70s Trivia Questions and Answers
Seventies trivia: the films, the records, the television and the headlines from 1970 to 1979, from Watergate to disco. It is a good round for anyone who remembers the decade and a fair test for anyone who does not. Answers are included under each question.
There are 43 questions on this page. They are free to use for quiz nights, classrooms and pub quizzes, and each one links to its own page.
Related lists: 60s trivia questions, 80s trivia questions, Music trivia questions, Oscars trivia questions.
1.What kind of parties swept the nation after the release of the 1978 film, National Lampoon's Animal House?
Answer: TOGA PARTIES
Open this question2.The largest selling song of 1972 dealt with a tragic event that occurred on February 3, 1959, resulting in the death of three famous people. What was the song title, and who wrote and recorded it?
Answer: AMERICAN PIE / DON McLEAN people were BUDDY HOLLY / RICHIE VALENS / BIG BOPPER
Open this question3.This 1972 criminal/comedy film starred Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn as bank thieves in Germany, and the title of the film was represented not by a word, but by a symbol. What was the title?
Answer: $ (the film is titled with the dollar sign symbol, often referred to as 'Dollars' or '$')
Open this question4.In both 1978 the Nobel Peace Prize was shared by two former political adversaries. Who were they?
Answer: ANWAR SADAT / MENACHEM BEGIN
Open this question5.In the 1976 film, Network, frustrated television viewers were urged to stick their heads out of their windows and yell what angry cry?
Answer: I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!
Open this question6.This film premiered in December 1977, and its soundtrack album became, for a time, the biggest selling album ever. Which film?
Answer: SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
Open this question7.In 1978 Richard Adams' best-selling fantasy about a family of rabbits seeking a safe place to live was turned into one of the best animated feature films ever made. What's the title?
Answer: WATERSHIP DOWN
Open this question8.Actor and comedian Billy Crystal made his national debut in what famous TV show from the 1970's?
Answer: SOAP
Open this question9.In 1973, this 10-year-old became the youngest performer to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, in a film which starred her father. Name the youngster, the father, and the film.
Answer: TATUM O'NEAL / RYAN O'NEAL / PAPER MOON
Open this question10.Which young actress played the role of a crass-mouthed young prostitute in Martin Scorsese's 1976 classic film, Taxi Driver?
Answer: JODIE FOSTER
Open this question11.What was the name of the U.S. Army Lieutenant court-martialled for permitting atrocities in Vietnam in 1971?
Answer: LT. WILLIAM CALLEY
Open this question12.Which person, in which year, said, "I do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States"
Answer: GERALD FORD / 9/8/1974
Open this question13.What was the title of the 1974 comedy/horror film which starred Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, and Madeline Kahn?
Answer: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
Open this question14.This was Steven Spielburg's first flop of a film, from 1979, starring Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi. In this film the Japanese attacked Los Angeles during World War II. What was the title?
Answer: 1941
Open this question15.Patty Hearst was kidnapped on February 4, in what year?
Answer: 1974
Open this question16.Believe it or not, Michael Jackson's first #1 solo record was the title song from a 1972 film about a trained rat. What was the title?
Answer: "BEN"
Open this question17.This new-wave/punk musician was a former beautician and Playboy bunny. In the late 1970's she was lead singer of a successful rock act with a colorful group name. Name the group and lead singer?
Answer: BLONDIE / DEBORAH HARRY
Open this question18.Between 1975 and 1980, this female singer had ten Top Ten Hits, including four #1 hits, and some people called her the "Queen of Disco". Who was she?
Answer: DONNA SUMMER
Open this question19.Which two countries reunited in 1976 after 22 years of separation and hostility?
Answer: NORTH AND SOUTH VIETNAM
Open this question20.In the summer of, 1971, a pair of performers began to host a summer replacement series. The show was so popular that it launched their individual and combined careers. Who are they?
Answer: SONNY AND CHER
Open this question21.In 1970, Dustin Hoffman was 33 years old when he played the film role of 121-year-old Jack Crabb in what film?
