Women Leaders Trivia Quiz

Answer: Veep

"Veep" is a political comedy that premiered on HBO in 2012. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Selina Meyer, Vice President of the United States. In season 4, Meyer assumes the Presidency following the sitting President's resignation. Meyer loses the following election, however, to New Mexico Senator Laura Montez (Andrea Savage), after a tie in the Electoral College leads to her election by the Senate. So this series has the distinction of having not one, but two female Presidents.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (b. 1961) trained with Second City (Chicago's improvisational theater group). Her TV credits include a stint on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" (1982-85) and her role as Elaine on the long-running sitcom "Seinfeld" (1989-1998), as well as starring in "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (2006-2010). One of the most awarded actors in American television history, Louis-Dreyfus by the end of first two decades of the 21st century had won more Emmy Awards and more SAG Awards than any other performer. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010, was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2014, and received the USA's highest comedy honor, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, in 2018.

Answer: Parks and Recreation

For most of the run of "Parks and Recreation", Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) was Deputy Director of the Parks and Recreation Department in Pawnee, Indiana. Inspired by Madeline Albright, Hillary Clinton, and Condoleezza Rice, Knope believed in the power of good government, even though her misanthropic boss did not. Knope was elected to City Council in the fourth season, but was then recalled. By the seventh and last season she became head of Midwest branch of the National Park Service with hopes of building a national park in Pawnee. She then got a promotion in the Department of the Interior, and in flash-forwards she became Governor of Indiana for two terms. It was also implied that either she or her husband Ben became President of the USA (deliberately left ambiguous).

"Parks and Recreation" received multiple nominations and accolades during its run, including a Peabody Award in 2011 and a Television Critics Association Award in 2013.

Amy Poehler (b. 1971) studied improvisational theater at Chicago's Second City and at ImprovOlympic. For playing Leslie Knope, Poheler earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Musical or Comedy Series in 2014 and a Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 2012. She and comedian-playwright Tina Fey jointly won the 2016 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (for "Saturday Night Live").

Answer: Patty Duke

"Hail to the Chief" (1985) starred Patty Duke as President Julia Mansfield, who had to overcome the many plans and schemes for her impeachment, not to mention a rogue Air Force general (played by John Vernon) and a complicated personal life as she tried to raise her family. Ted Bessell, who had earlier played the romantic interest in "That Girl" (1966-1971), played the President's husband (the First Gentleman). Created by producer Susan Harris, it had open-ended, continuing storylines like Harris's soap-opera parody "Soap" (1977-81). The series lasted for only seven episode, but it was one of the few in the 1980s to have a recurring gay character, namely Randy (Joel Brooks), the Secret Service Agent.

Patty Duke (1946-2016) might have been best known for playing a dual role as Patty Lane and her "identical" cousin Cathy Lane in the sitcom creatively titled "The Patty Duke Show" (1963-66). She also portrayed Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker", both the play (1959) and the film (1962), and she had the privilege of meeting the real Helen Keller. As an adult she continued to act and also became a advocate for people with mental illness

Answer: Elizabeth R

"Elizabeth R" (the 'R' standing for "Regina", meaning "the Queen") was aired in six parts in the UK in 1971. Several performers from "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" (1970), including John Ronane as Thomas Seymour, reprised their role from that earlier mini-series. Jackson also played the role of the Virgin Queen in the feature "Mary, Queen of Scots" (1971), released in cinemas later that year.

PBS brought "Elizabeth R" to the States in 1972 through its "Masterpiece Theater" program, hosted by Alistair Cooke. "Elizabeth R" won an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series in 1972; it was first British program to do so, before even the outrageously popular "Upstairs, Downstairs" did so in 1974. Jackson herself won two Emmys, for Best Actress in a Drama Series and Best Actress in a Movie/TV Special (for the episode "Shadow in the Sun"). The mini-series was rebroadcast other times by "Masterpiece Theater" in the 1990s and early 2000s

Costume designer Elizabeth Waller recreated many of the gowns for Glenda Jackson from the Queen's official portraits.

Glenda Jackson (b. 1936) studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for "Women in Love" (1966), adapted from D.H. Lawrence's novel. Jackson was made Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1978. She served as a Member of Parliament from 1992 until 2015.

Answer: 24

Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) became President of the USA in the telemovie "24: Redemption" (2008) and continued to hold office office in seasons seven and eight of "24". She refused terrorists' demands despite the murder of her son and the shooting of her husband. Cherry Jones once told an interviewer that Taylor was not modeled after Hillary Clinton, despite rumors to the contrary, but was "a combination of Eleanor Roosevelt, Golda Meier, and John Wayne".

