Tough People Trivia: Famous Last Words | 10 Questions

Answer: Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born, in 1854, into a celebrated Dublin family. He took after his mother, Lady Jane, and was often referred to as a "snob", but his life did not match his aspirations in so many ways and he died in poverty in a Paris hotel room in 1900. The dying words "Either this wallpaper goes or I do" have also been attributed to Oscar Wilde.

Answer: Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey DeForest Bogart, born in 1899 in New York, was to become one of Hollywood's most distinctive leading men. Veteran of 85 films, 'Bogey' died of cancer in 1957.

Answer: Jesse James

Jesse Woodson James was born in Missouri in 1847 to a Baptist Minister and his wife. After the Civil War, Jesse and his brother Frank, together with their gang robbed banks and trains across America. In 1881, with a price on his head, Jesse rented a house under the assumed name of Tom Howard. Being short of cash, and all his gang members either dead or imprisoned, he recruited Bob and Charlie Ford to help him rob the local Bank.

The lure of the $10,000 bounty on Jesse proved too much for the Fords, and in April 1882 Bob put a bullet in the back of Jesse's head as he stood on a chair to dust and straighten a picture, so ending the life of the legend that was Jesse James.

Answer: Franklin D Roosevelt

The 32nd President of the USA, Franklin Delanore Roosevelt, fought a bout of polio to be elected to the first of his four terms of office in 1932. He died of a cerebral haemorrhage in 1945.

Answer: W C Fields

Born William Claude Dukenfield in Philadelphia in either 1879 or 1880 (sources cannot agree!), Fields left home at the age of 11. In his teens he entered showbusiness as a comic juggler, progressing to silent and later talkie movies. He died in Pasadena on Christmas Day, 1946.

Answer: H G Wells

Herbert George Wells was born on 21 September 1866 in Bromley, Kent. A pioneer of English science fiction, his first novel 'The Time Machine' brought him fame in 1895, and he continued writing in that genre for the next few years, producing works such as 'The Invisible Man' in 1897 and 'The War of the Worlds' the following year.

Answer: Nancy Astor

Born Nancy Witcher Langhorne in 1879 in Richmond, Virginia, Lady Nancy Astor was the first woman to sit as a Member of the British Parliament in 1919. She remained in Parliament until her retirement in 1945 and died in 1964, at the age of 85.

Answer: Nero

Born in Antium, Italy in 37 AD, Nero was the fifth of the Roman Emperors. His reign lasted for 14 years, from 54-68 AD and is mostly remembered for the great fire of Rome which raged through the city for nine days during 64 AD. Nero committed suicide during the summer of 68 AD at the age of 31.

Answer: James Dean

Jame Byron Dean was born 1931 in Indiana. Having made three films in just over a year Jimmy Dean embodied the restless American youth of the mid 1950s. In September 1955, on the way to compete in a race, he died in a motorway accident.

Answer: Errol Flynn

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was born in Tasmania, Australia in 1909. The original swashbuckler died of a heart attack in Canada at the age of 50.