How Well Do You Really Know 1980s Movie Faces?
The biggest stars of the 1980s are easy. This quiz goes deeper. These are the actors who ruled cult classics, video-store shelves, horror movies, martial-arts flicks, and unforgettable supporting roles. You may recognize every face, but can you actually put a name to all 20?
Screenshot from The Warriors, Paramount Pictures (1979)
1. Can You Name This Cannon Action Hero?
This actor became the face of American Ninja in 1985. Was he Michael Dudikoff, Michael Beck, or Robert Ginty?
Screenshot from American Ninja, Amazon MGM Studios (1985)
Answer: Michael Dudikoff
Dudikoff starred as Joe Armstrong in American Ninja and returned for American Ninja 2: The Confrontation. The original helped establish him as one of Cannon Films' recognizable action leads.
Screenshot from American Ninja, Amazon MGM Studios (1985)
2. Who Is This Real-Life Martial Arts Champion?
Before becoming an action-film favorite, this American martial artist built a championship career in forms and weapons. She broke into Hong Kong cinema during the 1980s.
Screenshot from Yes, Madam!, D&B Films (1985)
Answer: Cynthia Rothrock
Rothrock became a rare American star in Hong Kong action movies, appearing in films including Yes, Madam! and Righting Wrongs. Her genuine martial-arts background became a major part of her screen appeal.
Screenshot from Yes, Madam!, D&B Films (1985)
3. Can You Name This Cannon Dance Star?
She starred as Kelly in Breakin' before appearing in the bizarre martial-arts horror mashup Ninja III: The Domination. Was she Lucinda Dickey, Cynthia Gibb, or Jennifer Beals?
Screenshot from Ninja III: The Domination, Amazon MGM Studios (1984)
Answer: Lucinda Dickey
Lucinda Dickey was a professional dancer who had worked on Solid Gold before landing the lead in Breakin'. Cannon quickly brought her back for Breakin' 2 and Ninja III: The Domination.
Screenshot from Ninja III: The Domination, Amazon MGM Studios (1984)
4. Who Played The Obsessed Scientist In Re-Animator?
This actor became permanently associated with Dr. Herbert West after starring in Stuart Gordon's grisly 1985 cult classic.
Screenshot from Re-Animator, Empire Pictures (1985)
Answer: Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Combs played Herbert West in Re-Animator and later appeared in From Beyond as Crawford Tillinghast. Those performances helped make him one of genre cinema's most recognizable character actors.
Screenshot from Re-Animator, Empire Pictures (1985)
5. Can You Name This 1980s Scream Queen?
This actress battled malfunctioning security robots in Chopping Mall. Is she Barbara Crampton, Linnea Quigley, or Deborah Foreman?
Screenshot from Chopping Mall, Trinity Pictures (1986)
Answer: Barbara Crampton
Barbara Crampton became closely associated with the decade's independent horror boom. Her collaborations with Stuart Gordon included both Re-Animator and From Beyond, while Chopping Mall became another cult favorite.
Screenshot from Chopping Mall, Trinity Pictures (1986)
6. Who Is This Mustachioed Horror Favorite?
This actor played Nick Castle, a rugged fisherman who helps investigate the deadly fog rolling into Antonio Bay in John Carpenter’s The Fog.
Screenshot from Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Universal Pictures (1982)
Answer: Tom Atkins
Tom Atkins became one of the decade's dependable genre leading men. Night of the Creeps even built much of its appeal around Atkins after his earlier appearances in The Fog and Halloween III.
Screenshot from Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Universal Pictures (1982)
7. Can You Recognize Those Famous Blue Eyes?
This actress played Holly Thompson in John Carpenter's They Live and Evil-Lyn in Masters of the Universe. Was she Meg Foster, Sandahl Bergman, or Mary Woronov?
Screenshot from They Live, Universal Pictures (1988)
Answer: Meg Foster
Meg Foster appeared opposite Roddy Piper in They Live in 1988. A year earlier, she had played Skeletor's formidable ally Evil-Lyn in Masters of the Universe.
Screenshot from They Live, Universal Pictures (1988)
8. Who Went From The Warriors To Xanadu?
This actor played Swan, the calm leader trying to get his gang back to Coney Island. The following year, he starred opposite Olivia Newton-John.
Screenshot from The Warriors, Paramount Global (1979)
Answer: Michael Beck
Michael Beck led The Warriors as Swan before playing Sonny Malone in 1980's Xanadu. Despite those two highly recognizable roles, the larger breakout many expected never quite followed.
Screenshot from The Warriors, Paramount Global (1979)
9. Can You Name This Memorable Movie Villain?
He delivered The Warriors' famous taunting chant before later playing villains in Dreamscape and Commando. Is he David Patrick Kelly, Vernon Wells, or Richard Lynch?
Screenshot from The Warriors, Paramount Pictures (1979)
Answer: David Patrick Kelly
David Patrick Kelly played Luther in The Warriors, creating one of the movie's most memorable characters. His knack for unsettling villains continued through several films during the following decade.
Screenshot from The Warriors, Paramount Pictures (1979)
10. Who Survived The Night Of The Comet?
This actress played Samantha, one of two sisters left wandering a nearly empty Los Angeles after a cosmic disaster.
Screenshot from Night of the Comet, Atlantic Entertainment Group (1984)
Answer: Kelli Maroney
Kelli Maroney played Samantha in the 1984 cult favorite Night of the Comet. Two years later, she returned to endangered-mall territory as one of the leads in Chopping Mall.
Screenshot from Night of the Comet, Atlantic Entertainment Group (1984)
11. Can You Identify This Ninja-Movie Icon?
This Japanese martial artist appeared in Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and Ninja III: The Domination. Was he Sho Kosugi, Tadashi Yamashita, or Sonny Chiba?
