Celebrities Cut the Gordian Knot Quiz

Answer: Gary Burghoff

Gary Burghoff is most well-known for playing Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly in the TV series "M*A*S*H", which debuted in 1972. He originated the role in Robert Altman's "MASH" (1970). He was the only member of the original movie cast who continued on to the TV Series as a regular. He played Radar for seven seasons in 174 episodes.

Burghoff filed for a patent on a device that would attract fish by chumming the water and/or using audible as well as light to attract fish to the surface. The patent was granted in 1993. U.S. Patent No. 5235774

Answer: Hedy Lamarr

Hedy played Delilah Cecil B. DeMille's "Samson and Delilah" (1949). Victor Mature played Samson in the movie. The movie was Hedy's greatest commercial and critical success.

Hedy Lamarr became bored as an actress so she dabbled in inventions and mechanical gadgets. She dated Howard Hughes during World War II and helped improve his aviation designs. Hedy had been born in Vienna, Austria, and took a keen interest in the Allied war effort. She and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for torpedoes that used frequency hopping to thwart any possibility of jamming. The technology was ahead of its time, as the means of implementing it did not exist, but it became the basis upon which blue-tooth and legacy Wi-Fi were developed. In 2014, the pair were posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Answer: Steve McQueen

"Bullitt" (1968) was one of Steve McQueen's best known films and involved numerous car chases of legendary status. McQueen was an avid race car enthusiast who drove the cars in many of the stunts in his films, including in "Bullitt". His experience led to his patent for an improved bucket seat for high performance vehicles. U.S. Patent No. D219584

Answer: James Cameron

"The Abyss" (1989) was one of James Cameron's earlier movies coming after the highly successful "The Terminator" (1984) and "Aliens" (1986) movies. It was during the filming of "The Abyss" that James and his brother Michael developed their underwater camera dolly. Basically, it allowed the cameraman/diver to maneuver the camera independent of where the hull was pointed. U.S. Patent No. 4996938A

Answer: Zeppo Marx

Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx was the younger brother of the other Marx Brothers and never gained popularity as a character in his own right. He starred in five of the Marx Brothers' movies playing the straight man and love interest.

He was the mechanically inclined member of the family. During World War II he owned a company that machined parts for the war effort. He also patented a watch that acted as a cardiac pulse monitor and sounded an alarm if the heartbeat became irregular. U.S. Patent No. 3473526

Answer: Marlon Brando

One of Marlon Brando's more iconic roles was as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now" (1979). The movie was based on Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella "Heart of Darkness". Omerta is the mafia code of silence and a reference to Brando's renowned role as Don Corleone in "The Godfather" (1972). Both movies were directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Stanley is a reference to Stanley Kowalski, Brando's critically acclaimed role in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951).

Brando was a drum enthusiast and late in his life he applied for a patent for a drumhead tensioning device in 2002. The patent was granted four months after his death in 2004. U.S. Patent No. 6812392

Answer: Harry Connick, Jr.

Harry Connick, Jr. co-starred in "Independence Day" (1996) alongside Will Smith. He has appeared in over 20 movies and has done numerous TV shows. Still, first and foremost, he is an accomplished and highly acclaimed jazz musician.

In 2002, he patented a system by which he could digitally share the score or composition of a musical piece with different members of the orchestra. The system allowed him to use an electronic pen to make changes that could then be converted to a digital music notation format. U.S. Patent No. 6348648

Answer: Steven Spielberg

One of Steven Spielberg's most well-known characters is Indiana Jones who first appeared in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981). Spielberg's list of achievements includes the Oscar for Best Director for "Schindler's List" (1993) and "Saving Private Ryan" (1998).

Spielberg received a patent in 2012 for a program that allows the attachment of verbal notes to a line-based document. It allows for users to interface with the document through various methods. U.S. Patent No. 8091028

In 1998, he received a patent for a dolly track switch. U.S. Patent No D401951

Answer: Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows. At the height of his career as a TV actor, he went crazy, trashing both the show's creator and the network. He was, of course, fired and then went on to do interviews in which he claimed to have 'tiger's blood' in his veins, among other things. Sheen has a history of drug and alcohol abuse to which his bizarre behavior has been attributed.

Sheen applied for a patent in 2001 for a Chapstick dispensing apparatus that had the lid attached instead of needing to be removed. Patent No 6283658B1

Answer: George Lucas

George Lucas had the foresight to realize a slight pay cut at the time would give him far more earning potential in the long run. Granted, he had yet to prove he could be the phenomenon he became but he was willing to gamble on himself. The studio at the time only saw the bottom line and that they could save money by giving away something they thought had little value. In the end, Lucas proved them wrong.

To protect his interests, Lucas and his companies have patents on the action figures and other toys, starting with the "Star Wars" franchise.