They Didn't Let A Wheelchair Slow Them! Quiz

Answer: Lionel Barrymore

Lionel Barrymore and his two siblings were famous actors both on stage and in film. Lionel was the oldest and was born in 1878 in Philadelphia. He dabbled in stage acting but was ranked among the top in his peers in screen acting. He became a star in the talkies at MGM as both a lead and supporting player. He directed several films in the 1930s.

In 1936 he broke his hip for a second time when he tripped on a cable on the set of "Saratoga". Arthritis set in and it became very painful for him to walk. He tried crutches but soon gave them up for a wheelchair. From that point on, the studios made sure he always played characters who had an infirmity and even wrote scripts around the issue. He proved an actor in a wheelchair can be an asset more than a liability. He died at the age of 76 of a heart attack.

Answer: Ade Adepitan

Ade Adepitan was born in Nigeria in 1973 where he contracted polio as a baby, leaving him to use a wheelchair for mobility. When he was three, he and his family moved to the UK where at age 12 he took up wheelchair basketball. He went on to compete for many Paralympic games over the next several years.

At BBC, he has played in programs for children and appeared on the soap opera "EastEnders". He has done documentaries, travel programs, and sports commentaries. He is heavily involved in charity work and was a made a member of the Order of the British Empire for services rendered to disabilities in the sporting world.

Answer: Frida Kahlo

Frida was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon in 1907 in a suburb of Mexico City. She was stricken with polio at age 6 and took up physical sports, on her father's urging, to make up for the weakness in her legs. In 1925, on her way home from school, the bus she was riding was struck by a trolley car and she suffered massive fractures throughout her body. Confined to bed and a body cast, she took up painting.

She met and married Diego Rivera in 1929. For the next several years, she suffered bodily pain and depression and often incorporated these themes in her paintings. She and Diego were a volatile couple and often took lovers of both genders (incorporated into their paintings) and by 1939 they were divorced. Frida continued painting until she died in 1954 and served as an icon for the disabled through her medium.

Answer: Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was born in 1942 in Oxford, England and went on to study science at Oxford and then Cambridge. While doing his graduate work, he was diagnosed with ALS and given only two years to live. He soon vowed that while his body may deteriorate, his mind would not.

He utilized a prototype machine that converted slight movements to text and began to study the universe and, more specifically, black holes. He went on to author several books that explained theories in a way many people could understand.

In addition, he traveled, experimented, and laughed at himself on the show "Big Bang Theory". Right before he died in 2018, he said he wanted to show that "people need not be limited by physical handicaps as long as they are not disabled in spirit".

Answer: Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan was born in 1936 in Houston, Texas. In high school, she heard a speech on career day which inspired her to be a lawyer. She attended Texas Southern and then Boston University's law school. After passing the bar, she opened a practice in Texas and soon became involved in John Kennedy's Democratic presidential campaign. Her interest in politics piqued, she went on to the Texas State Senate and then won a groundbreaking victory as the first African American woman from a Southern state to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

She gave a powerful speech supporting Nixon's impeachment at the same time she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She continued public speaking and delivering keynote addresses. Not letting her physical impediments stop her, she won the Presidential Medial of Freedom in 1994 and died of pneumonia in 1996.

Answer: King Philip II of Spain

Philip was born in 1527 and was the only legitimate son of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. After Philip's first wife died, he married Queen Mary I of England and became king consort of England and then succeeded to the throne of Spain when his father abdicated. Mary I died in 1558 and soon thereafter began the rise of the Spanish empire. The Spanish Armada defeated many navies, the Americas provided riches, and Spain seized Portugal.

The 1580s, however, saw the decline of his power as the Armada was beaten, the empire became bankrupt, and Philip II contracted gout. By 1595, an anonymous inventor created the first custom-built wheelchair (called at that time an invalid chair) and Philip II was able to attend his functions while someone pushed him rather than being confined to bed.

Answer: Christopher Reeve

Christopher Reeve was born in 1952 in New York City. He became a movie star quickly when he was selected to play the lead in the 1978 movie "Superman" and the three sequels in later years. He also starred in smaller films and plays and a TV movie in which he became intrigued with horses.

In May of 1995 he sustained a severe spinal injury while riding a horse and become paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair and respirator. He and his family did not let this slow him down, however. He soon was involved in campaigns supporting paraplegics and children with disabilities. He testified before the U.S. Senate in favor of stem cell research. He and his wife started a foundation to create awareness of the disabled and he continued an acting, directing, and writing career. He died 2004 from cardiac arrest.

Answer: Charles Krauthammer

Krauthammer was born in 1950 in New York City. During turbulent times in his college years in Montreal, he began to get interested in politics but decided to go into medicine. During his first year in medical school, a diving accident left him paralyzed from the waist down.

He only took a brief time off from his studies and became a psychiatrist after his on-time graduation. During the 1980s he moved to Washington, D.C. and began writing political articles for magazines and newspapers. When he would appear on television, he would ask that his infirmity not be highlighted so that people could concentrate on the topic being discussed.

He taught others that "physical problems need not be disabling in the communication of ideas". He left a legacy of articles, books, and shows when he died of cancer in 2018.

Answer: Tim Curry

Tim Curry was born in 1946 in Cheshire, England and went on to earn a degree in English and drama. He started doing theater work and ended up with the role of the "mad doctor" in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". When the play became a hit movie with a cult-like following, his popularity soared. Over the next several decades he performed in a variety of plays, movies (especially comedies), and television programs. Curry had music training as a child, and parlayed that into a solo music act with several albums.

In 2012, he suffered a stroke that left him immobile and in a wheelchair. He decided that instead of retiring he would switch to more roles involving his unique voice in the form of animated shows and audiobooks. When he achieved a lifetime award at the Tony presentation, he attributed looking past his wheelchair status to a "strong will and positive attitude".

Answer: Franklin Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in 1882 in Hyde Park, New York. He went into politics at a young age and served as a Democrat. He was in the New York Senate in 1910 and Democratic nominee for Vice President in 1920. However, in 1921, he contracted polio and lost much use of his legs. He utilized crutches and braces but also spent much time in a wheelchair.

Not letting this stop him, he went on to be elected in November 1932 to the first of four terms. He kept the country going through the Great Depression with recovery acts and programs. He tried hard to keep the United States out of looming warfare, but when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 he guided the country into WWII. Throughout all of this, he utilized special leg braces and a custom wheelchair he designed himself so he could have access to all the places he needed to conduct business. He believed that warm spring waters and a good attitude could help his condition. FDR left a lasting legacy when he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1945.