Trivia Dominoes III — Play Off the Last Bit of Trivia

James Garner appeared in Twilight (1998), a noirish detective thriller starring Paul Newman, Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon. The movie was released by Paramount Pictures, the same studio that later released Twilight (2008), about a young girl becoming infatuated with a vampire.

Gene Hackman lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, and was discharged a corporal in 1951 after five years’ service as a field radio operator. In his long acting career, he played a Marine sergeant in First to Fight (1967), a Polish general in A Bridge Too Far (1977), an American major serving in the French Foreign Legion in March or Die (1977), a Marine colonel in Uncommon Valor (1983), an Air Force lieutenant colonel in Bat 21 (1988), an Army sergeant in The Package (1989) and a Navy captain in Crimson Tide (1995), among other military-related roles.

Here is Gene Hackman’s USMC picture —

In play —

Until the 1980s, Corporals were the lowest USMC rank eligible to be Drill Instructors for training recruits in boot camp. The rank of Lance Corporal, one rank below Corporal, is unique to the Marine Corps. It is the most commonly held rank in the Marines, and it has been used since the Indian Wars of the 1830s.

Because of its large population, large fangs. propensity to defend itself and the strength of its venom, the fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper) is considered by most to be the deadliest snake in the Western Hemisphere.

Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout is the first Nero Wolfe detective novel. It was published in 1934.

The dire wolf is an extinct species of canine native to the Americas about 10,000 years ago. In 1988 attempts were made to selectively breed dogs to present a dire wolf-like appearance and sell them to private owners.

Dire wolves were the pets of the Stark children in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones books. Google AI tells me (lightly edited), “The Stark dire wolves’ names are Grey Wind, Lady, Nymeria, Shaggydog, Summer and Ghost. These names are associated with the six Stark children: Robb, Sansa, Arya, Rickon, Bran and Jon Snow, respectively.”