Deaths In The News: 2009 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Arizona State University

Walter Cronkite's influence on broadcast journalism is legendary. After serving as a newspaper and radio reporter in such places as Kansas City and Oklahoma City, he became a war correspondent for UPI during World War II. He joined CBS News in 1950, and replaced Douglas Edwards as the network's news anchor in 1962. During his career, he reported on numerous historic stories, including the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. Arizona State renamed its school of journalism and mass communication after Cronkite in 1984 - three years after his last nightly newscast for CBS.

Answer: She won an Academy Award for her work in "Mame"

Beatrice Arthur's impressive resumé includes numerous performances on stage and on screen, including both the stage and motion-picture versions of the musical "Mame". Arthur won both a Tony Award for her work as Vera Charles, opposite Angela Lansbury, who also won a Tony Award for her work as the title character, Mame Dennis. Arthur reprised her role in the critically-panned 1974 feature-film version of "Mame", opposite Lucille Ball, and did not receive an Academy Award nomination for her work.

Answer: Colorectal Cancer

After the assassination of her husband, Benigno Aquino, Jr., in 1983, Corazon Aquino became active in Philippine politics. She reluctantly put her hat into the ring in 1986, when over one million signatures were presented to her in support. Former senator Salvador Laurel, considered the front runner in replacing Ferdinand Marcos, became her running mate. During Mrs. Aquino's tenure, the Philippines adopted a new constitution and endured several natural disasters, including the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. Mrs. Aquino, like her mother, was a victim of colorectal cancer.

Answer: Elon College

Between 1971 and 2009, Kay Yow won 737 games and claimed four ACC Tournament championships. She also led the U.S. women's team to gold medals at the FIBA World Championships in 1986 and at the Summer Olympics inn Seoul, South Korea, in 1988. When she was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, she was just the fifth female coach so honored.

The only thing Yow didn't do was lead NC State to a national championship. The closest that she got was leading the Lady Wolfpack to the NCAA Women's Final Four in 1998.

Answer: Atlantic City, New Jersey

A native of metropolitan Pittsburgh, Billy Mays began hawking as-seen-on-TV products after leaving his dad's hazardous waste company. Among the many products Mays promoted during his career were the Awesome Auger (a gardening implement), Mighty Putty (a strong epoxy putty adhesive) and the Hercules Hook (a hook for hanging objects to a wall). But he's best known for his commercials for the cleaning products Kaboom!, Orange Glo, and OxiClean.

Mays's death wasn't just a shock because it occurred at a relatively young age. The Hillsbourgh County coroner's report that cocaine use contributed to his heart disease stunned the general public.

Answer: University of Oregon

During his career, Myles Brand held a number of administrative positions in academia. He spent much of his career as head of the philosophy program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and in various positions with the University of Arizona. Immediately before becoming president of Oregon in 1989, Brand served as provost and vice president of academic affairs at Ohio State.

His background as an educator prompted Brand to stress the idea that student-athletes were students first. As executive director of the NCAA, Brand established a system to track graduation rates throughout the organization's member institutions.

Answer: Housing and Urban Development

Before starting his first term as a congressman in 1971, Jack Kemp had already accomplished a lot on the gridiron. As quarterback of the Buffalo Bills from 1962 to 1969, Kemp led the team to back-to-back American Football League championships in 1964 and 1965.

He also had two sons who played pro football - Jeff Kemp, who spent 10 seasons in the NFL, and Jimmy Kemp, who toiled for 8 seasons in the CFL. Although a conservative Republican, Kemp had many friends and allies across the aisle, including Hall of Fame basketball star Bill Bradley and former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young. Kemp succeeded Samuel Pierce as HUD secretary in February, 1989, and remained in that post until the end of the Bush administration.

Answer: "Mary"

Mary Travers found success with two different groups during her lifetime - The Song Swappers, a group that sang backup on four albums for Pete Seeger, and with Peter, Paul and Mary, which was active from 1961 to 1970 and again from 1978 to 2009, when Mary died. "Mary" debuted in 1971; the first song on the album, "The Song Is Love" was co-written by her longtime stage-mates Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, among others. All four albums listed here were published on the Warner Bros. label, between 1971 and 1974; the fifth album, "It's In Everyone Of Us", was published on the Chrysalis Records label in 1978.

Answer: "The Addams Family"

According to a website devoted to Vic Mizzy, Filmways did not want to pay singers to record the opening theme to "The Addams Family". So, Missy overdubbed himself three times to make it sound like there was more than one person singing the theme. The result was one of the more memorable themes in American TV history, which, thanks to reruns of the show and its use at sporting arenas around the country, has remained in the public consciousness.

Mizzy's other well known TV theme, also for a Filmways program, was sung by the show's stars. The late Eddie Albert and the late Eva Gabor belted out the theme to the long-running "Green Acres".

Answer: "227"

Alaina Reed Hall was a member of the "Sesame Street" cast from 1976 to 1988, playing Gordon's sister, Olivia. While she was on "Sesame Street", she joined the cast of "227", a sitcom based on a play by Christine Houston. Because of the long-distance commute between shows - "Sesame Street" was taped in New York and "227" in Los Angeles - she left "Sesame Street".

While on "227", she met her second husband, Kevin Peter Hall, who was featured in such movies as "Predator" and "Harry and the Hendersons".

They were married from 1988 to 1991, when Mr. Hall died of pneumonia.