Show Us You Have What It Takes To Be The Best With This Academy Awards Quiz!

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Academy Awards Quiz Questions

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Question 1

Who won Best Actor for playing Forrest Gump?

  • A
    Peter Scolari
  • B
    Nicolas Cage
  • C
    Tom Hanks
  • D
    Jeff Bridges

Question 2

She is estranged from her father, Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, but she debuted in film with him in 1982. Can you name her?

  • A
    Cheryl Tiegs
  • B
    Barbara Kellerman
  • C
    Angelina Jolie
  • D
    Michelle Pfeiffer

Question 3

What pictured respected Golden Globe and Oscar-winning actress, revered for both her acting and directing abilities, is now part of the Hollywood elite crowd?

  • A
    Vanessa Redgrave
  • B
    Julie Andrews
  • C
    Jodie Foster
  • D
    Meryl Streep

Question 4

Who won Best Actor for playing cannibal serial killer Hannibal Lecter?

  • A
    Anthony Hopkins
  • B
    Jon Voight
  • C
    Hugh Dancy
  • D
    Jack Palance

Question 5

Which of these Best Actor winners is part of an acting family that includes his father Lloyd and his brother Beau?

  • A
    Robert Duvall
  • B
    Matthew McConaughey
  • C
    Jeff Bridges
  • D
    William Holden

Question 6

Actor Tom Hanks won an Academy Award for Best Actor in this 1994 comedy-drama that follows the life of a southern American boy through many important moments during the twentieth century.

  • A
    Pulp Fiction
  • B
    Sleepless in Seattle
  • C
    Forrest Gump
  • D
    The Sandlot

Question 7

Which Best Picture winner stars Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise as brothers driving cross-country?

  • A
    Witness
  • B
    Rain Man
  • C
    The Accidental Tourist
  • D
    Hope and Glory

Question 8

This Best Picture winner focused on an Austrian family of singers, some of whom occasionally wore curtains as clothing, who fled the Nazis. Name it.

  • A
    The Greatest Show on Earth
  • B
    The Sound of Music
  • C
    Bedknobs and Broomsticks
  • D
    Mary Poppins

Question 9

This "sweet" Southern actress has been "legally blonde," and she "walked the line" straight to an Oscar award, but her greatest treasures are her three children, Ava, Deacon and Tennessee.

  • A
    Jessica Biel
  • B
    Kylie Jenner
  • C
    Britney Spears
  • D
    Reese Witherspoon

Question 10

Which actor took home the Best Actor award for playing the titular role in 1959's "Ben-Hur"?

  • A
    Charlton Heston
  • B
    Anthony Quinn
  • C
    Peter Ustinov
  • D
    Yul Brynner

Question 11

Which Best Picture winner is a musical, gang-filled retelling of 'Romeo and Juliet'?

  • A
    Gangs of New York
  • B
    10 Things I Hate About You
  • C
    Chicago
  • D
    West Side Story

Question 12

Who won Best Actor for playing General George S. Patton?

  • A
    George C. Scott
  • B
    Rod Steiger
  • C
    Robert Duvall
  • D
    Tommy Lee Jones

Question 13

Who won his first Best Actor Oscar for playing McMurphy, the lead character in the film adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"?

  • A
    Dennis Hopper
  • B
    Peter Fonda
  • C
    Jack Nicholson
  • D
    Denzel Washington

Question 14

Who was the first black actor to win Best Actor at the Academy Awards?

  • A
    Sammy Davis Jr.
  • B
    Ossie Davis
  • C
    Lou Gossett Jr.
  • D
    Sidney Poitier

Question 15

Which actor won the first of his two Best Actor awards for playing one half of the feuding parents in 1979's "Kramer vs. Kramer"?

  • A
    Bruce Dern
  • B
    Dustin Hoffman
  • C
    Harvey Keitel
  • D
    Al Pacino

Question 16

Although she is best known for her role in The Graduate opposite Dustin Hoffman, what classic Hollywood actress won a Tony and an Oscar for playing Anne Sullivan in The Miracle Worker?

