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Actors and Actresses - Directors

Of course the wonderful world of movies is not just about the actors and actresses on the screen. There are a whole host of people working behind the scenes to bring a film to life. This quiz looks at famous directors.

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  1. Alfred Hitchcock's ashes were scattered over which ocean?

    Photograph courtesy of twm1340
    • Born: 13 August 1899
    • Place: Leytonstone, London
    • Nationality: British
    • He directed more than fifty films
    • His career spanned six decades
    • His luck changed after his first thriller The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
    • Probably his best movies were North by Northwest, Pyscho and The Birds
    • Frenzy was his last major triumph

  2. What is the title of Charlie Chaplin's first talking picture?

    • Born: 16 April 1889
    • Place: Walworth, London
    • Nationality: British
    • Best known for his work in the 'Silent Era'
    • Was married four times
    • Had 11 children, eight by his fourth wife
    • He died on Christmas day in Switzerland
    • His corpse was stolen in an attempt to extort money from the family but it failed and he was reburied under 6ft of concrete to prevent further attempts
    • During World War 1 he was criticised in the British Press for not joining the Army

  3. 'No Direction Home' is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese that tells of the life of whom?

    Photograph courtesy of David Shankbone
    • Born: 17 November 1942
    • Place: Queens, New York
    • Nationality: American
    • Married five times
    • Both his parents were actors
    • As a boy he suffered with asthma
    • He has one daughter, Francesca, who appeared in 'The Departed' and 'Aviator'
    • His friend named 'Goodfellas' "the best mob movie ever"
    • Directed 'Gangs of New York' starring Leonardo DiCaprio
    • In August 2007 he was named the 2nd greatest director of all time in a poll by Total Film magazine

  4. What is the name of David Lean's last production?

    Photograph courtesy of www.davidlean.com
    • Born: 25 March 1908
    • Place: Croydon, Surrey
    • Nationality: English
    • As a student, he had a dreamy nature and was labelled a 'dud'
    • His first work as a director was with Noel Coward
    • Made his most famous film, Lawrence of Arabia, in 1962
    • In 1965, he had his greatest box office success with Doctor Zhivago
    • He was knighted in 1984
    • He was the first chairman of the British Film Academy (now known as BAFTA) in 1947

  5. When James Cameron was working on Avatar, what was its first title?

    Photograph courtesy of Steve Jurvetson
    • Born: 16 August 1954
    • Place: Kapuskasing, Ontario
    • Nationality: Canadian
    • After seeing the original Star Wars film in 1977, Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry
    • While filming Piranha II: The Spawning, Cameron had a nightmare about an invincible robot hitman sent from the future to kill him, giving him the idea for The Terminator, which would later catapult his filming career
    • In March 2011 he was named Hollywood's top earner by Vanity Fair, with estimated 2010 earnings of $257 million

  6. What is Steven Spielberg's middle name?

    Photograph courtesy of Gerald Geronimo
    • Born: 18 December 1946
    • Place: Cincinnati
    • Nationality: American
    • He is also a Video Game Designer
    • He is also one of the co-founders of the DreamWorks movie studio
    • Forbes puts his wealth at $3 billion
    • Despite the film Jaws ultimate, enormous success, it was nearly shut down due to delays and budget over-runs
    • He was one of America's youngest multi-millionaires as a result of Jaws
    • He voiced himself in the film Paul
    • He has seven children

  7. Billy Wilder directed the adaptation of 'The Lost Weekend'. What was it about?

    Photograph courtesy of Helena Lumme & Mika Manninen
    • Born: 22 June 1906
    • Place: Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary
    • Nationality: Austro-Hungarian
    • His parents had a successful and well-known cake shop in Sucha Beskidzka's train station
    • His mother, grandmother, and stepfather perished in the Auschwitz concentration camp
    • Wilder is one of only five people who have won Academy Awards as producer, director, and writer for the same film (The Apartment)
    • First significant success was Ninotchka in 1939 starring Greta Garbo

  8. John Huston directed 'The Bible: In The Beginning' in 1966. He also played which role?

    • Born: 5 August 1906
    • Place: Nevada, Missouri
    • Nationality: American
    • He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics
    • Before becoming a Hollywood filmmaker, he had been an amateur boxer, reporter, short-story writer, portrait artist in Paris and a cavalry rider in Mexico
    • His parents divorced in 1913, when he was 6, and as a result much of his childhood was spent living in boarding schools

  9. Mel Gibson bought Mago Island for $15 million in 2004. In which country is the island?

    Photograph courtesy of Georges Biard
    • Born: 3 January 1956
    • Place: Peekskill, New York
    • Nationality: American
    • He has six sons and two daughters
    • After Mad Max, he went on to direct and star in the Academy Award-winning Braveheart
    • He was 12 years old when his family relocated to Australia
    • While a student, he made his film debut in the 1977 film Summer City, for which he was paid $400
    • He also served as the speaking and singing voice of John Smith in Disney’s Pocahontas

  10. How long did it take Quentin Tarantino to write the script for Reservoir Dogs?

    Photograph courtesy of Siebbi
    • Born: 27 March 1963
    • Place: Knoxville, Tennessee
    • Nationality: American
    • His mother is of Irish and Cherokee ancestry
    • Has announced the there will be a Kill Bill Vol 3 to be released in 2014
    • Directed Men in Black
    • Among his current producing credits are the horror flicks Hostel and Hostel 2
    • Inglourious Basterds went on to be Tarantino's highest grossing film, both in the United States and worldwide
    • He plans to retire from film making when he is 60
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