Celebrity Name Game Quiz

Can you guess the real names of these Hollywood A-list actors and actresses?

Marc LeGoff

Published August 25, 2017

15 Questions

Celebrity Name Game Quiz

[ {
  "question" : "Archibald Leach — This handsome and debonair marquee topper was born in the U.K., started in movies in the 1930s and earned two Academy Award nominations in the 1940s. The not necessarily awful, suspicious or notorious truth is that five of his love affairs led to marriage.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Walter Pidgeon",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "David Niven",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Cary Grant",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Laurence Olivier",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Born in England, he sailed to America at age 16, in 1920, as a member of an acrobatics troupe — and stayed. A two-time Oscar nominee (“Penny Serenade,” “None but the Lonely Heart”), Grant received an honorary Oscar in 1970. His films include “She Done Him Wrong,” “Topper,” “The Awful Truth,” “His Girl Friday,” “The Philadelphia Story,” “Suspicion,” “Notorious,” “I Was a Male War Bride,” “To Catch a Thief,” “An Affair to Remember” and “North by Northwest.” Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton was wife No. 2, and actress Dyan Cannon was No. 4.",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Frances Gumm — A wiz kid with natural-born star quality, she debuted in her family’s vaudeville act while still a toddler. During her teens and early 20s, a hardy work ethic helped her act, dance, sing, zing and clang her way into America’s heart.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Rose Marie",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Jane Withers",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Darla Hood",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Judy Garland",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "As a young girl, Garland joined her older siblings Mary Jane and Dorothy in the Gumm Sisters act. She was awarded a special Oscar for her outstanding juvenile performance in “The Wizard of Oz,” and later nominated for “A Star Is Born” and “Judgment at Nuremberg.” Other crowd-pleasers are “Meet Me in St. Louis” (featuring “The Trolley Song”), “Easter Parade,” “Summer Stock” and three “Andy Hardy” movies with Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule). Garland’s second husband was director Vincente Minnelli and her third, producer Sidney Luft.",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Margarita Cansino — One of the top pinup beauties of World War II, this cover girl had a gilded career during the 1940s-50s and, like Garland, the rare chance to kick up her heels with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Also like Grant and Garland, this “Sadie, Sadie, married lady” tied the knot five times.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Ava Gardner",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Betty Grable",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Lana Turner",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Rita Hayworth",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Her popularity soared after studio execs changed her hair color from brunette to red. Hayworth is most famous for “Gilda,” but she also gave notable performances in “Only Angels Have Wings” with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur (born Gladys Greene), “You’ll Never Get Rich” with Fred Astaire, “Cover Girl” with Gene Kelly, “The Lady From Shanghai” with Orson Welles, “Miss Sadie Thompson” with José Ferrer, “Pal Joey” with Frank Sinatra and “They Came to Cordura” with Gary Cooper. Welles was husband No. 2, and Prince Aly Khan was No. 3. Her mother Volga’s maiden name was Hayworth.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Ruby Stevens — Nominated four times for an Oscar — but never victorious — this once-baby-faced Ziegfeld Follies showgirl was Taylor-made to play strong, independent characters. Later in her career, she remained a ball of fire and reigned over three family dynasties with ever-so-thorny dynamics.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Rosalind Russell",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Barbara Stanwyck",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Deborah Kerr",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Gloria Swanson",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The former chorus girl earned four Oscar nods (“Stella Dallas,” “Ball of Fire,” “Double Indemnity,” “Sorry, Wrong Number”) and was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1982. She won an Emmy for “The Big Valley” (playing Victoria Barkley) and another for “The Thorn Birds.” Stanwyck had memorable roles in the “Dynasty” spin-off “The Colbys” on the small screen, and in “Baby Face,” “Meet John Doe” and “Christmas in Connecticut” on the big screen. She was married for 13 years to second husband Robert Taylor (born Spangler Brugh), her costar in three films.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Marion Morrison — With no stage experience or drama coaching before getting work as a prop handler and an extra, this western favorite later excelled in shoot-’em-ups — but also duked it out with the grittiest of foes at sea, up in the sky and in the quiet Irish countryside.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Roy Rogers",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Dale Evans",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "John Wayne",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "James Arness",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "A former University of Southern California football player, “Duke” learned the ropes on film crews and as an extra and actor in B westerns before his breakthrough in “Stagecoach.” He earned an Oscar nomination for “Sands of Iwo Jima” and won one for “True Grit.” The thrice-married Wayne was also in “Dark Command” with Roy Rogers (born Leonard Slye), “In Old Oklahoma” with Dale Evans (Frances Smith), “Hondo” with James Arness, “The Big Trail,” “Flying Tigers,” “They Were Expendable,” “Red River,” “The Quiet Man,” “Rio Bravo,” “The Searchers” and “The Shootist.”",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "William Pratt — Among an elite who’s who(ville) of horror movie stars, this actor also earned a Brewster’s million in a Broadway play during the 1940s. Both his mum and dad died while he was in primary school — so frankly, he was raised by his eight older siblings. He, too, took five brides.