Famous Oregonians Trivia Quiz

Answer: River Phoenix

River Jude Bottom was born in 1970 in the city of Madras in central Oregon. He was the oldest of five siblings, Rain, Joaquin, Liberty and Summer Phoenix. The highlight of his short (just 24 film and TV appearances) career was an Oscar nomination for the 1988 film "Running on Empty". River Phoenix died of a drug overdose at the age of 23 in 1993.

Of the alternatives, Rob Lowe was born in 1964 in Virginia; Kirk Cameron was also born in 1970 but in California; and Corey Haim was born in 1971 in Toronto, Canada.

Answer: Brent Musburger

Brent Woody Musburger was born in 1939 in Oregon's largest city, Portland (which is situated in the northwest of the state), although he grew up in Billings, Montana. He began broadcasting NFL games on CBS in 1973, paired with the likes of Tommy Mason, Bart Starr and Wayne Walker. He moved to ABC and ESPN in 1990, where he remained until he retired in 2017.

Of the alternatives, Greg Gumbel was born in 1946 in New Orleans LA; Dick Enberg was born in 1935 in Michigan; and Pat Summerall was born in 1930 in Florida.

Answer: Phil Knight (Nike)

Philip Hampson Knight was born in 1938 in Portland, Oregon. A graduate of the University of Oregon and Stanford Graduate School of Business, in 1964 he founded Blue Ribbon Sports, which was renamed Nike Inc. in 1971. Bill Bowerman, the co-founder of Nike and another Portland native was Kinght's track coach at the University of Oregon.

Of the alternatives, Bill Gates was born in 1955 in Seattle, Washington; David Gold was born in 1932 in Cleveland, Ohio; and Doris F. Fisher was born in 1931 in San Francisco.

Answer: Al Oerter (discus)

Alfred Oerter, Jr. was born in 1936 in Astoria, New York. He dominated the sport of discus throwing for more than a decade, winning gold at four consecutive Olympic Games, in 1956 in Melbourne, in 1960 in Rome, 1964 in Tokyo and in 1968 in Mexico City. After more than a decade out of the sport he returned to compete in the unofficial 1980 Olympic Boycott Games (aka The Liberty Bell Classic) in Philadelphia, where he collected a silver medal behind fellow-American Ben Plucknett.

Born in the Pacific coast city of Coos Bay, Oregon in 1951, Steve Prefontaine was still a student at the University of Oregon when he broke the American 5000m record at the US Trials for the 1972 Olympics. In the big event, he was beaten in the final by the legendary Finn Lasse Virén. Highly touted in the run-up to the 1976 Olympics, Prefontaine died in a road accident at the age of just 24 in May 1975.

Born in Portland, Oregon in 1970, Tonya Maxene Harding was a double national ice-skating champion who represented the US at the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics. She was subsequently banned for life for her involvement in the attack on her US teammate Nancy Kerrigan.

Born in Portland in 1947, Richard Douglas Fosbury truly revolutionized the sport of high jumping with the invention of the "Fosbury Flop". He won gold at the 1969 Olympics in Mexico City with his previously-unseen backwards technique, which quickly replaced the straddle method that had been used universally up to that point.

Answer: Margaux Hemingway

Margaux Louise Hemingway was born in 1954 in Portland, the older sister of the California-born actress Mariel. Her grandfather was the author Ernest Hemingway, who had committed suicide with a shotgun when she was just seven years old. She enjoyed a modest film career when she finished modelling, but died of a suicidal drug overdose aged just 42 in 1996.

Of the alternatives, Carolyn Craig, born in 1934 in Nebraska, appeared with James Dean in "Giant" and was a regular on TV's "General Hospital" before committing suicide with a shotgun aged 36 in 1970; actress and photographer Laurie Bird, born in 1953 in New York, is perhaps best-known as Art Garfunkel's girlfriend who took a drug overdose in their shared apartment aged just 25; and Cybill Shepherd, born in 1950 in Memphis, Tennessee, who enjoyed a career as both a model and actress without killing herself.

