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‘Grease’ Is the Word for This Quiz

Are you top of the trivia class — or a beauty school dropout?

Thom Geier,

AARP

Published April 07, 2023

10 Questions

Forty-five years after Grease first hand-jived into movie theaters, Paramount+ has launched a prequel series, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. The show follows the founding mothers of the female clique at the 1950s high school where Rizzo, Frenchy and Sandy would later rule the halls. Test your knowledge of the original movie, and see if you’re hopelessly devoted enough to ace this quiz.

‘Grease’ Is the Word for This Quiz

[ {
 "question" : "What was the name of the high school that Danny (John Travolta), Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) and the gang attend?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Rydell High",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Presley High",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Sacramento High",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Avalon High",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The school’s name has long been considered a tribute to Bobby Rydell, the former teen idol whose hits included “Wild One” and “Volare” – and who starred opposite Ann-Margret in the 1963 musical film “Bye Bye Birdie.”\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Where did Danny and Sandy first meet before Sandy transferred into his high school?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Church",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "A movie theater",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "A soda fountain",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "The beach",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Yes, they met at the beach – though they have very different accounts of their romance (and how far they went physically) in the song “Summer Nights.”\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What’s Danny’s last name?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Zuko",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Dombrowski",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Olsson",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Kenickie",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Dombrowski was actually Sandy’s last name in the Broadway show, changed to Olsson for the film when the role was rewritten as an Australian transplant for Newton-John. Kenickie is the name of Danny’s best friend, played by Jeff Conaway in the movie.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What was the name of the greaser gang led by Danny?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Mustangs",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "T-Birds",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Wildcats",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Hot Rods",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The car-obsessed teenagers — who wear a similar uniform of white T-shirts, leather jackets and blue jeans — named themselves after the Ford Thunderbird, the coveted two-seat convertible that the automaker introduced in 1955.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Before John Travolta was cast as Danny Zuko, who was first offered the role but turned it down for fear of being typecast because he had just played another ’50s greaser?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Martin Sheen",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Henry Winkler",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Dennis Quaid",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Robert De Niro",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Winkler was playing the leather-jacket-wearing Arthur ‘Fonzie’ Fonzarelli on the hit sitcom “Happy Days” when he was approached about “Grease.” He later admitted he regrets rejecting the role. “Now, I go home, I say ‘no’ and I have a Diet Coke,” he told CNN’s Chris Wallace in 2022. “John Travolta goes home, and has done the movie and buys a plane.”\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Who owns the souped-up racing car known as “Greased Lightning”?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Danny Zuko",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Tom Chisum",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Kenickie",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Sonny LaTierri",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Jeff Conaway’s Kenickie buys the car — which is actually a 1948 Ford De Luxe convertible in the film — and hopes to restore it from a “hunk of junk” into a “chick magnet” that can win street races. But John Travolta lobbied hard to have Danny lead the movie’s song about the vehicle – even though it’s a solo for Kenickie in the stage version.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What dance do the kids perform in a live contest on “National Bandstand”?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Hand jive",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "The Twist",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Jitterbug",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Bunny hop",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "After his buddy Sonny (Michael Tucci) drags Sandy away from Danny near the end of the routine, Danny winds up winning the contest with Cha Cha (Annette Charles) – the girlfriend of a rival gang leader.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which of these sports did Danny not try to play before settling on track in his bid to earn a varsity letter to impress Sandy?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Basketball",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : " Football",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Wrestling",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Baseball",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Sid Caesar's Coach Calhoun has Danny try multiple sports before settling on cross-country running as his best chance to reform the greaser – though he’s initially put off by Danny turning up at the gym in his biker jacket and smoking a cigarette.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which romantic song for Sandy, one of four added just for the film, earned an Oscar nomination for best original song?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "“Beauty School Dropout”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Hopelessly Devoted to You”",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Born to Hand Jive”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "It’s “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” which was written by Newton-John’s longtime songwriter John Farrar. But the “Grease” song lost to the Donna Summer hit “Last Dance” from the disco drama “Thank God It’s Friday.”\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "How did Frenchy, the ditzy member of the Pink Ladies played by Didi Conn, get her nickname?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "She was born in France",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "She wore an embroidered French poodle on her skirts",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "She could “French inhale” a cigarette",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Her last name was French",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Frenchy is also the subject of “Beauty School Dropout,” a ballad that Teen Angel Frankie Avalon sings in the film.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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‘Grease’ Is the Word for This Quiz

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Thom Geier is an award-winning writer and editor with a passion for American pop culture. He served as executive editor of the digital news site TheWrap.com and as a senior editor at Entertainment Weekly, where he oversaw coverage of movies, theater and books. His essays and reviews appear regularly on CultureSauce.net.

‘Grease’ Is the Word for This Quiz

‘Grease’ Is the Word for This Quiz

‘Grease’ Is the Word for This Quiz

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