100 Entertainment Trivia Questions and Answers
Celebrities, awards, music and the wider pop-culture record.
Every question below is shown with its answer, so you can scan the whole set, pick the ones you want, and run a round without clicking through. They are free to use for quiz nights, classrooms and pub quizzes. Where a question has extra background, it links to the full explanation.
1.Which people won the Academy Awards for Best Actress and Best Actor for the 1996 film year?
Answer: FRANCIS McDORMAND Fargo / GEOFFREY RUSH Shine
Read the full explanation2.After the stabbing death of two teenagers by another teenager in 1959, some radio stations banned this Bobby Darin hit record from "The Threepenny Opera." What was the song title?
Answer: "MACK THE KNIFE"
Read the full explanation3.Who played the roles of Bobby and Pam Ewing in the popular TV show, Dallas?
Answer: Patrick Duffy / Victoria Principal
Read the full explanation4.The last names of four people nominated for the oscar as best actress begin with the same letter. Who were these four people?
Answer: susan SARANDON dead man walking / sharon STONE casino / meryl STREEP bridges of madison county / elizabeth SHUE leaving las vegas
Read the full explanation5.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
Read the full explanation6.Groucho Marx played the role of Prime Minister Rufus T. Firefly in which 1933 comedy with an animal title?
Answer: DUCK SOUP
Read the full explanation7.When she won the Academy Award as best actress, Sally Field announced, "You like me! You really like me!" Name this film in which she played a young widow and cotton farmer in the south.
Answer: PLACES IN THE HEART
Read the full explanation8.He was born in the 1960's in Oakland with the name Stanley Burrell. As an entertainer he earned five American Music Awards, three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards. What is the stage name of this popular rapper?
Answer: MC HAMMER
Read the full explanation9.Two females won Oscars for their roles in the 1993 film, "The Piano" - the lead actress as well as the young supporting actress. Can you name these two women?
Answer: HOLLY HUNTER / ANNA PAQUIN
Read the full explanation10.Which entertainer, musician and author was the original host of the Tonight Show from 1954 to 1957?
Answer: STEVE ALLEN
Read the full explanation11.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 '$')
Read the full explanation12.Too cute, too popular, and too rich: Can you name any four of the six stars of the popular TV show, Friends ?
Answer: JENNIFER ANISTON / COURTENEY COX / LISA KUDROW / MATT LeBLANC / MATTHEW PERRY / DAVID SCHWIMMER
Read the full explanation13.Which actor played the role of Officer Gannon on TV's Dragnet, and the role of Sherman Potter in M.A.S.H.?
Answer: HARRY MORGAN
Read the full explanation14.Which 1995 film, based on an 1811 Jane Austin novel, starred Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant?
Answer: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
Read the full explanation15.In Richmond, California, late 1970's, minister Richard Penniman warned his congregation of the evils of rock and roll music. This was very strange, since he was one of the biggest rock and roll stars of the 1950's. Who was he?
Answer: LITTLE RICHARD
Read the full explanation16.This operatic tenor who died in 1921 was the first singer ever to sell over one million records. What was his name?
Answer: ENRICO CARUSO
Read the full explanation17.In 1981, the Academy Award Winning film was about two runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddel competing in the 1924 Olympics. What was the name of the film, and in which city did the 1924 Olympic Games take place?
Answer: CHARIOTS OF FIRE / PARIS
Read the full explanation18.In order to evade a murderous gangster, two starving musicians disguise themselves as women in this 1959 Billy Wilder film satire. Which film, which actors?
Answer: "SOME LIKE IT HOT" / JACK LEMMON / TONY CURTIS
Read the full explanation19.Can you name the actor, born in South Africa to British parents, who most often portrayed Sherlock Holmes in films, 14 times in the 1940's?
Answer: BASIL RATHBONE
Read the full explanation20.Susan Sarandon was nominated as best actress in 1991, 1992, and 1994, and won in 1996. For which four films?
