Who Played Me in "Kramer vs. Kramer"? Quiz

Answer: Meryl Streep

Streep, born on June 22nd, 1949 in Summit, New Jersey, was cast as Joanna Kramer. Joanna left her husband, Ted Kramer, and she left him alone to raise their son, Billy, as a single parent. While Joanna was away in California, she divorced Ted. Midway through the movie, she came back to town and wanted to get custody of Billy.

After the custody hearing commenced, the judge awarded custody to Joanna on the grounds that a child should be with his mother. However, Joanna soon realized that Billy's home was with his father and she relinquished custody of him to Ted.

In the final scene of the movie, Joanna went to her apartment to tell Billy that he would continue to live with his father. Streep starred in the movies "Doubt", "The Deer Hunter" and "Ironweed".

In 1980, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie "Kramer vs. Kramer". Other Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actress that year were Jane Alexander for "Kramer vs. Kramer", Barbara Barrie for "Breaking Away", Candice Bergen for "Starting Over" and Mariel Hemingway for "Manhattan".

Answer: Dustin Hoffman

Hoffman, a native of Los Angeles, California, played Ted Kramer. Ted worked as an advertising executive and he was first seen discussing an account with his boss. He became distressed once his wife left him to raise their son by himself. The morning after his wife left, Ted was seen cooking breakfast for his son, Billy, but he did a bad job of it. Ted was having a hard time balancing both parenting and his workload and this conflicted with his relationship with Billy.

The two did not get along at first but then they eventually bonded with one another.

At the end of the movie, Ted made Billy breakfast right before he dropped him off to be with his mother since the court granted her custody. Hoffman had roles in the films "Runaway Jury", "Hook" and "Finding Neverland".

In 1980, he won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the movie "Kramer vs. Kramer". Other Oscar nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role that year were Jack Lemmon for "The China Syndrome", Al Pacino for "...And Justice for All", Roy Scheider for "All That Jazz" and Peter Sellers for "Being There".

Answer: Jane Alexander

Alexander, born on October 28th, 1939 in Boston, Massachusetts, portrayed Margaret Phelps. Margaret lived close by to Ted and was first seen talking to him right after Joanna left him. Ted complained to Margaret that he had a big presentation in the morning and already he had to sort out his emotions with Joanna leaving him. Margaret stated that she saw that Ted was having a bad day but Ted got annoyed with her and asked her to leave. Ted told her that he had hoped she would cheer him up but Margaret informed him she was not there to cheer him up.

She told Ted that she came up to his apartment as she was concerned about Joanna. Ted commented that he realized he and Joanna did not have any problems until Margaret and her husband split up so Margaret commented how she could not believe the audacity for Ted to make that statement. Alexander was seen in the movies "The Ring", "Night Crossing" and "Brubaker".

Answer: Justin Henry

Henry, born in 1971 in Rye, New York, landed the role of Billy Kramer. Billy woke up the day after his mother, Joanna, left his father, Ted, and he went to speak to his father. He asked him where mom was and Ted responded that mom went to be by herself for a while since they had a fight. Ted then told Billy to come to the kitchen so he could make him some breakfast and he asked Billy what he wanted. Billy said he wanted french toast so his father told him he would make that for him.

While Ted was making Billy some breakfast, Billy pointed out to him that he dropped an egg shell into the mixture he was preparing.

In one scene, Billy had an accident at the playground when he fell off the jungle gym and hurt his face. Ted raced to tend to Billy.

Henry guest starred on the TV series "Brothers and Sisters", "My Own Worst Enemy" and "ER". In 1980, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for "Kramer vs. Kramer" but lost to Melvyn Douglas for "Being There". Other Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actor that year were Robert Duvall for "Apocalypse Now", Frederic Forrest for "The Rose" and Mickey Rooney for "The Black Stallion".

