My Favorite Trivia

[jdb1]

OK, Dan - how about John Huston. He was "the man in the white suit" in Treasure of Sierra Madre, and he was born in Nevada, MO.

[daneldorado]

OK, Dan - how about John Huston. He was "the man in the white suit" in Treasure of Sierra Madre, and he was born in Nevada, MO.

 

 

Perfect! Judith wins again!

 

Dan

[jdb1]

Here's my contribution for the evening:

 

What world-famous movie star was born at sea?

[CharlieT]

John Huston, born in Nevada, Missouri

 

The Treasure of Sierra Madre - American in Tampico in white suit.

 

Tricky, Dan!

 

CharlieT

 

Drat! Had to wait on my daughter to get off the phone to get back on the internet and lost out!

 

Message was edited by:

CharlieT

[CharlieT]

Either Flipper or Shamu, I bet.

[jdb1]

> Either Flipper or Shamu, I bet.

 

Facetious, but probably correct.

However, not in answer to my question.

 

I'm looking for a human movie star, who was born at sea.

To human parents. In a boat.

[daneldorado]

I'm looking for a human movie star, who was born at sea.

To human parents. In a boat.

 

 

You may be thinking of Sidney Drew, uncle of John Barrymore, who appeared in more than 160 silent films.

 

Dan

[CharlieT]

"Facetious, but probably correct."

 

Maybe not totally facetious. I seem to remember someone asking a "do you know me" type question where the answer was a dog. If I wanted to be facetious, I probably would have guessed Howard "Keel."

 

Charlie(just kidding)T

[daneldorado]

I'm looking for a human movie star, who was born at sea.

To human parents. In a boat.

 

 

Sidney Poitier was born at sea.

 

Dan N.

[CineSage_jr]

Sidney Poitier was born at sea.

 

And died at sea in THE BEDFORD INCIDENT.

[jdb1]

Sidney Poitier is correct, and Dan got there first.

 

Here's an excerpt from the Gainesville (FL) Sun's online site, gainesville.com:

 

"Sidney Poitier was born on the high seas en route to Miami, Florida, where his farmer parents, a Bahamian father of Haitian descent and a Bahamian mother, traveled to sell tomatoes and other produce from their farm on tiny Cat Island in The Bahamas. Poitier was born prematurely and was not originally expected to survive the boat ride; his birth was recorded in Miami, as the vessel was already closer to Florida."

 

(Howard Keel. Har har, hardy-har har.)

 

You're up, Dan.

[daneldorado]

Sidney Poitier is correct, and Dan got there first.

 

You're up, Dan.

 

 

Thanks, Judith... I will graciously relinquish my turn to YOU... as long as you promise to confine your questions to HUMAN actors and actresses. Sheesh!! Jean, the Vitagraph dog!

 

Dan N.

[jdb1]

> Thanks, Judith... I will graciously relinquish my

> turn to YOU... as long as you promise to confine your

> questions to HUMAN actors and actresses. Sheesh!!

> Jean, the Vitagraph dog!

>

> Dan N.

 

 

Now really, gentlemen, where would Hollywood be without its relentless anthropomorphizing of our four-legged friends? You can't tell me Jean the Vitagraph Dog wasn't an important part of the cinema scene, 'cause I won't believe it. Where would Roy be without Trigger, or Our Gang without Pete?

 

Anyway -- here's a question:

 

Two Hollywood directors. One fun-loving and colorful, known primarily for colorful films and for his lavish and colorful weekly parties. The other, sober and serious, known primarily for his serious, "meaningful" films, and living a quiet life. These men had something in common in their formative years. Who are they and what do they have in common?

 

(I know, there's an element of overlap here with Do You Know Me?, but it's hard to ask these questions in such narrow ways.)

[daneldorado]

My guess is:

 

Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese.

 

Scorsese was Lee's teacher at NYU. That's the connection.

 

In your description of the fun-loving director, you used the word "colorful" THREE TIMES in a single sentence. You're not that bad a writer. So, I figure you were trying to signal that the director in question is black.

 

Dan N.

[jdb1]

My, aren't we critical tonight. And wrong, wrong, wrong.

 

Think of the word "colorful" in the kind of euphemistic sense it might have been used 50 or 60 years ago.

 

The period of time in question goes further back than the names you mentioned. Moreso for one than for the other.

 

Both directed many Oscar-winning performances, but only one of them won an Oscar for best director.

 

However, to narrow things down, I can tell you that like the two directors you mentioned, both of the directors here were from New York City.

 

As far as the connection, you may have inadvertently hopped onto the right track.

[daneldorado]

Okay, this time I've got:

 

Stanley Kramer and Oliver Stone.

 

Both men were born in New York City. They both attended NYU.

 

Stone has won the Oscar, Kramer never did.

 

When you say you're using the word "colorful" as a euphemism, I take it you mean gay. But none of the info I've found on these guys indicates that they are homosexual. Maybe they are -- or one of them is -- or maybe I'm just wrong about your meaning.

 

Anyway, these two names meet all your other criteria.

 

Dan N.

[Cinemascope]

I don't think "colorful" has ever been a euphemism for homosexual.

[jdb1]

> I don't think "colorful" has ever been a euphemism

> for homosexual.

 

I beg to differ. It's a word I heard all the time in 1950s NYC, meaning "flamboyant" - i.e. homosexual. When I was a little girl, my father worked at a deli in Greenwich Village, and when he and or my mother would speak to their friends of the various clientele my father served, they always used words like "colorful" or "artistic" (wink wink). Those were different times.

 

Anyway, I wasn't trying to be PC. Rather, I was trying to keep the question from being too easily solved.

 

Now, as to your guess, Dan, you are partly right. One of those mentioned is one I was thinking of. However, the other is not, and the common link, although in the right category, is not the one either.

 

Here's a hint: go back further in time.

Here's another Big Hint: both directors worked with Tracy and Hepburn, one more with Tracy and the other more with Hepburn, but both worked with them as a couple.

[txrd999]

are you speaking of...

george cukor and stanley kramer?

both were from new york

both were nominated for best director but only cukor won the oscar....

cukor was known for his sunday parties....

and both worked with tracy/hepburn....

[jdb1]

Yes, they are those of whom I speak. Nice work.

The other part of the question is, what in their pasts did they have in common?

[Cinemascope]

Well. How about that. Maybe it was used in that context then. All I know is I live in the Bay Area and I participate a lot in the LGBT community and honestly can't recall anyone using the word in that context. "Colorful" can be something extravagant even if hetero.

 

But, anyway, good luck with that trivia bit.

[txrd999]

oh yes....i forgot

they both went to dewitt clinton high school

and i think the term colourful, tipped me off.....

that was a term my great grandmother used to describe her son.....

she always thought it sounded more pleasant......

strange but i guess no more than how the term gay originated......which really means happy....

cheers

karith

[txrd999]

so here is an easy one....

this person was declared a child prodigy....

and later in life would have a brilliant film career in the us and europe.

this person has one of the longest bios i have ever read.

[jdb1]

Is it John Houseman?

[txrd999]

it is not john houseman....

but he did work closely with the person in question.