Answer: THELMA AND LOUISE / LORENZO'S OIL / THE CLIENT / DEAD MAN WALKING
Read the full explanation21.What kind of parties swept the nation after the release of the 1978 film, National Lampoon's Animal House?
Answer: TOGA PARTIES
Read the full explanation22.A rebellious classic film from 1955 is called Rebel Without a Cause. Can you name the three youthful stars of this film - none of whom are living today?
Answer: JAMES DEAN / NATALIE WOOD / SAL MINEO
Read the full explanation23.1931 horror films: a. Which actor starred in the title role of the original 1931 film, Dracula? b. Who starred as Dr. Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 original of Frankenstein?
Answer: a. BELA LUGOSI b. BORIS KARLOFF
Read the full explanation24.Which two actors starred in Dumb and Dumber?
Answer: JIM CARREY / JEFF DANIELS
Read the full explanation25.Michael Jackson is one of how many children?
Answer: 9 he was 7th of 9
Read the full explanation26.Wizard of Oz: a. Fictitious travelers: Name the four creatures who traveled down the yellow brick road. b. What words did Dorothy chant as she clicked her heels together at film end? c. Which woman played the role of the Wicked Witch of the West?
Answer: a. DOROTHY / SCARECROW / TIN MAN / COWARDLY LION / TOTO b. THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME c. MARGARET HAMILTON
Read the full explanation27.Which young actor and actress starred in, and which young actor directed, the 1984 film, Splash?
Answer: TOM HANKS / DARYL HANNAH / RON HOWARD
Read the full explanation28.Name the actor who played the title role in each of these films: a. 1977 - Annie Hall b. 1966 - Alfie c. 1943 - Madame Curie
Answer: a. DIANE KEATON b. MICHAEL CAINE c. GREER GARSON
Read the full explanation29.Which American musician assembled the musicians who had played 50 years ago in Havana, and created the film, the "Buena Vista Social Club"?
Answer: RY COODER .
Read the full explanation30.What song, written by Paul Anka, was recorded by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Sid Vicious, among others?
Answer: MY WAY
Read the full explanation31.Frank Sinatra began his career in the late 1930's and early 1940's, as a vocalist with which two famous orchestras?
Answer: HARRY JAMES / TOMMY DORSEY
Read the full explanation32.Which actress played the role of Forrest Gump's mother?
Answer: SALLY FIELD
Read the full explanation33.The title of the Oscar-winning 1994 film contained the name of its primary, fictional character. What was it?
Answer: FORREST GUMP
Read the full explanation34.This actor was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for services to drama. He preferred to be knighted with his stage name, rather than his real name, Maurice Micklewhite. Who is he?
Answer: MICHAEL CAINE
Read the full explanation35.Born in 1937 in the Bronx, he grew up to release 18 comedy albums, win three Grammy Awards, star in 10 solo HBO comedy specials, ten movies, and guest star 130 times on the Johnny Carson show. Who is he?
Answer: GEORGE CARLIN
Read the full explanation36.Two of the ten most performed songs of all time by different entertainers are Beatles songs with a one word title. Can you name them?
Answer: YESTERDAY / SOMETHING
Read the full explanation37.Who were the next three actors, after Sean Connery and Roger Moore, to play dramatic roles as James Bond, 007?
Answer: GEORGE LAZENBY / TIMOTHY DALTON / PIERCE BROSNAN
Read the full explanation38.By 1984, this singer/entertainer had sold around 100 million record albums and given over 2,000 live concerts, yet he was relatively unknown in the United States. Who is he?
Answer: JULIO IGLESIAS
Read the full explanation39.Ask one or both parts a. Which piano player starred in a television advertisement for Diet Coke? b. Which piano player starred in a television advertisement for Diet Pepsi?
Answer: a. ELTON JOHN b. RAY CHARLES, UH-HUH
Read the full explanation40.This film premiered in December 1977, and the soundtrack album became the biggest selling of all time. Which film?
