40 Fun Facts About Famous Terrys

Terry, a Cairn Terrier paid more per week than many human co-stars, played which famous film dog?

Toto was her role in The Wizard of Oz, and the name stuck: Terry was formally renamed Toto in 1942. Her $125 a week was more than many of the film's human actors earned.

Which wrestling superstar, who body-slammed André the Giant at WrestleMania III, was born Terry Bollea?

Hulk Hogan was born Terry Gene Bollea in Augusta, Georgia. André had been promoted as undefeated for 15 years before Hogan slammed him in 1987 and kept the title.

Two Terrys, Jones and Gilliam, co-directed a 1975 comedy about the Holy Grail as members of which troupe?

Monty Python handed the job to two first-timers: neither Terry had directed a feature film before. Gilliam was also the troupe's only member not born in Britain.

Terry Fox, running on one artificial leg, set out in 1980 to cross which country in his Marathon of Hope?

Canada was the country, and Terry Fox covered 5,373 kilometres of it in 143 days before cancer in his lungs forced him to end the run outside Thunder Bay.

Quarterback Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls in six years, starting with the 1974 season, with which NFL team?

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Terry Bradshaw first overall in 1970 after winning a coin flip for the pick. He became the first quarterback to win three, then four, Super Bowls.

Terry's of York, a confectioner founded in 1767, is best known for a chocolate ball shaped like which fruit?

An orange is the shape, but an apple came first: Terry's sold a Chocolate Apple before the Chocolate Orange arrived in 1932, and dropped the apple in 1954.

Which actor won his first Oscar playing dockworker Terry Malloy in the 1954 film On the Waterfront?

Marlon Brando at first turned the part down, and Frank Sinatra was lined up to play Terry Malloy before Brando changed his mind.

In Terry Pratchett's novels, the Discworld rests on four elephants standing on the back of which giant creature?

A turtle named Great A'Tuin swims slowly through the cosmos with the whole Discworld on its back. Pratchett took the image from old beliefs that the human world rests on a turtle.

Actor Terry Crews, later the host of America's Got Talent, was a professional in which sport during the 1990s?

American football paid Terry Crews so unreliably that he topped up his income by painting portraits of his teammates. He played for the Rams, the Chargers and Washington.

Terry O'Quinn won an Emmy in 2007 as John Locke, a character named after a philosopher, in which TV drama?

Lost arrived when Terry O'Quinn was already in his fifties. Born Terrance Quinn, he added the O' because another registered actor already had his name.

Terry cloth, a fabric woven with many protruding loops of thread, is the usual material for which household item?

Bath towels owe their thirst to those loops, which soak up large amounts of water. English firm Christy began making them by machine in 1850 after studying handwoven towels in Turkey.

Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan was the BBC's television commentator from 1980 to 2008 for which annual music event?

The Eurovision Song Contest also had Terry Wogan as its co-host in 1998, when Birmingham staged it. He stepped down from the commentary box in December 2008.

Defender John Terry captained which London club to five Premier League titles between 2005 and 2017?

Chelsea won all five with John Terry as captain, something no player had done before. In 2007 he also became the first captain to lift the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium.

Welsh writer Terry Nation created which villains for Doctor Who, introduced in the show's second serial in 1963?

The Daleks quickly became the show's most popular monsters and a merchandising success for Terry Nation and the BBC. In 1975 he gave them a creator of their own, Davros.

Which actor played hot-tempered detective Terry Hoitz opposite Will Ferrell in the 2010 comedy The Other Guys?

Mark Wahlberg's Terry Hoitz is in disgrace for mistakenly shooting baseball star Derek Jeter at the World Series. Wahlberg and Ferrell teamed up again for Daddy's Home.

Which actor played Terry Benedict, the ruthless casino owner robbed in the 2001 heist film Ocean's Eleven?

Andy García's Terry Benedict owns all three casinos the crew hits, the Bellagio, the Mirage and the MGM Grand, and is dating Danny Ocean's former wife, Tess.

Terry Francona managed which baseball team to the 2004 World Series, ending a title drought that began in 1918?

The Boston Red Sox trailed the Yankees three games to none in the league series, then won four straight, a comeback no MLB team had made before. A sweep of the Cardinals followed.

Terry Kiser spends most of which 1989 comedy playing a dead boss whose two employees pretend he is alive?

Weekend at Bernie's hides Terry Kiser's lifeless Bernie behind sunglasses while party guests fail to notice anything wrong. He came back as the same corpse for a 1993 sequel.

US Surgeon General Luther Terry issued a landmark 1964 report warning Americans about the dangers of which habit?

Smoking was named as a cause of lung cancer in Luther Terry's report, which was deliberately published on a Saturday to soften the blow to the stock markets.

Terry Jacks had a 1974 hit with which song, adapted from a Jacques Brel ballad about a dying man?

Seasons in the Sun had already been recorded by the Beach Boys, but their version stayed in the vault until 2021. Terry Jacks cut his own and rewrote part of the words.

