Famous Leading Actors Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Wayne

Born in Iowa in 1907, John Wayne was an American actor, producer and director. Over his long career, he appeared in almost 250 movies, three of which are listed above, made many guest appearances on television shows, produced fourteen other movies, and continued to appear on Hollywood's list of its "Top Ten Stars" every year between 1949 and 1973. In 1976 he made his last movie in a career that had spanned more than fifty years. He died three years later from stomach cancer. John won an Academy Award for his role in the 1969 film "True Grit", in which he plays an aging U.S. Marshal, Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn who is hired by the daughter of a murdered man to track down his killer.

Two interesting facts about John Wayne that you may not know:

1. Because of John's strong and very vocal anti-communist stance, Joseph Stalin ordered his assassination in 1951. Fortunately this was foiled by American agents.

2. After he died, John Wayne's tombstone, which, rather disgracefully, was left unmarked for twenty years, now has a quote on it from one of his noted interviews. It says "Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday".

Answer: Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston (1923-2008) was an American actor who, between 1941 and 2003, appeared in over one hundred movies, including the three listed above, more than 140 television roles and guest appearances, many stage productions, and numerous radio shows. Because of his strong and magnetic screen personality, he was often cast in epic movies centred around some of the world's mightiest historical and literary figures. This includes the stupendous 1959 film "Ben-Hur" which won Heston an Academy Award for his portrayal of the wealthy Jewish prince, Judah Ben-Hur, who, betrayed by his friend Messala, is condemned to the life of a galley slave. Driven by the need for revenge, he survives against all odds, rises up in the world again, and finally meet Messala in an epic chariot race that is still one of the most incredibly powerful segments ever to appear on film.

Incidentally, that movie, which went on to win eleven Academy Awards in all, was set to be filmed in Libya, but once the Muslim authorities there realized it was about Christianity, they ordered the entire production team out of the country. It was subsequently made in Spain. You may not also know that the MGM lion doesn't roar at the beginning of this movie. That was because the producers felt, given the theme of the film, this would be a little irreverent.

A couple of quotes from the great Charlton Heston himself:

1. "There's a special excitement in playing a man who made a hole in history large enough to be remembered centuries after he died".

2. "It's hard living up to Moses".

3. On his heartbreaking recorded announcement to the world about the Alzheimer's that eventually stole his mind: "For an actor, there is no greater loss than the loss of his audience. I can part the Red Sea, but I can't part with you, which is why I won't exclude you from this stage in my life... For now, I'm not changing anything. I'll insist on work when I can, the doctors will insist on rest when I must. If you see a little less spring to my step, if your name fails to leap to my lips, you'll know why. And if I tell you a funny story for the second time, please laugh anyway...We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep". Thank you, and God bless you, everyone".

Answer: Richard Widmark

Born in Minnesota in 1914, Richard Widmark died in 2008. He was an American actor on stage and radio and in film and television. On the seventy-nine films he made during his lengthy career, three of which are included above, his most famous was his debut role as Tommy Udo in the 1947 movie "Kiss of Death". This film tells the story of criminals who turn on each other after robbing a jewellery store, the subsequent imprisonment of the only one who was caught, and the betrayal, lies and murder that follow. We are held spellbound by Widmark's absolutely chilling performance as a psychiatric killer sent to deal with the traitor, but who, when he finds his prey is missing, ties his wheelchair bound mother into her chair with an electric cord instead, and, maniacally chuckling at each excruciating sound, sends her crashing down a flight of stairs. Widmark won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in that movie.

A couple of comical facts about this star who could portray evil so brilliantly may give you a smile:

1. That maniacal laugh haunted him for the rest of his life with people constantly begging him to do it for them wherever he appeared.

2. He almost didn't land the role at all because of his high forehead. The director thought it made him look too intellectual for a criminal.

3. Richard's movie career, which involved numerous roles as villains, gangsters, and gun-toting cowboys sometimes had him in despair. In 1976 he stated in exasperation that "I know I've made kind of a half-assed career out of violence. But I actually abhor violence".

Answer: Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas was born in New York in 1916, the son of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. He grew up to become a famous American actor on stage and in film, producer, and author of eleven books, all of which earned him many awards, but never an Oscar. That came in 1996 when he received an honorary Academy Award for fifty years of outstanding achievement in the motion picture industry. That long career includes almost ninety films, three of which are mentioned above, countless television appearances, and several live theatre performances.

So poor were Kirk's parents when he was young that his father had to resort to becoming a ragman to feed his family. Kirk himself worked in forty different jobs over time in an effort to contribute as well, before breaking into his acting career. Enlisting in the US Navy in 1941, he was medically discharged in 1943 because of his war injuries. Though nominated for an Oscar several times during his career, he never received one for an individual performance, even though he well and truly should have done so for his powerful and very moving performance as Vincent Van Gogh in the 1956 film "Lust for Life". His most famous role was in the 1960 movie "Spartacus", which he also produced, raising twelve million dollars in order to do so. Playing the title role, the plot is centred around the escape and subsequent rebellion by a group of gladiators against the might of Rome. It doesn't have a happy ending by any means.

