Old as the Hills Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kirk Douglas

Issur Danielovitch was born in New York on December 9, 1916, the son of Jewish immigrants from what is now Belarus. He was the only son of seven children. After leaving the Navy in 1941, his good friend Lauren Bacall helped to introduce him to the film world.

During his career he appeared in more than 90 films including "Lust for Life" (1956), in which he portrayed Vincent Van Gogh, and "Spartacus" (1960), in which he played a slave who led a rebellion against the Romans. He was married twice and had four sons, including the actor Michael Douglas. He died in Beverley Hills, California, at the age of 103 on February 5, 2020.

Answer: Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was born on the 4th August 1900, though the exact location of her birth is not known. She married Prince Albert, the Duke of York, on 26th April 1923. They had two children Princess Elizabeth, born in 1926, and Princess Margaret, born in 1930.

After his elder brother abdicated in 1936 to marry the American Wallis Simpson, Prince Albert reluctantly became King George VI of the United Kingdom, and Elizabeth became Queen. On February 6, 1952, the King died, and Princess Elizabeth became Queen and her mother became known as the Queen Mother. After remaining active for most of her life, the Queen Mother's health began to deteriorate after the death of her daughter Princess Margaret in 2002, and she died at the Royal Lodge in Windsor on 20th March 2002 with her daughter Queen Elizabeth II by her bedside.

Answer: George Burns

Nathan Birnbaum, the ninth of twelve children, was born on 20th January 1896 in New York City. He hid his Jewish heritage by adopting the name George Burns. He married his wife and comedy partner, Gracie Allen, in 1926, and they were married for 38 years until her death in 1964.

They appeared together on radio, television and film, and Burns continued to star in films, such as "Oh, God!" (1977) and "Just You and Me, Kid" (1979). Although he was well known as a cigar smoker after starting at the age of 14, he lived with good health for most of his life, dying at the age of 100 of heart failure in his Beverley Hills house on the 9th March 1996; he was buried next to his beloved wife.

Answer: Jimmy Carter

James Earl Carter Jr. was born in Plains, Georgia, on October 1, 1924. He was the first U.S. President to have been born in a hospital. He joined the Navy before becoming involved in local politics, and was the governor of Georgia between 1971 to 1975. He was president of America 1977 to 1981. After retiring from public office he traveled to promise peace, wrote books, and became involved in Habitat for Humanity, an organization that builds affordable housing for low income families.

He was married to Rosalynn Smith from 1946 until her death in November 2023. They had four children. In 2002 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work for peace and human rights. He died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on December 9, 2024.

Answer: Rose

Gloria Stewart was born on the 4 July 1910 in Santa Monica, California. She began her film career in the 1932 film "Street of Women", playing Doris "Dodo" Baldwin after having changed her name to Gloria Stuart. In 1935 she was in the film "Gold Diggers of 1935" as the love interest of Dick Powell.

Stuart abandoned her film career in 1945 to pursue a career in art. She starred in the 1997 film "Titanic", playing "Old Rose", at the age of 87. She was diagnosed with lung cancer at the of 94, and died at the age of 100 at home in Los Angeles on September 26, 2010.

Answer: Bob Hope

Leslie Townes Hope was born in Eltham, London, on May 29, 1903. He and his family emigrated to America in 1908, traveling on the SS Philadelphia. He had a short career as a boxer fighting under the name of Packy East. In 1929 he changed his name to Bob.

Hope moved to Hollywood in 1938 to work on the W. C. Fields film, "The Big Broadcast of 1938", which coincidentally contained the song "Thanks for the Memory", which was to become his trademark song. He is famous for his "Road to" films, in which he appeared with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour, as well as his entertainment of American troops, which he began in the Second World War. As late as 1983 he went to Lebanon to entertain American personnel posted there. He died of pneumonia at his home in California on 27 July 2003.

Answer: Painting

Anna Morrison Robinson was born in Greenwich, New York, on September 7, 1860. Even as a child she showed an interest in painting. She left home at the age of 12 to become a live in housekeeper to wealthy families, which she continued to do until her marriage to Thomas Salmon Moses in 1887 with whom she had 10 children - five of whom survived to adulthood.

After developing arthritis at the age of 76, which made her hobby of embroidery painful, her sister suggested that she take up painting. She began painting in earnest at 7,8 and was known as a folk artist while painting scenes of rural life. She created more than 1,500 canvases during her career. "Life" magazine celebrated her 100th birthday by featuring her on its September 19, 1960, cover. Grandma Moses died at the age of 101 on 13 December 1961 at the Health Centre in Hoosick Falls, New York, and was buried at the Maple Grove Cemetery.

Answer: Irving Berlin

Israel Isidore Beilin was born to Jewish parents on May 11, 1888. It is thought that he was probably born in Siberia. He emigrated to America in 1883 with his parents and siblings, where the family name was changed to Baline. He began work as a singing waiter and street singer. He began to write his own songs and his first published song was "Marie from Sunny Italy" (1907). A printer's error meant the song was credited to Irving Berlin, a name which he subsequently kept.

During the following decades he wrote the scores to several musicals such as "Top Hat" (1935), "Easter Parade" (1948), and "White Christmas" (1954). The film "Holiday Inn" (1942), for which he wrote the score, featured the song "White Christmas", which became one of the most popular songs ever recorded. Irving Berlin died in his sleep on September 22, 1989, at his home in Manhattan. He was 101.

Answer: Olivia de Havilland

Olivia Mary de Havilland was born in Tokyo City, Japan, to English parents on July 1, 1916. Her sister, Joan de Beauvoir (later the actress Joan Fontaine), was born the following year on October 22. In 1919 the family decided to return to England, but had to stop off at San Francisco when Olivia developed tonsillitis, which could not be treated on the ship. Her mother decided to stay with her daughters in California and the father returned to Japan.

Olivia de Havilland came to prominence starring with Errol Flynn in such films as "Captain Blood" (1935) and "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938). One of her most famous roles was in the film "Gone With the Wind" (1939), where she played the character Melanie Wilkes. Her last feature film was "The Fifth Musketeer" in 1979.

In June 2017 she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her services to drama. On July 26, 2020, de Havilland died naturally in her sleep at her Paris home at the age of 104.

Answer: Hal Roach

Harold Eugene Roach was born on 14 January 1892 in Elmira, New York. Roach traveled to Hollywood in 1912 to begin work as an extra in silent films. In 1914 he began making his own films with his good friend, the actor Harold Lloyd. In 1915 his film "Just Nuts", starring Lloyd as his character Willie Work, became his first successful film. Until 1927 Roach released his films through Pathe exchange until he struck a deal with Metro-Golwyn-Mayer. He was active in the film industry until the 1990s, and was responsible for many early media franchise successes including "Laurel and Hardy", many of the early films of Harold Lloyd, and "Our Gang".

"Our Gang" was a series of comedy shorts telling the adventures of a group of children living in a poor neighbourhood. The films were made from 1922 to 1944, transitioning from silent to sound films. A total of 221 films were made. Roach died of pneumonia on November 2, 1992, at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, at the age of 100, and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York.