100 Famous People Trivia Questions and Answers
Leaders, inventors, performers and the lives behind the names.
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.Can you name the two sisters who have newspaper columns in hundreds of newspapers throughout the English speaking world?
Answer: DEAR ABBY ABIGAIL VAN BUREN / ANN LANDERS
Read the full explanation2.Who was Madonna married to from 1985-1989?
Answer: SEAN PENN
Read the full explanation3.What are the first names of thumbs-up movie critics Siskel and Ebert?
Answer: GENE / ROGER
Read the full explanation4.Queen Elizabeth's only daughter was born in 1950. What's her name?
Answer: PRINCESS ANNE
Read the full explanation5.The author of the Russian novel, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," was one of the few people ever to be expelled from the USSR. Who was the author?
Answer: ALEXANDER SOLZHENITSYN
Read the full explanation6.After the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, architect Julia Morgan was called upon to rebuild the interior of which San Francisco hotel?
Answer: FAIRMONT
Read the full explanation7.This African-American botanist and agricultural chemist developed hundreds of uses for peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes. Who was he?
Answer: GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER 1864?-1943.
Read the full explanation8.Which game is played on a marked board divided into two halves, each side containing 12 alternately colored points?
Answer: BACKGAMMON
Read the full explanation9.What was the name of the Long Island teenager who, in 1993, had an affair with auto mechanic Joey Buttafuoco, and then shot his wife, Mary Jo?
Answer: AMY FISHER
Read the full explanation10.In the 17-18th centuries he was employed by the British government to help stop piracy on the high seas, but he turned to piracy himself, was caught and executed in England. Who was he?
Answer: CAPTAIN WILLIAM KIDD
Read the full explanation11.One of the most successful business men in the world, Microsoft founder Bill Gates was a college drop-out - from what university?
Answer: HARVARD
Read the full explanation12.Name the parents mother and father of each of these entertainers: a. Jamie Lee Curtis b. Liza Minelli c. Carrie Fisher
Answer: c. EDDIE FISHER / DEBBIE REYNOLDS (remove stray 'GEORGIA')
Read the full explanation13.NM: Born in Jerusalem in 1929, in 1948 he moved with his family to the Gaza. Trained as a civil engineer, he received a degree from the University of Cairo and in 1957 moved to Kuwait, where he trained Palestinian commandos and formed the Al-Fatah Fedayee
Answer: YASSIR ARAFAT
Read the full explanation14.Places of birth of famous entertainers: a. In which city was Paul McCartney born? b. In which country was Zsa Zsa Gabor born? c. In which city was Elvis Presley born?
Answer: a. LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND b.HUNGARY c. TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI
Read the full explanation15.In 1947 the Norwegian ethnologist and author Thor Heyerdahl confirmed that ancient Indians could have sailed from Peru to Polynesia, and in 1970, he confirmed that ancient Egyptians could have settled the West Indies. What were the names of the two boats
Answer: KON-TIKI / RA
Read the full explanation16.Of the three political Kennedy brothers, John, Robert, and Edward (Teddie), which was the youngest?
Answer: EDWARD
Read the full explanation17.When he graduated from high school in 1917, he chose journalism instead of college and spent seven months as a newspaper reporter. While driving a Red Cross ambulance in Italy in 1918 he was severely wounded by shrapnel. Who was he?
Answer: ERNEST HEMINGWAY
Read the full explanation18.Around the middle of the 18th century, this Englishman wrote a book of rules and instructions for indoor games, especially card games. Who was he?
Answer: EDMOND HOYLE
Read the full explanation19.Because of her heroic and efficient work with wounded soldiers during the Crimean War in the 1850's, which woman is considered the founder of modern nursing?
Answer: FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
Read the full explanation20.Edward Kennedy was engulfed in scandal when he accidentally drove Mary Jo Kopechne off a bridge on what island?
Answer: CHAPPAQUIDDICK island at Cape Cod in Massachusetts
Read the full explanation21.Which person said, in 1962: "I'll say it again, I've said it before / Archie Moore will fall in four." You must get his name correct, exactly.
Answer: CASSIUS CLAY
Read the full explanation22.Which artist, engineer, musician, and scientist has been called the most versatile genius of the Renaissance?
Answer: LEONDARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519
Read the full explanation23.Which talented young man was not only a Major League Soccer player on the Los Angeles Galaxy, but also a star of the popular TV show Melrose Place?
Answer: ANDREW SHUE
Read the full explanation24.What street in San Francisco is named for this person: he donated the land now known as Union Square, he became San Francisco's first elected mayor, in 1850, he was elected governor of Kansas and Pennsylvania?
Answer: JOHN WHITE GEARY
Read the full explanation25.Judy Garland had two daughters in the entertainment business. Can you name them?