  • A
    Elizabeth Taylor
  • B
    Maggie Smith
  • C
    Anne Bancroft
  • D
    Katharine Hepburn

Question 17

Which Best Picture winner stars Marlon Brando as a longshoreman who protests his union boss's crooked behavior?

  • A
    Tom Jones
  • B
    On the Waterfront
  • C
    From Here to Eternity
  • D
    Marty

Question 18

The 1944 film noir Gaslight is about a man protecting a secret at all costs, even if he has to drive his wife mad. This film was nominated for seven Oscars and won two, including a Best Actress win for what Hollywood legend?

  • A
    Claudette Colbert
  • B
    Ingrid Bergman
  • C
    Julie Andrews
  • D
    Elizabeth Taylor

Question 19

Who won Best Actor for playing noble lawyer Atticus Finch in the big screen adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird"?

  • A
    Walter Brennan
  • B
    Bing Crosby
  • C
    Gregory Peck
  • D
    James Stewart

Question 20

What classic Hollywood actress was the first to win a Best Actress Oscar for a performance in a foreign language film?

  • A
    Greta Garbo
  • B
    Marlene Dietrich
  • C
    Brigitte Bardot
  • D
    Sophia Loren

Question 21

Actor Marlon Brando won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1973 for what movie, based on a novel written by Mario Puzo?

  • A
    Goodfellas
  • B
    Casino
  • C
    Scarface
  • D
    The Godfather

Question 22

Who won Best Actor for playing ruthless corporate raider Gordon Gekko in 1987's "Wall Street"?

  • A
    Martin Sheen
  • B
    Bill Murray
  • C
    Michael Douglas
  • D
    Christoph Waltz

Question 23

This mother-daughter dramedy won the Best Picture Oscar in 1983 and stars Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger. What is it?

  • A
    Ordinary People
  • B
    Coal Miner's Daughter
  • C
    The Big Chill
  • D
    Terms of Endearment

Question 24

Who knocked out the competition and won Best Actor for playing real-life boxer Jake La Motta in "Raging Bull"?

  • A
    James Cagney
  • B
    Alan Arkin
  • C
    James Coburn
  • D
    Robert De Niro

Question 25

Before Tom Hanks snagged two Best Actor Oscars back-to-back, this guy did it for his lead roles 1937's "Captains Courageous" and 1938's "Boys Town." Who is he?

  • A
    Spencer Tracy
  • B
    Frederic March
  • C
    Bing Crosby
  • D
    James Whitmore

Question 26

In 2011, this expectant mom walked the red carpet at the Oscars and then home with the trophy for best actress for her role in "Black Swan." Currently, she has two children, Amalia and Aleph.

  • A
    Natalie Portman
  • B
    Sandra Bullock
  • C
    Jessica Biel
  • D
    Mila Kunis

Question 27

Who won Best Actor for his portrayal of singer-songwriter Ray Charles?

  • A
    Jamie Foxx
  • B
    Chris Tucker
  • C
    Denzel Washington
  • D
    Eddie Murphy

Question 28

This Oscar nominated film follows thirty years in the extraordinarily tough life of Celie, an African-American woman in the South.

  • A
    Tender Mercies
  • B
    Hope and Glory
  • C
    Mississippi Burning
  • D
    The Color Purple

Question 29

Some theorists question the legitimacy of Maria Tomei's Oscar win in 1993. For what movie was she nominated as Best Supporting Actress?

  • A
    My Cousin Vinny
  • B
    A Few Good Men
  • C
    Basic Instinct
  • D
    The Bodyguard

Question 30

Who took home Best Actor for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi?

  • A
    Alec Guinness
  • B
    Haing S. Ngor
  • C
    Dustin Hoffman
  • D
    Ben Kingsley

Question 31

Two of this Oscar-winning actor's most successful and high-profile films both hit theaters in November 1977: "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "The Goodbye Girl." Who had a really, really good November?

  • A
    Richard Dreyfuss
  • B
    Harrison Ford
  • C
    Jack Nicholson
  • D
    Dennis Hopper

Question 32

Which Oscar-winning actor is a near-constant courtside presence at Los Angeles Lakers home games, and has been a season ticket holder since 1970?

