primarily in Africa. It was after military service that he turned to professional horse racing. His novels draw on his lengthy postwar experience at the track. Francis received honours (CBE and FRSL) for his service to the United Kingdom and the Empire.

2. Albert Blake Dick (1856-1934) founded the A.B. Dick Company (in 1883). Of what did it become a major manufacturer?

Answer: mimeograph machines

Dick started his eponymous company to sell lumber but expanded the scope to sell retail office products. He leased the rights to certain patents from Thomas Edison, coined the word mimeograph, and built an empire. At its height, Dick sold not only mimeograph machines but also those based on the spirit-duplication process which was mimeography's primary competitor.

3. Richard "Dick" Cheney (b. 1941) served as the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 until 2009 under which president?

Answer: George W. Bush

Dick Cheney served in the U.S. House of Representatives, as Chief of Staff in the White House, as Secretary of Defense and as Vice President of the United States. Joel Goldstein, in his book "The Modern American Vice Presidency," called Cheney "the most powerful vice president that we've ever had." He differed from many of the president's supporters on the issue of gay marriage; his daughter Mary is a partnered lesbian.

4. In the long-running American television comedy "Home Improvement," the protagonist changed his birth name to his stage name: Tim Allen. What was his birth name?

Answer: Timothy Alan (or Allen) Dick

Tim Allen also stared in the movies "Toy Story" (as the voice of Buzz Lightyear) and "The Santa Clause" and the TV sitcom "Last Man Standing." His distinctive voice has become associated with a national campaign to invite tourists to travel to Michigan, with the Chevrolet Cruze and with Campbell's Soup.

5. Which American entertainer and personality, who became a star through "American Bandstand," died on 18 April 2012?

Answer: Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark

Dick Clark not only hosted "American Bandstand" from 1957 until 1987, he also hosted the TV game show "Pyramid" and the annual New Year's Eve special "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" from Times Square. Blessed with youthful good looks, Clark continued to work well into an age at which others would have retired. A stroke in December of 2004 impacted his speech but he came back to the New Year's Rockin' Eve show up to the year of his death despite it.

6. The 1999 movie "Dick" starring Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams concerned what?

Answer: Watergate

The movie's title refers to President Richard M. Nixon, who was known disrespectfully as "Tricky Dick." Dan Hedaya plays the president. The cast members included many from television's "Saturday Night Live." A young Will Ferrell's performance foreshadows his later highly successful comedy career.

7. The American novelist Philip K. Dick wrote almost entirely which sort of novels?

Answer: Science fiction

Dick (1928-1982) wrote 44 published novels and over a hundred published short stories. His personal battles with mental illness influenced his writing. His writing was the basis for several popular movies: "Blade Runner", "Total Recall", "Minority Report", "Screamers", and "The Adjustment Bureau".

8. Which American named Dick succeeded as a dancer, singer, radio actor, movie actor, movie producer, and owner-executive of a studio?

Answer: Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell

Powell played "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" on the radio, Philip Marlowe on radio, television and film, and was one of the founders of Four Star Television with Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino and David Niven. Powell was so multi-talented that, in the radio version of "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (1949-1953), he would usually conclude the episode by singing a song to his date (remaining in character).

9. Which United States Republican politician served as the Senator from Indiana for six terms (1977-2013)?

Answer: Richard "Dick" Lugar

Lugar's intense interest in destroying the means to wage nuclear, biological and chemical warfare extended beyond his term in the U.S. Senate. Upon retirement, he created the Lugar Center which pursues these goals as a private institution. Unusually for an American, Lugar was made a Knight Commander of the British Empire because of his work to eliminate nuclear and other weapons of mass destriction. President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the same reason.

10. Which American comedy writer ("The Tonight Show") and stand-up comic named Dick found his genre as a TV talk-show host and interviewer and had eponymous shows on ABC, CBS, PBS, USA, and CNBC?

Answer: Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett

Cavett wrote for both Jack Paar and Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show." Between 1968 and 2007, he hosted some version of "The Dick Cavett Show" on half a dozen networks. His career spanned five decades. In 2014, he released an autobiographical book: "Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks."

Source: Author FatherSteve

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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Neither Tom nor Harry Trivia Quiz

This is a quiz about people named Dick (first, middle or last name - or nickname).

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