The Most Interesting Men in the World Quiz

Answer: Ernest Hemingway

The Dos Equis campaign is probably modeled more closely on Hemingway than anyone else on this list. The 1954 Nobel Laureate self-consciously cultivated a hard-bitten masculine image. He was often photographed on Safari in Africa (where he survived two plane crashes in the 1950s) or sport fishing near his Key West, Florida home.

He served as a Red Cross ambulance driver in France during World War I, winning the Italian Silver Medal for Bravery. He would return to Paris after the war as a newspaper correspondent for the 'Toronto Star'.

His journalistic background would help him form his singular writing style, using as few words as possible to express or suggest ideas and images. These techniques would be put to good use in novels like 'The Sun Also Rises' and 'The Old Man in the Sea'.

Answer: Sir Richard Francis Burton

Burton's astonishing adventures and personal versatility are probably as close as the real world has ever come to emulating the Dos Equis spokesperson's persona. He was expelled from Oxford for dueling, so he joined the Army of the British East India Company in 1842. He cultivated his skills in language, fencing, surveying, and disguise, and in 1853 was one of the few non-Muslims to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Though as a nonbeliever he faced the death penalty if discovered, he was able to carry off such thorough examinations of the shrine that his measurements of the holy site became the 'gold standard' for decades in European circles. He repeated this subterfuge in the forbidden-to-Christians African city of Harar in 1854, once again succeeding and returning a detailed account, though not before being wounded by a Somali spear that literally passed through his face. Perhaps his most celebrated adventure was his attempt to survey the great lakes of Africa (including Victoria and Tanganyika, the latter being the long-sought source of the Nile). Though he and his partner John Hanning Speke failed to do a thorough survey of the lakes because their equipment had been lost, Burton's thorough account of the region added to his growing celebrity (and notoriety) in the English-speaking world.

In 1863, between diplomatic postings to Guinea and Austria, Burton co-founded the Anthropological Society of London, largely as an organ to transmit his own translations of the works discovered in Britain's colonies. His translations include the Sufi work "The Kasidah" (which many scholars feel may have been Burton's own work - and which some even feel may qualify him as a genuine Sufi mystic), 'A Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights)', 'The Kama Sutra' (a Hindu work on marriage and sexuality), and 'Vikram and the Vampire', an Indian counterpart to 'Arabian Nights'. Though all this, he was celebrated as one of the great bon vivants of Victorian society, and his work often ran afoul of Victorian attitudes that conflicted with Burton's open views of sexuality. Like I told you, the guy was interesting.

Answer: Teddy Roosevelt

In some ways, Roosevelt can be considered one of the first mixed martial artists. He was an amateur boxer through his days at Harvard, taking up the sport to combat childhood frailty and asthma. In his days as a rancher, Roosevelt gained notoriety for punching out a local tough who called him "four-eyes" and demanded he buy drinks for the house. As President, Roosevelt would study Judo (still technically a form of jiujitsu) under Yoshiaki Yamashita, becoming, according to some sources, the first American to hold a brown belt in the discipline. His martial skills and conditioning may have played a part in his most amazing physical feat in 1912, which saw him survive an assassin's bullet (slowed by Roosevelt's eyeglass case and folded notes) and deliver a speech in Milwaukee while still bleeding.

Perhaps the paragon of American self-reliance, Roosevelt laid out his personal manifesto in a speech titled "The Strenuous Life." Delivered in Chicago in 1899, the speech argued against the satisfaction of the idle class, advocating continuous efforts to improve upon past successes and confronting danger on the road to triumph. In his career as a rancher, Roosevelt became one of the great advocates of experiencing and preserving the grandeur of the American terrain. He wrote numerous books and articles about the American wilderness (including one of the first published Bigfoot accounts) and as President established the first national parks. In 1898, he resigned as Secretary of the Navy and raised his own cavalry regiment of cowboys, prospectors, and other adventurers with experience in the American Southwest, whose brutal heat mimicked conditions in the battlegrounds of Cuba. These "Rough Riders" played a major part in the Spanish-American War, including the epic Battle of San Juan Hill. Elected Governor of New York later that year, Roosevelt followed up on the anti-corruption reforms he had began years before as New York City police commissioner. Republican machine bosses, fearing loss of income from graft, attempted to rid themselves of Roosevelt by campaigning for his nomination as Vice President in the 1900 race, only to see Roosevelt become President the following year with the assassination of William McKinley.

