The Untouchables (US TV Series 1959-1963) Quiz

Answer: Robert Stack

Prohibition agent Eliot Ness was portrayed by actor Robert Stack. The series ran from 1959 to 1963. There was a two-part pilot "The Scarface Mob" and 118 episodes.

Robert Stack was born Charles Langford Modini Stack in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1919. He grew up in Europe and was fluent in French and Italian. He was a polo player and shooter, at age 16 he became a member of the All-American Skeet Team. He set two world records in skeet shooting and became National Champion. He was inducted into the National Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame in 1971.

He took drama courses at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, USA. At the age of 20 while on a visit to Universal Studios, he was offered a chance to be in movies by producer Joe Pasternak. He was teamed with Deanna Durbin in his first movie "First Love" (1939). He was the first actor to give Durbin an on-screen kiss. In his next role "The Mortal Storm" (1940), he played a young man who joins the Nazi party. Later in real life when America entered WWII he was a gunnery instructor in the US Navy.

In 1952 he starred in what is considered to be the first 3D movie in colour "Bwana Devil". In 1957 he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for "Written on the Wind". He lost the Oscar to Anthony Quinn for "Lust For Life" and blamed 20th Century Fox who had loaned him to Universal International. He felt that they had organized voting against him to prevent one of their contract players winning an Academy Award while working for another studio.

In 1959 came the part he may be best known for, playing Eliot Ness in the TV series "The Untouchables" for which he won a Best Actor Emmy Award in 1960. He died from a heart attack in Beverley Hills, California, USA, in 2003 aged 84.

Answer: Oscar Fraley

Oscar Fraley a sports writer for United Press International, co-wrote "The Untouchables" with Eliot Ness.

Oscar Fraley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1914. He worked for United Press International as a sports reporter from 1940-1965. He also wrote 31 books which included "Hoffa, The Real Story". He met Eliot Ness in 1956, long after his heyday in the '20s and '30s. This meeting led to the collaboration on "The Untouchables" book.

Eliot Ness submitted a 21 page manuscript to Fraley citing only real events that had happened during his career. Fraley made the book more interesting by including fictional characters and events. "The Untouchables" was finished and published in 1957. Unfortunately Eliot Ness died in May of that year, before publication of the book. Fraley is said to have liked the 1987 Kevin Costner movie "The Untouchables" but could not understand the changes made in the movie. He said "The movie is nothing like the book". Oscar Fraley died from heart failure following surgery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, in 1994 aged 79.

Answer: Lucille Ball

Together with her husband musician/actor Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball founded Desilu Productions in 1950. They jointly owned the company until their divorce in 1960, after which Lucille Ball then bought her husband out.

Model/actress/comedienne/studio executive Lucille Ball was born Lucille Désirée Ball in Jamestown, New York, USA, in 1911. In 1926 she enrolled at the John Murray Anderson School for the Dramatic Arts in New York City, (Bette Davis was a fellow student). This was not a success and in the late '20s she modelled for fashion designer Hattie Carnegie. After unsuccessful appearances on Broadway under the stage name Diane Belmont she moved to Hollywood in the '30s.

During this period as a contract player for RKO Radio Pictures she appeared in many small movie roles. This included "Three Little Pigskins" (1934) a comedy short with the Three Stooges and "Room Service" (1938) with the Marx Brothers. Although she appeared in some good movies such as "Stage Door" (1937) and "The Dark Corner" (1946) she had become known as "Queen of the B's", starring in a number of B-movies like "Five Came Back" (1939).

In 1948 she was cast as a wacky wife in the CBS radio show "My Favourite Husband". It was so successful that CBS asked her to develop it for television and the rest is as they say, history. It became "I Love Lucy" made by the Desilu production company and it ran from 1951 to 1957.

Answer: U. S. Treasury Department

Eliot Ness was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1903. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1925 with a degree in economics. He became an investigator for the Retail Credit Company of Atlanta. He was assigned to the Chicago territory, where he conducted background investigations for the purpose of credit information. He returned to university and took a course in criminology, earning a Master's Degree.

