Trivia Connection: Famous Dentists Trivia Paula Green

Sink Your Teeth Into... Famous Dentists Trivia

By Paula Green

National Dentist’s Day is observed annually on March 6. This month we will examine famous dentists who we have seen in movies and on television.

Dustin Hoffman got grilled while the dentist drilled in the 1976 suspense thriller Marathon Man. Laurence Olivier portrayed the villainous Nazi war criminal Dr. Christian Szell in the film. Steve Martin has depicted a dentist twice on the silver screen. In the 1986 comedy musical Little Shop of Horrors, he played the evil yet flamboyant bikerdentist Dr. Orin Scrivello. In the 2001 comedy thriller Novocaine, Martin portrayed Dr. Frank Sangster.

Jennifer Aniston played a seductress dental boss in the movie Horrible Bosses. Ironically, when Aniston made her debut in the TV show Friends, she arrived in a wedding dress. Her character, Rachel Green, has jilted her fiancé, Dr. Barry Farber. The lonely dentist was left at the altar while Rachel departed.

The movie Finding Nemo featured Philip Sherman (Bill Hunter), also known as P. Sherman, as the dentist who takes Nemo and puts him in his fish tank. Who could forget that loveable elf Hermey from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? The poor misfit disliked making toys and wished to be a dentist instead.

Jerry Helper was Rob and Laura Petrie’s neighborhood on The Dick Van Dyke Show. He also happened to be a dentist. Another TV dentist named Jerry was Jerry Robinson, who we followed on The Bob Newhart Show.

Tim Conway got plenty of laughs with his comical portrayal of a dentist in The Carol Burnett Show. Harry Korman had the honor of being his unlucky patient. The Simpsons showcased a dentist named Ralph.

The TV show Seinfeld featured an episode about Jerry’s dentist named Tim Whatley. There’s a follow-up episode where we met Dr. Whatley’s teacher Dr. Abbott, who accused Jerry of being an antidentite!

Remember the TV show Petticoat Junction? In reality, Uncle Joe was a dentist. The actor that portrayed him, Edgar Buchanan, earned a DDS degree from North Pacific College of Dentistry in Oregon. His father was also a dentist. During the time Buchanan was a pre-med student, he took acting classes at the University of Oregon, and he left dental school to take a position in their drama department.

Since we’ve extracted some renowned dentists, we must now gnaw through this oral query, get set to grind out those answers because it’s time to get a little trivial... 1. Which famous dentist died of tuberculosis, aged just 36, on November 8, 1887? 2. In this 2008 film, comedian Ricky Gervais portrays a dentist who can see and talk with spirits. 3. This American author and dentist is best known for his 1912 famous adventure novel Riders of the Purple Sage? 4. Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn starred in this 1969 dental comedy. 5. This famous actor played a dentist in the TV series I’m A Big Girl

Now. 6. Actor Christopher Lee portrayed a dentist named Wilbur Wonka in this 2005 fantasy film. 7. He raced in the Indy Racing League from 1997-2001 and the Indianapolis 500 from 1997-1999. He’s a dentist, known as “the racing dentist.” 8. Ted McGinley portrayed a dentist named Dr. Charley Shanowski in this TV show. 9. Name the actor who depicted Dr. Abbott, the dentist character who scolds Jerry on Seinfeld. 10. In this 2002 movie, Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as a Miami dentist who inherits a team of sled dogs. 11. He played a likable Quebec dentist from Chicago in the films The

Whole Nine Yards and The Whole Ten Yards. 12. Dr. Sako Karakozian, DDS, is a dental consultant on which series? 13. Who played Dr. Katherine Lewis in 1997 made-for-television film

Toothless? 14. Kevin Spacey starred as Dr. Robert Middling in this 2012 dental film. 15. In the Coneheads movie, Beldar visits the dentist, which comedian portrays Dr. Rudolph? n

Sources: https://ndpl.net/national-dentists-day/NationalDentist’sDay, https:// thewritelife61.com/tag/jerry-helper/, https://www.dentalorg.com/top-10-dentistsin-movies.html, https://www.dentistryiq.com/dental-hygiene/article/16350601/12dentists-in-the-movies-remember-these-docs, https://www.drbradhylan.com/blog/ top-5-best-movie-dentists, https://www.mouthhealthy.org/

12. The Doctors 13. Kirstie Alley 14. Spirit of a Denture 15. Jon Lovitz 8. Hope & Faith 9. Robert Wagner 10. Snow Dogs 11. Matthew Perry 5. Danny Thomas 6. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 7. Dr. Jack Miller 1. Doc Holliday 2. Ghost Town 3. Zane Grey 4. Cactus Flower