As President, Roosevelt espoused a progressive agenda, ostensibly breaking up monopolistic trusts (though he has been criticized on this point by historians) and establishing some of the first regulations for safe food production. He was an aggressive diplomat, following his own dictum of "speak softly, but carry a big stick" - making every attempt to settle problems rationally through negotiation, but being ready to use military force. His accomplishments include supporting Panamanian independence from Colombia, which enabled construction of the US-controlled Panama Canal, and brokering a peace treaty between Russia and Japan, for which he received the 1905 Nobel Peace Prize.

Answer: Richard Branson

Branson started his Virgin business empire in the early 1970s with Virgin Recording Studio and Virgin Records. His ventures would branch out in a plethora of directions afterward, including forays into airlines (Virgin Atlantic) and retail (Virgin Megastores) in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Branson stepped into the burgeoning cellular phone field with Virgin Mobile, which has grown into a major player in personal telecommunications. Perhaps his most ambitious project is Virgin Galactic, one of the first private companies with realistic plans for civilian space travel and enterprise. Branson has also been an active philanthropist and worker for human rights, including extensive work in advocacy for South Africa, Kenya, and Sudan, as well as environmental work like serving in the Thatcher government spearheading anti-litter initiatives. Among Branson's most impressive philanthropic projects is the Virgin Earth Challenge, which rewards technologies that permanently remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

In a 2013 interview, Dos Equis spokesman Jonathan Goldsmith stated that, with the death of Nelson Mandela, Branson was probably the current reigning Most Interesting Man in the World.

Answer: Roy Chapman Andrews

Andrews stepped into New York's American Museum of Natural History in 1906 with a fresh degree from Beloit College and the ambition to become an explorer. The museum's director told him that there were no openings, but Andrews badgered him until, finally, he joined the museum's staff - as a janitor. From these humble beginnings, Andrews would work his way up, becoming a fossil collector while finishing his graduate degree at Columbia and finally becoming the museum's director himself.

In 1922, Chapman launched an expedition into Mongolia, where he theorized he would find fossils never before collected. Though Mongolia might have been a prime spot paleontologically, it was suboptimal politically and topographically. To its north was Russia, still in the wake of its civil war. To its south was China, also going through various civil conflicts. Underneath ones feet was the shifting sand of the Gobi desert, which made it nearly impossible to determine the underlying geology of the area, and the wildlife of the wilderness, including vipers which would infest the camp nightly during the winter. All around was the bandit-ridden anarchy of a nation without a stable government. Chapman's group was well armed, with a truck-mounted machine gun keeping sentry over the expedition and Chapman himself continually carrying a sidearm.

In one episode, bandits attempted to hold up Chapman away from the camp, only to have the scientist charge the group with his truck, firing at the outlaws with his revolver. Still, Chapman's group sallied forth on expeditions through the 1920s, eventually discovering an intact Baluchitherium (giant rhinoceros) skull, a ring of oviraptor eggs, and mammal skulls dating back to the time of dinosaurs. Chapman pronounced the expeditions worth the danger, and today the annual award for the scientist working under the most hostile conditions is named for him.

Answer: Antonio Inoki

I am not sure if the Dos Equis copywriters had Inoki in mind, but the statement does fit. Inoki was one of several Japanese wrestlers trained in legitimate submission wrestling by German Karl Gotch. Along the way, Inoki became well-versed in karate as well. Though the vast majority of Inoki's matches sported the predetermined outcomes typical of professional wrestling, Inoki was one of the most feared real combatants in the business; wrestlers who tried to get "cute" with Inoki would often find themselves brutally beaten. This factored into a 1976 spectacle match with Muhammad Ali, which saw the boxer insist on numerous rule modifications before he would get in with the grappler/karateka. The resulting debacle was probably the worst match that either man ever took part in.

In the 1980s, when a young student became too aggressive in an impromptu punching exhibition, Inoki delivered a resounding open-hand blow to the youngster's face. The schoolboy bowed deeply and thanked Inoki for the slap, and a filmclip of the event was shown repeatedly on Japanese television. Over time, the "Inoki slap" became a ritual, first for young wrestlers and, eventually, for admirers in ritualistic "receiving lines" after matches. In 2003, mixed martial arts great Lyoto Machida made his debut for Inoki's New Japan promotion, winning by decision. Inoki came over to Machida and slapped him twice full out. Machida, who grew up in Brazil and did not know the tradition, was honestly stunned and unsure of how to react, but finally picked up on the body language of the audience and gave Inoki a respectful bow.

