Top Guns Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vitas Gerulaitis

Brooklyn born Gerulaitis turned professional in 1971, won 26 career titles and reached his highest world ranking of number three in 1978. An accomplished doubles player he would win the Wimbledon Doubles Final in 1975 in partnership with Sandy Mayer. Under the guidance of his coach Fred Stolle, his singles game grew rapidly and in 1978 he would reach the Wimbledon semi finals where he was beaten by Bjorn Borg. The following season he would claim the Australian Open singles title and make the semis at Wimbledon again. He would reach two further Grand Slam finals, the US Open in 1979 and the French Open in 1980, without success at the final hurdle.

In 1994, while sleeping in the guest house of a friends place he was overcome by the fumes emanating from a leaky pool pump and died. He was forty years old at the time.

Answer: Alan Shepard

Amongst the many things that Alan Shepard has been famous for, the endearing image that most people have of him is hitting a golf ball on the moon. I don't think they've ever found it. He was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and saw action in World War II.

In 1959 he was selected as part of the NASA Mercury Seven, in 1961 he became the first American into space and in 1971 he hit a golf ballon the moon. Later in life he was diagnosed with leukemia and it was complications that arose from this disease that led to his passing in 1998 at the age of 74.

Answer: Lindbergh

The Orteig Prize was offered to the first aviator to make a nonstop flight from New York to Paris. Where several had tried and failed, Lindbergh, who was a virtual unknown before his flight, successful steered his "Spirit of St. Louis" across 3,600 statute miles over thirty-three and a half hours of flight to secure the award.

His success was a major boon to, and revolutionised, the commercial aviation industry. It brought fame to Lindbergh but, in the same breath, that fame brought tragedy with the kidnap and murder of his infant child.

The media attention forced them to flee the country to Europe but they returned in 1939, with war in Europe being imminent. He would spend his final years in Hawaii where he would succumb to lymphoma at the age of 72.

Answer: Keene, Carolyn

Strong, Sasse and Rankin, along with the likes of Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Walter Karig, and Susan Wittig Albert, amongst others, were all contracted to write these novels by the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The first to write under the pseudonym was Mildred Wirt Benson, who also credited as being the primary author of the "Nancy Drew" books using the name of Carolyn Keene.

Initially the authors were paid $125 for each book that they wrote, they had to surrender their rights to the work and were signed to a confidentiality agreement. The Carolyn Keene would later be used by authors in the "River Heights" (a Nancy Drew spin-off) and the "Nancy Drew Notebook" series.

Answer: Ice Cube

Ice Cube first gained attention as the primary songwriter for N.W.A. where he performed alongside artists of the ilk of Dr. Dre and Eazy E. His song-writing would push the boundaries of acceptability of content on commercial radio and make him a star.

After the disbandment of N.W.A. he would release the platinum selling albums "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted" (1990) and "Death Certificate" (1991). His next foray was into movies where he turned heads with his star turn as the lead in John Singleton's "Boyz n the Hood" (1991). An astute businessman, he has created the clothing line "Solo by Cube" and is co-founder of the BIG3, a 3x3 basketball competition that features retired NBA basketball players.

Answer: Linda Ronstadt

Ronstadt was born in Arizona in 1946. While she started out singing folk music with a group called the "Stone Poneys", she soon moved to solo work. Her work was highly acclaimed; achieving enormous success he work garnered 12 Grammy Awards. She revealed in 2013 that she had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and was no longer able to sing.

She wrote a bestselling book called "Simple Dreams".

Answer: Mendelssohn

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, (now you know they called him Felix!) was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1809, and moved to Berlin due to the occupation of Hamburg. He made his first public appearance in 1818 aged nine. He was well educated in music, religion and in fine arts and became acquainted with many people who influenced his life.

As a child, he wrote numerous compositions, among them operas and symphonies. Most of these works were preserved in the Prussian State Library in Berlin, but are believed to have been lost in World War II.

Answer: Eliot

In an age when women did not commonly publish under their own names, Mary Ann Evans felt compelled to use a pseudonym. One reason for her using a pen-name was the contributions to the 'Westminster Review', a leading journal for philosophical radicals.

She later became its editor. One of her most famous books, "The Mill on the Floss", published in (1860), is a semi-autobiographical portrayal of her childhood.

Answer: Richard III

Born in 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle, Richard III was the son of Richard, third Duke of York and Cecily Neville. He was defeated and killed by the forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which was the decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses. Generally depicted as an evil and wicked king, he was also the subject of a play by William Shakespeare.

Answer: Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer has been around the traps for a long time - long enough to write poetry for Michelle Pfeiffer and to have been considered for the role of Vincent Mancini in "The Godfather Part III". He achieved Satellite Award win as the Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical for the 2005 movie "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", and was a nominee for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for the album "The Mark of Zorro".