Southern Born Stars: Part I Trivia Quiz

Answer: Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954. In 1999, "Time" magazine named her "One of 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century". In 2003 "Forbes" magazine reported that she was the first African-American woman billionaire. "The Oprah Winfrey Show" made its debut on September 8, 1986. The rest, as they say, is history.

Answer: James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931 in a small town in Northern Mississippi called Arkabutla. James is also the son of actor Robert Earl Jones. James, at a young age, had a severe stuttering problem and refused to speak until he was in the eighth grade in high school. Can you imagine that? He is now known world-wide for that voice.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Elvis Aron Presley was born in Lee county on January 8, 1935, to sharecropper parents. Elvis took them both to a theatre in Memphis, Tennessee to watch his debut movie. His mother was so saddened by his death at the end, that she left the picture show early and cried all night long. She never watched that film again.
Elvis played Clint Reno who stayed behind while his three brothers' fought in the American Civil War as confederates. Clint married his brother's girlfriend, Cathy. At the end, a gunfight was held between the two brothers and Clint was shot and killed.

Answer: Ray Walston

Ray Walston was born in Laurel, Mississippi in 1917. As a kid, he had a delivery newspaper route for "The Laurel-Leader Call". He died at the age of 86 in 2001.

Answer: Brett Favre

Brett Lorenzo Favre was born in Gulfport on October 10, 1969, but was raised in Kiln, Mississippi. He, his wife, and their two daughters' have resided in Hattiesburg, Mississippi since he began playing for the Green Bay Packers. They have spent much of their valuable time working with the Brett4Ward Charity, which they organized after his wife, Deanna, underwent surgery and treatment for breast cancer.

Answer: M.C. Gainey

He was born, Michael Christopher Gainey in 1947, in Jackson, Mississippi. Because of his rugged facial features, most of his character roles have often been portrayed as southern criminals.

Answer: Sela Ward

Sela Ann Ward was born on July 11, 1956. Sela, portrayed an aspiring artist with three other siblings. They were all brought together by the death of their father in the television series, which depicted many family troubles and trials.

Answer: Audrey Faith Perry Hill

Audrey Faith Perry Hill was born in Jackson, Mississippi, but was raised in Star, approximately ten miles from the state capital. She had been adopted, but was reunited with her biological mother in the early 1990s. She married country singer and songwriter, Tim McGraw on October 6, 1996. Together, they have made some beautiful music. Faith and Tim did the Soul2Soul Tour in 2000.

Answer: Michael Humphreys

Michael Conner Humphreys was born in the small, northern town of Independence, Mississippi in 1985. Tom Hanks, who starred as the adult Forrest Gump, learned Humphreys actual accent, because he had a southern drawl. As the film began, Forrest (Hanks) sat on a bus stop bench in Atlanta, Georgia. With a low I.Q., and a box of chocolates on his lap, he began telling an attentive older female all about the historical, events, which had taken place in his life.

He also told her of Jenny, his true love. Sally Fields played his caring, yet fiesty, southern mother.

It was truly one of Tom Hank's greatest roles.

Answer: Jim Henson

James "Jim" Maury Henson was born on September 24, 1936 in Greenville, Mississippi. His family later moved to Leland, not far from his birth place, where he was raised. He was a popular educational children's entertainer. Some of his other beloved characters were: Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and Miss Piggy, just to name a few. Jim died, unexpectedly, with pneumonia after an infection, on May 16, 1990.

Answer: LeAnn Rimes

Margaret LeAnn Rimes was born on August, 28, 1982 in Jackson, Mississippi. She actually lived in Pearl, only five minutes outside the city limits. LeAnn won her first singing talent contest when she was only five years old. Her young and amazing musical career began in 1993.

Her semi-autobiographical novel depicted events of her life from her birth to 1997. Reba McEntire co-starred in the film as a veteran country singer who helped LeAnn realize that it was possible to have a holiday in your heart every day of the year, not just in December. LeAnn had gone through some pretty hard times when she was on the road.

Her grandmother became quite ill and was not able to see LeAnn because of her hectic touring schedule. This movie is generally played during the holiday season. If you haven't seen it, don't miss it this year, but do have a box of tissues nearby.

Answer: Keith Thibodeaux

Keith Thibodeaux was born in the capital city of Jackson, Mississippi. He played the part of Lucille Ball (Lucy) and Desi Arnaz's (Ricky) son, little Ricky. In several episodes, little Ricky could be seen banging on a drum set. Keith Thibodeaux did become an accomplished drummer later in life and joined with David Huff. Together, the two formed a Christian rock band called, "David and the Giants" from Laurel, Mississippi.

Answer: Eddie Hodges

Eddie Hodges was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on March 5, 1947. He cames from a musical family. His grandfather, "Red" McCaffrey, helped little Eddie get his start on Broadway in New York. He went on to act with favorites such as: Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Buster Keaton, Burl Ives, Hayley Mills, and the list goes on and on.

Answer: Tom Lester

Although Tom Lester was born in Jackson, his family soon moved to Laurel, Mississippi. Tom portrayed, Eb Dawson, a dim-witted farm hand who worked for the Douglas family. He co-starred with Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor.
A note of interest; Arnold Ziffel was the name of the pig on the show, and Tom Lester is not dim-witted in life as he acts on the show. He's actually a very bright person.

Answer: Jimmy Buffett

James William Buffett was born on December 25, 1946, in Pascagoula, Mississippi. His family and close friends called him "Bubba", which was a true southern nickname. Some interesting information on Buffett was that he majored in journalism and was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity of Epsilon-Nu Chapter from the University of Southern Mississippi.

He has also been known to be a huge supporter in the Save the Manatee project in Florida.