While still wrestling, Inoki formed his own political party and gained a seat in the Japanese Diet. He would eventually become the first political leader from a democratic nation to meet with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Inoki would also meet with Saddam Hussein before the first Gulf War to persuade the Iraqi dictator to release Japanese prisoners. The wrestler held his seat until 1995, when he lost amid controversy over involvement with Japan's notorious Yazuka organized crime syndicate. Yes, even when Inoki loses, he still makes it interesting.

Answer: Christopher Lee and Ian Fleming

In addition to Lee and Fleming, the Special Operations Executive included children's author Roald Dahl, playwright Noel Coward, and 'Gone with the Wind' actor Leslie Howard. The full extent of their operations remain classified to this day, but they are known to have sabotaged the embryonic Axis nuclear program in Norway, planted documents with US intelligence indicating that the Nazis planned to invade South America, and further encouraged American entry into World War II by enjoying special moments with influential isolationists. (If you think I am exaggerating on that last point, you are invited to Google "Roald Dahl" and "Clare Booth Luce". Warning: practically any page with all these terms can be considered adult content, and you will never be able to think of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' the same way again after viewing them.)

Lee joined the group (which convened, appropriately enough, on Baker Street in London) after serving with Finnish forces against the USSR in 1939, then moved to the British Long Range Desert Group before joining Special Operations. After the war, Lee slowly built a reputation in film and theater. He found his career tone in 1957 playing the Frankenstein Monster in the Hammer release 'Curse of Frankenstein'. He would follow this in 1958 with his performance in 'Horror of Dracula'. Over the years, he played Kharis the Mummy, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the eponymous Bond villain in 'The Man with the Golden Gun', Count Dooku in the 'Star Wars' prequels, and Saruman in Peter Jackson's J. R. R. Tolkien films. While directing Lee in 'Return of the King', Jackson began giving stage direction as to how Lee should react to being stabbed in the back. Presumably drawing on his war days, Lee proceeded to demonstrate to Jackson, in chillingly rational detail, just how a man stabbed in the back would react in real life. (This may be a bit creepy, but one must admit it is interesting.)

Aside from his work with Special Operations, Fleming would also work for British Naval Intelligence planning false flag operations, commando strategy, and espionage against the ostensibly neutral but pro-fascist Spain. After the war, Fleming drew on his own background (both in intelligence and as a bon vivant) to create James Bond, arguably the most prominent spy in world literature. He would use the character in twelve novels and nine short stories.

Answer: Moe Berg

A backup catcher for most of his career, Berg enjoyed a well-earned reputation as "baseball's resident intellectual." He could claim some facility with up to twelve languages (though knowledgeable contemporaries rated him fluent in only English and French) and contributed toward more accurate English-to-Japanese transliteration in the 1930s. Though never a good enough hitter to start at the big-league level, he was an excellent defensive catcher, and was in demand as a backup for a seventeen-year career with five teams, followed by a stint as a coach for the Boston Red Sox. In 1934, while touring Japan with a Babe Ruth-led all-star team, Berg surreptitiously shot comprehensive film of Tokyo from the tallest building in the city; these films would be used to help plan Jimmy Doolittle's bombing raid on Tokyo in 1942. (Some sources say that Berg's films were of negligible help, but the CIA recognizes Berg's contribution on its website.)

With the United States' entry into World War II, Berg signed on with the Office of Inter-American Affairs in 1942, then transferred to the fledgling Office of Strategic Services (OSS, precursor to the modern CIA) in 1943. Berg's facility with languages and ability to quickly assimilate information served him well as an agent; he was assigned to shadow German physicist Werner Heisenberg to determine whether or not the Nazi atomic program warranted heightened Allied attention. Berg attended several of Heisenberg's lectures and joined in some informal bull sessions with the researcher, passing himself off as a nondescript Continental scientist. Judging from Heisenberg's offhand comments, Berg determined that the Nazis were nowhere near building a usable atomic device and that there was no reason to risk Allied lives bombing German research facilities or attempting to assassinate Heisenberg; the latter task would have fallen to Berg himself if his findings had been the opposite.