Interesting Facts:

1. Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster acted together in seven movies, but quite frankly, in spite of the studio publicity saying they were good friends, rather intensely disliked each other. Kirk though Lancaster was coarse and a bully, while Burt thought Kirk was an airhead.

2. At the age of 92, Kirk was the oldest celebrity blogger on the social networking site, MySpace.

3. Kirk was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981, the highest honour an American citizen can receive.

Answer: Rock Hudson

Born in Illinois in 1925, Rock Hudson died in 1985. He was an American actor of film, television and stage, who was at the height of his fame during the 1950s and 1960s. In his relatively short life, Rock Hudson made sixty-nine movies, including the three listed above, and appeared in twelve televisions shows, including his starring role as Police Commissioner Stewart McMillan in "McMillan & Wife" from 1971 to 1977. In his 1963 film, "A Gathering of Eagles" which tells of the pressures of command in the US Air Force during the Cold War era, he plays Colonel Jim Caldwell. His role in the film, as a wing commander, is to prepare his men of the B52 Strategic Air Command to pass an intense Operational Readiness inspection at very short notice, and under such extreme conditions that it puts everyone at breaking point.

Some facts about Rock you may find of interest:

1. Born Roy Harold Scherer, he actually hated the name Rock Hudson that he was given by those in charge of his career.

2. In his first film, he was so nervous that it took him thirty-eight takes to deliver his only line of dialogue, "Could we get a bigger blackboard?"

3. Actor singer Pat Boone was allowed to visit him when Rock was dying, to pray for his soul. This was somewhat ironic as, according to his friends, Rock had been an atheist all his life.

Answer: James Stewart

James (or Jimmy) Stewart was an American film and stage actor who lived from 1908 to 1997. He had a quality about him in most of his movies, and indeed in real life as well, that was endearing and very appealing. Make no mistake about it though, he could also play tough characters if chosen to do so. It's just that his public really seemed to prefer his lovable characterisations. He was the kind of man you'd love to have as a neighbour and a friend. After growing up in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and, with a career already established in film, he joined the Army during the Second World War (1939-1945) where he became a military pilot and training instructor before rising to the rank of commander of the 703d Bombardment Squadron, then Colonel, and, in between making movies after the war, to Brigadier General in 1959.

Jimmy Stewart's career in the entertainment business included eleven stage productions, nine television movies, twenty short films and documentaries, and eighty feature movies. The one he is most identified with is the 1946 "It's A Wonderful Life" in which he plays a man named George Bailey who decides to commit suicide one Christmas Eve because he feels he has become a total failure in life. Only the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence, prevents this when he shows George all the wonderful things he has done and all the people he has helped in his town. My personal favourite of his movies is the 1950 "Harvey" in which he plays a gentle, harmless eccentric about to be committed to a sanatorium because he insists he has a six foot tall rabbit for a friend - that nobody else can initially see.

Other interesting facts about the lovely James Stewart:

1. When he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1940 "The Philadelphia Story", he sent it home to Indiana where his father proudly displayed it in the family hardware store.

2. Married to his wife Gloria for forty-five years, he was absolutely distraught at her death in 1994. On his own death three years later, his last quiet words to his children before dying were, "I'm going to be with Gloria now".

3. When asked, just before he turned eighty, how he wished to be remembered, he answered simply, ""As someone who believed in hard work and love of country, love of family and love of community".

Answer: Robert Mitchum

Born in Connecticut, Robert Mitchum lived from 1917 until 1997. He was an American actor, author, and unexpectedly so, given his characterisations on film, a composer and singer. With his father dying young in an accident, his mother married again. Whether this had any effect on the young boy is hard to say, but he grew up to be a school mischief maker in his early years. In middle school, he was expelled for fighting with, of all people, the principal. Expelled from his high school as well, he then spent some time travelling around the country in railroad cars, taking odd jobs wherever he went. This eventually saw him arrested and sent to work on a chain gang. Blimey. By the time he was twenty, he appeared to have sown his wild oats, and settled down to work as a ghostwriter, then took on bit parts in various theatre productions, where his own works were performed. He also took to writing songs during this part of his career. Then, married, and working hard to support his young family, he suffered a nervous breakdown, during which he went temporarily blind. After his recovery, he obtained work in various studios as an extra, followed by small parts, and then his movie career got under way.

Robert Mitchum's career credits include quite an impressive music resume of two albums, several singles, many compositions including as oratorio (gracious!), singing voiceover in several films for other actors, his early written works for stage, assorted work on television, and over one hundred movies, including the three listed above. In his 1955 film "The Night of the Hunter", he plays a chilling and corrupt reverend who is a serial killer of women he first marries.