Tennessee-native Cherry Jones (b. 1956) won an Emmy for performance in "24", as well as a Tony for each of her roles in "Doubt" (2005) and the 1995 revival of "The Heiress". In 2012, Jones starred in the NBC drama "Awake" as psychiatrist Dr. Judith Evans. Jones has also narrated audiobook versions of Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" collection.

Answer: Ingrid Bergman

Judy Davis played a younger Meir, while Ingrid Bergman played a mature Meir reminiscing on her life in "A Woman Called Golda", which also featured Anne Jackson, Ned Beatty, Robert Loggia, and Leonard Nimoy as Meir's husband. This syndicated special marked the last TV appearance of Bergman, who succumbed to cancer a few months after it aired. The telefilm earned seven Emmy nominations and bagged three, including Outstanding Drama Special and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for Ingrid Bergman (posthumously).

Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) had a long and illustrious career. She won three Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Tony Award. On the large screen, she played Ilsa Lund in "Casablanca" (1942) and Alicia Huberman in the Hitchcock thriller "Notorious" (1946).

Golda Meir was the world's fourth and Israel's first woman to hold the office of prime minister. Former Israeli PM David Ben-Gurion used to call her "the best man in the government".

Answer: Commander in Chief

Vice President Mackenzie "Mac" Allen assumed the office of POTUS after the sitting President died of a cerebral aneurysm in "Commander in Chief" (2005). Congressman Nathan Templeton (Donald Sutherland) initially resented the new President and had designs on the office himself. Mac's mother was played by Polly Bergen, who earlier had played President Leslie McCloud in the Warner Bros. comedy "Kisses for My President" (1964), co-starring Fred MacMurray as her "neglected" husband.

"State of Affairs" (2014) also lasted only one season (on NBC) and starred Alfre Woodard as the first African American female President of the United States.

Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (b. 1956) starred in "The Fly" (1986), "Thelma & Louise" (1991), and "A League of Their Own" (1992) -- just to name a few movies. She has played a recurring role in the U.S television series "Grey's Anatomy" (2014-2015, 2018), and she played Regan in the first season of the series "The Exorcist" (2017) on Fox Television. In 2005, Davis won a Golden Globe for her role as Mackenzie Allen in "Commander in Chief".

Answer: Lynda Carter

Lynda Carter played U.S. President Marsdin, who survived two assassination attempts and signed a bill granting amnesty to extraterrestrial aliens living incognito on American soil. Marsdin was in fact an alien herself, a refugee who fled as a child from the planet Durla after an invasion. When her secret was exposed in season four, she resigned. Her name continued to be mentioned, however, throughout the run of "Supergirl", which premiered on The CW network in 2015.

American actress, model, and singer-songwriter Lynda Carter (b. 1951) was crowned Miss World America 1972. She starred as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman in "Wonder Woman" (1975-79) on ABC and CBS. About this role, Carter once told an interviewer that the producer warned her that women would be jealous of her. "Well, I said, 'Not a chance. They won't be, because I am not playing her that way. I want women to want to be me, or to be my best friend!" In 1985, DC Comics honored Lynda Carter in their 50th-anniversary publication "Fifty Who Made DC Great". (Both Supergirl and Wonder Woman are characters owned by DC). In 2016, Carter received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gracie Awards, and in 2018 she received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Answer: House of Cards

Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) begins the series as a Washington, D.C. lobbyist who runs an environmental nonprofit organization. In time, she becomes Second Lady, First Lady, Ambassador to the United Nations, Vice President, and finally President.

Underwood has been compared to Lady Macbeth for schemes for power with husband Frank, which were the center of the series. After season 4, Robin Wright demanded equal pay to Kevin Spacey, who played the husband, and got it! Frank died, however, and Claire became the sole protagonist of the series' final season.

For this role, Robin Wright (b. 1966) was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series five times in a row, and she was nominated seven times for a SAG Award. She also became the first actress to win a Golden Globe Award for an online-only role in a series. Wright made her film debut in the fantasy-adventure film "The Princess Bride" (1987). An advocate for human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wright produced and narrated the documentary "When Elephants Fight" (2015), an exposé on the country's multinational mining operations and corrupt politicians.

Answer: Patricia Routledge

Long before she was social-climber Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced "Bouquet") making her candlelight suppers, Patricia Routledge was at the highest rung of the ladder as Queen Victoria. Based on the 1934 play by English writer Laurence Housman, 'Victoria Regina' aired in four episodes in 1964 in the UK. A heavily abridged adaptation of the play, called "The Young Victoria" had aired a year earlier in Australia. Produced by Granada Television, "Victoria Regina" appeared in the USA in 1966 on "NET Playhouse". (National Educational Television, or NET, was the forerunner to PBS.)

Katherine Patricia Routledge (b. 1929) trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, launched her acting career at the Liverpool Playhouse, and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2017.