To Say That... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Clint Eastwood

Laconic, steely eyed, and gritty are all terms that spring to mind when the name Clint Eastwood is mentioned. This quintessential tough guy once said about his roles that "everybody has a dream about how they'd like to handle certain situations, every boy from nine to one hundred would like to take vengeance into his own hands...."

Clint Eastwood was born on 31 May 1930 in San Francisco, California. He first came to attention in 1959 as Rowdy Yates in the television series "Rawhide". In 1964, his fame grew when he played the rugged "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy - "A Fistful of Dollars", "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". His tough guy persona was solidified when, in 1971, he played the role as Harry Callahan in "Dirty Harry" and its sequels which brought us such iconic lines as, "You've gotta ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" and "Go ahead, make my day."

Answer: Chuck Norris

"Chuck Norris can win a staring contest with a mirror.
Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups; he pushes the Earth down."

"Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist and actor best known for his roles in action films and the television series "Walker, Texas Ranger". A black belt in Tang Soo Do, Judo, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Norris became a pop culture phenomenon, not just for his tough-guy roles, but for the humorous, exaggerated "Chuck Norris Facts" that emerged around 2005. These are largely credited to Ian Spector's website, which compiled hyperbolic statements about Norris's strength, toughness, and omnipotence inspired by his on-screen persona. Norris himself has embraced the jokes, even referencing them in interviews and his 2008 book, "The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book".

Carlos Ray Norris was born on 10 March 1940, in Ryan, Oklahoma. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1958, serving as an air policeman in South Korea, where he began studying martial arts. After leaving the military in 1962, Norris opened a chain of karate schools and became a renowned martial artist, earning black belts in Tang Soo Do, Judo, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He won multiple karate world championships in the 1960s.

Norris moved into acting, debuting in "The Wrecking Crew" in 1969 alongside Bruce Lee, however, his breakout role came in "The Way of the Dragon" in 1972, where he battled Lee in an iconic Colosseum scene. He then gained wider fame by starring as Cordell Walker in "Walker, Texas Ranger" between 1993 and 2001.

Answer: Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford has played several iconic tough guy roles across his career. Born 13 July 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, Ford was raised in a middle-class family. He studied philosophy at Ripon College in Wisconsin, but left before graduating to pursue acting. His early career in Hollywood was slow, with minor roles in TV and film, leading him to work as a carpenter to support his family.

Ford's breakthrough came in 1977 when George Lucas cast him as Han Solo in "Star Wars: A New Hope". The role made him a star. In 1981, he solidified his status as the whip-cracking, snake fearing archaeologist and adventurer, Indiana Jones, in Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark", going on to star in four more films in the franchise.

Other notable roles include the hard-boiled, futuristic bounty hunter, Rick Deckard, in the 1982 movie "Blade Runner" and its sequel. He played the CIA analyst turned action hero Jack Ryan in "Patriot Games" in 1992 and "Clear and Present Danger" in 1994, as well as President James Marshall in "Air Force One" in 1997. His rugged charm and everyman persona made him a popular action hero.

Answer: Gene Hackman

In a 1999 interview Gene Hackman declared that it was "always more fun playing the heavy than it is playing the good guy". He should know. He earned two Academy Awards for playing tough guys.

Eugene Allen Hackman was born on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California. Following his parent's divorce, he went through a rebellious streak, which culminated in his being arrested at 16 for stealing candy and soda and spending a night in jail. This incident proved to be a turning point as Hackman, seeking structure and discipline, lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1947, a common practice before digital records made age verification easier. He served as a field radio operator from 1947 to 1952 and earned the rank of Private First Class.

After the Marines, Hackman pursued acting, studying at the Pasadena Playhouse. He debuted on Broadway in the 1960s and started gaining notice. His breakout role as Buck Barrow in the 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde" earned his Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. It would take another four years for him to win when he claimed a Best Actor Award for his role as Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in "The French Connection" in 1971. He became known for the versatility of his roles. Who can ever forget his portrayal of the villainous Lex Luther in the 1978 "Superman"? His role as Little Bill Daggett in "Unforgiven" in 1992 earned him a second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Answer: Jean Claude van Damme

If you are looking for a tough guy and martial arts practitioner who also took up ballet at the age of 16 and studied it for five years, then look no further than Jean-Claude van Damme, the man nicknamed the "Muscles from Brussels". According to him, "ballet is an art, but it's also one of the most difficult sports. If you can survive a ballet workout, you can survive a workout in any other sport."

Born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg on October 18, 1960, in Brussels, Belgium, this hard man is a martial artist, actor, and director known for his action films and tough-guy persona. He trained in Shotokan karate and kickboxing from age 10, later adding the aforementioned ballet and bodybuilding, which gave him the right physique for action roles. After moving to the U.S. in 1982, Van Damme worked odd jobs before venturing to Hollywood.

His breakout role came in 1988 as Frank Dux in "Bloodsport", a martial arts tournament fighter, which set his image as a gritty, skilled, tough guy. He solidified this persona in films like "Kickboxer" in 1989, "Double Impact" in 1991, and "Universal Soldier" the following year. In 1994's "Timecop" he played a time-traveling cop called Max Walker.

Answer: Humphrey Bogart

"Here's looking at you, kid".

An unscripted line added by Humphrey Bogart in his role as the world-weary, but romantic Rick Blaine in the 1942 film "Casablanca" has become one of cinema's most iconic quotes. Bogart, with his distinctive voice, rugged charm, and understated intensity had already established his persona of the cynical, yet morally complex antihero in films such as "High Sierra" (1941) and "The Maltese Falcon" (1941). With the release of "Casablanca", his reputation as a hard-boiled loner with a touch of idealism hidden beneath the hardened exterior was forever etched in the public's mind.