Screenshot from Ninja III: The Domination, Amazon MGM Studios (1984)
Answer: Sho Kosugi
Kosugi emerged as one of the defining faces of America's early-1980s ninja craze. Revenge of the Ninja gave him international recognition before he returned for the wonderfully strange Ninja III: The Domination.
Screenshot from Ninja III: The Domination, Amazon MGM Studios (1984)
12. Who Is This Cult-Movie Queen?
This actress appeared in numerous exploitation and genre films and played Ariadna opposite Lou Ferrigno in 1983's Hercules.
Screenshot from Hercules, MGM (1983)
Answer: Sybil Danning
Sybil Danning became a familiar presence in fantasy, action, and exploitation cinema. TCM singled out her flamboyant performance as Ariadna as one of the strongest impressions in Cannon's eccentric Hercules.
Screenshot from Hercules, MGM (1983)
13. Can You Identify This Horror Tough Guy?
He was already famous to horror fans from Dawn of the Dead when he joined Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton in From Beyond. Is he Ken Foree, Tony Todd, or Yaphet Kotto?
Screenshot from Dawn Of The Dead, United Film Distribution Company (1978)
Answer: Ken Foree
Ken Foree played detective Bubba Brownlee in Stuart Gordon's From Beyond. The film knowingly used Foree's genre credentials after his memorable starring role in George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead.
Screenshot from Dawn Of The Dead, United Film Distribution Company (1978)
14. Who Is This Flashdance Leading Man?
He played Nick Hurley, Jennifer Beals' older love interest in Flashdance, before starring as an LAPD detective in the 1987 cult sci-fi thriller The Hidden.
Screenshot from The Hidden, New Line Cinema (1987)
Answer: Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri followed Flashdance with the lead role of Detective Thomas Beck in The Hidden. Director Jack Sholder paired him with Kyle MacLachlan for the unusual police-and-alien thriller.
Screenshot from The Hidden, New Line Cinema (1987)
15. Can You Name This Future Sci-Fi Favorite?
In The Hidden, she played Brenda, one of the people taken over by the movie's body-hopping alien. Was she Claudia Christian, Catherine Mary Stewart, or Jenny Wright?
Screenshot from The Hidden, New Line Cinema (1987)
Answer: Claudia Christian
Claudia Christian played Brenda in the 1987 cult thriller The Hidden. Director Jack Sholder later praised how fully she committed to the outrageous role.
Screenshot from The Hidden, New Line Cinema (1987)
16. Who Played Vasquez In Aliens?
This actress made a huge impression as the tough Colonial Marine Vasquez in Aliens. She later joined Kathryn Bigelow's vampire western Near Dark.
Screenshot from Aliens, 20th Century Fox (1986)
Answer: Jenette Goldstein
Jenette Goldstein followed Aliens by playing Diamondback in 1987's Near Dark. She was one of several Aliens cast members who reunited for Kathryn Bigelow's film.
Screenshot from Aliens, 20th Century Fox (1986)
17. Can You Name The Star Of The Exterminator?
This actor became an international action-film name after playing a vigilante in a gritty 1980 movie. Was he Robert Ginty, Reb Brown, or Michael Paré?
Screenshot from The Exterminator, Synapse Films (1980)
Answer: Robert Ginty
Robert Ginty starred in The Exterminator and spent much of the decade making action movies including Exterminator 2 and Warrior of the Lost World. Ginty later said those films gave him an economically viable career.
Screenshot from The Exterminator, Synapse Films (1980)
18. Who Is This Scarred-Faced Screen Villain?
This actor spent much of his career playing heavies and appeared opposite Chuck Norris in Invasion U.S.A.. He also turned up in The Sword and the Sorcerer and Bad Dreams.
Screenshot from Bad Dreams, 20th Century Fox (1988)
Answer: Richard Lynch
Richard Lynch's distinctive appearance helped make him a natural choice for imposing villains. His long genre résumé included horror, fantasy, science fiction, and action movies throughout the 1980s.
Screenshot from Bad Dreams, 20th Century Fox (1988)
19. Can You Name Schwarzenegger's Chain-Mail-Clad Enemy?
Before battling Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando, this Australian actor had played the wild-haired Wez in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Is he Vernon Wells, Brian Thompson, or Al Leong?
Screenshot from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Warner Bros. (1981)
Answer: Vernon Wells
Vernon Wells played Bennett, John Matrix's vengeful former subordinate, in 1985's Commando. American audiences had already seen his ferocious performance as Wez in The Road Warrior.
Screenshot from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Warner Bros. (1981)
20. Who Was Michael Dudikoff's Scene-Stealing Sidekick?
This muscular martial artist played Curtis Jackson in the American Ninja series. He often stole scenes with his charisma, physical presence, and martial-arts skill.
Screenshot from American Ninja, Cannon Film (1989)
Answer: Steve James
Steve James played Jackson alongside Michael Dudikoff in the first two American Ninja movies and returned for American Ninja 3. A contemporary Los Angeles Times review specifically praised his energy in the third installment.
Screenshot from American Ninja, Amazon MGM Studios (1985)
So How Many Faces Did You Know?
Getting the biggest 1980s stars would have been easy. Remembering the names behind American Ninja, Chopping Mall, The Hidden, Re-Animator, and the decade's endless supply of colorful villains is another matter. If you scored anywhere near 20, your old video-store knowledge has clearly survived.
Screenshot from Re-Animator, Empire Pictures (1985)
You May Also Like:
The Hardest TV Trivia Quiz For Fans Of 1980s Sitcoms—How Many Can You Answer?
Female Action Stars Of The 1970s Who Were Cooler Than The Men Around Them
The Toughest Action Stars Of The 1980s—Who Was The Ultimate Movie Hero?
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
