They Died in December 2013 Online Trivia | Death Becomes Them

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. South African politician Nelson Mandela died December 5, 2013. What was the name of the political party that Mandela led when he became President of South Africa in 1994?

Answer: African National Congress

The African National Party (ANC) was founded in 1912. From 1948, anti-apartheid became the party's main platform. Imprisoned for 27 years, Mandela became the face of the anti-apartheid movement. Upon his release in 1990, his negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk led to the dismantling of apartheid and won the two of them the 1993 Nobel Peace prize. 1994 saw victory for the ANC with Mandela as president.

2. British actor Peter O'Toole died December 14, 2013. For which 1980 film co-starring Steve Railsback did O'Toole receive an Academy Award nomination for playing an eccentric movie director?

Answer: The Stunt Man

Steve Railsback is a fugitive who stumbles across a movie set possibly causing the death of the set's stunt man. O'Toole, the Christ-like director of the film who will do anything to get a shot, agrees not to turn Railsback in if he replaces the stunt man. The line between fantasy and reality quickly dissolves.

3. American country singer Ray Price died December 16, 2013. Price won a 1971 Grammy Award for the song "For The Good Times". Which singer/songwriter, who also wrote "Me and Bobby McGee", wrote the Price hit "For The Good Times"?

Answer: Kris Kristofferson

Kristofferson also wrote the songs "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" and "Help Me Make It Through The Night". He also had a successful acting career appearing in over ninety films. Other Ray Price hits included "Release Me", "Heartaches By The Numbers" and "You're The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me".

4. American army veteran Edward Heffron died December 1, 2013. Heffron was played by actor Robin Laing in which fact based series produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks?

Answer: Band of Brothers

"Band of Brothers" was an 11-hour mini-series originally aired in 2001 on HBO. The story follows Easy Company (a parachute regiment) from training to the D-Day landings and later the war in the Pacific. Private Edward "Babe" Heffron appears in eight of the episodes.

5. Actress Joan Fontaine died December 15, 2013. Fontaine won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in which Alfred Hitchcock movie co-starring Cary Grant?

Answer: Suspicion

A shy spinster marries a charming playboy and then begins to suspect that her new husband is trying to kill her. Fontaine's was the only Academy Award winning performance under Hitchcock's direction. Fontaine and her sister Olivia de Havilland ("To Each His Own" & "The Heiress") were the first siblings to have won lead acting Oscars.

6. English criminal Ronnie Biggs died December 18, 2013. Famous for his participation in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, Biggs escaped from jail in 1965. In which South American country did Biggs spend most of his years taking advantage of an extradition loophole?

Answer: Brazil

Biggs received a 30 year sentence for the crime but escaped, fleeing first to Australia and then Brazil. He took advantage of a law forbidding extradition when his Brazilian girlfriend became pregnant. Biggs made his living promoting himself as a celebrity. He returned to England in 2001 and was arrested. He received compassionate release in 2009.

7. Actor James Avery died December 31, 2013. In which 1990s situation comedy did Avery play the character Uncle Phil?

Answer: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

A street-smart Philadelphia teenager (Will Smith) is sent to live with his Uncle Phil's family in their posh California Bel-Air mansion. Avery had a long career playing minor roles in over forty movies and numerous guest starring roles on television. His distinctive voice also led to a large number of voice over roles on cartoons and animated series.

8. Canadian ice hockey player Maurice Benoit died December 10, 2013. Benoit played on the 1960 Canadian Olympic Hockey team that won the silver medal. What country beat out Canada for the gold medal in the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics?

Answer: United States

Often referred to as "The Forgotten Miracle", the 1960 U.S.A. team went undefeated to finish ahead of Canada and the Soviet Union. Much like the 1980 Miracle on Ice team, the U.S.A. was not expected to win. Moe Benoit went on to a career in minor league hockey but never made it to the big times in the National Hockey League.

9. Canadian businessman and philanthropist Edgar Bronfman, Sr. died December 21, 2013. The Bronfman family's fortune came from the Seagram Company Ltd. What was the predominant business associated with Seagram?

Answer: Alcoholic Beverages

The Seagram Company was founded in 1857. In 1928, the Bronfman family bought Seagrams and emerged from prohibition in the United States as a major force in the alcoholic market. Unsuccessful attempts at diversification into the oil and film business led to Seagrams being bought out in the early 2000s.

10. American actress Eleanor Parker died December 9, 2013. Although nominated for the Best Actress Oscar three times in the 1950s, Parker is best remembered for portraying Baroness Elsa Schrader in which 1960s classic movie?

Answer: The Sound of Music

A young woman, Maria, leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess for the children of a naval officer. Parker's Baroness Schrader vies with Maria unsuccessfully for the affections of Captain von Trapp played by Christopher Plummer. Parker was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for the 1950 movie "Caged", 1951s "Detective Story" and the 1955 film "Interrupted Melody".

Source: Author Robert907

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They Died in December 2013 Trivia Quiz

These questions are about people who died in December 2013.

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