  • A
    Jack Nicholson
  • B
    Dustin Hoffman
  • C
    James Caan
  • D
    Robert Redford

Question 33

Who won his only Oscar for playing Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit"?

  • A
    Jeff Bridges
  • B
    Clint Eastwood
  • C
    John Wayne
  • D
    James Coburn

Question 34

What classic Hollywood actress is one of only a few people to be part of the elusive EGOT club (winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award)?

  • A
    Patricia Neal
  • B
    Katharine Hepburn
  • C
    Julie Andrews
  • D
    Audrey Hepburn

Question 35

This 1956 adventure epic and Best Picture winner stars David Niven and Cantinflas but is remembered more for the dozens of cameos it features, including appearances by Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, and Buster Keaton. What is it?

  • A
    Around the World in 80 Days
  • B
    Giant
  • C
    The Bridge on the River Kwai
  • D
    The King and I

Question 36

Who won Best Actor for playing pool shark "Fast" Eddie Felson in "The Color of Money"?

  • A
    Tom Cruise
  • B
    Paul Newman
  • C
    Jack Nicholson
  • D
    Joe Pesci

Question 37

Which actor won Best Actor for playing the titular role in 1955's "Marty"?

  • A
    Gene Kelly
  • B
    Ernest Borgnine
  • C
    George C. Scott
  • D
    Rod Steiger

Question 38

Who won Best Actor for playing Abraham Lincoln in 2012's cleverly titled "Lincoln"?

  • A
    Daniel Day-Lewis
  • B
    Ralph Fiennes
  • C
    Donald Sutherland
  • D
    Liam Neeson

Question 39

Which Best Actor winner is one of only five performers who have won Oscars in back-to-back years (as of 2018)?

  • A
    Daniel Day-Lewis
  • B
    Tom Hanks
  • C
    Eddie Redmayne
  • D
    Gary Oldman

Question 40

Who picked up his only Best Actor award for playing composer George M. Cohan in 1942's biopic "Yankee Doodle Dandy"?

  • A
    Gene Kelly
  • B
    James Stewart
  • C
    Walter Brennan
  • D
    James Cagney

Question 41

Which Best Actor winner was first nominated for the award in 1941, and then won the award with his second nomination 41 years later?

  • A
    Henry Fonda
  • B
    Ernest Borgnine
  • C
    Maximilian Schell
  • D
    Art Carney

Question 42

For which film did Yul Brynner win the Best Actor Oscar?

  • A
    The Magnificent Seven
  • B
    The Ten Commandments
  • C
    The King and I
  • D
    Westworld

Question 43

He won Best Actor for "The Bridge on the River Kwai," but to most people, he'll always be Obi-Wan Kenobi. Who is he?

  • A
    Ian McKellen
  • B
    Alec Guinness
  • C
    Albert Finney
  • D
    Richard Harris

Question 44

Who won Best Actor for his portrayal of "In Cold Blood" author Truman Capote?

  • A
    Jason Robards
  • B
    Philip Seymour Hoffman
  • C
    Martin Landau
  • D
    Toby Jones

Question 45

What actress became famous for her pairing with Clark Gable in the comedy 'It Happened One Night', which earned her an Oscar?

  • A
    Hedy Lamarr
  • B
    Claudette Colbert
  • C
    Lana Turner
  • D
    Joan Crawford

Question 46

This 1934 comedy was the first movie to sweep all five of the "big" categories on Oscar night: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. What is it?

  • A
    His Girl Friday
  • B
    Bringing Up Baby
  • C
    The Awful Truth
  • D
    It Happened One Night

Question 47

Which Best Picture winner stars Peter O'Toole as a British military officer, diplomat, archaeologist, and writer?

  • A
    Mutiny on the Bounty
  • B
    The Longest Day
  • C
    To Kill a Mockingbird
  • D
    Lawrence of Arabia

Question 48

Who won Best Actor for playing assassinated LGBT activist and politician Harvey Milk?

  • A
    Sean Penn
  • B
    Jared Leto
  • C
    Matthew McConaughey
  • D
    Christian Bale

Question 49

Which individual has won the most Oscars?

