Celebrities Born in the 1930s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ray Charles

Blending gospel, blues, jazz, and R&B into something brand-new, Ray Charles became a founding force behind soul music. And he did it with a voice so expressive it could break your heart... or heal it, depending on which record you were spinning. Born in Albany, Georgia, and raised in Florida, he lost his sight at a young age, but never his determination.

By the early 1960s, he was topping charts with songs like "Georgia on My Mind," a tune so beloved that Georgia eventually adopted it as their state song.

Not bad.

Answer: James Earl Jones

Like Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones has one of those voices that could read your grocery list and still make it sound like the most important speech you ever heard. Born in rural Mississippi and raised partly in Michigan, he overcame a childhood stutter so severe that he once stopped talking altogether. Thankfully for the rest of us, he found his voice, and in the end, it turned out to be a pretty fine one at that. By the 1960s he was projecting it loudly and proudly, making waves on stage and screen, earning a Tony Award for "The Great White Hope" and later stacking up Emmys, a Grammy, and pretty much every major acting honor you can think of.

Of course, the galaxy knows him best as the unmistakable voice behind Darth Vader. Even though David Prowse wore the armor, it was Jones who gave Vader that deep menace that made millions of kids in 1977 go "uh-oh" at the exact same moment.

Answer: Casey Kasem

Casey Kasem was the smooth-talking radio host who could make it feel like he was talking personally to you. Born Kemal Amin Kasem to Lebanese-American parents, he grew up in Detroit and found his way into radio while serving in the U.S. Army, broadcasting on the American Forces Korea Network. By 1970 he co-created and began hosting "American Top 40", a show that would go on to become a national institution.

His sign-off, "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars," became one of the most recognizable catchphrases in broadcasting.

Answer: Yoko Ono

Born into a prominent Tokyo family and educated in both Japan and the United States, Yoko Ono dove headfirst into the avant-garde world that became her home. Ono was an early pioneer of conceptual and performance art, the kind of weird boundary-breaking work that makes some people think, others laugh, and still others tilt their heads like confused golden retrievers. Her "Cut Piece" (1964), where audience members were invited to cut pieces of her clothing, remains one of the foundational works of performance art.

Ono also played a major role in the Fluxus Movement, a loose collective of artists pushing the limits of what art could be, blending humor, instruction pieces, chance, philosophy, and a whole lot of imagination. Alongside that, she became a lifelong activist for peace, human rights, and the environment, often using her art to amplify messages of compassion and social change.

And yes, she also collaborated musically with her very famous husband, John Lennon, forming one of the most recognizable artistic partnerships of the 20th century. The world may remember her most for Lennon, but the art world knows she has a legacy all her own, and a pretty bold one at that.

Answer: Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani was the designer you called when you want to look powerful without looking like you tried to look powerful. Born in Piacenza in 1934, he built a fashion empire based on clean lines, understated elegance, and a radical notion that clothes shouldn't feel like medieval armor. Armani modernized tailoring in the 1970s and 80s, especially for professional women, who embraced his "Power Suit", a sleek, confident silhouette.

His men's jackets, famously unlined and softly structured, changed the way the fashion world thought about comfort.

Answer: Dudley Moore

Dudley Moore could make you laugh, break your heart, and play a flawless piano solo all before lunch. Born in London in 1935, he grew up dealing with physical challenges due to a clubfoot, but he turned to music early and became an accomplished classical pianist. We're talking concert hall material. Instead, he found his way into "Beyond the Fringe", the renowned 1960s satire revue with Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Alan Bennett. The four of them essentially rewrote the book on British comedy, kicking open the door for Monty Python, "Not the Nine O'Clock News", and just about every clever, slightly unhinged British comedian who followed.

Moore's partnership with Peter Cook, most notably in their "Derek and Clive" routines and "Not Only... But Also", turned him into comedy gold. But Hollywood had a surprise waiting for him. In 1981, Moore played Arthur Bach, the charmingly helpless drunk millionaire in "Arthur", opposite Liza Minnelli. The role was a perfect cocktail of humor, charm, warmth, and drunkenness, earning him an Oscar nomination and making him a household name. He went on to a string of film successes, blending humor with a surprising emotional tenderness.

Answer: Mary Travers

Mary Travers was the tall, blonde, effortless voice at the center of Peter, Paul, and Mary, one of the most influential folk groups of the 1960s. Though born in Louisville, Kentucky, she grew up in New York's Greenwich Village. With her rich contralto voice, Travers helped make songs like "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "If I Had a Hammer," and "Blowin' in the Wind" into standards that whole generations grew up singing at camp, in school, or anywhere somebody showed up with an acoustic guitar.

Travers was also deeply involved in the social activism that defined the era. She and her band mates performed at the 1963 March on Washington and their music became intertwined with the Civil Rights Movement and anti-war protests.

Answer: Jack Nicholson

Born in Neptune City, New Jersey in 1937, Jack Nicholson spent his early years circling Hollywood, working in animation studios and low-budget films before carving out a place as one of the biggest screen presences in cinema history. Whether he's playing a rebellious mental-ward patient, a super-villain, or a deranged writer with an axe and possible anger-management issues, Nicholson possesses a certain rare energy that made him a superstar.

He won Oscars for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Terms of Endearment", and "As Good as It Gets", making him one of the most decorated actors in Hollywood. Outside of the awards, Nicholson is certainly remembered for the moments he helped create. The crazed grin from "The Shining", the courtroom explosion in "A Few Good Men", the chaotic swagger of the Joker in "Batman"... it's a greatest hits album that spans decades.

Answer: Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot was born in Orillia, Ontario, in 1938 and grew up steeped in music, eventually crafting a songwriting style rooted in storytelling, melancholy, and the rugged beauty of the Canadian landscape. By the 1970s he had become an international star, with hits like "If You Could Read My Mind," "Carefree Highway," "Sundown," and, of course, the haunting maritime epic, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

Answer: Ian McKellen

If you know someone who can deliver a Shakespearean monologue one moment and stare down the Wolverine the next, please say to Sir Ian McKellen for me. He was born in Burnley in 1939 and became a towering figure in the Royal Shakespeare Company long before Hollywood came a-calling. On stage, he's played kings, villains, schemers, lovers... you know, the whole dramatic buffet of characters, and he's earned shelffuls of awards in the process.

McKellen didn't stop after mastering the stage. To modern audiences, he's best known as Gandalf the Grey/White from "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" films, and as the delightfully charismatic "Magneto" in the "X-Men" franchise, while always looking as though he were enjoying himself immensely.