Did You Know: TV, Music and Movie Trivia

Over the last few months, I have been compiling “Did You Know” trivia items about TV, movies, music and commercials because collecting trivia has been a favorite hobby of mine since I was a teenager.

The following are more tidbits that I would like to share with you; and I would love to know if any of our readers knew about any of the items below:

TV/MUSIC TIDBIT

Actress, comedian and singer Maya Rudolph – best known for her work on Saturday Night Live – and the box office films Bridesmaids, Sisters and CHIPS, is the daughter of the late, great 1970’s singer Minnie Riperton, who was best known for the 1975 single “Lovin’ You” [she had a five-octave vocal range] and Richard Rudolph, a musician, producer and songwriter.

You can check out her mother’s amazing single “Lovin’ You” below:

COMMERCIAL APPEAL

Actress Erin Gray, best known for her roles of Colonel Wilma Deering in the classic TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Kate Summers Stratton in the long-running sitcom Silver Spoons, has consistently been working over the decade – even spending time as a casting agent – can be seen in a new commercial for Natrol Cognium.

Check out the video below:

Perhaps a little harder to recognize is actress Joanna Adler, who can be seen in one of the Liberty Mutual Insurance commercials, which focuses on two different couples dealing with a home fire. Joanna recently appeared in a crucial episode of The Blacklist, playing the younger version of Mr. Kaplan, which finally gave viewers some much needed intel into how Mr. Kaplan became Mr. Kaplan.

You can see the video of her commercial below:

MOVIE TRIVIA

Did You Know…

that there were quite a number of now familiar faces in the 2001 box office film Pearl Harbor, which starred Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale.

Those unknown faces – at the time the film hit the Cineplexes – who have gone on to have careers on the small and/or big screen included:

• Matt Davis – he played Joe – one of the pilots stationed at Pearl with Rafe and Danny, his character was shot down by the Japanese before he could get his plane off the ground during the massive attack on the Harbor. This film was his first big break. Just a few months later he appeared alongside Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. He is best known for his role in the long-running series The Vampire Diaries;

• John Pyper-Ferguson – he played a Naval Officer at the hospital, asking for volunteers to help save men trapped in the bombed ships. He had appeared in countless box office movies and TV roles before that, but he is best known for his work in Brothers & Sisters, Suits and The Last Ship;

• Sean Faris – he played Danny’s Gunner in the surprise attack on Japan. Like Matt, this was his first big break. He has gone on to appear in the short-lived dramas life as we know it and Reunion and more recently Pretty Little Liars. He has also appeared in the made-for-TV movies The Lost Valentine, Christmas with Holly, Sandra Brown’s White Hot and An Uncommon Grace;

• Ian Bohen – he played a radar operator at Pearl, who was the first to notice a large mass moving toward the Harbor before the Japanese attacked. He appeared in a number of TV shows before this movie, but he is best known for his recurring roles of Peter Hale on Teen Wolf and Edwin Stillwell on Chicago P.D. He will also be seen in the latest big screen adaptation of Little Women that will be released next year;

• Tony Curran – he played Ian, a member of the RAF serving alongside Rafe while he was in England as a volunteer fighting the Germans. He had already had a long career in films and TV, but he went on to appear in the box office film Underworld: Evolution and the sci-fi series Defiance;

• William Fichtner – he played Danny’s father in the beginning of the film. He also appeared in a number of film roles before this, but he is best known for his work on Prison Break and the comedy Mom and recently appeared in Independence Day: Resurgence and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles;

• Eric Christian Olsen – he played Gunner, who of the pilots at Pearl, serving alongside Danny. He had appeared in a few TV shows prior to that film, but he has gone on to be one of the stars of NCIS: Los Angeles; and,

• Sean Gunn – he was one of the sailors in traction at the hospital at Pearl. He had appeared in a handful of TV shows before that, but he has since appeared as Kirk on Gilmore Girls and as Kraglin in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Did you know about any of the above trivia? Here is a link to last month’s “Did You Know”.

Be on the look-out for more “Did You Know” articles in the near future