Answer: Chief Joseph

Born Hinmatóowyalahtq'it in 1840 in the Wallowa Valley in the far northeastern corner of Oregon, Young Joseph became chief of his branch of the Nez Perce in 1871 and was henceforth known as Chief Joseph. It was during his time as chief that the US government forced the tribe's relocation into Idaho. Joseph and many of his people elected to fight this eviction, and eventually joined forces with tribes who had crossed over to Canada, including Sitting Bull's Lakota Sioux.

The newspapers portrayed Chief Joseph as a peacemaker, and he has been favourably treated in both literature and film since his death in 1904.

Answer: Tommy Thayer

Founded in New York City in 1973, KISS comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley (born in 1952 in NY NY), bassist Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz in 1949 in Israel), lead guitarist Ace Frehley (born 1951 in The Bronx NY) and drummer Peter Criss (born George Peter John Criscuola in 1945 in Brooklyn NY).

Criss was the first to depart, replaced first by Eric Carr (1980-91) and then by Eric Singer (born Eric Doyle Mensinger in 1958 in Cleveland OH). Guitarist Frehley departed in 1982 and was eventually replaced by Bruce Kulick (1984-96). The original line-up were reunited in 1998, but after four years Criss and Frehley left again, and since 2002 the band have played as a foursome with Singer, Simmons, Stanley and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, who was born in Portland in 1960.

Answer: Sally Struthers

Sally Anne Struthers was born in Portland in 1947. She made her TV debut as a dancer in the "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" in 1970, and in 1971 landed the role of Gloria, the married, college-age daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker in the hit sitcom "All in the Family". In the early 1980s, Struthers reprised the role for the short-lived spin-off, "Gloria".

Struthers made numerous TV appearances throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but it was in the comedy-drama "Gilmore Girls" that she returned in 2000 for another lengthy run as the same character. More recently, Struthers toured in the title role during the 50th anniversary production of "Hello Dolly!" in 2014.

Of the alternatives, Oscar-nominee Talia Shire, the brother of director Francis Ford Coppola, was born in 1946 in upstate New York; Candice Bergen, star of "Murphy Brown" and "Boston Legal" was born in 1946 in California; and Oscar-winner Jessica Lange was born in 1949 in Minnesota.

Answer: Beck

Born Bek David Campbell in Los Angeles, California in 1970, Beck is a multi-talented singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Spanning the alternative rock, anti-folk, art pop and hip-hop genres, he released his first album, "Golden Feelings", in 1993. Still going strong more than two decades later, his 2014 album "Morning Phase" made it into the Top 5 of the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

Laura Anne Gibson, born in 1979 in the city of Coquille in southwestern Oregon, is a folk and indie-rock singer, songwriter and musician. Her first album, "If You Come to Greet Me", was released in 2006. Meanwhile, in 2014, she completed a Masters degree in fiction writing.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Meredith Ann Brooks was born in 1958 in the city of Corvallis in central-western Oregon. Her debut album, "Blurring the Edges", released in 1997, spawned the hit single "Bitch", which earned a Grammy nomination.

Born John Alvin Ray in 1927 in the community of Hopewell in northwestern Oregon, Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads topped the US singles chart in 1951 with their debut single, "Cry". He is probably best remembered for the second of his tyhree UK number one singles, "Just Walkin' in the Rain" from 1956.

Answer: Doc Severinsen

Born Carl Hilding Severinsen in 1927 in the city of Arlington in north-central Oregon, Doc Severinsen joined "The Tonight Show" band as a trumpeter whilst it was under the leadership of Skitch Henderson some months before Johnny Carson took over from Steve Allen in October 1962. Severinsen took over leadership of the band five years later, and even filled in for Carson's side-kick Ed McMahon on numerous occasions. Severinsen's retirement as the show's bandleader coincided with Jay Leno's replacement of Carson in 1992.

Of the alternatives, Bobby Rosengarden, born in 1924 in Illinois, was the bandleader on the "Dick Cavett Show", which ran on ABC opposite Johnny Carson from 1968 until 1975; Paul Shaffer, born in 1949 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, was the musical director on various late-night shows headed by David Letterman between 1982 and 2015; and Mort Lindsey, born Morton Lippman in 1923 in New Jersey, who was the bandleader on "The Merv Griffin Show" from 1962 until 1986.