TV Detective Matching Quiz

Answer: Buddy Ebsen

"Barnaby Jones" was one of a steady stream of hit US TV productions from Quinn Martin in the 1960s and 1970s. It ran from 1973-1980 and featured Buddy Ebsen as a private eye returning from retirement to catch the murderer of his son, aided by the son's widow (Lee Meriwether). The partnership was successful, and they carried on working together for a total of 178 episodes.

Buddy Ebsen (1908-2003) had a very long and varied career in entertainment - starting as a dancer. He acted and sang in musicals with the likes of Shirley Temple, Eleanor Powell, Barbara Stanwyck and Maureen O'Hara and had to withdraw from playing the Tin Man in 1939's "The Wizard of Oz" due to an allergic reaction to the makeup. He played Holly Golightly's husband in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961). His biggest TV role was as "Jed" Clampett in "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962-1971).

Answer: Angie Dickinson

"Police Woman" was a US TV series whose 91 episodes ran from 1974-1978. The show revolved around "Pepper" Anderson, a female police sergeant. It was a ground-breaking show for featuring a female lead in a major drama series. As "Pepper" (real name not divulged), Angie Dickinson went undercover in many guises, some not so ground-breaking for a woman, such as: college student, prisoner, air stewardess, and go-go dancer.

Angie Dickinson (born 1931) started in TV in the 1950s and had made 15 movies before her "new star actress" Golden Globe-winning performance in Hawks's great western "Rio Bravo" (1959). Further movies included Milestone's "Ocean's 11" (1960) and Siegel's "The Killers" (1964). Her lead role in Corman's "Big Bad Mama" (1974) made it a cult classic. She won a Golden Globe for "Police Woman" in 1975.

Answer: Stratford Johns

BBC TV's Lancashire-based police series, "Z-Cars" was created by Troy Kennedy Martin, and ran for 803 episodes from 1962-1978. Its northern setting and gritty writing and acting from a strong cast including Brian Blessed and Colin Welland made it stand out as a milestone in British TV.

Stratford Johns played the bull-like Charlie Barlow in "Z-Cars" from 1962-1965. Together with sidekick John Watt (played by Frank Windsor), the character moved to a spin-off vehicle, "Softly Softly", in 1966. That show ran until 1969, when the two characters moved to a further spin-off, "Softly, Softly: Taskforce", which ran from 1969-1976. Barlow moved away in 1972 to a third series: "Barlow at Large", later renamed "Barlow", which ran from 1971 to 1975. Another spin-off in 1973 featured the deliberations of Barlow and Watt on the real-life unsolved case of "Jack the Ripper". Their final outing was in 1976's "Second Verdict" where the two detectives investigated other notorious unsolved cases from history.

Stratford Johns (1925-2002) was born in South Africa and moved to the UK in 1948. He had a small role in "The Ladykillers" (1955) and played an unseen master criminal in "The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery" (1966). He starred as Herod in Ken Russell's "Salome's Last Dance" (1988) and played Daddy Warbucks in a West End production of "Annie" (1978). As well as his "Barlow" appearances he appeared on TV in "I Claudius" (1976) and "Great Expectations" (1981).

Answer: John Thaw

"The Sweeney" was a UK police series based on the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad (Cockney rhyming slang: Sweeney Todd == Flying Squad). The show was created by Ian Kennedy Martin, brother of "Z-Cars" creator, Troy. The main characters were Detective Inspector John "Jack" Regan (played by John Thaw) and his Sergeant, George Carter (played by Dennis Waterman). This highly popular show initially ran for 53 episodes from 1975-1978, and spawned two movie spin-offs in 1977 and 1978. A movie reboot in 2012 didn't feature Thaw or Carter.

John Thaw (1942-2002) was a highly popular British TV star who featured in a series of successful programmes, including "Redcap" (1964-1966) and "Home to Roost" (1985-1990). He was recognised twice with BAFTA awards for his performance as "Inspector Morse" from 1987 to 2000.

Answer: Dennis Franz

"NYPD Blue" was a US TV police procedural that ran from 1993-2005. Created by Steven Bochco and David Milch, it featured multiple overlapping storylines with powerful and realistic scenarios. The ensemble cast included David Caruso, Jimmy Smits and Kim Delaney. Dennis Franz played Andy Sipowicz, the initially racist, drunkard and homophobic lead character and centre of the show over 12 seasons and 261 episodes.

Dennis Franz was born in Illinois, USA in 1944. He served 11 months in Vietnam before starting acting in 1978. He became typecast - he once said that "NYPD Blue" was his 28th job playing a police officer. His movie roles included several directed by Brian de Palma, such as "Dressed to Kill" (1980), "Blow Out" (1981), "and Body Double" (1984). A memorable appearance was as the obstructive airport cop in "Die Hard 2" (1990). He won four primetime Emmy Awards for his extraordinary performances arc as Andy Sipowicz.

Answer: Rufus Sewell

"Zen" was a UK TV series that ran for three episodes in 2011. Based on the brilliant series of novels by Michael Dibdin, it featured Rufus Sewell as Aurelio Zen, an Italian police detective. A hit with audiences and critics, with one newspaper calling it "the detective drama of the year", the show was cancelled after only three episodes because the BBC One controller felt his channel had too many male detectives on screen.