Answer: LIZA MINNELLI / LORNA LUFT (note: correct spelling of Liza's surname is Minnelli, not Minelli)
Read the full explanation26.One was a former Olympic gymnast who won the Gold in the 1984 Olympics, the other a perennial tennis champion. They were the first two women athletes to appear on the box of Wheaties cereal. Who are they?
Answer: MARY LOU RETTON / CHRIS EVERT
Read the full explanation27.Richard and Pat Nixon had two daughters. Can you recall their first names, and the names of the two men they married?
Answer: Tricia married Edward Finch Cox; Julie married David Eisenhower. The given answer has the pairs reversed.
Read the full explanation28.This woman is a movie star, a singing star, and was Miss America in 1984. What is her name?
Answer: VANESSA WILLIAMS
Read the full explanation29.In Playboy Magazine's initial issue, from 1953, which well-known female was the first centerfold model?
Answer: MARILYN MONROE
Read the full explanation30.Since his death in August, 1995, he has taken on icon status comparible to Elvis or Marilyn Monroe. One book about his life was entitled "The Last Hero." Who is he?
Answer: MICKEY MANTLE
Read the full explanation31.Can you name the Russian physiologist well known for his experimental work on animal behavior, especially the study of conditioned reflexes in animals?
Answer: PAVLOV
Read the full explanation32.Former President Johnson, his wife and two daughters all had the initials LBJ, which abbreviated what?
Answer: LYNDON BAINES / LADY BIRD / LUCY BAINES / LINDA BIRD
Read the full explanation33.Which woman served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 1981 until 1985?
Answer: JEANE KIRKPATRICK
Read the full explanation34.Around 1915, this fur trader witnessed Canadian Eskimos spread their freshly caught fish on the frozen snow, then store the frozen fish for months before thawing and cooking them. This gave him the idea for a frozen-food business which made his name a hou
Answer: CLARENCE BIRDSEYE
Read the full explanation35.This man was one of the most influential black leaders of the 1920's. He rejected integration, rather advocating a "back to Africa" movement. He published the newspaper Negro World. He was jailed in 1925 for misusing funds. What was his name?
Answer: MARCUS GARVEY
Read the full explanation36.In 1988, an international panel concluded that what former President of Austria had covered-up his World War II Nazi history?
Answer: KURT WALDHEIM
Read the full explanation37.Which 17th century English physicist and mathematician is said to have discovered the principle of gravity?
Answer: ISAAC NEWTON
Read the full explanation38.This Steubenville, Ohio high school dropout became a boxer, stole hubcaps, bootlegged whiskey and worked in a steel mill. He went on to become a world famous actor and singer, and died in 1995. Who was he?
Answer: Elvis Presley
Read the full explanation39.Bob Hope was born May 29, of what year?
Answer: 1903
Read the full explanation40.This British dramatist and poet lived about 400 years ago and is considered the first poet laureate of Britain. A Canadian track star has the same name. Who was this person?
Answer: BEN JONSON
Read the full explanation41.Born in New York in 1965, she scored her first film success playing a juvenile streetwalker in the film, "Pretty Baby" at the age of 13. Who is she?
Answer: BROOKE SHIELDS
Read the full explanation42.He was in a safe house, on anti-depressant drugs. He was miserable. He couldn't leave his home because he would be hounded by the media - in fact his life could be in danger! 1992 in Los Angeles. Who is he?
Answer: RODNEY KING
Read the full explanation43.The witty former Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson once said, "A politician is a statesman who approaches every question with an open ..." what?
Answer: MOUTH
Read the full explanation44.This person made his fortune by supplying meat to the Union soldiers during the Civil War. In 1870 he built his first meat-packing plant in Chicago, which soon made that city the meat-packing center of the U.S.A. What was his name?
Answer: PHILIP ARMOUR
Read the full explanation45.Actor Anthony Quinn was born on April 21, 1915, in which country: Ireland, United States, Greece, or Mexico?
Answer: MEXICO
Read the full explanation46.All these people come from the same state: Henry Ford, Gerald Ford, Madonna, and Diana Ross. Which state is it?
Answer: MICHIGAN
Read the full explanation47.What is the name of the feared Columbian cocaine king and head of the Medellin drug cartel?
Answer: PABLO ESCOBAR
Read the full explanation48.This U.S. psychologist and author was the primary advocate of Behaviorism. He wrote the books Science and Human Behavior in 1955, Walden Two in 1961, and Beyond Freedom and Dignity in 1971. What is his name?
Answer: B.F. SKINNER
Read the full explanation49.Terry Gilliam is the only American member of what troupe of comedic performers?
Answer: MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS
Read the full explanation50.His actual parents were Dorothy Gardner and Leslie Lynch King, but this recent President took his name from his adoptive stepfather. Who was he?