Answer: SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
Read the full explanation41.In this 1993 movie drama, Daniel Day-Lewis plays the role of Gerry Conlon, a small time troublemaker from Belfast who's falsely accused and convicted of a being an IRA terrorists who bombed a pub in Guildford, England, in 1974. What was the title?
Answer: IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER
Read the full explanation42.Which deaf person won the Oscar as Best Actress in 1986 and for which film?
Answer: MARLEE MATLIN / CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD
Read the full explanation43.Which women won Academy Awards as Best Actress and Supporting Actress for their roles in the 1987 film, Moonstruck?
Answer: CHER / OLYMPIA DUKAKIS
Read the full explanation44.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
Read the full explanation45.This actress, a regular on the popular TV hit show, Friends, has a hairdo which has spawned millions of look-alikes around the world. What is her name?
Answer: JENNIFER ANISTON rachel
Read the full explanation46.Michael Jackson claims that he modeled his dance moves and vocal styling on which soulful musical performer?
Answer: JAMES BROWN
Read the full explanation47.Which child actor played the role of TV's Dennis the Menace?
Answer: JAY NORTH
Read the full explanation48.Geoffrey Rush won an Oscar in 1997 for his role as a troubled pianist. Name the film and the character he played.
Answer: SHINE / DAVID HELFGOTT
Read the full explanation49.Steven Spielberg won his first directing Oscar for his work in what 1994 film?
Answer: SCHINDLER'S LIST was released in 1993
Read the full explanation50.This small town in Missouri has less than 4,000 inhabitants, but four to five million visitors each year visit the two dozen theaters in town which feature country music. What town is this, known as the Nashville of the Ozarks?
Answer: BRANSON, MISSOURI
Read the full explanation51.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!
Read the full explanation52.In 1930's Hollywood, this film director overwhelmed Depression-era audiences with his lavish, gaudy, kaleidoscopic patterns of female dancers and inventive camera angles. Who was he?
Answer: BUSBY BERKELEY
Read the full explanation53.This 1993 music album featured cover art designed by the recording artist's wife, a model. Name the singer, album, and artist.
Answer: BILLY JOEL / RIVER OF DREAMS / CHRISTIE BRINKLEY
Read the full explanation54.The Sine of an angle is ....
Answer: The ratio of the length of the opposite side to the length of the hypoteneuse.
Read the full explanation55.Julia Roberts films: a. Which 1991 film featured Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, and Julia Roberts? b. Which 1989 film featured Shirley Maclaine, Sally Field, Dolly Parton, and Julia Roberts? c. Which 1993 film, starred Julia Roberts as a law student?
Answer: a. HOOK b.STEEL MAGNOLIAS c. PELICAN BRIEF
Read the full explanation56.A television comedy with moderate ratings tripled its average viewership on the May 2, 1997 broadcast. Which show, what star, why?
Answer: ELLEN / ELLEN DEGENERES / COME OUT AS LESBIAN
Read the full explanation57.She was born in 1938 in San Francisco. She played in the Christmas film, "Miracle on 34th St." at the age of nine. She went on to play a love scene opposite James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause" and the role of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee in "Gypsy" in 1962.
Answer: NATALIE WOOD
Read the full explanation58.In 1996, Tom Cruise produced and starred in which film?
Answer: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Read the full explanation59.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
Read the full explanation60.During the height of Michael Jackson's reign as king of pop, and shortly after the fall of the iron curtain, the young folk in which Eastern European country considered him as a God?
Answer: ROMANIA
Read the full explanation61.The Academy Awards for best actor or actress in the years 1978 and 1981 were won by parent and offspring. Can you name them?
Answer: Jane Fonda won Best Actress for 'Coming Home' (1978); Henry Fonda won Best Actor for 'On Golden Pond' (1981). The given answer is correct.