Rufus Sewell was born in Twickenham, England, in 1967. His roles include the romantic interest, Will Ladislaw, in a TV production of "Middlemarch" (1994) and the villain in the movie "A Knight's Tale" (2001). He won a Best Actor Olivier Award in 2007 for his West End portrayal of "Jan" in Tom Stoppard's "Rock and Roll".

Answer: William Conrad

"Cannon" was a Quinn Martin detective show that ran on US TV for 124 episodes between 1971 and 1976. William Conrad played Frank Cannon - an ex-LAPD police officer working as a private eye. A lover of the good things in life, Cannon wasn't as athletic as other TV detectives, but he occasionally displayed effective martial arts techniques to subdue his quarries. Conrad appeared as Frank Cannon in two "Barnaby Jones" cross-over episodes. He came back in 1980 for a final time in a one-off episode: "The Return of Frank Cannon".

William Conrad (1920-1994), born in Louisville, Kentucky, was a performer in radio, film and TV. After serving in World War II, he appeared in Siodmark's great film noir "The Killers" (1946). He originated the role of Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke" for radio and played the role from 1952-1961. He moved into production and direction, with the movie "Brainstorm" in 1965. He often used his extraordinary voice to advantage for voice over work including narrator for TV's "The Fugitive" (1963-67). After his success in "Cannon", Conrad starred in a further successful TV show: "Jake and the Fatman" (1987-1992), from which the Dick Van Dyke vehicle "Diagnosis: Murder" span off.

Answer: Sharon Gless

"Cagney & Lacey" was a US TV police procedural with two female NYPD detectives centre stage. It was created by Barbara Avedon and Barbara Corday and ran for 125 episodes over seven seasons from 1982-88. The premise was the usual clash of opposites, but the writing and acting transcended the stereotypical and the show was successful and influential. Tyne Daly played Mary Beth Lacey, a married mother with family responsibilities, while her partner, Christine Cagney, was a single. Sharon Gless was the third actor to play Chris Cagney - Loretta Swit played the role in the pilot, and Meg Foster took over for six episodes, before being replaced by Gless. Between Gless and Daly, the show monopolised the primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for six years between 1983 and 1988 (Daly, Daly, Daly, Gless, Gless, Daly). The two leads were ably supported by castmates including Al Waxman and John Karlen. There were four subsequent reunion episodes between 1994 and 1996.

Sharon Gless was born in 1943 in Los Angeles, California. She had recurring roles on TV in "Marcus Welby, M.D." from 1974 to 1976 and "Switch" between 1975 and 1978. The role of Chris Cagney was said to have been originally created with Gless in mind, but she was unable to take it for the pilot or first six episodes due to other commitments. After "Cagney & Lacey", Gless had a further long-running TV role in "Burn Notice" (2007-2013).

Answer: Jack Warner

"Dixon of Dock Green" was a UK TV staple for 432 episodes across 22 series from 1955 to 1976. It presented a positive image of the British "Bobby", in the person of George Dixon, played by Jack Warner. The character - played by Warner - originated on the big screen in 1949's "The Blue Lamp", which centred on the search for George Dixon's murderer, played by Dirk Bogarde. Peter Byrne was in the TV show nearly as long as Warner, as Dixon's colleague and son-in-law, Andy Crawford. The programme was criticised for its cosy and old fashioned portrayal of police and policing, but it remained popular for many years.

Jack Warner (1895-1981) was one of the best loved British entertainers of the twentieth century. Born in Bromley, London, he was one of three siblings, along with his sisters, Elsie and Doris, to go into show business. He served as a driver in World War I and worked in the motor industry before starting in music hall in his thirties. He became a regular on radio in the likes of "Garrison Theatre". He achieved greater fame in the "Huggets" series of movies in the 1940s. By the time "Dixon of Dock Green" ended in 1978, he was well into his eighties.

Answer: Don Johnson

"Nash Bridges" was a US TV police drama created by Carlton Cruse that ran for 122 episodes from 1996 to 2001. It starred Don Johnson in the title role along with Cheech Marin as a pair of inspectors in the San Francisco Police Department. Bridges was devoted to his yellow Plymouth Barracuda, teenage daughter and father suffering from dementia. Marin's character, Joe, was into get rich quick schemes. Many scrapes and much comedy ensued, and guest stars included both leads' former partners Tommy Chong and Philip Michael Thomas along with the likes of Hunter S. Thompson, RuPaul and Traci Lords added to the fun.

Don Johnson was born in 1949 in Flat Creek, Missouri. After many years of effort he achieved great fame and became a fashion icon (suit, t-shirt and no socks) for his TV role of "Sonny" Crockett in Anthony Yerkovich's and Michael Mann's "Miami Vice" along with Philip Michael Thomas from 1984-1989. His movie roles included the lead in Dennis Hopper's noir "The Hot Spot" (1990) and Kevin Costner's nemesis in Ron Shelton 's "Tin Cup" (1996).