The Accomplishments of Stephen Fry Online Quiz | People

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1. One of Stephen Fry's earlier achievements was earning second place on which highly academic British television quiz show in 1980 with three of his fellow students from Queen's College, Cambridge?

Answer: University Challenge

Whilst reading for a degree in English Literature at Queens' College, Cambridge, Stephen Fry joined the college's "University Challenge" team and appeared in the 1980 television series as a contestant. His team came second in the series, being beating in the final by Merton College, Oxford.

It was whilst he was at Cambridge University that Stephen Fry joined the "Footlights" society and met his soon-to-be comedy partner, Hugh Laurie.

2. In 1988, Stephen Fry wrote and presented his own six-part comedy series called "Saturday Night Fry" on which media?

Answer: Radio

Although Stephen Fry began his radio career in the 1986 on the BBC Radio 4 programme "Loose Ends", following further successful radio appearances, the BBC Radio 4 commissioned "Saturday Night Fry". The show featured cameos from many of Fry's Cambridge contemporaries, including Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson.

3. In 1986, Stephen Fry took on one of his best known television roles, starring in "Blackadder II" alongside Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson as which grovelling Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth II?

Answer: Lord Melchett

"Blackadder II" ran for 6 episodes in 1986 and followed Rowan Atkinson as Lord Edmund Blackadder, an Elizabethan courtier, in his attempts to climb the social ladder whilst being hindered along the way by hapless servants and bitter rivalries. Stephen Fry starred as Blackadder's chief rival, Lord Melchett, who lives in fear of upsetting the Queen, attempts to outdo Blackadder at all times.

4. In 1984, Stephen Fry branched out into playwriting and was part of a team who produced a revised script and accompanying award-winning book for which stage musical?

Answer: Me and My Girl

Along with the original author Douglas Furber and director Mike Ockrent, Stephen Fry adapted the book version of "Me and My Girl" (1932) for a modern stage and revised the novel itself for a modern audience. The team won the 1987 Drama Desk Award for "Outstanding Book of a Musical" for this endeavour and the stage production itself won two Olivier awards in 1985.

5. Although Stephen Fry made his film debut in the 1980s, it wasn't until 1997 that he earned his first Golden Globe nomination for the eponymous role which critically-acclaimed movie?

Answer: Wilde

In the 1997 film "Wilde", Stephen Fry played Oscar Wilde in a biopic of his life. The role earned him a nomination for "Best Actor - Drama" in the 1998 Golden Globe Awards. The movie is also notable for containing Orlando Bloom's first on-screen appearance; he played a rent boy.

6. In 2006, Stephen Fry starred in his first documentary, a two-part Emmy-award winning series exploring his ongoing battles with a severe mental health disorder. What was it called?

Answer: Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive

"Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive" saw Stephen Fry talking about his own struggles with bipolar disorder and also speaking to other celebrities who had both similar and different mental health issues. Celebrities featured included Carrie Fisher and Richard Dreyfuss. The documentary won an Emmy Award for "Best Documentary" at the 35th International Emmys in 2007.

The documentary was also nominated for a BAFTA for "Best Factual Series" in 2007.

7. In 2003, Stephen Fry began hosting a television comedy panel quiz show, for which he won the Rose d'Or Award for "Best Game Show Host" in 2006. What "quite interesting" show was this?

Answer: Q.I.

Q.I. quizzes panels of comedians and celebrities on obscure knowledge and penalises adherence to urban legends, myths and uncorroborated facts. Each episode has a theme, and each series has a specific letter with which each theme will begin. Stephen Fry presented Q.I. until 2016, when he was replaced by Sani Toksvig as host.

As well as winning the Rose d'Or Award in 2006, Stephen Fry was nominated for a BAFTA for "Best Entertainment Performance" for the show.

8. In 2007, Stephen Fry was granted a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at which awards ceremony held in London, the televising of which was delayed due to a phone-in scandal that British broadcasting channel ITV was undergoing at the time?

Answer: British Comedy Awards

For his lifetime of dedication to comedy, Stephen Fry was presented with a "lifetime Achievement Award" at the British Comedy Awards in 2007. The ceremony was hosted by Jonathan Ross and, notably, James Corden won "Best Comedy Newcomer" in that year.

Although these awards has been shown live since the 1990s, the 2007 ceremony was not broadcast as ITV, its broadcaster, was embroiled in a scandal relating to deceptions in telephone voting.

9. Stephen Fry's best-selling autobiography spans 3 volumes. The first volume, published in 1997 and containing a reminiscence of how Fry almost became an Anglican priest, has what somewhat religious title?

Answer: Moab is my Washpot

Covering the first 20 years of his life, "Moab Is My Washpot" (1997) chronicles Stephen Fry's life as a public schoolboy and his descent into a life of indiscretion, culminating in a short prison sentence. The phrase comes from Psalm 60 and Psalm 108; the Psalms tell of Moab threatening Israel and being subdued and also of people using a washpot to wash their dusty feet when arriving back at home. Fry told "The Sunday Times" in 1997 that he chose the title because he saw the book as "scrubbing at the grime of years".

The book was a number one best seller in the UK in both 1997 and 1998.

10. In 2010, Stephen Fry branched out again and started a five year term on the board of directors of which English football club?

Answer: Norwich City

Having been a lifelong fan of "the Canaries", Stephen Fry was announced as the club's newest director in August 2010. He served 5 years on the board and later left to take on the role of "ambassador" for the club. In 2014, Fry then became honorary president of Proud Canaries, the club's LGBT society.

Source: Author suzidunc

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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The Accomplishments of Stephen Fry Quiz

More than just an entertainer, Stephen Fry is has been described as a comedian, a writer, an actor, a political activist, a TV and radio presenter and an academic. Here's a quiz about some of his wide-ranging achievements.

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