Pub Quiz Fun

At a recent pub quiz night at the Phoenix in Denmark Hill, our team was triumphant, but tripped up slightly on one of the questions.

Give this trivia question a shot. You are on your honour not to Google.

The question was “Five people have had #1 Billboard U.S. hit singles and also won an Oscar for acting. Name three of them.”

I am sure there are at least six correct answers and may even be seven. Answer after the jump.

The official answers of the pub quizzers were

Bing Crosby
Cher
Jamie Foxx
Frank Sinatra
Barbra Streisand

The one not on their list which I am sure should have been is Shirley Jones (Oscar for Elmer Gantry, #1 hit with “I think I love you”). Perhaps they didn’t count her because her hit was performed with a group (though the question did not specify that it had to be a solo performance).

The other one not on their list that perhaps should be is Judy Garland. She won a special academy award for Wizard of Oz, and she had many number one albums. I am not sure if she ever had a chart-topping single though (anyone know?). “Over the Rainbow” certainly would have been but it wasn’t released as a single at the time of the classic movie that made it and her famous.

Incidentally, our team went with Sinatra, Streisand and Garland, so the quizzers only awarded us two of a possible three.

Author: Keith Humphreys

Keith Humphreys is the Esther Ting Memorial Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University and an Honorary Professor of Psychiatry at Kings College London. His research, teaching and writing have focused on addictive disorders, self-help organizations (e.g., breast cancer support groups, Alcoholics Anonymous), evaluation research methods, and public policy related to health care, mental illness, veterans, drugs, crime and correctional systems. Professor Humphreys' over 300 scholarly articles, monographs and books have been cited over thirteen thousand times by scientific colleagues. He is a regular contributor to Washington Post and has also written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian (UK), The Telegraph (UK), Times Higher Education (UK), Crossbow (UK) and other media outlets.

14 thoughts on “Pub Quiz Fun”

  1. It is probably an easy one for you, but who was the only person to win both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar?

    Obviously, it was not a Science Nobel. That is the only clue.

    3. I was thinking Shirley Temple here as well on account of her Diplomatic career, but I suppose she irked the committee when she once sang, “I wouldn’t take a million for the twinkle in your eyes / I’d rather win a smile from you than win the Nobel Prize.”

  2. Toni Morrison has won a Grammy (reading aloud her books) and a Nobel Prize (for literature).

  3. Guessing Shirley Temple, Whitney Houston. After Google, Shirley Temple won a miniature Oscar for her cumulative acting roles and a lifetime award in 1985 and had at least one top BB #1 (Good Ship Lollipop). Houston’s got it covered on the singing side but my memory of the critical reaction to The Bodyguard is apparently very, very flawed.

    1. I’m not good with pop culture trivia, but thought it might be Whitney Houston; a visit to her Wikipedia page disabused me of the notion.

    1. The Ives guess is inspired (even though it’s wrong)! Se non e vero…

Comments are closed.