Top of the Pops Trivia Quiz

Answer: William Howard Taft

The 27th US President, William Howard Taft, who held office from 1909 until 1913, may best be remembered as the most obese person ever to hold office. Although only 5" 11' tall, he weighed in at around 340 pounds (24 stone). Whether the often-repeated story about him getting stuck in the White House bath is true, though, is anyone's guess.
What is certain is that William Howard was descended from Robert Taft Sr, who was born in England in 1640 and arrived in the US in 1680 and is acknowledged as the patriarch of the Taft family dynasty. Prior to William Howard, the family had produced two state Governors (of Ohio and of Rhode Island), two U.S. Senators, two U.S. Representatives, an Attorney General, a Secretary of War and a U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. William Howard added President and U.S. Chief Justice to that list (the only President to also hold that post too).
Alphonso Taft, William Howard's father, served briefly as Secretary of War in 1876 before becoming US Attorney General for the remainder of Ulysses Grant's presidency.

Answer: Geoff Hurst

Geoff Hurst's father, Charlie Hurst, began his professional career as a centre-half for Bristol Rovers in 1938. The outbreak of WWII put his footballing career on hold -- a member of the British Army, he was one of many evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940. After the war, Charlie resumed his footballing career with Oldham Athletic and Rochdale.
The Charlton brothers, Bobby and Jackie, did not have a footballing father but they did come from a family of players. Their uncle, Jackie Milburn, played more than 350 times for Newcastle Untied and made 13 appearances for England. Jackie's cousin, Jack Milburn, played more than 400 games for Leeds and managed Bradford City, and his three brothers also played professionally.
One other member of the team, Alan Ball, also had a father who played professionally: Alan Ball sr played for Southport, Birmingham City, Oldham and Rochdale in the post-war years.

Answer: Don Arden

Born in Manchester in 1926, Don Arden's career as a music manager and agent began when he signed young American rocker Gene Vincent in 1960. He arranged British tours for legends like Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry in the early 1960s before launching the career of a British teenager named Elkie Brooks.

He became manager of the Small Faces, and then came The Move, ELO and Wizzard. It was after the Arden-managed Black Sabbath sacked their lead singer, Ozzy Osbourne, that Arden's daughter, Sharron, began dating the crazy rocker.

When Sharron took over Ozzy's management, the relationship between Sharron and her father fell apart and they were only reconciled 30 years later, shortly before Arden's death in 2007.

Answer: Jasper Carrot

One of the first screen appearances made by Lucy Davis was in the TV series "The Detectives", which was written by and starred her father, Jasper Carrot (real name Robert Norman Davis). In addition to "The Office", Davis was also a regular performer in "The Archers" on BBC Radio 4. Her film appearances include "Shaun of the Dead" in 2004 and she has appeared in numerous TV series including "Ugly Betty" and "The Mentalist".

Answer: Peter Davison

Moffett played the Doctor's daughter opposite her actual husband David Tennant in 2008, although she is probably best known for her recurring role as Abigail, the daughter of Detective Inspector Sam Nixon, in ITV's long-running police drama series "The Bill".
For Moffett to play the daughter of "Doctor Who" is somewhat ironic, since her real-life father was in fact the fifth incarnation of the Time Lord. Peter Davison (real name Peter M. G. Moffett") played The Doctor from 1981 until 1984.

Answer: Henry Fonda

Peter Fonda won the Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Male Newcomer" for just his second film, "The Victors" in 1963. He was nominated for an Oscar along with Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern for writing the script for the cult 1969 film "Easy Rider". Nominated for a Best Actor Oscar in 1999, he also won an Emmy and two acting Golden Globes in the 1990s.
Jane Fonda won Best Actress Oscars for the 1971 film "Klute" and for the 1978 film "Coming Home". She has received Oscar nominations on five other occasions and has also won an Emmy and three Golden Globe awards.
This brother/sister pair are the offspring of the legendary Henry Fonda, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Norman Thayer Jr. in the 1981 drama "On Golden Pond". The film also produced as Oscar win for Best Actress Katherine Hepburn and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Henry's daughter Jane.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Rock legend Elvis Presley's married Priscilla Ann Wagner on May 1, 1967. Exactly nine months later, on February 1, 1968, their only child, Lisa Marie, was born. Elvis died in 1977, when Lisa Marie was just nine, but had he lived longer he would have seen her marry four times. We can only wonder whether any or all of The King's sons-in-law would have called him 'Pops'...?