Read the full explanation62.The animated comedy called The Simpsons got its start as a short filler in which comedy series?
Answer: TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW
Read the full explanation63.One of the most successful films to come out of Australia was a 1981 anti-war film, which starred Mel Gibson. What was the title?
Answer: GALLIPOLI
Read the full explanation64.In the early 1980's, Disney Studios' Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg created a new division, Touchstone Pictures, to produce more adult-oriented films. Their first effort, in 1984, was a big hit. What was the title of this film with a wet theme?
Answer: SPLASH
Read the full explanation65.This artist has been called vile, violent, decrepit, insensitive, moronic, homophobic, offensive, and repugnant, but his music work made him one of the stars of the year 2000. Who is he?
Answer: EMINEM Marshall Mathers
Read the full explanation66.The song Yesterday was released on which Beatles album?
Answer: HELP
Read the full explanation67.One of the most successful television shows of all time was M.A.S.H. What were these four letters an abbreviation for?
Answer: MOBILE ARMY SURGICAL HOSPITAL
Read the full explanation68.Actor and comedian Billy Crystal made his national debut in what famous TV show from the 1970's?
Answer: SOAP
Read the full explanation69.Which TV show featured Ralph and Alice Kramden, and who played them?
Answer: THE HONEYMOONERS / stars: JACKIE GLEASON as Ralph Kramden, AUDREY MEADOWS as Alice Kramden
Read the full explanation70.Which pair of entertainers worked together to star in over 60 short films and 27 full-length films between 1926 and 1951?
Answer: LAUREL AND HARDY
Read the full explanation71.In 1988, 160,000 people attended the largest rock music gathering ever held in East Germany. The Communist newpapers hailed the American rock performer as a friend of the working class. Who was he?
Answer: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Read the full explanation72.Which young actress played the role of a crass-mouthed young prostitute in Martin Scorsese's 1976 classic film, Taxi Driver?
Answer: JODIE FOSTER
Read the full explanation73.Growing up in Liverpool, young John Lennon played with his friends in these thickly wooded gardens and later named a song after them. The gates to these gardens have become a shrine for Beatles fans from all over the world. What's the name?
Answer: STRAWBERRY FIELDS
Read the full explanation74.Can you three pairs of fathers and daughters with top 10 musical hits, (recording individually)?
Answer: COLE: nat and natalie / SINATRA: frank and nancy / BOONE: pat and debbie / CASH / johnny and rosanne
Read the full explanation75.What was the name of the 1980 film which starred John Travolta, Debra Winger, and a mechanical bull?
Answer: URBAN COWBOY
Read the full explanation76.What was the name of the 1988 comedy in which Eddie Murphy, as an African prince, travels to New York to find a bride, and which person co-starred as his travel companion?
Answer: COMING TO AMERICA / ARSENIO HALL
Read the full explanation77.Which two actors starred in film roles as "The Nutty Professor"?
Answer: JERRY LEWIS / EDDIE MURPHY
Read the full explanation78.Which TV newsreporter in late 1986 was embarrassed when he showed a police drug bust on live television only to end up being sued for false arrest?
Answer: JOHN STOSSEL
Read the full explanation79.What was the name of the 1991 film about an Irish soul-music band?
Answer: THE COMMITMENTS
Read the full explanation80.The films The Bridges at Toko-Ri, the Manchurian Candidate, and M*A*S*H were all related to the same war. Which one?
Answer: ABOUT KOREAN WAR
Read the full explanation81.Which 1982 film, based on a novel written by John Irving, starred Glenn Close and Robin Williams?
Answer: THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP
Read the full explanation82.a. Who starred in the role of Charlie Chaplin in the film, Chaplin? b. Can you give the first name of the member of the Chaplin family who acts in the film? c. Who directed the film?
Answer: a. ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. b. GERALDINE CHAPLIN c. RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH
Read the full explanation83.Which magazine, named for a type of wood, has been popular since 1945, primarily among black readers?