Other facts about the troubled Robert Mitchum:

1. He was once arrested and spent time in jail for possessing marijuana. That made headlines everywhere as he was a big name star at the time.

2. He was erratic and hard to work with on occasion. He walked off one film, was sacked for another, and threw a transportation manager from another film into San Francisco Bay. Yet this was a man who played the saxophone and wrote poetry and music as well.

3. He never appreciated his own acting or his powerful screen presence. Of it all he said when interviewed " Listen. I've got three expressions: looking left, looking right and looking straight ahead" and "People think I have an interesting walk. Hell, I'm just trying to hold my gut in" and "I have two acting styles: with and without a horse".

Answer: Sean Connery

Born in Scotland in 1930, Sean Connery worked in the film industry from 1954 until his retirement in 2012. Best known for his roles in the series of "James Bond" movies, the early part of Connery's career included a stint in the Royal Navy, a lifeguard, and - wait for it - a coffin polisher and artist's model. Looking to earn extra money, he next began working backstage at a local theatre in 1951, and you can guess the progress of his career from there. Connery has won several awards and accolades for a lifetime of work in the entertainment industry. These include one Oscar, two BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II and Kennedy Centre Honours from the US. He's also been polled as The Greatest Living Scot and Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure, and "People" magazine's Sexiest Man Alive and Sexiest Man of the Century. What hogwash. Everyone knows that's either William Shatner, Pierce Brosnan or Colin Firth.

Appearing in over seventy movies during his career, including the three mentioned above, he won an Academy for his role as Jim Malone, a tough Irish-American policeman in the 1987 film "The Untouchables". This tells the story of Eliot Ness and his team of Untouchables and their ongoing battle to see that justice is served on Al Capone and other gangsters during the era of American Prohibition.

Other facts of interest about Sean Connery:

1. His next door neighbour at a villa he owns in Greece is King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. Together they share a helicopter platform.

2. He was offered the role of Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings" series of films, but declined because he "didn't understand the script". I feel the same way.

3. He came to detest the role of the 007 super-spy, James Bond, remarking of it that "I have always hated that James Bond. I'd like to kill him".

Answer: Yul Brynner

Born in Russia in 1920, photographer, author, singer and actor Yul Brynner died in 1985 after a long and successful career in both film and on stage in the United States. In his early days, Yul played a guitar in Russian nightclubs, in Paris, France. Far more interesting, however, is the fact that he worked as a trapeze artist with a French circus troupe for three years. It was only after he hurt his back during one of his performances that he turned to acting as a means of making a living. In 1940, both Yul and his mother emigrated to the US to join his sister there.

During the Second World War, he worked as a radio announcer for the US Office of War, making broadcasts to occupied France. At the same time, he began appearing in small parts in theatre productions. In a career history of some forty movies, including the three mentioned above, it was his second movie, the beautiful 1956 musical, "The King and I", that saw Yul win an Academy Award. This film relates the story of the English governess Anna Leonowens who moved to Siam, in the 1860s, to teach the children of the haughty, volatile, but absolutely charming King Mongkut. Yul went on to perform that role an incredible 4,625 times on stage as well.

A few more facts about Yul Brynner:

1. He always prepared breakfast while wearing a silk kimono.

2. Ordered to shave his head for "The King and I", Yul did so with the greatest reluctance because he was quite proud of his then curly black hair. He then had to wear dark make-up on his head to hide the fact it was a stranger to the razor blade. He kept his head shaved for the rest of his life, wearing wigs if he needed hair for other movie roles.

Answer: Peter Ustinov

Peter Ustinov was born in London in 1921 and died in 2004. This amazing man, who could speak eight languages fluently, was an English "actor, writer and dramatist...filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humorist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster, and television presenter". How absolutely impressive is that? Incredibly so, Peter was also a diplomat, a noted intellectual and a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. Over the course of his career, he won two Oscars, several Emmys, BAFTAS and Golden Globes for his acting, as well as an astonishing number of other awards and honours for all the various hats he wore. In between times, he played tennis, went yachting, was a car enthusiast, and managed to marry three times and father four children. It's a wonder he had any strength left.

Peter's entertainment career figures tell us that he acted in, or narrated, nine-three movies and documentaries, three of which appear above, and several television shows. He also wrote thirty-six short stories, novels and plays as a matter of course. In the 1951 movie "Quo Vadis" which is centred around the conflict between Christianity and the might of Rome, and for which Peter won a Golden Globe award, he played the role of a perfectly repulsive, insane, and self-gratifying Emperor Nero to perfection.

A few other interesting facts about the amazing Peter Ustinov:

1. During the Second World War, he served as batman to (Lieutenant-Colonel) David Niven - or at least pretended to - because there was no other way the pair could associate with one being an officer and the other a private.

2. In 1984, he was to have a meeting with Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi - but she was assassinated on her way to that meeting.

3. And, to complete a quiz I've really enjoyed writing, this excellent quote is his: "I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me the most civilised music in the world".