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Last week’s New Yorker carried an interesting personal essay by Charles Van Doren, the Columbia University instructor who became a star on the 1950s quiz show Twenty One and then an object of disgrace when the public learned that the show was fixed by the producers. Movie fans probably know that story from Robert Redford’s Oscar-winning Quiz Show (1994), but Van Doren’s essay also details his life after the scandal, including the genesis of the movie. Redford offered him $50,000, and then $100,000, to serve as a consultant, but Van Doren, acting on the advice of his attorney and the feelings of his family, turned the offer down. According to the piece, that didn’t stop actor Ralph Fiennes (pictured) from driving up to Van Doren’s house and sneakily asking for directions in order to get a look at him.
