Muffin's Common Bond Quiz # 7

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who was the US Civil War confederate soldier that Joan Baez assumed the identity of in her number three Billboard hit "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"?

Answer: Virgil Caine

The song goes, "Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train." The Danville train was an important transportation vehicle for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. As far as can be ascertained, Virgil Caine was a fictitious character. The three other named identities were, of course, major leaders of the Confederate army.

2. Name the actress who played the landlady/love interest to John Wayne's gunman character J.B. Books in what was to be The Duke's last motion picture, "The Shootist".

Answer: Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall was nominated for a BAFTA award as Best Actress for portraying Bond Rogers in the movie. The true-life ailing John Wayne played a stricken gunman out for redemption.

3. On what notable date was the Australian city of Darwin devastated by a tropical cyclone in 1974? It was also the day that the "world wide web" had its first successful trial run in 1990.

Answer: December 25th

On December 25, 1974, Cyclone Tracy hit Australia's most northern city, Darwin, causing massive damage and killing 71 people. Expatriate New Zealand duo Bill and Boyd then produced a tribute song entitled "Santa Never Made it Into Darwin", which went to the top of the Australian music charts in early 1975.

It was Christmas Day in 1990 when Tim Berners-Lee had the first successful trial run of the system that would become known as the World Wide Web.

4. A major North African city was determined to be the most important strategic centre in the lead up to the proposed allied invasion of Europe from the south during World War II. It was the staging area for all American aircraft and was visited by both Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt following victory in the North Africa campaign against the Axis powers in 1943. Name this location.

Answer: Casablanca

The meeting of the two leaders (Stalin was pre-occupied in Russia) instituted the strategy formulated by the Casablanca Conference. This led to the successful invasion of Sicily and then onto Italy and all areas previously under Axis control.

5. A powerful book by publicist Gary Stromberg and author Jane Merrill on substance abuse included more than twenty celebrities telling their own stories about fame, addiction and recovery. People from a wide variety of persuasions, e.g. musicians, actors, sportsmen, etc., candidly talked of their personal roller-coaster experiences. What's the name of the book?

Answer: The Harder They Fall

Musician Alice Cooper, comedian Richard Pryor, and sportsman Gerry Cooney were three well-known people who gave candid accounts of their trials and tribulations during this difficult time in their lives. "Second Chances" is the title of another book that Stromberg and Merrill collaborated on, and in a similar vein to "The Harder They Fall", deals with the experiences suffered by top business executives.

6. Born in Chicago Illinois in 1908, Lester Joseph Gillis became one of America's most wanted criminals during the infamous prohibition era during the 1920s and early 1930s. This notorious bank robber and murderer was "credited" with killing more FBI agents than any other person in history. By what name was this criminal better known?

Answer: Baby Face Nelson

In November 1934, Lester J Gillis (aka Baby Face Nelson) was eventually gunned down by federal agents in what is known as "The Battle of Barrington". This gave the FBI some sense of revenge and a lot of relief. Pretty Boy Floyd (born Charles Arthur Floyd), Machine Gun Kelly (born George Kelly Barnes), and Homer Van Meter were also gangsters during this period.

7. What is the character that Australian-born actress Poppy Montgomery has portrayed in the American television drama "Without a Trace"?

Answer: Samantha Spade

Samantha Spade is a FBI special agent played by Poppy Montgomery in the series "Without a Trace", as is Roselyn Sanchez as Elena Delgado. Marianne Jean-Baptiste has portrayed Assistant Supervisory agent Vivian Johnson, and Adriana De Meo has had a recurring role in the series as Lucy.

8. Name the prestigious co-ed high school in Massachusetts that was once attended by US presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush, as well as John F. Kennedy, Jr.?

Answer: Phillips Academy

Other well known alumni of Phillips Academy (also known as Phillips Andover) were actors Jack Lemmon, Dana Delaney and James Spader, as well as pediatrician Benjamin Spock and television series creator Dick Wolf.

9. Back in the 1950s, a group of actors who collaborated together were given a colloquial name that stuck permanently. What was it?

Answer: The Rat Pack

The story goes that a famous actress walked in on this motley crew one morning after they had a big night out in Las Vegas and told them that they looked like a "Rat Pack". Hence the beginning of a title that entered into the folklore of the US entertainment industry.

10. The nine relevant clues have hopefully led you to this performer, who appeared in 80 movies between 1928-1956. Although mainly cast in action films, he could act in any category--including comedy. In true life, he was a more placid person than the onscreen persona suggested. He received one acting Academy Award. In 1997, "Entertainment Weekly" named this actor the number one movie legend of all time, and in the same year he was featured on the US Postal Service's "Legends of Hollywood" series. Name him.

Answer: Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey Bogart was born in New York near the end of 1899. He passed away at the relatively young age of 57 in January 1957 of cancer, presumably brought on by his life long heavy smoking habit. His most outstanding screen performance, as judged by the Academy members, was in "The African Queen" in which he starred with Katherine Hepburn in 1951 and won the Oscar for the Best Actor in a Leading Role. His other two nominations in this category were for "Casablanca" in 1942 and for "The Caine Mutiny" in 1954. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the greatest male star of all time. Which leads us to the nine clues that were given:

1. The CAINE Mutiny as the Oscar nominated film just mentioned.
2. LAUREN BACALL who was Bogey's wife at the time of his death.
3. He was born on the 25TH DECEMBER 1899.
4. CASABLANCA was another Oscar nominated film for Humphrey, in a movie that ranks with the best-ever.
5. THE HARDER THEY FALL proved to be Bogart's last film where he plays a down-and-out sportswriter and was released less than a year before his death.
6. In the 1937 William Wyler movie "Dead End", Bogey played mobster BABY FACE Martin
7. His character in the 1941 classic movie "The Maltese Falcon" had Bogie playing private detective SAM SPADE.
8. THE PHILLIPS ACADEMY was the high school he attended until his expulsion brought upon by his smoking habit.
9. It was none other than Bogie's wife Lauren Bacall who coined the phrase RAT PACK and Humphrey Bogart took it on board to form the original "Holmby Hills" Rat Pack.

Source: Author muffin1708

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Pagiedamon before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Please allow me to introduce another great entertainer from the past, by way of nine relative clues leading to the identity of this former silver screen star.

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