Ready to test your knowledge of all things maternal? This special mothers’ day quiz focuses on famous mothers from all walks of life: TV moms, movie star moms, inventor moms, and more. But don’t make the mistake of assuming that all of the mothers featured in this quiz are necessarily candidates for sainthood: we’ve thrown in a few not-so-saintly moms, too. Here goes….
1. Who invented the disposable diaper?
2. What mild-mannered mother of two managed to get on the cover of Time magazine by selling more than three million copies of a book telling women how to please their husbands in and out of the bedroom?
3. This well-known film star played the role of a suburban mother driven to commit murder by a neighbor who refuses to separate her recyclables. Who was the actress and what was the film?
4. When was obstetrical anesthesia first developed?
5. What did Wanda Holloway and Verna Heath have in common?
6. What domestic diva and mother of one visited the set of The Stepford Wives while parts of the movie were being filmed in her hometown?
7. What famous new mom waxed rhapsodical about baby poop in a recent interview with Redbook magazine?
8. What mild-mannered 1960s TV mom went on to become an outspoken anti-nuclear and anti-war activist during the 1970s?
9. What special event had 44 million viewers planted in front of their TV sets on January 19, 1953?
10. What 1990’s TV personality and mother of two got her career start as a Christian entertainer?
11. Which three 1970s “TV moms” appeared in a “milk mustache” campaign during the late 1990s?
12. What TV mom was attacked by then Vice-President Dan Quayle for being a poor role model for American women?
13. This 1980s “brat pack” movie star appeared pregnant and nude on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991. What is her name and what are the names of her three children?
14. What 1940s mom became a household name when she, her husband, and their two sons began playing themselves—a family with two boys—on a popular radio comedy and then a follow-up TV show?
15. This 1965 TV show only lasted for a single season, but it’s still remembered as being one of the worst television comedies of all time. The premise of the show? The lead actor’s mother is reincarnated as a car. What was the name of the show?
16. This actress made cameo appearances in such feature films as The Seven Year Itch and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but she’s still best remembered for playing a ghoulish mom in a 1960s TV show. Who was the actress and what was the name of her character?
17. The reputation of this 1940s Hollywood starlet took a beating after her adopted daughter published a scathing tell-all biography. What was her name and what was the book?
18. This Massachusetts mother made headlines in 2001. What was her name and what was her claim to fame?
19. What famous movie star mom both directed and acted alongside her own son in a 1991 Oscar-nominated movie?
20. What actress and mother said, “TV family sitcoms have always been about fathers who know best and mothers who are so enchanted with everything they do. I wanted to be the first mom to be a mom on TV.”
