Pi's 'Who's What' in Haiku Trivia Quiz

Answer: Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe is a Hollywood legend. Her real name was Norma Jean Mortenson and she was born on 1st June, 1926. She had a very unsettled childhood, spending most of her young life in foster homes, which left her with a chronic sense of insecurity. Although treated by the studios as a sex symbol, critics have praised her dramatic work and her comic ability. She was nominated for various awards and won a Golden Globe for her role in "Some Like It Hot " (1959). The screenshot of her dress blowing up as she stood over a grating is still an iconic poster. Elton John recorded "Candle in the Wind", the poignant and sympathetic song about her life, in 1973 eleven years after her death from a drug overdose.

Question by Calpurnia09

Answer: Rock Hudson

Rock Hudson was born born Roy Harold Scherer in Illinois on 17th November, 1925. He was an aircraft mechanic for the US navy in WWII and when his term of duty was over he moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as an actor. After some initial setbacks he found an agent. While under contract to Universal International he was coached in singing, acting, horseback riding and other areas important to his screen success. He was forced to change his name to Rock Hudson which he loathed. In the documentary "Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger" his friends told of a quiet, unassuming man who insisted on being called Roy by friends and co-workers. His good looks made him a star and he was a very bankable product in the fifties and sixties. His most acclaimed works were "Magificent Obsession" where he ends up as a brain surgeon, and "Giant" where he played a rancher. He starred in several very popular romantic comedies as the romantic lead opposite Doris Day. In the seventies he made a comeback in the television series "McMillan & Wife" which ran from 1971 to 1977. By the 1980s he had contracted AIDS, and subsequently died of one of its complications. His coming out to talk about his illness helped to raise the profile of the disease and, after his death, Congress contributed a large sum to fund the study of the then fatal illness.

Question by Calpurnia09

Answer: Clark Gable

Yes, it's gorgeous Clark Gable who made many a heart throb until his too-early death at the age of 59 in 1960.
You might not guess, just looking at that dazzling smile, that he had a problem with terrible teeth and bad breath, and eventually had all his teeth removed - full marks to the dental technician who fitted him with his dentures though.
Gable started making his mark in Hollywood movies in the 1930's, and was an instant success. By the end of decade he was popularly known as the 'King of Hollywood'. Probably his most famous movie was 'Gone With The Wind', but he made many other great films, notably 'Mutiny On The Bounty' where he played Fletcher Christian.

Leslie Howard also starred in GWTW, as Ashley Wilkes. Trevor Howard was no relation to either of them, and neither was Christopher Gable.

Question by Invinoveritas

Answer: Rudolf Nureyev

As a schoolgirl in the 1960s, I was just one of millions who adored the heart-throb good looks of Rudolf Nureyev. A star of the Kirov Ballet, he defected to the West in 1961 during a tour in Paris, and subsequently enjoyed an amazing career with ballet companies all over the world, notably in London with the Royal Ballet as the partner of the Prima Ballerina, Margot Fonteyn.
In 1983 he became the Ballet Director of the Paris Opera, where he stayed until 1989. Nureyev choreographed many ballets and continued dancing almost to the end of his life despite increasing ill-health and pain.
Sadly for the girls who saw him in their dreams, Nureyev was gay and died in 1993 after a long battle with AIDS; he is buried in the Russian Orthodox Cemetery of St Geneviève des Bois in Paris.

Question by Invinoveritas.

Answer: Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis had a long career in films. As a good looking young man he was perfect for lightweight romantic leads and comedies, but he could also tackle the serious roles. He appeared in films as diverse as "Spartacus" (1960) and "Some Like It Hot" (1959) where he donned make up and women's clothes to co-star with Marilyn Monroe. He received much critical acclaim for his role as Albert DeSalvo in "The Boston Strangler" (1968). Despite having made over 100 films, he never won an Oscar.


Question by Christinap.

Answer: Yul Brynner

Yul Brynner is best known for his role as the King of Siam in the musical "The King and I". The 1956 film version won him the Best Actor Oscar, but he played the role over 4,000 times in stage productions all over the world. He was also the Pharoah in "The Ten Commandments" (1956). His second iconic role was the black clad gunman 'Chris' in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960), a role that he reprised for "Return of the Seven" in 1966. His charisma and slightly exotic background, which he exaggerated for publicity purposes, made him a super star.


Question by Christinap.

Answer: Sean Connery

Sir Sean Connery made movie history by becoming the first to portray James Bond in one of the most successful movie franchises of all-time. His success was due in large part to his sex-appeal and his beguiling Scottish accent. Some of his early work in film includes being a deckhand on the Titanic in "A Night to Remember", a welder in "Time Lock" and, my favourite as a child, Michael in "Darby O'Gill and the Little People". His résumé brightened considerably after the success of the Bond films and he has appeared in nearly 80 films. He was named Scotland's Greatest Living Treasure in 2011. In case you hadn't heard, he likes his martinis "shaken, not shhtirred"...

Question by Barbarini

Answer: Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath on 16 July 1911. The name 'Ginger' originated with a young cousin who could not quite wrap her tongue around "Virginia" and settled for "Ginja" instead. This nickname remained with her for life. She made 73 films and won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1941 for her role in "Kitty Foyle". However, it is for her partnership with Fred Astaire that she is best known and remembered. Between 1933 and 1939 they made nine musical movies together including "The Gay Divorcee" in 1934. They reunited in 1949 for one last movie, "The Barkleys of Broadway".

The famous quote about their partnership "sure he was great but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did, backwards... and in high heels" has been attributed to a number of people. The official Ginger Rogers website, however, credits it to Bob Thaves, the creator of the cartoon "Frank and Ernest", where it first appeared in 1982.
Some would disagree with the above and maintain that Fred Astaire did all of his most difficult dances solo, because no one could keep up, man or woman. And most of the pair dances they did together, they did side by side, not with her backing up. You decide!

Question by KayceeKool

Answer: Dirk Bogarde

Handsome and charismatic, Bogarde began as a stage actor and became a cinema matinee idol throughout the 1950s and 60s. He became tired of the kind of roles offered to him in the UK and the USA and worked increasingly for European directors such as Visconti, often to great critical acclaim but not necessarily great box office returns.
In later life he turned to writing novels and several volumes of autobiography, all well worth reading.
Bogarde did not do much television work, though one of his best performances was as Roald Dahl in 'The Patricia Neal Story', made for TV.
Knighted in 1992, Sir Dirk Bogarde died in London in 1999, from a heart attack.

Question by Invinoveritas

Answer: William Powell

William Powell, along with Myrna Loy playing Nora Charles, played Dashiell Hammet's detective Nick Charles in a series of films. The pair of them, along with their dog Astro, investigate crime for the fun of it. Although Dashll Hammet only wrote one book, "The Thin Man", there were six films made with the couple. "The Thin Man" (1934), "After The Thin Man" (1936), "Another Thin Man" (1939), "Shadow of the Thin Man" (1941), "The Thin Man Goes Home" (1945) and "Song of the Thin Man" (1947). The light hearted, good to look at films were all very succesful at the box office. The pairing was so popular that he and Myrna Loy starred together in fourteen films in total.


Question by gracie3