Answer: EBONY
Read the full explanation84.Which woman's acting credits include the following films: The Big Chill (1983), Reversal of Fortune (1990), and The House of the Spirits (1994) ?
Answer: GLENN CLOSE
Read the full explanation85.Madonna made her first national TV appearance in 1984 on what music and entertainment show?
Answer: DANCE FEVER
Read the full explanation86.Extremely popular in the 1990's, he is the only athlete to have played in both a Super Bowl game and a World Series game. Who is he?
Answer: DEION SANDERS
Read the full explanation87.What was the title of the 1990 fantasy directed by Tim Burton about a young man with multi-bladed appendages, and who played the lead role?
Answer: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS / JOHNNY DEPP
Read the full explanation88.Can you name three Woody Allen films whose titles included the name of a woman?
Answer: "WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY" 1966 / "ANNIE HALL" 77 / "HANNAH AND HER SISTERS" 86 / "ALICE" 90
Read the full explanation89.The 1987 film, Gorillas in the Mist starred which actress playing the role of which anthropologist who studied gorillas in Africa?
Answer: SIGOURNEY WEAVER / DIANE FOSSEY
Read the full explanation90.One of the longest running broadway shows ever, with over 4000 performances, contained the name of a common animal in the title. What was it?
Answer: CATS
Read the full explanation91.One of Woody Allen's best films is the 1986 movie, Hannah and Her Sisters. Which three actresses played the roles of Hannah and her sisters?
Answer: MIA FARROW / DIANE WIEST / BARBARA HERSHEY (correct spelling: WIEST, not WEIST)
Read the full explanation92.One of the most popular films of 1982 was An Officer and a Gentleman. Can you name the three main stars of that film: the officer in training, the factory worker, and the tough drill sergeant?
Answer: RICHARD GERE / DEBRA WINGER / LOU GOSSETT, JR.
Read the full explanation93.Actor Michael Caine received the Oscar as as Best Supporting Actor in 1986 for his role in which Woody Allen film?
Answer: HANNAH AND HER SISTERS
Read the full explanation94.Name the person who starred in the title role in each of these films: a. 1973 - Papillon b. 1976 - Robin and Marion c. 1980 - The Elephant Man
Answer: a. STEVE McQUEEN b. SEAN CONNERY / AUDREY HEPBURN c. JOHN HURT
Read the full explanation95.The title of this 1982 horror film film, in which a normal suburban home became a house of horrors, was named after a type of ghost that creates disorder. What was the name of this film?
Answer: "POLTERGEIST"
Read the full explanation96.Although in the 1990's Ellen was the first sitcom star to come out on national TV, in the late 1970's and early 1980's, a comedian played television's first openly gay character on a wacky comedy series. Which comedian, which comedy series?
Answer: BILLY CRYSTAL / "SOAP"
Read the full explanation97.This actor died of AIDS in1991. He had kept his illness a secret, fearing he wouldn't be able to work in Hollywood. He was star of a 1978 film about an American imprisoned in Turkey for drug smuggling. What is his name and the name of the film?
Answer: MIDNIGHT EXPRESS / BRAD DAVIS
Read the full explanation98.... The first television trivia quiz game with money prizes debuted in 1955 and lasted until 1958, and was the highest rated TV show in 1956. What was the title?
Answer: THE $64,000 QUESTION
Read the full explanation99.He made his film acting debut in 1941 and appeared in more than 50 films. He won the 1953 Academy Award as best male supporting actor for his work in a war film. He was also an accomplished singer. Who was he?
Answer: FRANK SINATRA 1915-1998
Read the full explanation100.In his amazing career, George Lucas has written and produced dozens of films, but he directed only three - in 1971, 1973, and 1977. Name them.
Answer: 1971...THX-1138 1973 ... AMERICAN GRAFFITI 1977 ... STAR WARS
Read the full explanation