Eliot Ness became a member of the U. S. Treasury Department in 1927 after being influenced by his brother-in-law Alexander Jamie to join law enforcement. Jamie was an agent of the then Bureau of Investigation at the time (it became the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935). Ness went on to work with the Bureau of Prohibition in Chicago and was later promoted to Chief Investigator of the Prohibition Bureau for Chicago. The National Prohibition Act of 1919 (the Volstead Act) was legislation enacted to provide for the implementation of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which established National Prohibition of alcoholic beverages.

When prohibition ended in 1933 Eliot Ness was assigned as an alcohol tax agent in southern Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. In 1935 after being transferred to Cleveland, Ohio mayor Harold Burton hired him as the city's Safety Director. He was in charge of both the police and fire departments. He was the head of a campaign to clean out police corruption and to modernize the fire department.

Eliot Ness died from a heart attack in Coudersport, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1957 at the age of 54.

Answer: The Enforcer

Frank Nitti, portrayed in "The Untouchables" TV series by Bruce Gordon, was "The Enforcer".

Frank Nitti was born Francesco Raffaele Nitto in Angri, Salerno, Campania, Italy, in 1886. He emigrated to the USA in 1893 when he was 7 years old. The family lived at 113 Navy Street, Brooklyn, New York City. As he grew older he fell in with Al Capone's older brothers and their gang, the Navy Street Boys. After various jobs and criminal activities in Chicago and Galveston he settled in Chicago working for crime boss Johnny Torrio and then Al Capone. Frank Nitti died from self inflicted gunshot wounds in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1943 aged 57.

Bruce Gordon was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, USA, in 1916. In 1941 he appeared in the original Broadway production of "Arsenic and Old Lace". He played Officer Klein alongside Boris Karloff who played Jonathan Brewster. He made numerous appearances on TV in the '50s which included "Cold War, Behind Closed Doors", "Man Without a Gun" and "Perry Mason" among others. He is probably best known for his portrayal of Frank Nitti in "The Untouchables". He died after a long illness in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, in 2011 aged 94.

Answer: Walter Winchell

Newspaper and radio gossip commentator Walter Winchell was the narrator for "The Untouchables" TV series.

Walter Winchell was born Walter Winchel in New York City, New York, USA, in 1897. He left school never having got past the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as "Newsboys Sextet". He worked for the Vaudeville News in 1920, the Evening Graphic in 1924 and the New York Daily Mirror in 1929 where he became the author of what was the first syndicated gossip column, it was called On-Broadway.

He went on to become one of the most feared and hated newspaper columnists and radio broadcasters in America. He was a friend of Owen Madden a leading underworld figure during the prohibition era but a few years later he was a fiend of J. Edgar Hoover. He supported Franklin D. Roosevelt but denounced another American hero Charles Lindbergh. He was a supporter of civil rights for African Americans, and frequently attacked the Ku Klux Klan. He attacked the National Maritime Union which was the labour organization for the civilian United States Merchant Marine, which he said was run by Communists.

In the '50s Winchell was a supporter of Senator Joseph McCarthy but he became unpopular as the public turned against McCarthy. His declining career was given the coup de grace by "Tonight" host Jack Paar but not before he earned £25,000 per episode narrating "The Untouchables".

Answer: Chicago

The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. It is based on the book of the same name which is based on the memoirs of Eliot Ness who collaborated with Oscar Fraley. Fraley fictionalized a great deal of Eliot Ness and The Untouchables experiences fighting crime in Chicago in the 1930s.

The show was criticized by some Italian-Americans including Frank Sinatra, who felt it was too negative and stereotypical of them as gangsters. The family of Al Capone sued the Columbia Broadcasting Company, Desilu productions and Westinghouse Electric Corporation for its depiction of the Capone family, they were unsuccessful.

In 1961 Anthony Anastasio chief of the Brooklyn waterfront and its International Longshoremen's Association, marched with The Federation of Italian-American Democratic Organizations. They protested outside the American Broadcasting Company New York headquarters to urge the public boycott of Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company products. Its Chesterfield King cigarettes sponsored "The Untouchables". Four days after the picket of ABC, L&M, denying that they had bowed to intimidation, announced it would drop its sponsorship of "The Untouchables", maintaining their decision was based on network-scheduling conflicts.