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Boris Karloff",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Bela Lugosi",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Lon Chaney Jr.",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Vincent Price",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "This Brit had monster hits with “Frankenstein,” “Bride of Frankenstein,” “Son of Frankenstein” and “House of Frankenstein” (with Lon Chaney Jr.). He also appeared in “The Black Cat” (with Bela Lugosi), “Tower of London” (with Vincent Price), “Scarface,” “The Mummy,” “Five Star Final” and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” From 1941-44, he starred as Jonathan Brewster in “Arsenic and Old Lace” on Broadway. Each December on TV, he can be heard narrating the 1966 cartoon classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Karloff is a family name, he said on “This Is Your Life” in 1957.",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Lucille LeSueur — During the 1930s-50s, she rubbed shoulders with Hollywood’s top leading women and men. And in the ’60s, this four-times-married grand(e) dame with piercing blue eyes secretly kicked up a storm in New York.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Eve Arden",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Joan Crawford",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Joan Fontaine",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Bette Davis",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Known for trendsetting outfits with shoulder pads, Crawford won an Oscar for “Mildred Pierce,” costarring Eve Arden (born Eunice Quedens), and got nods for “Possessed” and “Sudden Fear.” She also was in “Grand Hotel,” “Today We Live” with second husband Franchot Tone, “The Women” with Joan Fontaine (de Havilland) and “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” with Bette Davis. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was hubby No. 1 and Pepsi CEO Alfred Steele, No. 4. In 1968, the early-60-something filled in for her ailing actress daughter, Christina, 29, on the CBS soap “The Secret Storm.”",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "John Sanford — This Chicago son started out as a scrappy stand-up comic who was known for talking a blue streak. He had that certain X factor TV critics and audiences adored, and was nominated four times for a Golden Globe, winning “the big one” in 1973. Like Crawford, he was married four times.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Nipsey Russell",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Flip Wilson",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Redd Foxx",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Richard Pryor",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "He gained a following in the 1950s-60s for his blue comedy records. Both his dad and brother were named Fred Sanford, Foxx’s junk-dealer character on TV’s “Sanford and Son” who feigned heart attacks (“This is the big one!”) when life didn’t go his way. His films include “Cotton Comes to Harlem” and “Harlem Nights.” During the ’40s in Harlem, the auburn-haired 20-something was known as “Chicago Red” to differentiate himself from his restaurant coworker Malcolm “Detroit Red” Little. In Little’s 1965 memoir, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” he called Foxx “the funniest dishwasher on this earth.”",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Roy Scherer — This former World War II Navy airplane mechanic sported a manly stage name given to him by legendary talent agent Henry Willson. A giant among Hollywood heartthrobs, he made a magnificent comeback on TV after his big-screen box office career started to fade.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Tab Hunter",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Rock Hudson",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Troy Donahue",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Mike Connors",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "He was discovered by Willson, who also launched the careers of Tab Hunter (born Arthur Kelm), Troy Donahue (Merle Johnson) and Mike Connors (Krekor Ohanian). To fend off gay rumors, Hudson wed Willson’s secretary, Phyllis Gates, in 1955; they divorced in ’58. His hits include “Giant” (Oscar nod), “Magnificent Obsession,” “Written on the Wind,” “Man’s Favorite Sport” and “The Undefeated.” With Doris Day and Tony Randall, he made “Pillow Talk,” “Lover Come Back” and “Send Me No Flowers.” In the ’70s, he starred in TV’s “McMillan & Wife” with Susan Saint James.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Michel Shalhoub — In projects funny and dramatic, this toothsome polyglot bridged the gap between East and West. Starring in 100-plus films and TV movies (even a doc!), the revolutionary Golden Globe-winning monsieur played characters ranging from Asian, Middle Eastern and North African to European, American and Latin American.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Yul Brynner",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Telly Savalas",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Anthony Quinn",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Omar Sharif",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The gap-toothed Egyptian got an Oscar nod and won a Golden Globe for “Lawrence of Arabia” (featuring Anthony Quinn), and won another for “Doctor Zhivago” (with Julie Christie). Fluent in Arabic, Greek, Italian, Spanish, French and English, Sharif appeared in “Gengis Khan” with Telly Savalas, “Funny Girl” with Barbra Streisand, “Poppies Are Also Flowers” with Yul Brynner, “Che!” with Jack Palance, National Geographic’s “Mysteries of Egypt” documentary, “Oh! Heavenly Dog” with Jane Seymour and “Monsieur Ibrahim” with Isabelle Adjani. He also was a world-ranked bridge player.