Today's Quiz

No googling or using references, etc. Who is the only American writer to win an Academy award, a Tony award, and the Pulitzer prize. I didn’t know and wondered if you did–KSH.

Posted in * Culture-Watch, Theatre/Drama/Plays

64 comments on “Today's Quiz

  1. Dan Crawford says:

    Edward Albee?

  2. Dan Crawford says:

    Arthur Miller?

  3. Sick & Tired of Nuance says:

    Al Gore?

  4. The_Archer_of_the_Forest says:

    Harper Lee?

  5. more martha than mary says:

    Horton Foote?

  6. andy_crouch says:

    I think it must be Tony Kushner (Angels in America).

  7. azusa says:

    John Steinbeck?

  8. Irenaeus says:

    Arthur Miller.

  9. Knapsack says:

    I’m with Irenaeus (but my second guess is Dalton Trumbo).

  10. Knapsack says:

    Did Horton Foote ever get a Tony? He should have, but i don’t think he did . . .

  11. loonpond says:

    William Faulkner?

  12. ElaineF. says:

    Thomas Wolfe?

  13. tawser says:

    Do composers count as writers? Because I know that Stephen Sondheim has all those awards.

  14. Jon says:

    Well, Kendall…..????

  15. Jon says:

    Well, what do you know! I had no idea that Sondheim had won an Academy Award. (Tony of course, and Pulitzer sounds right for SUNDAY IN THE PARK). But he is such a theatrical phenomenom I couldn’t think of what he’d win an AA for.

    But unless Kendall had someone else in mind, it looks like Tawser wins Kendall’s contest for the day. 🙂

  16. William P. Sulik says:

    My guess would’ve been Horton Foote as well…

  17. tawser says:

    I’ve been a Sondheim fanatic since high school, but it’s a lonely fascination. Despite all his accolades, almost no one outside a restricted circle of theater buffs has heard of him. Everybody has heard of Andrew Lloyd Webber, but Sondheim? Who?

  18. recchip says:

    Tawser,

    Andrew Lloyd Who??? (GRIN!!)

  19. Henry Greville says:

    Mel Brooks

  20. Jon says:

    PASSION (1994) was his last great work. I don’t think he’s done anything of great worth since, which is sad. But not his fault — everybody is allowed to retire at some point.

    I like SUNDAY and others a lot, but my favorites are PACIFIC OVERTURES and SWEENEY TODD.

    I think a lot of people know Sondheim’s work even when they don’t know the name; I am sure all the folks on this thread remember his first big triumph — which was writing the lyrics to WEST SIDE STORY.

  21. tawser says:

    Jon, I would love to see a staging of Pacific Overtures, but probably never will. That is probably my favorite of all his scores.

  22. Paula Loughlin says:

    William Faulkner?

  23. Kendall Harmon says:

    I apologize for not posting until now, I have been on the road today. I appreciate people not looking it up and honoring my request. No right answers thus far.

  24. Irenaeus says:

    Lillian Hellman?

  25. Marion R. says:

    William Shatner

  26. Paula Loughlin says:

    Here is a really out there guess ” Dr. Seuss”

  27. Passing By says:

    No, y’all–when it comes to a question like this, Pulitzer, Oscar, and Tony, you should probably think in terms of playwright/screenwriter–Miller is a good guess, but when I read this question I did guess right the first time(I think)–with a body of work including Streetcar, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and the Glass Menagerie, it would have to be Tennessee Williams.

    If I have guessed right I probably have simply because I’m a movie trivia freak.

    All blessings,

    GiD

  28. David Fischler says:

    Robert Penn Warren?

  29. John says:

    Neil Simon?

  30. Kendall Harmon says:

    Miller and Williams are certainly good guesses. Not right, however.

    It is a southern writer–to give a hint.

  31. John says:

    Flannery O’Connor

  32. Kendall Harmon says:

    #30, the hard part there is something like the Tony award, because she is a short story writer who also wrote some novels.

    You all are at least making me feel a bit better that I didn’t know. The question really is a lot harder than it seems.

  33. wildfire says:

    Larry McMurtry

  34. Passing By says:

    I’ll guess before I do the research so I maintain some integrity here:

    Truman Capote?

    “In Cold Blood” garnered many awards, although I could be wrong because of the Tony criterion.

  35. ElaineF. says:

    John Berendt?

  36. Irenaeus says:

    Miss Piggy?

  37. Kendall Harmon says:

    A great guess Mark in #32, he has won a pulitzer and an academy award. But not a Tony (though of course in his case it is possible).

  38. Paula Loughlin says:

    Could it be TEC’s own Louie Crew? Just kidding.

    Lorraine Hansberry

  39. CandB says:

    Forest Gump.

  40. Paula Loughlin says:

    One last guess. Michael Shaara. I may be off on the name I am thinking of the guy who wrote Killer Angels.

  41. John says:

    Emma Thompson?

  42. Irenaeus says:

    Pat Conroy?

  43. Paula Loughlin says:

    This is from hubby. James Agee

  44. Paula Loughlin says:

    and finally from daughter> Lillian Hellman

  45. Pageantmaster Ù† says:

    Margaret Mitchell – Gone with the Wind?

  46. John says:

    Alan Jay Lerner? I just saw My Fair Lady – I think he won something for that.

  47. John says:

    Last guess before I turn in – Oscar Hammerstein?

  48. Knapsack says:

    Auuuggghhh. I just googled the person, and talk about hidden in plain sight.

    Very nice mental stretching exercise, Kendall.

  49. Irenaeus says:

    T.S. Eliot?

  50. Irenaeus says:

    Ernest Hemingway!

  51. Betty See says:

    Lucille Ball? Or Sidney Poitier?

  52. Irenaeus says:

    Tennessee Williams?

  53. Irenaeus says:

    Thornton Wilder?
    [i] say I, frantically casting about in plain view. [/i]

  54. libraryjim says:

    T.S. Eliot would have been my guess, too, Irenaeus, but I’m not sure he’s a Southern writer.

  55. libraryjim says:

    I, too, “Googled” and no, I wouldn’t have been able to guess. 🙁

  56. recchip says:

    Harold Urey (may be mis-spelled)-Driving Miss Daisy?

  57. Dave C. says:

    james Agee?
    F. Scott Fitzgerald?
    Tom Wolf?

  58. Robert A. says:

    Alice Walker?

  59. Dave C. says:

    Now that I bothered to read the other postings, I see that my responses couldn’t be right. I did cheat and found someone who I think fits the bill but is not a Southern author. Does that mean more than one author fits the bill?

  60. Kendall Harmon says:

    Alfred Fox Uhry is the answer. Congrats to #55.

  61. Kendall Harmon says:

    Thanks, Dave in #60.

  62. Passing By says:

    I figured out Shanley last night, but didn’t want to write in after doing research!! So there must be two writers to have won all three awards, and Shanley is not a Southerner; he’s from the Bronx.

    🙂

    Good trivia to know…

  63. recchip says:

    Driving Miss Daisy is one of my favorite Movies. I cried at the ending in the dining room!!
    It gives us all hope that people of different races and faiths can get along without compromising.

    Miss Daisy did attend the Christian Funeral for her cook and Hoke did drive Miss Daisy to temple but neither ever compromised their own beliefs. Let them be an example to us all!!