The Idiots are Winnin' Trivia Quiz

Answer: Both

Lloyd Christmas, played by Jim Carrey, is the one who meets Mary Swanson while driving her to the airport in 'Dumb and Dumber' (1994). His attempts to return the briefcase she left behind in the limousine lead to his getting fired (apparently a familiar experience), so free to set off with his roommate and best friend, Harry Dunne, to return the briefcase. Despite their ultimate failure in this task, they remain optimistic.

In 'Dumb and Dumber To' (2014), they embark on another road trip, this time inspired by the discovery that Harry has a daughter. The sequel involves a lot more deception to drive the plot - it starts with Harry discovering that Lloyd had been faking his catatonic depression over his failure to win the heart of Mary Swanson, and the layers of deception build from there.

Jim Carrey is best known as a slapstick comedian, releasing 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective', 'The Mask' and 'Dumb and Dumber' all in 1994. However, he also received both critical and popular acclaim for more serious roles such as the title role in 'The Truman Show' (1998) and Andy Kaufman in 'Man on the Moon' (1999).

Answer: Both

Harry Dunne, played by Jeff Daniels, is marginally the more intelligent of the pair who are at the centre of these two films. Which is not to say much. In the first film, he has been fired from his job as a dog handler for showing up (with dogs in a less-than-show-worthy condition), and is the one who convinces Lloyd they should drive across the country in his dog van to return the briefcase - although he is also the first to reconsider the plan.

In the second film, it is his search that drives the story, with Lloyd coming along to offer support and comic incidents. Both films end with the two pals NOT getting involved with some beautiful girls they encounter: in 'Dumb and Dumber' this is because they are too naive to recognise the blatant invitation, in 'Dumb and Dumber To' it is because they choose to play a prank on the girls. In both cases, they seem blissfully unaware of that they are missing.

Jeff Daniels was already an established film star in 1994, having debuted in 'Ragtime' (1981), and achieving his breakthrough into public attention in 'Terms of Endearment' (1983), which led to a starring role in 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' (1985). Since he has been primarily known as a dramatic actor, his role in the 'Dumb and Dumber' franchise represent a departure from his usual form.

Answer: Dumb and Dumber

Mary Swanson, played by Lauren Holly, is the woman at the centre of the fuss in 'Dumb and Dumber'. She leaves the ransom money for her kidnapped husband in Lloyd's limousine, before flying home to Aspen. Lloyd had already fallen for her; Harry follows suit when he meets her; both are rejected in favor of her husband, with whom she is reunited at the end of the chaos.

Lauren Holly's first major role was on television, as a deputy sheriff on 'Picket Fences' (1992-1996). Her television roles have also included playing Director Jenny Shepard on 'NCIS' from 2005 to 2008. Film roles have not been quite as high profile, but the role of Mary Swanson earned her an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Jim Carrey, to whom she was subsequently married for one year, 1996-7).

Answer: Dumb and Dumber

'Mental' Mentalino, played by Mike Starr, was one of the gang who had kidnapped Mary Swanson's husband in 'Dumb and Dumber'. He and J. P. Shay (played by Karen Duffy) were supposed to collect the ransom Mary left in the limo, and tried unsuccessfully to recover it from Lloyd and Harry's apartment. He later posed as a hitchhiker to get close to the pair along their journey. His attempt to poison them backfired when they put chili peppers on his hamburger as a practical joke. The boys attempted to treat his subsequently-irritated gastric ulcer with the pills he was carrying -which unfortunately for him were not his medicine, but the poison he had planned for them.

Mike Starr is a character actor whose face will be familiar from a host of (usually small) roles in film and television, including 45 episodes of 'Ed' (2001-2003) as Kenny Sandusky and 30 episodes of 'The Young and the Restless' (2011-2012) as Angelo.

Answer: Dumb and Dumber

Nicholas Andre, played by Charles Rocket, was the mastermind behind the plot to kidnap Bobby Swanson and extort a major ransom from his wealthy wife in 'Dumb and Dumber'. He remains in the background for most of the film, before confronting Harry and discovering that Harry and Lloyd had spent all the money, leaving the briefcase full of IOUs -which, given their total inability to establish financial security, they were never going to be able to honor. Needless to say, since (as this quiz title tells you) the idiots are winning, he ends up arrested, along with the surviving accomplice.

Charles Rocket (also performing as Charlie Hamburger and Charlie Kennedy) was a cast member on 'Saturday Night Live' for one season (1980-81), following which he had a steady if unspectacular film and television career. He played the supporting role of Judge Gil Fitzpatrick in every episode of the single-season show 'The Home Court' (1995-6).