Answer: Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger has seven children with four different mothers: Karis is the daughter of Marsha Hunt; Jade is Bianca de Macias's daughter; Elizabeth, James, Georgia and Gabriel come from his marriage to Jerry Hall; and Lucas is the son of Luciana Morad.

Answer: Cecil Fielder & Prince Fielder

Cecil Fielder finished his Major League career with only 319 homers but in 1990, in his debut season with the Tigers, he became the first player to break the 50 HR mark (he hit 52 that year) since the Reds' George Foster 13 years earlier. (To put this in perspective, Foster was the only player to hit 50 homers in a season between Willie Mays in 1965 and Cecil Fielder in 1990.) Cecil's son, Prince Fielder, passed the career 250 HR mark during the 2012 season at the age of 28. Prince finished his 2007 season with the Milwaukee Brewers with exactly 50 round-trippers, making the Fielders the first (and so far only) father-son combination to both join the 50+ homer club.
Ken Griffey jr is another member of that club, having hit 56 homers for the Seattle Mariners in both 1997 and 1998. He retired in 2010 with 630 home runs to his name (6th all-time at the time). His father, Ken senior, though, never made it to 50 in any of his 19 years in the Majors, and he finished with 152 life-time dingers. The Griffeys did achieve a number of firsts -- the first father-son combination to play MLB at the same time, the first to play together in the same team, and the first to hit back-to-back home runs in a game.
Although he finished his 22-year MLB career with more home runs than anyone in the game's history, 762, Barry Bonds remarkably only broke the '50 in a season' barrier once. What a season that was, though -- he hit 73 in 2001, eclipsing Mark McGwire's previous single-season record (68) set three years earlier. Barry's father, 3-time All-Star Bobby Bonds, hit 332 HRs in a 23-year career, but never reached the 50 mark in any one season.
The Boones were the only one of the four father-son combinations in which neither reached 50 homers in a season. Catcher Bob Boone hit 105 HRs in 18 years with the Phillies, Angels and Royals, whilst second baseman Brett hit 252 in 17 seasons with the Mariners, Reds, Braves, Padres and Twins.

Answer: Leon Spinks

Olympic champion in the Light Heavyweight division at the 1976 games in Montreal, Leon Spinks went on to produce one of the biggest upsets in professional boxing history: in only his eighth fight as a pro, he defeated Muhammad Ali for the World Heavyweight crown in 1978. Spinks lost a re-match with Ali later that year and also lost a later title bout against Larry Holmes in 1981. He retired with a 26-17-3 lifetime record as a pro at the age of 42 in 1995.
Leon's son, Cory Spinks, won the WBA Welterweight title with victory over Colombia's Rafael Pineda in 2002. Over the following 18 months, he unified the titles and he remained the undisputed world champion at the weight until losing in 2005 to fellow-American Zab Judah. In 2006, Cory won the IBF Light Middleweight crown, which he later lost in 2008 and regained in 2009.
Leon's brother, Michael, was also an Olympic champion (he won the Middleweight title at the same 1976 games). As a professional, Michael held the World Championship titles in both the Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight divisions.
Of the alternatives, former Heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson's adoptive son, Tracy, held the World Junior Lightweight title. Former champion Joe Frazier has three sons, Joe jr, Marvis and Tyrone, all of whom were contenders, and a daughter, Jackie, who is a serious contender in the women's division. Similarly, both of 2-time champion George Foreman's children, son George III and daughter Freeda, are contenders in their respective divisions.