KEVIN McCARTHY — Our Quiz

We are talking of Kevin McCarthy here. No, not the California politician!

The McCarthy of our Quiz is pictured above in the early phase of an amazingly long career comprising more than 200 movie and tv credits over a nearly 70-year period, from 1944 to 2012. Handsome, chisel-jawed, well spoken,

McCarthy, who died in 2010 at age 96, was a real workhorse, and it’s a wonder he isn’t better remembered today. Why wasn’t he a bigger star?

That’s a good question since McCarthy, a charter member of the fabled Actors Studio,  worked so much, and powered perhaps the best sci-fi movie of the 1950’s and one of the great plays of the American theater.

McCarthy was a formidable presence on stage, in the movies and on television. Ok, let’s see how much you know about him and his lengthy career. As usual, questions today and answers tomorrow.

Question 1): McCarthy shared the same surname with two celebrated relatives active in  the literary and politicals worlds.  Can you name them?

Question 2: McCarthy’s most celebrated movie role is undoubtedly the hero of a Fifties sci-fi outing directed by Don Siegel, which critics hailed as a “gem of allegorical paranoia.”  Which film is it? a) The Blob; b) War of the Worlds; c) The Day The Earth Stood Still; or d) Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Question 3: In addition to his movie and tv work, McCarthy worked a lot in theater and became identified for his portrayal of a U.S. president. Who was this chief exec? a) Franklin D. Roosevelt; b) Ulysses Grant; c) Harry Truman; or d) Jimmy Carter.

Question 4: McCarthy was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for his performance in which one of these movies?  a) The Howling; b) The Misfits; c) An Annapolis Story; or d) Death of a Salesman.

Question 5): In the 1960s McCarthy costarred in a tv series with which one of these classic movie queens? a) Hedy Lamarr; b) Joan Crawford; c) Bette Davis; or d) Lana Turner.