After the war, Berg turned down coaching offers in major league baseball. He was qualified to be a teacher or an attorney (having finished a law degree at Columbia during his playing days), but did not pursue these avenues, either. Instead, he lived out the rest of his life as a raconteur, implying on occasion that he was still with the CIA. He was essentially homeless, living for weeks at a time with his family or with well-heeled friends like Jimmy Breslin or Joe Cronin; a favorite anecdote has Joe DiMaggio inviting the catcher-turned-spy to stay the night in lieu of a long train ride to Berg's sister's house, only to find the Princeton man still staying with the Yankee Clipper six weeks later. Berg did attempt a second career with the CIA spying on the Soviet nuclear program in the 1950s, but his rough-and-tumble days with the chaotic OSS had not prepared him for the more refined work of the Cold War, and this assignment did not last. Aside from some consulting work for Nelson Rockefeller, Berg lived out the last quarter-century of his life as a charming drifter.

Answer: Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee (known as Lee Jun Fan in Cantonese) was born in the US in 1940, but was raised in Hong Kong where he studied under Wing Chun master Yip Man. In 1959, fearing for the trouble-prone young martial artist's safety, his parents sent him back to the United States. As Lee had won a cha-cha dance competition (often claiming the cha-cha championship of Southeast Asia), he secured a job as dance instructor on a passenger liner to pay for his passage east.

After studying at the University of Washington, Lee settled in California, where he was a top Kung Fu teacher. His remarkable abilities won him various television and movie parts, including the role of Kato in the TV adaption of 'The Green Hornet'. In 1964, after having trouble in a challenge match with a rival kung fu master, Lee embarked on a radical deconstruction of his fighting style. Drawing on Taoist concepts, Lee theorized that the successful fighter would be like water, able to take whatever form necessary depending on circumstances. Paraphrasing Lee: just as water could take the form of a glass or a teapot, and just as water could gently flow or crash with great impact, so too should a fighter be able to kick, punch, clinch (trap), and wrestle. Older martial arts relied on repetition of intricate dance-like forms called katas. Lee threw those out, emphasizing the mastery of simple, staple techniques as appropriate for the situation; in Lee's words: "I do not fear the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks one time; I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." Lee drew these techniques from kung fu models like wing chun and Shaolin, but also studied wrestling, judo, and submission techniques with master grappler Gene LeBell, and made careful studies of boxing (watching hours of Muhammad Ali's matches), world martial arts like Muay Thai and Filipino sikaran, and even fencing (for the concepts of intercepting and attacking at the same time).

Lee continued with martial arts training and sporadic film work through the 1960s. In the early 1970s, he revved up his film career in earnest, starring in three Hong Kong kung fu films, then going on to make his first Hollywood film, 1973 release 'Enter the Dragon'. Just as he and his martial arts philosophy began to take hold of the popular imagination, however, Lee died suddenly of a mysterious brain swelling, possibly as a reaction to medication.

Answer: Fernando Lamas

Billy Crystal did base his character from "Fernando's Hideaway" on Lamas, including the actor's familiar exclamation "Marvelous!" However, Crystal was quick to point out that his vain, vacuous character was only loosely connected with Lamas, whom he considered very intelligent and talented. The Argentine native (and Tony nominee for his role in the play 'Happy Hunting') starred in dozens of MGM musicals, eventually marrying his fourth and final wife, Esther Williams, after working with her in the film 'Dangerous When Wet'. He cultivated a "Latin Lover" public image, making regular rounds on the talk show circuit and earning a reputation as a raconteur. It is worth pointing out that he was concurrently considered the best fencer in Hollywood. Later in his career, Lamas secured a solid legacy as a television director, eventually working with his son Lorenzo on the prime-time soap opera 'Falcon Crest'. Upon the actor's death in 1982, Jonathan Goldsmith scattered Lamas' ashes from the stern of the sailboat they shared.

It is worth mentioning that Goldsmith himself has led a life most of us would consider quite interesting. He has lived on his sailboat in Marina del Ray since the 1980s, and after going through acting school with Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall, landed roles in dozens of movies and television shows. He was shot by John Wayne onscreen - but made it through multiple 'Star Trek' episodes as a redshirted crewman without perishing. He is credited with saving a stranded climber on Mount Whitney and a drowning swimmer in Malibu. Let's face it, the guy is interesting.