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Celebrities at War Trivia Quiz

A quiz about some well known folks and how they spent World War II.

A multiple-choice quiz by Tohemp. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
Tohemp

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
318,821

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
4 / 10

Plays
1799

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

Last 3 plays: Guest 1 (4/10), Guest 142 (2/10), Guest 69 (3/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. What famous Hollywood film director once served as a combat engineer during the Battle of the Bulge? Hint

Cecil B. DeMille

Billy Wilder

Mel Brooks

John Ford

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. What did John Banner, who found fame as the portly and myopic Sergeant Schultz on Hogan's Heroes, do during WWII? Hint

Worked in a sandwich shop called "Hogan's Heroes"

Study Optometry

Modeled for recruiting posters

Guarded German prisoners of war

3. When stricken by appendicitis just before shipping out, this future legandary college coach was replaced at the last minute by an officer who was killed by a kamakazi pilot while manning his post. Hint

Paul "Bear" Bryant

Ara Parseghian

Adolph Rupp

John Wooden

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Due to eye problems, this actor memorized the recruitment center eye chart in a failed attempt to join the US Marines. Hint

Peter Falk

Jack Elam

Marty Feldman

Sammy Davis Jr.

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. The father of these famous siblings died while being held as a prisoner of war. Hint

Joe and Dom DiMaggio

Tom and Dick Smothers

Dick and Jerry Van Dyke

Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Later the butt of endless jokes on American television, this actor won five Bronze Stars. Hint

Don Knotts

Ted Knight

Art Carney

Don Adams

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. After the war, this Hollywood tough guy was falsely touted by the studios as having served as a tail gunner on a bomber during WWII. Hint

Charles Bronson

Gary Cooper

Humphrey Bogart

Charlton Heston

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. This British actor, who was assigned to the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, was among the first soldiers to land at Normandy on D-Day. Hint

John Gielgud

David Niven

Lawrence Olivier

Alec Guinness

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. This comedian boasted that he was the only celebrity to go into the war as a Private and come out of the war as a Private. Hint

Bob Hope

Sid Caeser

Jack Benny

Red Skelton

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. Although he appeared in 14 films set in WWII, this actor used his 3-A draft status to repeatedly postpone enlistment and never served in the war. Hint

Paul Lynde

Wally Cox

Danny Kaye

John Wayne

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Most Recent Scores

Mar 31 2024 : Guest 1: 4/10
Mar 29 2024 : Guest 142: 2/10
Mar 22 2024 : Guest 69: 3/10
Mar 20 2024 : Guest 81: 2/10
Mar 04 2024 : Guest 107: 3/10
Mar 01 2024 : Guest 128: 2/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What famous Hollywood film director once served as a combat engineer during the Battle of the Bulge?

Answer: Mel Brooks

During the battle, Brooks responded to a German call to surrender by doing his version of Al Jolson's Toot Toot Tootsie.

2. What did John Banner, who found fame as the portly and myopic Sergeant Schultz on Hogan's Heroes, do during WWII?

Answer: Modeled for recruiting posters

Ironicaly, both Banner and Werner Klemperer, who played Colonel Klink on "Hogan's Heroes", were Jews who escaped to America before the war.

Answer: John Wooden

Wooden, later of UCLA basketball fame, was to have served on the U.S.S. Franklin, an aircraft carrier that suffered extensive casualties at the battle of Leyte.

4. Due to eye problems, this actor memorized the recruitment center eye chart in a failed attempt to join the US Marines.

Answer: Peter Falk

Having lost his right eye to a tumor as a child, Falk failed to fool the examiner and spent the war as a cook in the Merchant Marines. He would go on to gain fame as TV detective Columbo.

5. The father of these famous siblings died while being held as a prisoner of war.

Answer: Tom and Dick Smothers

Major Thomas Smothers died on board a Japanese prison ship en route to Japan. The Smothers Brothers would later become vocal opponents of the war in Vietnam.

6. Later the butt of endless jokes on American television, this actor won five Bronze Stars.

Answer: Ted Knight

Born Tadewurz Wladziu Konopka, Knight is destined to be remembered as Ted Baxter, bumbling TV anchor on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show".

7. After the war, this Hollywood tough guy was falsely touted by the studios as having served as a tail gunner on a bomber during WWII.

Answer: Charles Bronson

Bronson actually spent the war driving a mess truck in Kingman, Arizona!

8. This British actor, who was assigned to the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, was among the first soldiers to land at Normandy on D-Day.

Answer: David Niven

Niven fought all the way to the Rhine river and was one of 25 Brits to be awarded the U.S. Legion of Merit medal. The orderly assigned to assist Niven throughout the war was actor Peter Ustinov.

9. This comedian boasted that he was the only celebrity to go into the war as a Private and come out of the war as a Private.

Answer: Red Skelton

Drafted into the Army, Skelton entertained the troops in Italy until his discharge.

10. Although he appeared in 14 films set in WWII, this actor used his 3-A draft status to repeatedly postpone enlistment and never served in the war.

Answer: John Wayne

To his credit, the diminutive Wally Cox tried but failed to make it through boot camp. After being hospitalized several times with heat stroke, he was given an honorable discharge for medical reasons.

Source: Author Tohemp

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

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