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Quiz about Death By Automobile
Quiz about Death By Automobile

Death By Automobile Trivia Quiz


Thousands of people are killed in car crashes each year and quite often only a small circle of friends hears about them. These questions are about some famous people and the crashes that killed them.

A multiple-choice quiz by darksplash. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
darksplash
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
332,292
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
1825
Last 3 plays: Guest 31 (9/10), Robinsgirl28 (7/10), PurpleComet (7/10).
Question 1 of 10
1. Too fast to live, too young to die bye bye: One of the most famous movie stars to die in a car crash was James Dean. What kind of car had he been driving at the time? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Grace Kelly was a Hollywood queen who became a real life princess. She died in 1982 when the car she was driving plunged off a cliff. Where did it happen? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Jayne Mansfield was a blonde Hollywood star who sizzled on the silver screen. She died on June 28th 1967 in a car crash on her way to New Orleans. One of the survivors was her daughter who went on to have a fine acting career of her own. Who was she? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Jim Connors was a pioneering radio DJ who discovered many new up-and-coming stars during his time. He died in a car crash in Virginia in 1987. It was claimed that he was the inspiration behind a song by Harry Chapin that told of the loneliness of a radio jock who was "heard but never seen". What was that song called? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. The New York born singer and songwriter Harry Chapin famously wrote a song about a driver who died when his truck crashed. Ironically, Chapin was to die after the car he was driving crashed. What kind of car was it? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. 20th Century Boy: Marc Bolan was idolised as a leading member of the glam rock genre in Britain with his band T. Rex. He died when the car he was a passenger in struck a tree in 1977. What kind of car was it? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Accident victim Eric Campbell was a huge (physically) star of the silent movie era and was somewhat typecast in playing the villain of the piece. In eleven pictures he played opposite an actor generally regarded as the greatest star of the genre and was probably lucky not to get caned in some of them. That other star delighted in playing put-upon characters who endured great tribulations. Who was he? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Isadora Duncan was one of the most brilliant dancers of her generation and was a darling of American audiences. She died in a freak accident when an article of her clothing became caught in the wheels of a moving car. Which item was that? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. "C'mon Everybody": Eddie Cochran was an influential singer of the late 1950s and was often talked about in the same breath as Elvis. He died in 1960 while on tour in Europe. Where did that happen? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. With hits such as "Battle of New Orleans" and "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)", Johnny Horton was a big music crossover star of the late 1950s. What kind of car was he in when he died in a road crash in 1960? Hint



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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Too fast to live, too young to die bye bye: One of the most famous movie stars to die in a car crash was James Dean. What kind of car had he been driving at the time?

Answer: Porsche 550 Spyder

James Dean had been hailed as one of the best upcoming actors of the 1950s and had gathered many devoted fans. In September 1955, Dean was at the wheel of his new Porsche Spyder when it collided head-on with a Ford Custom Tudor coupe on U.S. Route 466 near Cholame, California. Dean was fatally injured. His mechanic Rolf Wütherich survived, as did the driver of the Ford, Donald Turnupseed. Ironically, Wütherich was also to die in a car crash, in 1981.
"Too fast to live, too young to die bye bye" was a line from an Eagles song entitled "James Dean".
2. Grace Kelly was a Hollywood queen who became a real life princess. She died in 1982 when the car she was driving plunged off a cliff. Where did it happen?

Answer: France

Grace Kelly had married Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956 and became 'Princess Grace'. On September 3 1982. she was driving her Rover car from the family home in France to Monaco when it plunged down a cliff. Her daughter Stéphanie was injured.
3. Jayne Mansfield was a blonde Hollywood star who sizzled on the silver screen. She died on June 28th 1967 in a car crash on her way to New Orleans. One of the survivors was her daughter who went on to have a fine acting career of her own. Who was she?