Answer: George Coe

Coe was cast as Jim O'Connor in "Kramer vs. Kramer". Jim was Ted's boss at the ad agency and he listened to Ted discuss with him his marital problems and how he would be raising Billy while Joanna was away. Jim advised Ted that it would be best if he had Billy stay with relatives for a while since he needed Ted to devote a lot of time to his job due to how he had a huge account. Jim mentioned that he did not need Ted to go running off to tend to Billy whenever he had a runny nose. Jim wanted Ted to focus on his job as much as possible and Ted said he would do that for him. Ted assured Jim that he had nothing to worry about when it came to him. Coe guest starred on the TV shows "Private Practice", "Nip/Tuck" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm".

Answer: Carol Nadell

Nadell portrayed Mrs. Kline. Ted went to go see Mrs. Kline one day since she was watching Billy and she informed him that Billy was not in a good mood. Ted apologized to Mrs. Kline since he was late and he told her that he had trouble getting out of the office on time.

When Ted told Billy to come with him, Mrs. Kline thanked Billy for keeping her company and then gave him a goody bag. Ted thanked Mrs. Kline again for watching Billy and then he and Billy left. Nadell was also seen in the movie "The Prince of Central Park"

Answer: JoBeth Williams

Williams, a native of Houston, Texas, played Phyllis Bernard. Phyllis worked with Ted and she took him up on his offer to have dinner one evening. On that evening, Ted took her back to his apartment and the two of them made love. Phyllis got up and stepped outside the bedroom, unclothed, and Billy saw her.

She told Billy that she worked with his father. Billy asked Phyllis if she liked fried chicken and she said she did. Phyllis told Billy it was nice seeing him but she had to leave. Williams had guest starring stints on the TV series "Private Practice", "Life in General" and "Criminal Minds".

In 1995, she received an Academy Award nomination in the Best Short Film, Live Action category for the short movie "On Hope". She produced that project but lost to a short film called "Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life".

Answer: Donald Gantry

Gantry, born in 1933 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, portrayed a surgeon. After Billy cut his face when he fell off the jungle gym, Ted raced him to the hospital and the surgeon tended to him. Ted spoke to the surgeon privately and the surgeon informed him that Billy would be fine but he would need some stitches.

The surgeon assured Ted that he would not have a scar. Ted told the surgeon he wanted to be in the room with Billy when he got the stitches but the surgeon said that was unnecessary. Ted did tell him he felt it was since he was Billy's father.

The surgeon reluctantly allowed Ted to be in the room when he stitched up Billy's face. Gantry guest starred on the TV shows "Naked City", "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" and "Great Performances".

Answer: Howard Duff

Duff, born on November 24th, 1913 in Bremerton, Washington, was cast as John Shaunessy. After Joanna told Ted that she wanted to get custody of Billy, Ted went to John Shaunessy to discuss with him his case and mentioned he felt he had an open and shut case. John informed Ted there was no such thing as an open and shut case when it came to child custody and the burden was on him to prove that his ex-wife was an unfit mother. John mentioned to Ted that he would have to play rough in order to win the case for him and also said that Joanna's side would play rough as well. John told Ted that the case would cost him $15,000 if he won and it would cost him more if the case was appealed. John did mention to Ted that, due to how young Billy was, the court tended to side with the mother in his situation but he would do his best to help Ted retain custody of Billy. Duff had roles in the films "Too Much Sun", "No Way Out" and "Monster in the Closet".

Answer: Howland Chamberlain

Chamberlain, a native of The Bronx, New York, played Judge Atkins. On the Kramers' first court date, Judge Atkins asked Joanna's lawyer if he was ready and the lawyer told the judge that he was prepared. The first piece of testimony which Judge Atkins witnessed during the entire custody proceeding was Joanna's when her lawyer called her to the stand. Judge Atkins also listened to testimony from Margaret as well as facts like Ted being fired from his job due to family issues, Billy's injury at the playground and more.

At the end of the hearing, Judge Atkins ruled that Joanna was to have custody of Billy. Chamberlain had guest starring stings on TV shows such as "Adventures of Superman", "Racket Squad" and "Kojak".