Answer: Dumb and Dumber To

Fraida Felcher, played by Kathleen Turner, was a former girlfriend of both Lloyd and Harry, who sent Harry a postcard saying she was pregnant and needed him to call her - in 1991, so well before the start of the 2014 'Dumb and Dumber To'. Lloyd and Harry meet her, looking for that child who might be a kidney donor for Harry, only to discover that she was adopted. It is not until the end of the convoluted series of deceptions and misunderstandings that Fraida breaks it to the boys that neither of them could possibly be the father of her child, since they never had sex with her.

Kathleen Turner rose to prominence with her role in 'Body Heat' (1981), and had a number of romantic lead roles during the 1980s, including 'Romancing the Stone' (1984) and 'The War of the Roses' (1989). She has done a lot of voice work in addition to live roles, including the memorable Jessica Rabbit in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' (1988).

Answer: Dumb and Dumber To

Penny Pinchelow, played by Rachel Melvin, was born as Fanny Felcher, before being adopted by the Pinchelows. As such, she was the putative daughter being sought by Harry (although her father turned out to be a high school friend of our heroes). Because she has headed off to a convention without an important package, the boys set out on her trail, and once again get embroiled in dodgy dealings - and a package that does not contain what it should. Make that two - the case with an invention worth a fortune contained cupcakes, and the cooler with Lloyd's kidney (don't ask) held a pork chop.

Rachel Melvin has had a number of small roles in film and television since she first appeared in an episode of the drama series 'Summerland' in 2004, in a part described as "Teen Girl". In 2005 she got a part in the long-running soap opera 'Days of our Lives', appearing for five episodes as a French girl named Georgia. However, her big break came a few months later when she began to appear as Chelsea Brady on the same show (typically, nobody noticed how much she looked like the earlier girl), a part she played until 2009 and reprised in 2023 for the episode featuring Victor's funeral (fans of the show will appreciate the significance of his death, following the real-life death of John Aniston who had originated the role in 1985), for a total of over 500 episodes.

Answer: Dumb and Dumber To

Travis Lippincott, played by Rob Riggle, is the gardener / lover of Adele Pinchelow (played by Laurie Holden), who accompanies Harry and Lloyd on their journey, hoping to retrieve the package and use its contents for himself and Adele, who is busily trying to poison her husband. In a familiar trope, he finds their constant pranks annoying, and tries to kill them, but ends up dying himself. His identical twin (also played by Rob Riggle) undertakes to kill our heroes in vengeance, but (needless to say) is unsuccessful, and ends up imprisoned.

Rob Riggle joined the US Marine Corps in 1990, but left active service to pursue a career in standup comedy. He remained in the Reserves, and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel (with quite a few awards) before his retirement from the Reserves in 2013. His television work has included 'Saturday Night Live' (2004-2005) and 'The Daily Show' (2006-2008). His film debut was in the 2005 movie 'Pushing Tom'.

Answer: Both

Billy in 4C, played by Brady Bluhm, may be only a minor character, but he is there in both films. In 'Dumb and Dumber', he is a wheelchair-bound blind youngster who is a neighbour of Harry and Lloyd. They sell him Petey, the parakeet that got decapitated by 'Mental' Mentalino and JP Shay while they were ransacking the boys' apartment. In 'Dumb and Dumber To', he is still their neighbour, in a cameo appearance, but now an adult.

Brady Bluhm started his acting career as a child, being about seven when he had a part on 'Doogie Howser, M.D.' in 1989. Between 1997 and 2005 he provided the voice of Christopher Robin in a number of 'Winnie the Pooh' projects. He then spent more time working in production rather than on screen, so his appearance in 'Dumb and Dumber To' came after a ten-year gap on screen.

Answer: Both

Sea Bass, played by Cam Neely, is a truck driver with the misfortune to be driving the same roads as Harry and Lloyd. In 'Dumb and Dumber', they meet in a Pennsylvania diner, where our heroes first accidentally hit him with a salt shaker, then con the waitress into thinking he had agreed to pay their bill. As they drive away, Lloyd is concerned to learn that Harry got the idea from a movie in which the character who pulled that stunt subsequently had his throat slit by an angry victim. When their paths cross again at a gas station, Harry unwittingly saves Lloyd from retribution.

In 'Dumb and Dumber To', Sea Bass appears in a post-credits sequence that shows the boys carelessly tossing away their drinks so that they hit his windscreen. This leads him to draw a bead on the pair, trying to run them down.

Cam Neely, a professional hockey player, appeared in this film because the Farrelly brothers were discussing their concept for casting the part, and referenced 'a Cam Neely type', since one of them had become friends with him. They decided to go for the original. He has made a few other small appearances in film and on television, but is primarily known to the world for playing right wing for the Vancouver Canucks (1983-1986) and the Boston Bruins (1986-1996). He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005, and became president of the Boston Bruins in 2010.