Answer: Mariska Hargitay

Mariska Hargitay was just 3 when that crash happened on US Highway 90 and was in the rear seat of the car. Her father was Mickey Hargitay, Mansfield's second husband. Mariska was born in January 1964 and her parents divorced that August. Mariska Hargitay had numerous film and TV roles, most famously in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" from 1999.
4. Jim Connors was a pioneering radio DJ who discovered many new up-and-coming stars during his time. He died in a car crash in Virginia in 1987. It was claimed that he was the inspiration behind a song by Harry Chapin that told of the loneliness of a radio jock who was "heard but never seen". What was that song called?

Answer: W*O*L*D

"I am the morning DJ at W*O*L*D -
Playing all the hits for you, wherever you may be..."
Connors earned 13 gold records for his knack of discovering talent. Chapin was one of those and wrote W*O*L*D after a late night studio interview with Connors in Boston.
Ironically, Chapin had been killed in a car crash six years before Connors died.
In his career, Connors worked in radio stations throughout the north east of the US.
5. The New York born singer and songwriter Harry Chapin famously wrote a song about a driver who died when his truck crashed. Ironically, Chapin was to die after the car he was driving crashed. What kind of car was it?

Answer: Volkswagen Rabbit

Chapin wrote "30,000lbs of Bananas" about a young driver whose truck crashed while carrying fruit into Scranton, Pennsylvania. On July 16 1981, Chapin was driving to a concert when his car was in collision with a truck on the Long Island Expressway. It later transpired he had died from a heart attack, but doctors were unable to say whether that happened before or after the moment of impact.
(I could not resist including the Ford Crown Victoria, many of which were used as New York cabs, and of course one of Chapin's best-known songs was "Taxi")
6. 20th Century Boy: Marc Bolan was idolised as a leading member of the glam rock genre in Britain with his band T. Rex. He died when the car he was a passenger in struck a tree in 1977. What kind of car was it?

Answer: Mini

"20th Century Boy" was one of the hits recorded by Bolan's band T. Rex. On September 6th 1977 Bolan was a passenger in a car that collided with a sycamore tree in south west London.
7. Accident victim Eric Campbell was a huge (physically) star of the silent movie era and was somewhat typecast in playing the villain of the piece. In eleven pictures he played opposite an actor generally regarded as the greatest star of the genre and was probably lucky not to get caned in some of them. That other star delighted in playing put-upon characters who endured great tribulations. Who was he?

Answer: Charlie Chaplin

Campbell was born in Scotland in 1879 and worked as an actor in Britain before he was discovered by the impresario Fred Karno and transplanted to Hollywood. Campbell first appeared with Chaplin in "The Floorwalker" in 1916. Ten more movies with Chaplin followed, then Campbell died when the car he was driving spun of control and crashed in Los Angeles on December 20 1917.
8. Isadora Duncan was one of the most brilliant dancers of her generation and was a darling of American audiences. She died in a freak accident when an article of her clothing became caught in the wheels of a moving car. Which item was that?

Answer: Scarf

Duncan was born in San Francisco in 1877 and by the early years of the 20th Century she was famous throughout America for her dancing. In September 1927 she was performing in France and had accepted a lift in a car driven by Benoît Falchetto. Duncan was famously known for her collection of scarfs, and as the car moved off, her long silk scarf became entangled in the open spokes of a wheel and she was strangled.
9. "C'mon Everybody": Eddie Cochran was an influential singer of the late 1950s and was often talked about in the same breath as Elvis. He died in 1960 while on tour in Europe. Where did that happen?

Answer: England

In April 1960, Cochran was a passenger in a Ford Consul taxi that crashed into a lamppost in Wiltshire. His most famous song was "Summertime Blues", a number 8 hit in 1958. "C'mon Everybody" peaked at Number 35 that same year.
10. With hits such as "Battle of New Orleans" and "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)", Johnny Horton was a big music crossover star of the late 1950s. What kind of car was he in when he died in a road crash in 1960?

Answer: Cadillac

Both songs mentioned were number one in 1959. On November 5, 1960, Horton and friends set off from Nashville to drive to Austin, Texas. Near Milano, Texas, their car was hit on a narrow bridge by a truck coming in the opposite direction.
Source: Author darksplash

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