Those We Lost in 2009 Pt I Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dave Dee

Dee, born David Harman on December 17th 1941, was a police cadet in Wiltshire when a taxi carrying Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent crashed into a lamppost in Chippenham. Cochran received severe head injuries in the crash and died the next day. Dee was called to the scene and supposedly removed Cochran's guitar, a Gretsch G6120, from the damaged vehicle and kept it at home until Cochran's family could claim it.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich (the name came from the nicknames of the band members) had several UK top ten hits between 1965 and 1969 when Dee left the band.

Answer: John Mortimer

Despite a popular belief to the contrary, Mortimer was not one of the defence counsels in the "Lady Chatterley" trial in 1962. His involvement in obscenity trials began with the defence of the publisher of Hubert Selby Jr's "Last Exit to Brooklyn" in 1969. His most famous trial was when he successfully defended the publishers of "Oz" magazine against charges of indecency for the "Schoolkids" issue of the magazine in 1971.

Horace Rumpole began life in a BBC Television "Play for Today" in 1975 starring Leo McKern as the larger than life barrister with a fondness for criminals and cheap wine. The success of the original screenplay led to a long running series on the BBC's rival channel, ITV, and spawned several novels. Mortimer was in the process of writing a new Rumpole novel when he passed away at the age of 85.

Answer: John Updike

Amis, writing in "The Guardian" newspaper following Updike's death, described his style as being exceptionally intimate; "It's as if nothing human seemed closed to his eye."

Having been twice rejected by Harvard's creative writing courses, Updike initially held an ambition to be a cartoonist but following his graduation from Oxford University he soon found work as a contributor to "New Yorker" magazine, a magazine that had previously published a poem and short story he had written as an undergraduate.

Four years later, having quit New York City as he found it distracted him from his creative thoughts, his first novel "The Poorhouse Fair" was published. A year later, in 1960, "Rabbit, Run" was published, the first of four Rabbit novels that would be published over the next thirty years.

Answer: Ingemar Johannson

Johansson had shown his potential with a strong performance at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics that was let down by a disqualification in the heavyweight final for running away from his opponent. Despite this setback, Johansson developed an excellent professional reputation with some solid wins that led to him being crowned European heavyweight champion in 1956. After a victory in an elimination bout in 1958, Johansson earned the right to fight Floyd Patterson for the world title.

Patterson, who had become the youngest ever world heavyweight champion when he claimed the crown in 1956, was an overwhelming favourite for the bout and looked the stronger over the first two rounds. However, Johannson had a mighty punch and in the third round it proved decisive. From a defensive position, Johansson threw a sharp right-hander that beat Patterson's defences and sent him to the canvas. Though Patterson beat the count, Johansson had the upper hand and downed his opponent a further five times in the round before the referee ended the fight. Johansson, in victory, became the first European to hold the world heavyweight title since Primo Carnera in 1934.

The two fighters were to meet in the ring twice more, with Patterson reclaiming and then retaining his title with victories in both bouts.

Answer: David Snow

David Snow was commemorated in 2001 by the naming of the genus Snowornis in the Cotingidae family. The two birds in the genus, the olivaceous Piha and the grey-tailed Piha are both native to Ecuador and Peru.

As well as adding significantly to the knowledge of British and world ornithology, Snow's tenure in the Galapagos Islands, as director of the Charles Darwin Station, saw the development of preservation protocols that had a significant impact in protecting the wildlife found there, particularly the giant tortoises.

Answer: Susan Tsvangirai

Susan Tsvangirai was not a woman who sought the public spotlight but she was hugely popular within the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the party led by her husband, Morgan Tsvangirai. After a decade of bitter struggle, culminating in the hotly disputed election of 2008, Tsvangirai's death increased the tensions between the MDC and the ruling Zanu-PF party who had recently entered into an uneasy power-sharing arrangement. The incumbent President, Robert Mugabe of Zanu-PF, had claimed victory in the election amid widespread accusations of vote-rigging and voter intimidation.

The reason for the crash that killed Susan and injured her husband remains a matter of debate. The official explanation is that the driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision, a USAID truck, fell asleep at the wheel. However, it was reported that Morgan Tsvangirai believed that the truck had deliberately swerved into their path. His official statement denied any wrongdoing but a subsequent investigation by the MDC raised the possibility of foul play, a belief supported by the US ambassador who referred to the prior incidences of the opponents of Robert Mugabe who had died on the country's roads.

The incorrect choices were all wives of former Presidents of Zimbabwe.

Answer: Natasha Richardson

Natasha Richardson, who was just 45 at the time of her death, had been taking a skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec when she fell and banged her head. The nature of her injury was not immediately apparent and Richardson refused all treatment claiming that she was fine. An hour later she complained of a headache and was rushed to hospital. Unfortunately the delay in treatment proved fatal as Richardson fell into a coma and died due to bleeding in the brain.

Part of the Redgrave acting dynasty, daughter of Vanessa and granddaughter of Sir Michael, Richardson made her own name with a strong stage performance in Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" in 1985. Despite making her film debut at the age of 4 in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" directed by her father, Richardson always seemed most at home on stage rather than on screen. She met her second husband, Liam Neeson, whilst performing Eugene O'Neill's "Anna Christie" in 1993 and her greatest success was as Sally Bowles in "Cabaret" for which she won her Tony award.

Answer: Clement Freud

Clement Freud, the grandson of Sigmund Freud, had an extraordinary career by anyone's standards. Given that he was an aide to Field Marshal Montgomery during World War II and was a successful chef with his own restaurant, it was somewhat incongruous that his face first came to public attention by advertising dog food alongside an equally jowly bloodhound.

He soon became a celebrated food and drink writer before embarking upon the venture for which he is most fondly remembered; as a laconic performer on the BBC Radio 4 panel show, "Just a Minute". From the first show in 1967 until his death, Freud was a regular panelist on each series of the show, loved and feared for his dry wit and supreme eloquence.

In addition to all his other achievements, Freud was MP for Ely for 15 years, receiving a knighthood for his services to his constituents on losing his seat in 1988.

Answer: J.G. Ballard

Ballard was born in Shanghai in 1930 and remained there until after the end of World War II. The war was to shape his world view considerably as, while still only 12 years of age, he was interred in a Japanese POW camp. His experiences in this camp formed the basis of his most successful novel, "Empire of the Sun" (1984), which was made into a movie by Steven Spielberg in 1987.

Long before the publication of "Empire of the Sun", Ballard had published science fiction novels, such as "The Drowned World", that saw him feted by the founders of the "New Wave" movement such as Michael Moorcock, the editor of "New Worlds" science fiction magazine. The movement was an attempt to move science fiction away from its traditional concerns of outer space, technology and science towards more human stories.

Answer: Jack Cardiff

Cardiff received a total of four Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography; in addition to "Black Narcissus" (1947) he was nominated for "War and Peace" (1956), "Sons and Lovers" (1960) and "Fanny" (1961). He also directed a number of films, the best known of which is probably "Girl on a Motorcycle" (1968) starring Marianne Faithful.

Cardiff, who died at the age of 94, was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2001.