"The Untouchables" was considered one of the most violent television shows when it aired. It was described by the National Association for Better Radio and Television as not fit for the television screen.

Answer: True

It is true, they have all appeared in episodes of "The Untouchables".

Telly Savalas appeared in episode 20 of season 2, "The Antidote", episode 5 of season 3 "The Matt Bass Scheme" and episode 14 of season 4 "The Speculator".

Barbara Stanwyck appeared in episodes 8 "Elegy" and 13 "Search for a Dead Man" of season 4.

Lee Marvin appeared in episode 31 of season 2, "The Nick Acropolis Story", episode 19 of season 3 "Element of Danger" and episode 10 of season 4 "A Fist of Five".

Robert Redford appeared as Jack Parker in episode 15 of season 4 "Snowball"

Answer: Neville Brand

Neville Brand played Al Capone in "The Untouchables" TV series. He also played the same part in the 1961 movie "The George Raft Story". Unfortunately unlike Rod Steiger who portrayed Al Capone in the 1959 movie "Al Capone" and Robert De Niro who portrayed Al Capone in the 1987 movie "The Untouchables", Neville Brand looked nothing like Al Capone.

Neville Brand was born in Griswold, Iowa, USA, in 1920. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1941. In World War II he saw action with the 331st Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Infantry Division (Thunderbolt Division) in the Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central European campaigns. Brand, a Sergeant and platoon leader, was wounded in action along the Weser River in 1945. His upper right arm was hit by a bullet, and he nearly bled to death. After the war he settled in Greenwich Village and enrolled at the American Theatre Wing and also attended the Geller Drama School in Los Angeles on the G.I. Bill.

His first movie was "D. O. A." (1950) starring Edmund O'Brien as Frank Bigelow who reports his own murder to the police. Brand played a psychotic heavy (sound familiar). He was the first actor to portray Butch Cassidy on film in the movie "Three Outlaws" (1956). As Mike Gavin in "Love Me Tender" (1956) he killed Elvis which is on a par with Bruce Dern killing John Wayne in "The Cowboys" (1972).

Answer: Steven Hill

Steven Hill played Jack 'Legs' Diamond in episode 2 of season 2 of the TV series "The Untouchables". Near the end of this episode in a walk on role as a bell-hop is a very young Ryan O'Neal. Hill also played Joey December in episode 22 of series 3 "Downfall"

Jack 'Legs' Diamond was born Jack Moran in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1897. His first arrest for burglary came in 1914 when he broke into a jewellery store. He was arrested numerous times though out the remainder of his life. He deserted from the U.S. Army during World War I but was convicted and jailed.

His nickname "Legs" probably came from being a good dancer or maybe how fast he could escape his enemies and he had quite a few of those during his lifetime. He was shot so many times he became known as the clay pigeon of the underworld. In 1930, gangster Dutch Schultz remarked "Ain't there nobody that can shoot this guy so he don't bounce back?" His inevitable end came in 1931 when two men burst into his room, one held him down while the other one shot him three times in the back of the head.

Steven Hill was born Solomon Krakovsky in Seattle, Washington, USA, in 1922. His first stage appearance was in Ben Hecht's "A Flag Is Born" on Broadway in 1946, which also featured a young Marlon Brando. In 1947 he joined the newly created Actors Studio. He was one of 50 successful applicants along with Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, and Julie Harris. Steven Hill made his movie debut in "Lady Without a Passport" in 1950.

In 1966 he was the original leader of the Impossible Missions Force, Dan Briggs in the US TV series "Mission: Impossible" but left after the first season. He then gave up acting altogether and moved to a Jewish community in Rockland County, New York where he worked writing and real estate. After 10 years he returned to acting in the 1980s in movies such as "Yentl" (1983), "Garbo Talks" (1984), "Raw Deal" (1986) "Running on Empty" (1988) and Billy Bathgate (1991).

He played District Attorney Adam Schiff in the US TV show "Law & Order" from 1990 to 2000. Hill thought this role was the hardest he had ever played because of all the legal jargon that he had to learn. When Steven Hill left the cast of "Law & Order" in 2000 he was the longest serving cast member on the show.