Question 1

True or false: Shaw died at age 51 from a heart attack, just before the premiere of his final film 'The Deep'.

Accepted Answer

True. He suffered a fatal heart attack in 1978 at 51, shortly after completing 'The Deep' (1977). His sudden death shocked the film community.

Question 2

True or false: Robert Shaw was the only actor to appear in both the original 'Jaws' and its first sequel, 'Jaws 2'.

Accepted Answer

False. Shaw's character Quint dies in 'Jaws', so he didn't appear in 'Jaws 2'. Roy Scheider and Lorraine Gary returned, but not Shaw.

Question 3

True or false: Robert Shaw played Quint in 'Jaws' and wrote much of his famous Indianapolis speech himself.

Accepted Answer

True. Shaw actually wrote or heavily contributed to that chilling monologue about the USS Indianapolis, which director Steven Spielberg let him perform largely as written.

Question 4

True or false: He was a professional rugby player for the England national team before becoming an actor.

Accepted Answer

False. Shaw was a keen amateur rugby player but never played professionally or for England. This myth likely stems from his rugged, athletic on-screen presence.

Question 5

True or false: Robert Shaw was an accomplished novelist who wrote 'The Man Who Knew the Difference' before his acting career took off.

Accepted Answer

False. He wrote 'The Hiding Place' and 'The Flag', but not that title. Shaw was a respected author, but this book doesn't exist.

Question 6

True or false: Shaw was once arrested for public drunkenness while dressed as a priest during a night out in London.

Accepted Answer

True. In the 1960s, Shaw and actor Richard Harris donned priest costumes after a party; Shaw was arrested, adding to his legendary hard-living reputation.

Question 7

True or false: He turned down the role of Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond film 'Goldfinger' because he disliked the villain's death scene.

Accepted Answer

False. Shaw never turned down Goldfinger; the role went to Gert Fröbe. Shaw's Bond refusal was earlier, for the lead role, not a villain.

Question 8

True or false: Shaw declined the role of James Bond, which later went to Sean Connery, because he thought the scripts were poor.

Accepted Answer

True. Shaw was offered Bond in the early 1960s but turned it down, finding the scripts beneath his standards. Connery famously took the role instead.

Robert Shaw Trivia Questions