One of my favorite websites,
IMDb turned
15 yesterday (thanx to
BB for the
pointer). And I can't think of commemorating the 15th birthday of a trivia quizzer's delight with anything other a small trivia quiz. Feel free to use
IMDb.com (and NOT Google) to find the answers. That is what it is there for. And since I have disabled comments on this post, do
email me the answers if you want to. I shall post the answers anyways in a few days along with your scores too.
Updates: Answers added under each question and comments enabled!The (Three) Hi-Fives to IMDb.com Trivia Quiz
1. On the 12th of January, 1992,
Bret "the Hitman" Hart & The Legion Of Doom defeated The Mountie & The Natural Disasters in a 6-Man Tag-Team Match. Later the same day, Bret "the Hitman" Hart defeated The Mountie to retain the
WWF Intercontinental Championship. But's thats all WWF trivia and though I hate the WWF/WWE, the trivia was solely included to catch the attention of a certain
Tired Mind! This has nothing to do with the actual question, which is - What came to life at a plant in Urbana, Illinois on this very same day, i.e. the 12th of January, 1992?
Ans: HAL, the computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey2. This actress won her only Oscar so far in the
Best Actress Best Supporting Actress category beating the likes of Judy Davis and Vanessa Redgrave, leading to the spread of an urban legend that she was given the award in error after the presenter misread the winner's name on the card. Name this actress who won the Oscar for the
Best Actress Best Supporting Actress, playing a car crazy expert witness for the defence in a first degree murder case. (Thanks for the correction
George. Dunno how I muffed that one up!)
Ans: Marissa Tomei. My Cousin Vinny, the movie that she won the Oscar was a RIOT!3. In 1993, the law firm of Masry & Vititoe filed a class-action lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric Company, resulting in a $333 million dollar settlement and after some years, an acclaimed movie. Name the movie.
Ans:
Erin Brockovich
4. In 1966, a mongrel named Pickles found the Jules Rimet Trophy that had been stolen earlier. I don't know if Pickles got a lifetime's supply of doggie treats, but Willie Fulgear did get rewards for a similar deed. The 61 year old salvage worker received $50,000, two event tickets and a invitation to a post-event party. So, 34 years after Pickle's discovery, what did Willie Fulgear find?
Ans: He "found" all but 3 of the 55 Oscar statuettes that were
stolen from the loading dock of the shipping firm contracted to ship them from Chicago to LA. He later claimed that most the reward was stolen from his apartment!

(Source: Matt Slocum/AP, via msnbc.com)
5. In 1977, the man in the picture above had been working as an orderly at London’s King’s College Hospital when he was featured in a newspaper article about men with large feet, which caught the eye of the producer of the movie “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger” who cast him for the role of the Minotaur. But just about a year later, he became more famous after playing a 8 foot tall, 200 year-old interplanetary traveller (who later finds refuge in a planet inhabited by 2 foot tall natives). You don't need to name the guy. Just name the character, whose name seems to have been inspired by the Russian word for dog.
Ans:
Chewbacca from Star Wars! The guy in the picture is
Peter Mayhew. The picture was taken in October when he finally became an American citizen, a few days before this quiz was originally posted.