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Alexandra Zuck — Would you look at her! This all-American girl held a special summer place in our hearts, riding a wave of popularity in the 1950s-60s. Beyond the sea spray of frothy romantic comedies, she also shone in dramas — and even dabbled in horror.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Sandra Dee",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Deborah Walley",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Annette Funicello",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Meredith MacRae",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "In 1959, she shot to fame as James Darren’s surfer girl in “Gidget,” Troy Donahue’s lover in “A Summer Place” and Lana Turner’s daughter in “Imitation of Life.” On the set of “Come September,” Dee met her future husband, “Beyond the Sea” singer Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto). She also was in “Take Her, She’s Mine” with Jimmy Stewart, “Tammy and the Doctor” with Peter Fonda, “Rosie!” with Rosalind Russell and “The Dunwich Horror” with Dean Stockwell. In the hit stage and movie musical “Grease,” she’s immortalized in the slumber party song “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee.”",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Jane Peters — This 20th-century actress started in silent films while still a child and successfully made the leap to talkies. She was known To Be a “Profane Angel” and bonded with — and married — two butlers.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Carole Lombard",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Dorothy Lamour",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Jane Wyman",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Ethel Merman",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "She got an Oscar nod for “My Man Godfrey,” with first hubby William Powell (as a butler) and an uncredited Jane Wyman (born Sarah Jane Mayfield), and was in “No Man of Her Own” with second hubby Clark Gable (the future Rhett Butler). She also acted in “Twentieth Century,” “Nothing Sacred,” “To Be or Not to Be,” “Swing High, Swing Low” with Dorothy Lamour (Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton) and “We’re Not Dressing” with Ethel Merman (Zimmermann). Lombard, who director Mitchell Leisen said looked like an angel but swore like a sailor, died in a plane crash while returning from a 1942 war bond rally.",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Emanuel Goldenberg — Great Caesar’s ghost! He became famous in the 1930s for playing tough guys and gangsters. Holy Moses! This avid art collector was posthumously awarded an honorary Oscar in 1973 for his lifetime of work — and versatility in genres such as film noir, comedy, historical drama, adventure, romance, and sci-fi.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "James Cagney",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Edward G. Robinson",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Humphrey Bogart",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Paul Muni",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The Romanian-born Robinson’s breakout role was in “Little Caesar.” He starred with James Cagney in “Smart Money,” Humphrey Bogart in “Key Largo” and Paul Muni (born Meshilem Weisenfreund) in “We Will Never Die,” a 1943 pageant to raise awareness of the mass murder of European Jews. He was also in “Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet,” “Our Vines Have Tender Grapes,” “A Dispatch From Reuters,” “The Whole Town’s Talking,” “Soylent Green” and “The Ten Commandments” with Charlton Heston (John Charles Carter). He owned works by Renoir, Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Matisse, Picasso and Van Gogh.",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Constance Ockelman — This bewitching femme fatale — whose career “peeked” in the 1940s — proudly hailed from Brooklyn, N.Y. But the glamorous Hollywood flygirl’s celluloid travels took her from Salem and Saigon to Bataan and the great beyond. She married a total of four times.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Claudette Colbert",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Susan Hayward",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Veronica Lake",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Paulette Goddard",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The 4-foot-11 blonde with the peekaboo hairdo costarred with Alan Ladd in “This Gun for Hire,” “The Glass Key, “The Blue Dahlia” and “Saigon.” She also appeared in “Sullivan’s Travels” with Joel McCrea, “I Married a Witch” with Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick Bickel) and Susan Hayward (Edythe Marrenner), “So Proudly We Hail!” with Claudette Colbert (Emilie Claudette Chauchoin) and Paulette Goddard (Pauline Goddard Levy), and “I Wanted Wings” with William Holden (Beedle). While wed to her “Ramrod” director, André De Toth, Lake earned her pilot’s license in 1946.",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Bernard Schwartz — This hotshot’s career was a sweet success in the 1950s-60s but then started to drag a little by the ’70s. Never a single boy for long, he sparred with addiction for many years before defiantly bidding arrivederci to alcohol and drugs in the ’80s.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Jerry Lewis",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Jack Lemmon",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Tony Curtis",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Sid Caesar",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The six-times-wed Bronx-born actor appeared with his first wife, Janet Leigh, in “Houdini.” He earned an Oscar nod for “The Defiant Ones,” costarring Sidney Poitier, and dressed in drag with Jack Lemmon for “Some Like It Hot.” Curtis was also in “Sweet Smell of Success” with Burt Lancaster, “Arrivederci, Baby!” with Nancy Kwan, “Operation Petticoat” with Cary Grant, “Spartacus” with Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch), “Sex and the Single Girl” with Natalie Wood (Natalia Zakharenko) and “Boeing Boeing” with Jerry Lewis (Joseph Levitch), his first best man. He served aboard the USS Proteus during World War II.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
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} ]

Quiz Progress

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