  • A
    Walt Disney
  • B
    John Williams
  • C
    Gene Kelly
  • D
    Betty White

Question 50

Which performer has been nominated for the most Oscars?

  • A
    Jack Nicholson
  • B
    Katharine Hepburn
  • C
    Meryl Streep
  • D
    Laurence Olivier

Question 51

Who won Best Actor for playing real-life (and really awful) Ugandan president Idi Amin?

  • A
    Cuba Gooding, Jr.
  • B
    Louis Gossett, Jr.
  • C
    Mahershala Ali
  • D
    Forest Whitaker

Question 52

Which actor sent a Native American actress in his place to accept his Best Actor Oscar and explain that he was refusing the award due to the mistreatment of Native Americans in the film industry?

  • A
    James Caan
  • B
    John Wayne
  • C
    Marlon Brando
  • D
    George C. Scott

Question 53

Who won the Best Actor Oscar for playing King George VI, a.k.a. Queen Elizabeth's dad?

  • A
    Alan Rickman
  • B
    Hugh Laurie
  • C
    Michael Fassbender
  • D
    Colin Firth

Question 54

This 2007 Best Picture winner was written and directed by the Coen brothers. What is it?

  • A
    Little Miss Sunshine
  • B
    There Will Be Blood
  • C
    No Country for Old Men
  • D
    Burn After Reading

Question 55

This actor won the first of his two Best Actor awards for 1941's "Sergeant York." Who is he?

  • A
    Fred Astaire
  • B
    Robert Mitchum
  • C
    Gary Cooper
  • D
    Robert Preston

Question 56

Who won Best Actor for piling on the prosthetics and make-up to play Winston Churchill?

  • A
    Wilford Brimley
  • B
    Sean Connery
  • C
    Gary Oldman
  • D
    Christoph Waltz

Question 57

After first being turned down because he was 5 pounds under the weight minimum, this Oscar-winning actor enlisted in the Air Force and became the first movie star to join the armed forces during World War II. Who is he?

  • A
    Cary Grant
  • B
    Robert Mitchum
  • C
    Frederic March
  • D
    James Stewart

Question 58

Who won Best Actor for entertaining audiences as Maximus Decimus Meridius?

  • A
    Leonardo DiCaprio
  • B
    Tony Curtis
  • C
    Kirk Douglas
  • D
    Russell Crowe

Question 59

Who won Best Actor for playing famous theoretical physicist (and occasional "Big Bang Theory" guest star) Stephen Hawking?

  • A
    Jude Law
  • B
    Eddie Redmayne
  • C
    Adrien Brody
  • D
    Johnny Depp

Question 60

What do Tom Hanks, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Louise Rainer, and Jason Robards have in common?

  • A
    They all lost an Oscar to a member of the Fonda family.
  • B
    They all won back-to-back Oscars.
  • C
    They've all won exactly three Oscars (as of 2018).
  • D
    They all won Oscars for playing lawyers.

Question 61

Who won Best Actor for playing Charly in the film "Charly," an adaptation of the novel "Flowers for Algernon"?

  • A
    Cliff Robertson
  • B
    Gig Young
  • C
    Walter Matthau
  • D
    George Kennedy

Question 62

The Academy Awards weren't always a reason to party hard on a Sunday night. In what year were the Oscars first televised?

  • A
    1933
  • B
    1939
  • C
    1953
  • D
    1943

Question 63

Here's a straightforward one for you: Which of these movies won Best Picture in 1989?

  • A
    Born on the Fourth of July
  • B
    Field of Dreams
  • C
    Driving Miss Daisy
  • D
    Dead Poets Society

Question 64

Which of the following Tom Hanks movies won Best Picture?

  • A
    Saving Private Ryan
  • B
    Forrest Gump
  • C
    The Post
  • D
    Philadelphia

Question 65

Who won Best Actor for his portrayal of accused wife murderer Claus von Bülow in 1990's "Reversal of Fortune"?

  • A
    Mickey Rourke
  • B
    William Hurt
  • C
    Jeremy Irons
  • D
    Barry Bostwick

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