Answer: GERALD FORD
Read the full explanation51.Which controversial television celebrity, mostly popular in the 60's and 70's, was described as a "brash, arrogant inquisitor with a staccato delivery and unparalleled penchant for verbal arabesques"?
Answer: HOWARD COSELL
Read the full explanation52.Born in 1847 in Hungary, he grew to become an American journalist and publisher who eventually purchased the New York Sun and the St. Louis Evening Dispatch newspapers. Who was he?
Answer: JOSEPH PULITZER
Read the full explanation53.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
Read the full explanation54.This woman, whose husband was the President of the United States, died in 1982 at the age of 97 years old. What was her name?
Answer: BESS TRUMAN
Read the full explanation55.If a diamond is the hardest known substance , what is used to cut diamonds?
Answer: Diamonds
Read the full explanation56.In order to keep her husband the king from killing her, she kept him entertained with a new tale every night for 1001 nights, including stories about Ali Baba, Sinbad, and Aladdin. Who was she, the narrator of 1001 Arabian Nights?
Answer: SHEHERAZADE
Read the full explanation57.He grew only to a height of 4'6", suffered from a number of physical ailments, and died in 1901 at the age of 36. He is famous for his posters of music halls, cabarets, and circuses. Who was he?
Answer: HENRI TOULOUSE-LAUTREC
Read the full explanation58.Which pop music star was born Henry John Deutschendorf in Roswell, New Mexico in 1943, and died in the late 1990's near Monterey, California?
Answer: JOHN DENVER
Read the full explanation59.Queen Victoria's mother tongue was not English. Her mother spoke a different language in the home, and, even though Victoria ruled England for 64 years, she did it with an accent. What was her mother tongue?
Answer: GERMAN
Read the full explanation60.She died in 1987 in Vermont at the age of 82. Her life story became the basis for the film, The Sound of Music. What was her full married name?
Answer: MARIA VON TRAPP
Read the full explanation61.She began dancing and ice skating at an early age, eventually becoming world champion of ice skating at the age of 15. She won Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932, and 1936. She set out for Hollywood and became one of the leading movie stars in the late 193
Answer: SONJA HENIE 1912 - 1969
Read the full explanation62.She began her Hollywood career with bit roles in the 1930's. She became a star in the 40's, performing in dozens of films. She turned her attention to radio in the late 40's, and from 1951 to 1957 she starred in a T.V. show. Who was she?
Answer: LUCILLE BALL 1911 - 1989
Read the full explanation63.What was the name of the Secretary of the Interior under Ronald Reagan who was drummed out of office in 1983 because of his insensitivity to people and the environment?
Answer: JAMES WATT
Read the full explanation64.In 1633, the Roman Catholic Church condemned this man for teaching that the Earth revolves around the Sun. In 1992, after a 13-year investigation by the church, Pope John Paul II pardoned him. Who was he?
Answer: GALILEO - because he recanted his theories, he spent last four years of his life to 1642 , under house arrest, rather than being burned at the stake.
Read the full explanation65.Which person said, in March of 1998, "They can affect my reputation. They can do nothing to affect my character"?
Answer: BILL CLINTON
Read the full explanation66.What is the name of Mia Farrow's adopted daughter, with whom Woody Allen had an affair?
Answer: SOON-YI FARROW PREVIN
Read the full explanation67.Which lawyer represented Leona Helmsley, Michael Milken, Jim Bakker, Claus Von Bulow, and O.J. Simpson?
Answer: ALAN DERSHOWITZ
Read the full explanation68.When this person visited San Francisco for one day in September of 1987, it cost the city over $1 million. Who was this visitor?
Answer: THE POPE
Read the full explanation69.This Hungarian musician, who lived from 1811 to 1886, was a romantic composer and perhaps the greatest pianist of all time. During his lifetime he was considered a public idol. His most famous works include his 20 Hungarian Rhapsodies. Who was he?
Answer: FRANZ LISZT
Read the full explanation70.What was the name and nationality of Mia Farrow's adopted daughter and Woody Allen's one-time love interest?
Answer: SOON-YI PREVIN /KOREAN
Read the full explanation71.He was the composer of Rhapsody in Blue, American in Paris, and Porgy and Bess: George Gerschwin died in 1937, at which age? Was it 38, 58, 78, or 98 years old?
Answer: 38
Read the full explanation72.Patty Hearst was kidnapped on February 4, in what year?
Answer: 1974
Read the full explanation73.She first gained fame in the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars. In 1985, she married and divorced singer-songwriter Paul Simon. In 1990 she wrote the screenplay for Postcards from the Edge . Name her and her parents.
