50 Fun Facts About Uncle Buck
Learn something new, then test yourself with the quiz.
Know these facts? Prove it.
Take the 50-question quizWho wrote and directed Uncle Buck?
It was the first film he wrote, directed and produced under his multi-picture deal with Universal.
Who plays Buck Russell?
Candy and Hughes made seven films together, from Vacation to Only the Lonely.
Why do the Russell parents have to leave their children with Buck?
They rush back to Indianapolis, the city the family had just moved from.
What are the names of the three Russell children?
Tia is the rebellious teenager, Miles is eight and Maizy is six.
Which future Home Alone star plays Miles Russell?
Home Alone the following year reunited him with Hughes and with Candy, who cameoed as polka king Gus Polinski.
Who plays Tia, the hostile teenage niece, in her film debut?
She later starred in Mr. Holland's Opus and played Kim on the sitcom Yes, Dear.
Who plays six-year-old Maizy?
She had debuted in Field of Dreams the same year and grew up in New York's Chelsea Hotel.
What is the name of Buck's long-suffering girlfriend?
She owns an auto repair shop, where Buck finally agrees to take a steady job.
Which actress, an Oscar nominee for Twice in a Lifetime, plays Chanice?
She also appeared in Field of Dreams that same year.
What is the name of Tia's self-centred boyfriend?
Buck ends up binding, gagging and locking him in a car trunk after catching him with another girl.
Who plays Marcy, the flirtatious neighbour who dances with Buck?
Tia's lie that Buck is having an affair with Marcy briefly ends his relationship with Chanice.
How does Buck make his living at the start of the film?
He later skips a high-stakes race to go looking for Tia.
What is the name of the drunken entertainer who turns up late to Miles's birthday party?
Mike Starr plays him; Buck sends him packing.
What is Mrs. Hogarth's job at Maizy's school?
Buck memorably defends Maizy against her in one of the film's most quoted scenes.
Which future My Girl star appears as one of Maizy's classmates?
Two years later she and Culkin shared the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss.
Where was much of Uncle Buck's production based?
Three gyms at New Trier High School became sound stages holding the Russell house set.
In which suburb was the exterior of the Russell house filmed?
The school scenes were shot at Romona Elementary in Wilmette.
On what date did filming begin?
The film was in cinemas by August 16 the same year.
For how many consecutive weeks was Uncle Buck the number one film in North America?
It beat Parenthood and The Abyss on its opening weekend.
Roughly how much did Uncle Buck gross worldwide?
It was the 13th-highest-grossing film of 1989 in North America, just ahead of Field of Dreams.
Which two films did Uncle Buck beat on its opening weekend?
It took $8.8 million from 1,804 theatres.
How many stars out of four did Roger Ebert give Uncle Buck?
He found it unusually bitter and angry for a Hughes film.
Which studio released Uncle Buck?
Hughes made it under a multi-picture agreement with the studio.
Who played Buck in the 1990 CBS sitcom adaptation?
In the show, Bob and Cindy die in a car accident, leaving Buck as the children's guardian.
What happens to the children's parents in the 1990 TV version?
Ratings collapsed after CBS moved it to Fridays.
Who played Buck in the 2016 ABC series?
James Lesure played his brother and Nia Long his sister-in-law; ABC cancelled it after eight episodes.
How many episodes did the 2016 series last before cancellation?
It aired from June 14 to July 5, 2016.
The 1991 Malayalam-language remake of the film was called what?
It starred Mohanlal.
Which sketch comedy show made Buck's actor famous before Hollywood?
He joined Toronto's Second City troupe in 1972.
Where was Buck's actor born?
His father died of a heart attack at 35 on Candy's fifth birthday.
Which sport did Buck's actor dream of playing professionally before a knee injury?
He was a star offensive tackle in high school and later co-owned a CFL team.
Which CFL team did Candy co-own with Wayne Gretzky?
The team won the 1991 Grey Cup under their ownership.
Which 1984 romantic comedy is generally considered Candy's breakout film role?
He played Tom Hanks's womanizing brother.
Which Ghostbusters role did Candy turn down over creative differences?
Rick Moranis took the part instead.
Where did Candy die in March 1994?
He suffered a heart attack in his sleep while filming Wagons East, aged 43.
What did Candy's character sell in Planes, Trains and Automobiles?
Del Griffith and Steve Martin's Neal Page get stranded together trying to reach Chicago for Thanksgiving.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles diverts its heroes to which city when a blizzard closes Chicago?
They end up sharing a double bed in the only available motel room.
Which holiday has Planes, Trains and Automobiles become closely associated with?
It grossed $49.5 million on a $15 million budget.
In The Great Outdoors, Candy's character has to eat what to win a challenge?
His son Buck misses a date with a local girl because of it.
Who co-starred with Candy as brother-in-law Roman Craig in The Great Outdoors?
Annette Bening made her film debut as Roman's wife Kate.
In which fictional Wisconsin town is The Great Outdoors set?
A bald-headed grizzly, played by Bart the Bear, terrorises the cabin.
How long did the director take to write the first draft of Home Alone?
It became the top-grossing film of 1990 and his biggest commercial success.
Which Chicago suburb, home to Glenbrook North High School, inspired Hughes's teen films?
His family moved there from Michigan in 1963.
Where was the director when he died of a heart attack in 2009?
He was visiting his son and new grandson in New York.
Which humor magazine did Hughes write for before his film career, leading to the Vacation screenplay?
His first credited screenplay was National Lampoon's Class Reunion.
From which city have the Russells just moved to the Chicago suburbs at the start of Uncle Buck?
Bob and Cindy have to rush back there when Cindy's father suffers a heart attack.
What kind of business does Chanice own, where Buck finally agrees to take a steady job?
Tia's confession that she lied about Buck's 'affair' with the neighbour Marcy wins Chanice back.
Where does Buck lock Bug after catching him forcing himself on another girl at a party?
He releases Bug only after forcing him to apologise to Tia, who admits her uncle was right about him.
How many of the vacant high school's gyms were converted into sound stages for the film?
Production designer John Corso's crew of twelve carpenters and five painters built the two-level interior of the Russell house there.
Which 1989 film finished just ahead of Uncle Buck in the year's North American box-office rankings?
Uncle Buck ranked 13th for the year with $66.8 million, narrowly beating Field of Dreams.
Think you know Uncle Buck?
Put these facts to the test with the interactive quiz.
Take the 50-question quiz