Answer: LITTLE BIG MAN
Open this question22.Prophetically, just a few months before the Three-Mile Island nuclear reactor accident in Pennsylvania, a 1979 film dealt with the subject of a nuclear accident. That film was entitled The China Syndrome. Who were three stars?
Answer: JANE FONDA / MICHAEL DOUGLAS / JACK LEMMON
Open this question23.What was the name of the film with a sports theme that won the Academy Award as Best Film in 1976?
Answer: ROCKY
Open this question24.What was the name of the Israeli psychic, popular in the 1970's, who claimed to be able to bend spoons by will?
Answer: URI GELLER
Open this question25.Between 1969 and 1977 which male entertainer performed more than 700 times, exclusively at the Las Vegas Hilton?
Answer: ELVIS PRESLEY
Open this question26.Meant as a satire of skin magazines, a certain male actor posed nude in the April, 1972 edition of a certain magazine. Which actor, and which magazine?
Answer: BURT REYNOLDS / COSMOPOLITAN
Open this question27.In 1972, this Romanian citizen became the first tennis player from behind the Iron Curtain to win the US Open tennis tournament. What was his name?
Answer: ILIE NASTASE
Open this question28.The Beatles won the Academy Award only once in their career - for the song score of what 1970 film?
Answer: LET IT BE
Open this question29.Former New York policeman Edward Mahoney dropped a few letters from his name and became a 1970's music star. Who is he?
Answer: EDDIE MONEY
Open this question30.In 1978, five months after Elvis Presley died, a certain song recorded by Elvis sold a million copies. What was the title of this song, written by Paul Anka?
Answer: MY WAY
Open this question31.On February 18, 1970, the Chicago Seven were acquitted of all major charges. What were they charged with?
Answer: DEMONSTRATING DISRUPTING DURING THE 1968 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION IN CHICAGO
Open this question32.Which 1975 horror film, which caused a slowdown in summer tourism, starred Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss?
Answer: JAWS
Open this question33.This entertainment couple remarried in 1975, one year after their first divorce. Who were they?
Answer: RICHARD BURTON / ELIZABETH TAYLOR
Open this question34.The two male actors who won Academy Awards as Best Actor in 1970 and 1972 both refused the awards. Who were they, and for which films?
Answer: GEORGE C. SCOTT - PATTON / MARLON BRANDO - GODFATHER
Open this question35.In 1976 at what Olympic city did Nadia Comaneci score a perfect 10 in gymnastics?
Answer: MONTREAL
Open this question36.Star Wars was the third film directed by George Lucas. What were the first two?
Answer: THX-1138 1971 / AMERICAN GRAFFITI 1973
Open this question37.In the first celebrity fundraiser, in 1971, musical stars Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, and Ringo Starr joined event coordinator and former Beatle George Harrison to raise money for hungry residents of what starving nation?
Answer: BANGLADESH
Open this question38.Which person, in 1975, was the creator and producer of Saturday Night Live?
Answer: LORNE MICHAELS
Open this question39.When this New York undercover policeman exposed police curruption, fears for his safety caused him to quit the police force and leave the U.S. for Europe. In 1973 a film about his life was made. What was his name, and which actor pleyd him in the film?
Answer: SERPICO / AL PACINO
Open this question40.In 1972, just after this person had vowed never to step foot again on U.S. soil, he flew to America to receive a special Academy Award for "the incalculable effect he had on motion pictures". Who was he?
Answer: CHARLIE CHAPLIN
Open this question41.Which 1975 film, a satire on the lack of commitment and shallow behavior in California, starred Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, and Goldie Hawn?
Answer: SHAMPOO
Open this question42.In this 1974 film, a very versatile actor, in one of his earlier roles, played the role of a foul-mouthed, self-destructive and controversial stand-up comedian. What was the film title, and which actor played him?
Answer: LENNY / DUSTIN HOFFMAN
Open this question43.Around the late 1800's, if a cowboy was having a really bad day, he might take out his frustration on the saloon musician. In 1972, Elton John released an album whose title reflected that sentiment. What was it?
Answer: DON'T SHOOT ME, I'M ONLY THE PIANO PLAYER
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