Answer: CARRIE FISHER / DEBBIE REYNOLDS / EDDIE FISHER
Read the full explanation74.When her mother, Queen Juliana, abdicated the throne in 1980, her daughter, Beatrix, became Queen of what European country?
Answer: NETHERLANDS
Read the full explanation75.He was born in New York City in 1858, graduated from Harvard University, published over 2,000 works on history, politics, and travels, won the Nobel Peace Prize, and served as President of the United States. Who was he?
Answer: THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Read the full explanation76.These three people are siblings. Mary works for her dad, Stella is a fashion designer, and James, the youngest, is a budding guitarist like his father. Who are the parents?
Answer: PAUL AND LINDA McCARTNEY
Read the full explanation77.This explorer, conservationist, and author was born in April, 1838. He helped create national parks in the USA, and the longest trail in the Sierras is named after him. Who is he?
Answer: JOHN MUIR
Read the full explanation78.What is "Magic" Johnson's first name?
Answer: EARVIN
Read the full explanation79.Ted Turner, founder of CNN and TNT and TBS, is one of the most influential non-politicians in the world. In 1977, he had an influential position in an international sporting event. Specifically what was it?
Answer: WON AMERICA'S CUP YACHT RACE AGAINST AUSTRALIANS on yacht, Courageous
Read the full explanation80.In which state is John F. Kennedy buried?
Answer: VIRGINIA ARLINGTON CEMETERY
Read the full explanation81.Which 20th century Italian educator established schools for young children based on helping develop their creation and accomplishment?
Answer: MARIA MONTESSORI
Read the full explanation82.He established a tire factory in Akron, Ohio in 1900. His rubber research allied him with Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, planting rubber forests and at the same time searching for substitutes for natural rubber. Who was he?
Answer: HARVEY SAMUEL FIRESTONE 1868-1938
Read the full explanation83.At the age of twenty-three, in 1740, she became Empress of Austria. During her forty year reign she had sixteen children, one of whom was Marie Antoinette, future Queen of France. Who was she?
Answer: MARIA THERESA
Read the full explanation84.Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1899 with the name Frederick Austerlitz, he created a stage act with with his sister, Adele. In the 1930's they were noted for their enthusiasm and style. Who was he?
Answer: FRED ASTAIRE 1899-1987
Read the full explanation85.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
Read the full explanation86.Which person is responsible for each of the following quotations? a. "We don't pay taxes. The little people pay taxes." b. "The medium is the message" c. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Answer: a. LEONA HELMSLEY, 1989 b. MARSHALL McLUHAN c. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT i
Read the full explanation87.John Lennon's parents gave him a middle name which was the same as a politician's name. What was it?
Answer: WINSTON
Read the full explanation88.Princess Diana, former wife of future King Charles, was Princess of ... what?
Answer: WALES
Read the full explanation89.What is the indent above your upper lip (and below your nose) called?
Answer: Philtrum
Read the full explanation90.John Lennon's first son is also a recording artist. What is his name?
Answer: JULIAN
Read the full explanation91.These two men are brothers, from a very musical family. One is a preeminant jazz trumpeter and artistic director of jazz programming for New York's Lincoln Center. The other is a saxophonist, actor, and orchestra director. What are their full names?
Answer: WYNTON MARSALIS / BRANFORD MARSALIS
Read the full explanation92.Which person, in the 1960's, accused the automobile industry of producing dangerous cars, when he wrote the book Unsafe at Any Speed ?
Answer: RALPH NADER
Read the full explanation93.In the mid-1800's he was poverty-ridden and a failure as an actor. He went on to become well-known as a great author and storyteller, especially of fairy tales. Name this famous Dane.
Answer: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
Read the full explanation94.After this singer recorded the song, Pata Pata in 1967, she became the first African singer to have a hit on the American charts. Who is she?
Answer: MIRIAM MAKEBA
Read the full explanation95.After vandals tried to steal his body in 1977, it was moved to its present resting place. Since then, millions of people have paid for the privilege of visiting his grave. Who is he?
Answer: ELVIS PRESLEY
Read the full explanation96.As a 7-year old child, he was invited to play violin at New York's Carnegie Hall. He grew up to become one of the world's great violin virtuosos, and he died in 1999. Who was he?
Answer: YEHUDI MENUHIN
Read the full explanation97.This television personality, born in 1957 in South Carolina, has a photographic memory, and was champion speller in her high school, which comes in handy in her TV role. Who is she?
Answer: VANNA WHITE on Wheel of Fortune
Read the full explanation98.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
Read the full explanation99.Which US university shares a name with one of its most famous graduates, an athletic superstar?
Answer: BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY Steve Young
Read the full explanation100.Which Mexican-American labor leader, known for his commitment to nonviolent resistance, organized California food harvesters into the United Farm Workers in the 1960's?
Answer: CESAR CHAVEZ
Read the full explanation