Botticelli, Aug. 2011

Partly- I WAS a military officer and a wartime hero… but that’s not what I’m most famous for.

  1. Real person
  2. Male
  3. Born in the 20th century
  4. No longer alive
  5. Not involved in the arts
  6. First name starts with “D”
  7. Not a political figure
  8. American
  9. Still alive in 1970
  10. Not famous for sports/athletics
  11. Not known as a businessman
  12. At peak of fame before 1970… but didn’t actually DO anything newsworthy until after 1970
  13. Never won a Nobel Prize
  14. Last name begins with a letter from N thru Z.
  15. Sort of involved in science
  16. A military officer and hero… but that’s not what I’m famous for

Not Dave Davies (I’d argue “You Really Got Me” was the first heavy metal song)

The legend was that Dr. Charles Drew, a black man who helped develop the blood-bank system, had been in a car accident and died (that much was true) after being denied a blood transfusion at a segregated hospital. Actually, he had been treated at Alamance General in North Carolina without regard to his race – his injuries were just too massive to be survivable.

DQ: Were you known before 1970 for being a member of a more celebrated person’s family (heir to a fortune, actress’s husband, etc.)?

IQ: Were you a vice-president credited with co-writing a popular song that was a hit decades after you composed it?

Not David Lee Roth (that’s one of my favorite music quotes ever… even though I myself resembled Elvis Costello when Dave said it)

No, my Sixties fame was not due to my family

Nor am I Charles Dawes, who wrote the music for “It’s All in the Game.”

  1. Real person
  2. Male
  3. Born in the 20th century
  4. No longer alive
  5. Not involved in the arts
  6. First name starts with “D”
  7. Not a political figure
  8. American
  9. Still alive in 1970
  10. Not famous for sports/athletics
  11. Not known as a businessman
  12. At peak of fame before 1970… but didn’t actually DO anything newsworthy until after 1970
  13. Never won a Nobel Prize
  14. Last name begins with a letter from N thru Z.
  15. Sort of involved in science
  16. A military officer and hero… but that’s not what I’m famous for
  17. My fame before 1970 was not due to family ties or connections

Okay, some side talk among the guessers. ‘Sort of involved’ in science, military hero but that’s not what he’s famous for, and not involved in Art, business, politics nor athletics. What’s left? Religion?

I’m also quite stumped by the peak of fame before 1970, but didn’t do anything newsworthy until after 1970. Not famous because of family. How did one become famous for nothing before 1970?

I think I’d like to narrow down birth and death dates before I give up, but I’m stumped so far… Any thoughts?

IQ: Are you an Italian opera composer who was fascinated with Tudor history?

No idea… ask a DQ.

I promise you, I’m not trying to be tricky. Every answer I’ve given is as accurate as I can make it.

The person I have in mind WAS a longtime military officer and a war hero… but that’s NOT what most people would think of, when they hear his name.

This person’s educational background was in science and technology, and he worked in a science related field… but nobody thinks of him as a scientist.

And, hard to understand as it may be, this person was world-famous long before he did anything to justify that fame… and by the time he DID something to justify his fame, he was no longer a major celebrity.
When you hear or figure out the answer, you’ll say “AHHHH… NOW I see what he meant.” But in the meantime, I can see why this seems confusing.

Gaetano Donizetti, who, along with Rossini and Bellini was a driving force in Italian ‘Bel Canto’ opera, wrote a total of four operas that treat a subject in Tudor history - Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena, Roberto Devereux, and Il Castello di Kenilworth. He fits neatly, historically and aesthetically, between the flourishings of Rossini and Verdi. Don Pasquale, L’Elisir d’amore and Lucia di Lammermoor are his best known works.
DQ: Were you born before 1950?

One of the things I have always loved about this game is that the questions posed can lead the questioner astray. I shall continue to gnaw at this one like a cheerful dog with a hambone.

Yes

  1. Real person
  2. Male
  3. Born in the 20th century
  4. No longer alive
  5. Not involved in the arts
  6. First name starts with “D”
  7. Not a political figure
  8. American
  9. Still alive in 1970
  10. Not famous for sports/athletics
  11. Not known as a businessman
  12. At peak of fame before 1970… but didn’t actually DO anything newsworthy until after 1970
  13. Never won a Nobel Prize
  14. Last name begins with a letter from N thru Z.
  15. Sort of involved in science
  16. A military officer and hero… but that’s not what I’m famous for
  17. My fame before 1970 was not due to family ties or connections
  18. Born before 1950

Is your last name an occupation?

No, my last name is not an occupation…

Were you entitled to a DQ?

Yes, that’s right. I don’t remember his last name either.

IQ: Did Winston Churchill once mock your name, and thus express his opinion of your personality?

Cant’s say I know this one… ask a DQ.

Churchill referred to Eisenhower’s notoriously dogmatic Secretary of State John Foster Dulles as “Dull, Duller, Dulles.”

etv78 has several times, in this round and previously, been instructed on the intricacies of Botticelli, but still doesn’t quite seem to have caught on. I suggest you treat his (or her?) questions as easily-answered IQs.

We’re on the home stretch here for DQs, folks. Any suggestions for my next one?

IQ: Did your best-known character always carry a symbol of his self-restraint with him?

I don’t know the guy with a symbol of self-restraint. Ask another DQ. You have 2 coming.

I promise this isn’t somebody obscure. My oddly phrased answers may have people thinking more obscurely than they should- this was someone who was very prominent and world-famous in the Sixties.

I will give few clues (they should be helpful without giving this away too easily):

  1. He was a secondary character in two movies that were nominated as Best Picture.

  2. He was from Wisconsin

  3. His real first name AND the nickname he was more widely known by both start with “D.”

  4. An irregular heartbeat wreaked havoc on his career.

Ted Danson’s Sam Malone on Cheers always kept the bottletop from his last beer in his pocket.

Even with the extra hints I have no idea who you’re thinking of. I’ll let others ask my two DQs.

IC: While seeing a patient, did you learn you’d unexpectedly gotten a new job?

Another one I don’t know- you have 3 DQs coming now.