Church of England envoy Terry Waite was kidnapped in 1987 while trying to free hostages held in which country?

Lebanon held Terry Waite for 1,763 days, the first four years of them in solitary confinement. He had earlier won the release of hostages in both Iran and Libya.

Terry Venables, later England's manager at Euro 96, won the 1985 Spanish league title in charge of which club?

Barcelona hired Terry Venables in 1984, and the English tabloids promptly christened him El Tel. A year after the title he took the club to the European Cup final.

Terry McMillan's 1992 novel about four women friends in Phoenix became which film starring Whitney Houston?

Waiting to Exhale was the first feature film Forest Whitaker directed, and its soundtrack handed Whitney Houston another number-one single.

Fantasy author Terry Brooks launched a long-running series in 1977 with a novel called The Sword of what?

Shannara broke new ground: the novel was the first fantasy title on The New York Times trade paperback bestseller list. Another Terry, Goodkind, wrote The Sword of Truth series.

Terry Hall fronted which Coventry ska band, whose Ghost Town topped the UK chart during the 1981 riots?

The Specials saw Terry Hall walk out soon after Ghost Town was released: he left with two bandmates to start a new group, Fun Boy Three.

Terry Fator won the second season of America's Got Talent in 2007 with which kind of act?

Ventriloquism first caught Terry Fator's eye in fifth grade, in a library book by Paul Winchell. His win led to a multi-million dollar contract to headline in Las Vegas.

Welshman Terry Griffiths became world champion in 1979 at his first attempt, as a qualifier, in which sport?

Snooker's surprise champion Terry Griffiths had earlier worked as a postman and an insurance salesman. He beat Dennis Taylor 24–16 in the final.

Terry Silver, the villain of The Karate Kid Part III, returned 32 years later in which TV series?

Cobra Kai brought back Terry Silver with his original actor, Thomas Ian Griffith. In the 1989 film Griffith was actually younger than Ralph Macchio, who was 27 and playing a teenager.

Terry Zwigoff directed Billy Bob Thornton as a hard-drinking department-store thief in which 2003 Christmas comedy?

Bad Santa began as an idea from the Coen brothers, who hired its writers and stayed on as executive producers. Terry Zwigoff made it as his follow-up to Ghost World.

Which 1985 dystopian film by director Terry Gilliam is named after a song rather than its setting?

Brazil takes its name from Ary Barroso's song Aquarela do Brasil, the film's recurring theme. The story is not about the country and never goes there.

Terry Gross has interviewed thousands of guests since 1975 as host of which NPR radio show?

Fresh Air was only a local Philadelphia programme when Terry Gross arrived at station WHYY to host and produce it. NPR later carried it across the country.

Clark Terry, a mentor to Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, was a jazz star on which instrument?

Trumpet made Clark Terry's name in Count Basie's band, until Duke Ellington secretly recruited him away. He went on to spend ten years in The Tonight Show band.

John Singer Sargent painted actress Ellen Terry in a dress of beetle wings as which Shakespeare character?

Lady Macbeth was Ellen Terry's role opposite Henry Irving at London's Lyceum Theatre. Sargent saw the opening night, and her green dress carried 1,000 wing cases of the jewel beetle.

The 1968 Supreme Court case Terry v. Ohio gave US police the power to carry out which practice?

Stop and frisk is still called a Terry stop after the ruling: police may briefly detain and pat down someone they reasonably suspect is armed and involved in a crime.

Paul Terry's Terrytoons studio launched which cartoon superhero in 1942, first sketched by an animator as a fly?

Mighty Mouse began as an animator's idea for a Superman parody starring a fly. The studio made him a rodent instead, and his first films billed him as Super Mouse.

Teenager Terry McGinnis is mentored by an elderly Bruce Wayne in which animated series set in a future Gotham?

Batman Beyond begins with an ageing Bruce Wayne, his health failing, still fighting crime in the suit. Terry McGinnis then takes over the role with the old man as his guide.

Terry Bogard, a brawler out to avenge his adoptive father, has led which SNK fighting game series since 1991?

Fatal Fury sends Terry Bogard after Geese Howard, the man who murdered his adoptive father. In a later twist, Terry ends up as guardian to Geese's own son, Rock.

Terry Farrell, a former fashion model, played science officer Jadzia Dax in which Star Trek series?

Deep Space Nine cast Terry Farrell soon after a US remake of Red Dwarf, in which she played Cat, failed to get picked up. She later co-starred in the sitcom Becker.

Terry Riley's 1964 piece In C, built from 53 short repeated fragments, is a landmark of which style of music?

Minimalism got an early landmark in In C, whose score can be played by any number of musicians. Terry Riley's piece went on to inspire Philip Glass, Steve Reich and rock bands too.

Milton Caniff's 1934 comic strip Terry and the Pirates opens with young Terry Lee arriving in which country?

China gave the strip its pirate queen, the Dragon Lady, who was modelled on a real pirate named Lai Choi San. Her nickname has since passed into everyday English.