Humphrey Bogart was born on 25 December 1899 in New York City, New York. He was initially involved in stage acting before transitioning to cinema in the 1930s. His early roles often saw him portray tough-talking gangsters. His breakthrough came with "High Sierra" in 1941. His career reached its peak during the 1940s and 1950's with a number of memorable roles including an Academy Award-winning performance in "The African Queen" in 1951 opposite Katharine Hepburn. Humphrey Bogart died of esophageal cancer on 14 January 1957 in Los Angeles, California.

Answer: Bruce Lee

"Empty your mind. Become formless and shapeless like water. When water is poured into a cup, it becomes the cup. Be water, my friend."

The most widely remembered image of Bruce Lee is shirtless and dominating fights with lightning speed and raw power as portrayed in his breakthrough Hollywood film "Enter the Dragon" in 1973. His most enduring legacy, however, is his innovative philosophy which led to him developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s. KJD is not a fixed martial arts style, but rather a philosophy and hybrid approach to combat. Translated as "Way of the Intercepting Fist," it emphasizes intercepting an opponent's attack while it's developing, with one of his key tenets being freedom or the "form of no form" - be adaptable and formless, like water.

Bruce Lee was born Lee Jun-fan on 27 November 27 1940 in San Francisco, but was raised in Hong Kong. Lee began training in Wing Chun kung fu as a teenager, and appeared in over 20 films as a child actor. In 1959, he returned to the States where he studied philosophy at the University of Washington while teaching martial arts. He gained fame demonstrating techniques on TV and played the role of Kato in "The Green Hornet" between 1966 and 1967. "Enter the Dragon" cemented his status as a Hollywood tough guy, however, just weeks after the film's release, Lee was in Hong Kong to discuss "Game of Death" when he was found unresponsive in his room on 20 July 1973. After being rushed to hospital, he was pronounced dead from a cerebral edema at the age of 32.

Answer: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger went from stating, "I'll be back", one of the most most quoted movie lines in history in his role as a relentless cyborg assassin in the 1984 film "The Terminator", to being a two-time governor of California. The latter role earned him the nickname "the Governator", however, this wasn't the first time that the Austrian-American had changed his career.

Schwarzenegger, who was born in Thal, Austria, on 30 July 1947, dominated body building in the early 1970s, winning the Mr. Olympia title six consecutive times between 1970 and 1975. He then moved into acting with roles that emphasized his massive physique, stoic demeanor, and one-liners, with his breakthrough role coming in the 1982 movie "Conan the Barbarian".

"The Terminator" made Schwarzenegger a superstar and he became Hollywood's top action star in the 1980s and 1990s with hits like "Predator" (1987), "Total Recall" (1990), and "True Lies" (1994). In 1983 he became a U.S. citizen. During the 1990s, he became increasingly active in the Republican Party, and was elected 38th Governor of California in a 2003 recall election. Re-elected in 2006, he served two terms until 2011.

Answer: Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson was once described by a film critic as "a Clark Gable who had been left out in the sun too long". With his granite-like features, trademark mustache, and on-screen persona of stoic silence, intense stares, and minimal dialogue, however, Bronson epitomised the tough-guy genre.

He was born Charles Dennis Buchinsky on 03 November 1921 in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, the 11th of 15 children in a Pennsylvania coal-mining family of Lithuanian descent. The family lived in poverty, and he worked in the mines as a teenager, before serving as a B-29 tail gunner in World War II. After his return from the war, Bronson used the GI Bill to study art and pursued a career in acting, changing his surname in the 1950's because of the anti-communist sentiment of the period. Fame first came in Europe with films like "Once Upon a Time in the West" in 1968. Hollywood followed with hits such as "The Magnificent Seven" in 1960, "The Great Escape" in 1963, and "The Dirty Dozen" in 1967.

It was his portrayal of Paul Kersey, a mild-mannered architect turned relentless vigilante after his family is brutally attacked in the 1974 thriller "Death Wish" and its subsequent sequels, that turned Bronson into box office gold and cemented his legacy. Bronson remained a box-office draw into the 1980s and 1990s, before he retired due to health issues. He died in Los Angeles on 30 August 2003 at age 81 from pneumonia.

Answer: Steve McQueen

"You only live once, so live life to the fullest."

Whether it was as the actor known as "The King of Cool" for his antihero roles in the 1960s and 1970s or as Harvey Mushman, the racing driver who won the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring with a broken foot, Steve McQueen certainly lived up to his maxim.

Born Terrence Stephen McQueen in Beech Grove, Indiana on 24 March 1930, he had a troubled childhood and spent time in a school for delinquent boys. At the age of 17, he joined the the U.S. Marines, and at 22, he successfully auditioned for one of the coveted spots in Lee Strasberg's famed Actors Studio in New York. His first lead role was in the in sci-fi film "The Blob" in 1958. His fame rose with films like "The Magnificent Seven" in 1960 and "The Great Escape" in 1963, where his famous leap over the barbed wire on a motorcycle while being pursued by Nazi troops in his role of Hilts The Cooler King is etched into the minds of millions of movie-goers. McQueen became one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars.

In 1966, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the loner US Navy sailor Jake Holman in "The Sand Pebbles". In the latter half of the 1970s McQueen's health took a turn for the worse and, despite pursuing many avenues of treatment, he died on 07 November 1980 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, from terminal mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure, the source of which has never been fully identified.