Famous TV Actors Trivia Quiz

Answer: Don Johnson

"Elvis and the Beauty Queen" was a television film made in the early 1980s, depicting a relationship Elvis Presley had in the late stages of his life. This television film was released in 1981, which would have been early in Johnson's career. An American actor and songwriter, his work in this movie is among some of his most notable. Here, he acted as a co-star alongside Stephanie Zimbalist, who played as Linda Thompson.

Johnson's work was gently criticized by "People" magazine, where a reviewer labeled him as 'praiseworthy' right before highlighting the unusual clothing he wore while portraying Elvis Presley. The "Chicago Tribune" saw Johnson's performance as hilarious with no negative critiques to be made.

Answer: Roger Moore

"Maverick" was a comedic western-style TV show originating in the late 1950s that told about the adventures of the Maverick brothers. Moore performed this duty as Beau for fourteen episodes, while also making subsequent appearances in spin-offs, and was even portrayed in a comic book version of the show. He ultimately left after citing a disagreement he had with the script writing quality.

Moore's introduction to the show can be at least somewhat attributed to the departure of James Garner. Moore's first appearance in the show came in "The Bundle From Britain", the opener to season four. The title of the episode plays into Moore well, as he arrives off of an extended stay in England.

Answer: Mickey Rooney

"All in the Family" was a TV sitcom show that ran from 1971-1979. In it, the Bunker Family discussed important issues of the time, including racism, feminism, politics, religion, and homosexuality. Rooney believed that the show itself would be too controversial and not have enough of a chance to succeed to justify performing in it.

The show went on to last nine seasons, so it's fair to suggest that Rooney made a mistake. That said, Rooney did go on to have a career that lasted 88 years, starting at the age of seven years old. In the late 1930s he was the highest paid actor in the world, so it isn't as if Rooney was likely consumed by guilt over not taking this role.

Answer: Tom Selleck

The way "The Dating Game" worked essentially was that contestants asked questions to three potential dates who were shielded from view. After listing to the answers, the contestant chose their blind date.

Hilariously, Selleck was actually not selected by the episode's contestant, a funny fate he would share with other notable names to appear on the show. The included names such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Burt Reynolds.

Answer: Tom Hanks

Hanks appeared in a total of three episodes in this 1980s sitcom about a family with a political and cultural ideological clash. Hanks played Ned Donnelly, a character who was quite opportunistic to say the least; he went on to steal an expensive baseball glove, a straight up car, and $4.5 million from the company for which he worked.

In addition he was coping with alcohol problems, as Donnelly was apparently quite the drinker when he studied at Harvard University. The family staged a successful intervention and established a support system for him.

Answer: Bill Cosby

"The Electric Company" was a kids TV show from the 1970s that attempted to help improve their literacy. Cosby would go on to handle a few more roles during his two year stint with the show. As well, Cosby would later host a seminar intended for youth, appropriately titled "Bill Cosby talks to kids about drugs."

Interestingly, Cosby's spoken voice lines would go on to be reused later, even in episodes he in which did not appear. As such, Cosby was billed as having performed in a litany of episodes in which he did not actually tangibly work. The need to budget could possibly explain this, as well as giving some background as to why Cosby was a regular character in the very first season, then only seen sparingly afterward.

Answer: Charles Bronson

Jack Klugman once gave an interview where he talked about an elementary school teacher who told him he would never be fit to act. During this interview, he mentioned how meeting and eventually living with Charles Bronson was a major support for him throughout his early acting career. Bronson, in turn, described Klugman as being extremely neat and tidy to the point of being "fastidious" in his own words.

Answer: Bing Russell

"Bonanza" was a western TV show, airing from 1959-73. It told about the lives of the Cartwright family and the challenges they faced while living on a ranch in Nevada during and after the Civil War in the United States.

Bing Russell got to play a heck of a character, as a recurring theme with Clem was his tendency to enjoy the use of pyrotechnics or other forms of flammable material. In one episode, the show actually paid tribute to a real-world fire which took place in 1875 in Virginia City, which was the setting of this show.

Answer: Ernest Borgnine

"Hollywood Squares" aired from 1966-1980. On the show, contestants played a version of tic-tac-toe in order to win cash and prizes. The celebrities who sat in the nine-square 3 x 3 cube grid to help answer questions were popular stars of the day. The center square, where Borgnine sat on the first episode, was often for the most famous guest.

Borgnine ultimately lived quite the life, both in the real world and in front of a screen (or microphone!) Borgnine was a Gunner's Mate First Class who ultimately went on to be awarded with the Navy Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

He may be most well known for his work with "SpongeBob Squarepants", as he famously voiced Mermaid Man in that show. That said, Ernest Borgnine in general is celebrated for having lived a productive life right up until the end, and he would have been an old man recording lines for the fittingly elderly Mermaid Man.

Before taking on the role of fighting crime in Bikini Bottom, Borgnine won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1955 for his role in "Marty." He ultimately won three Primetime Emmy Awards, with his third coming when he was the ripe age of 92 years old. His career began in 1951 and only ended with his eventual passing away in 2012.

Answer: Bruce Lee

"The Green Hornet", which ran from 1966-1967, was about a wealthy man who became a masked avenger. Kato essentially acted the part of a sidekick to the Green Hornet. As such, you could say that Bruce Lee was essentially the Robin of "The Green Hornet." Bruce Lee would go on to make a cameo appearance as Kato in "Batman: The Spell of Tut", funnily enough, so Kato and Robin have actually canonically met before.

Curiously, since the day of production and even to this day, it is technically illegal to produce any aspect of this TV series as a home video. Fox retains its broadcasting rights, so they could theoretically choose to broadcast any episode from this one season show any time they'd like.