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Quiz about The Life of Riley Do You Remember

"The Life of Riley": Do You Remember? Quiz

This was one of the first TV sitcoms. If you're old enough to remember it, you may enjoy this quiz. Not all qustions can be answered from this show.

A multiple-choice quiz by mickeygreeneyes. Estimated time: 4 mins.

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Author
mickeygreeneyes

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
136,012

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
10 / 15

Plays
458

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. For how many years did the new, first-run episodes of "The Life of Riley" appear on TV? Hint

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Question 2 of 15

2. "The Life of Riley" was a popular radio show before it became a TV show.

True

False

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Question 3 of 15

3. What was Riley's first name?
Hint

Bill

Chester

Tom

George

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Question 4 of 15

4. Who played Riley in the first version of the TV series?
Hint

William Bendix

William Demarest

Gale Gordon

Jackie Gleason

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Question 5 of 15

5. Who played Riley in the second version of the series?
Hint

William Bendix

Gale Gordon

Jackie Gleason

William Demarest

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Question 6 of 15

6. Where did Riley work?
Hint

at a trucking firm

at a gas station

in an airplane factory

in a diner

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Question 7 of 15

7. Who were Riley's two neighbors?
Hint

Gillis and Honeybee

Millie and Jerry

Fred and Ethel

Wes and Lugene

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Question 8 of 15

8. What character was played by a wrestler named Henry "Bomber" Kulky?
Hint

Schnauzer

Otto Schmidlap

Elmo Lincoln

Stanislaus Kuzava

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Question 9 of 15

9. One character who appeared on the radio version and on the first TV version, but not in the second TV edition was Digger O'Dell, the friendly __________.

Answer: (One Word; ten letters;a grave man)

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Question 10 of 15

10. Riley's most frequently used catch phrase was "What a revoltin' development this is!"

True

False

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Question 11 of 15

11. What character was played by Rosemary de Camp, then later by Marjorie Reynolds? Hint

Marge the waitress

Honeybee

Peg

Babs

NEXT>

Question 12 of 15

12. The first filmed sitcom in TV history was ______. Hint

The Life of Riley

The Stu Erwin Show

I Love Lucy

Love That Bob

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Question 13 of 15

13. Which member of the cast was a favorite of Walt Disney because his voice suited so many of Disney's animated characters? Hint

Tom D'Andrea

William Bendix

Sterling Holloway

Clifton Webb

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Question 14 of 15

14. "Egbert" was probably the funniest character name on the show. Who was Egbert? Hint

Gillis's son

Junior's friend

Riley's son

the annoying neighbor

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Question 15 of 15

15. Babs Riley, Chester and Peg's daughter, got married during the run of the series.

True

False

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. For how many years did the new, first-run episodes of "The Life of Riley" appear on TV?

Answer: 6

There were two versions, the first, starring Jackie Gleason, ran from 1949 to 1950. It didn't do well and was canceled. The series was revived in 1953 with William Bendix and ran until 1958. One year plus five years equals a total six-year run.

2. "The Life of Riley" was a popular radio show before it became a TV show.

Answer: True

The radio series ran from the early forties to 1951. Bendix starred.

3. What was Riley's first name?

Answer: Chester

His full name was Chester Alan Arthur Riley. He was named after one of the more obscure U.S. Presidents.

4. Who played Riley in the first version of the TV series?

Answer: Jackie Gleason

As he demonstrated on "The Honeymooners", Gleason was better as the blustering hothead than the well-meaning good guy. Also, people had gotten used to Bendix on the radio show, so they didn't take to Gleason as well as the network had hoped, so the show was canceled after one season.

5. Who played Riley in the second version of the series?

Answer: William Bendix

Some of Bill's movie roles were in "Guadalcanal Diary" (1943), "Lifeboat" (1944), and as the Babe in "The Babe Ruth Story" (1948).

6. Where did Riley work?

Answer: in an airplane factory

Riley lived in the L.A. suburbs and worked for Cunningham Aircraft as a riveter. His neighbor Gillis worked there too.

7. Who were Riley's two neighbors?

Answer: Gillis and Honeybee

Jim Gillis was played by Tom D'Andrea, Honeybee by Gloria Blondell, sister of Joan Blondell. Both women were well-known movie stars in the 1930s.

8. What character was played by a wrestler named Henry "Bomber" Kulky?

Answer: Otto Schmidlap

He was also known as "Bomber" Kulkavitch. He was in 7,000 matches.

9. One character who appeared on the radio version and on the first TV version, but not in the second TV edition was Digger O'Dell, the friendly __________.

Answer: undertaker

In case you forgot who he was, he'd always introduce himself in his trademark sepulchral voice as "Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker."

10. Riley's most frequently used catch phrase was "What a revoltin' development this is!"

Answer: True

Hardly an episode ever slipped by without ole Chester using this one. Something always went wrong for the poor guy! One of his other favorites was "My head is made up".

11. What character was played by Rosemary de Camp, then later by Marjorie Reynolds?

Answer: Peg

All the major characters were played by at least two people, considering that we're including a radio series, two TV versions, and a 1948 TV pilot with different actors entirely! I made up Marge.

12. The first filmed sitcom in TV history was ______.

Answer: The Life of Riley

All of the episodes were filmed and probably still exist somewhere, most likely in somebody's garage.
All these choices were on film, including "Love That Bob", which starred Bob Cummings.

13. Which member of the cast was a favorite of Walt Disney because his voice suited so many of Disney's animated characters?

Answer: Sterling Holloway

Holloway played Waldo on "Riley", as well as the voice of the Cheshire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951), and voice roles in "The Three Caballeros", "Bambi", and "Dumbo". He also voiced somebody called Winnie the Pooh.

14. "Egbert" was probably the funniest character name on the show. Who was Egbert?

Answer: Gillis's son

Egbert was the son of Gillis and Honeybee (a pretty funny name in itself). Gillis frequently talked about Egbert, and eventually he sent his son to boarding school.

15. Babs Riley, Chester and Peg's daughter, got married during the run of the series.

Answer: True

If you stuck with the show all the way to the end, you saw Babs marry Dan Marshall (Martin Milner) in the last season (1957-58). Thanks for playing my nostalgic quiz. Hope it brought back some pleasant memories of Friday nights in front of that tiny black-and-white screen. Take care. Mickey.

Source: Author mickeygreeneyes

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
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