# What do the following have in common? (game) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 15, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927 "2005-05-15T12:31:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/41 "2005-05-16T03:04:36Z")
thanks for clearing that up twickster - I thought there was something else they had in common (maybe there is. Okay here’s another 4 people: \*\* 1. author Zane Gray 2) Edgar Buchanan 3) “Doc” Holliday 4) Paul Revere (of “Midnight Ride” fame and not the rock and roller) \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/42 "2005-05-16T03:20:19Z")
An easy one:\* Val Kilmer, Mel Brooks, Burt Lancaster, Ben Kingsley, Charlton Heston An almost as easy one:\* Ryan O’Neal, Lord Laurence Olivier, Edward G. Robinson, Martin Sheen A middle one: novelist Saul Bellow, Anthony Quinn, Ernest Lehman (screenwriter: _Hello Dolly!, North by Northwest, Black Sunday_), James Doohan A harder one:\* juliette Lewis, Kate Beckinsale, James Earl Jones, Eric Bana (other than, or at least more specific than, the fact that they are all actors) \*While it has to do with the fact “they’re all actors”, the answer is far more specific than that ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/43 "2005-05-16T03:22:21Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > : > \*\* > > 1. author Zane Gray 2) Edgar Buchanan 3) “Doc” Holliday 4) Paul Revere (of “Midnight Ride” fame and not the rock and roller) > \*\* Dentists? I know Holliday and Buchanan were. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/44 "2005-05-16T03:37:35Z")
Yes Sampiro - no need for the spoiler box now - all 4 were **dentists**. As for the easiest of the questions you posed, Charlton Heston, Ben Kingsley, et al have portrayed **Moses**. In Val Kilmer’s case it was the voice of Moses but Moses nonetheless. I guess I won’t post any new ones now that there are 3 more of yours still unanswered (assuming I was right of course). 😃 Just 1 more thing - I suppose we don’t have to limit this to people right? (Quick Example 2, 17, 19 and 8675309) Prime Numbers ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/45 "2005-05-16T04:45:00Z")
Jean-Luc Picard, Monica Seles, Nero, and Edmund I ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/46 "2005-05-16T05:42:02Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Just 1 more thing - I suppose we don’t have to limit this to people right? No, do whatever you wish. I’ve got one that mixes people, abstract concepts and countries going… ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/47 "2005-05-16T09:52:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Ryan O’Neal, Lord Laurence Olivier, Edward G. Robinson, Martin Sheen They’ve all been in World War II movies, and I _think_ they’ve all played Nazis… am I close? ---
**Author:** ![dbygawdcapn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dbygawdcapn/32/3995_2.png) [@dbygawdcapn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbygawdcapn)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/48 "2005-05-16T10:12:57Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Jean-Luc Picard, Monica Seles, Nero, and Edmund I They all were stabbing victims. **Oral Roberts, Jimi Hendrix, Cordell Hull, Lena Horne** ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/49 "2005-05-16T12:22:18Z")
> [@dbygawdcapn](#): > > They all were stabbing victims. > > **Oral Roberts, Jimi Hendrix, Cordell Hull, Lena Horne** Yep. Damned if I can figure yours out, though. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/50 "2005-05-16T13:54:45Z")
For those who like these kinds of puzzles, there’s a quiz show on NPR called [Says You!](http://www.saysyou.org) It’s sort of like \* Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me\*, the same panelists each week and the questions, while interesting themselves, launch some very funny digressions. From their Common Threads category: **Banjo** , **Bartok** and **Bloodsucker** Tony Kahn: “Those are my attorneys.” Each week, more radios are tuned to _Says You!_ than any other appliance. And one of my own: **George Lazenby** , **Benjamin Harrison** and **Hugh Downs** ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/51 "2005-05-16T14:13:41Z")
> [@dbygawdcapn](#): > > **Oral Roberts, Jimi Hendrix, Cordell Hull, Lena Horne** All claimed Native American ancestry? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/52 "2005-05-16T14:42:59Z")
H.G. Wells Vasco da Gama Chaucer Plato Marco Polo ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/53 "2005-05-16T14:53:27Z")
X, Xv, Xi, Xii, Xxiii, Vi, I, Ii, Xvi. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/54 "2005-05-16T14:56:12Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > X, Xv, Xi, Xii, Xxiii, Vi, I, Ii, Xvi. Those should be all caps: X, XV, XI, XII, XXIII, VI, I, II, XVI. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/55 "2005-05-16T15:33:29Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > X, XV, XI, XII, XXIII, VI, I, II, XVI. The number of popes to have chosen particular names. Off the top of my head… Pius XII John XXIII John Paul II Benedict XVI and I can probably find a site to check the rest. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/56 "2005-05-16T15:38:35Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > The number of popes to have chosen particular names. Off the top of my head… > > Pius XII > John XXIII > John Paul II > Benedict XVI > > and I can probably find a site to check the rest. Looking at the way they’re ordered, I’d be willing to be it’s actual more like the numeral designations of the last 9 popes. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/57 "2005-05-16T15:49:05Z")
Ooh, yes, that’s probably right. Good job. [sub]Every time I see your user name, with that apostrophe in there, it looks like I’m supposed to tell Mel something.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/58 "2005-05-16T16:07:21Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > Looking at the way they’re ordered, I’d be willing to be it’s actual more like the numeral designations of the last 9 popes. Right! All the popes in the past 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/59 "2005-05-16T16:41:50Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > They’ve all been in World War II movies, and I _think_ they’ve all played Nazis… am I close? Actually I was going for Mafia- they were all considered for major roles in _The Godfather_. Answers to others: > [@](#): > > A middle one: > > novelist Saul Bellow, Anthony Quinn, Ernest Lehman (screenwriter: Hello Dolly!, North by Northwest, Black Sunday), James Doohan They all became fathers in their 80s. > [@](#): > > A harder one:\* > > juliette Lewis, Kate Beckinsale, James Earl Jones, Eric Bana (other than, or at least more specific than, the fact that they are all actors) They have all appeared in movies in which Nick Nolte played their father (_Cape Fear, The Golden Bowl, Jefferson in Paris_ and _Hulk_, respectively) ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927/60 "2005-05-16T16:54:57Z")
Obviously I haven’t seen Jefferson in Paris, but trying to picture Nick Nolte playing James Earl Jones’ father hurts my brain [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-following-have-in-common-game/303927.md?page=4)