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50 free The Gilded Age trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Gilded Age started life as a Downton Abbey prequel about Lord Grantham's courtship, was announced for NBC in 2018, and ended up on HBO as Julian Fellowes's study of 1880s New York: old money on one side of East 61st Street, the robber-baron Russells on the other, and Bertha Russell determined to gate-crash the opera boxes whatever it costs her children. These 50 questions cover three seasons and the behind-the-scenes story: the Stanford White mansion, the charity bazaar George buys out, the aldermen he ruins, the train derailment and the faked axles, Mrs. Astor's early return to Newport, Gladys's debutante ball, the Opera War between the Academy of Music and the new Met, the Duke of Buckingham and the dowry, Peggy Scott's work for T. Thomas Fortune and her trip to Tuskegee, Jack Trotter's alarm clock patent, Oscar's ruin at the hands of Maud Beaton, and the shooting in George's office. There are production questions on the actress Carrie Coon replaced, the Newport mansions and the Troy street that stood in for Manhattan, the real Vanderbilts and Astors behind the characters, and the Emmy nominations. Easy questions stick to the network, the creator and the leads; the hard ones ask about valets, bridges and clock money. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for a period-drama quiz night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who created and writes The Gilded Age?
Julian Fellowes
He originally conceived it as a Downton Abbey prequel about Lord Grantham and Cora's courtship.
Q 02On which network does The Gilded Age air?
HBO
It was first announced for NBC in 2018 before moving to HBO in May 2019.
Q 03In which decade is the series set?
1880s
Season one opens in 1882 and season three reaches 1884.
Q 04Who plays Bertha Russell?
Carrie Coon
Her casting prompted the costume team to move toward metallic dresses evoking the machine age.
Q 05Who plays Agnes van Rhijn?
Christine Baranski
She is the old-money widow who looks down on any fortune younger than the Declaration of Independence.
Q 06Who plays Ada, Agnes's younger sister?
Cynthia Nixon
Ada's late marriage to Reverend Luke Forte ends up saving the family fortune.
Q 07Who plays Bertha's robber-baron husband?
Morgan Spector
He was among the first four actors announced in September 2019.
Q 08Which actress was originally cast as Bertha before being replaced in April 2020?
Amanda Peet
COVID delays forced the recast in April 2020.
Q 09Who plays Marian Brook, the orphaned niece who comes to live with her aunts?
Louisa Jacobson
Marian arrives from Doylestown, Pennsylvania after her bankrupt father's death.
Q 10Who plays Peggy Scott, the writer who becomes Agnes's secretary?
Denée Benton
Agnes hires her after admiring her penmanship.
Q 11Who plays Peggy's mother Dorothy, a skilled pianist?
Audra McDonald
John Douglas Thompson plays her pharmacist father Arthur.
Q 12Where in Manhattan do the Russells and van Rhijns face each other across the road?
East 61st Street
Jack later buys a house on the same street with his clock money.
Q 13Which real architect designed the Russells' mansion in the show?
Stanford White
White was also the real designer of Reid Hall, used as a location in season two.
Who plays Oscar van Rhijn, Agnes's son?
Q 21Which Red Cross founder do Bertha, Marian and Peggy travel to Dansville to hear?
Clara Barton
Linda Emond played her; Bertha is later voted onto the Red Cross board.
Q 22What disaster threatens George with manslaughter charges in season one?
A train derailment
Someone passed off substandard axles as new; his stenographer and a colleague had framed him.
Q 23Which inventor's Pearl Street power station ceremony do the characters attend?
Thomas Edison
Bertha excludes Marian from her carriage party to make room for Tom Raikes.
Blake Ritson
Oscar courts Gladys for her money while secretly maintaining his relationship with John Adams.
Q 15Who plays society arbiter Ward McAllister?
Nathan Lane
His tell-all book gets him banned from New York society in season three.
Q 16Who plays Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, 'The' Mrs. Astor?
Donna Murphy
The real Mrs. Astor, of Dutch descent, was the gatekeeper of New York society.
Q 17The Russells appear to be based partly on which real couple?
Alva and William K. Vanderbilt
Alva Vanderbilt won over Mrs. Astor by throwing a 1,000-guest ball that Carrie Astor longed to attend.
Q 18How does George respond when Bertha's ballroom is snubbed for the charity bazaar?
He buys everything and closes it
His deal with Alderman Morris in the same episode ends with the aldermen ruined.
Q 19What does Alderman Morris do after George's stock squeeze ruins him?
Commits suicide
His widow Anne later blames George when Bertha is voted onto the Red Cross board.
Q 20Which real journalist publishes Peggy's story and hires her at the New York Globe?
T. Thomas Fortune
Born into slavery, the real Fortune helped found a predecessor of the NAACP.
Q 24What goes wrong when Ward McAllister shows Bertha around the Astor summer house?
The owner arrives a day early
Bertha is hustled out of Mrs. Astor's Newport home through the servants' quarters.
Q 25What does Bertha do when the queen of New York society declines her call?
Rescinds her daughter Carrie's invitation
Mrs. Astor makes amends by attending the ball and bringing society with her.
Q 26What is the secret of the Russells' French chef, Monsieur Baudin?
He is an American from Kansas
Josh Borden trained in France; Bertha fires him, then rehires him when his replacement gets drunk.
Q 27Who jilts Marian on the day they planned to elope?
Tom Raikes
The Doylestown lawyer marries into money instead, with Miss Bingham.
Q 28What does Peggy learn about the son she was told had died?
He was adopted
She and her mother go to Philadelphia to find him, only to learn he has since died.
Q 29Bertha backs which new institution against Mrs. Astor's Academy of Music?
The Metropolitan Opera
The 'Opera War' ends with both houses opening on the same October 1883 night.
Q 30Bertha's former maid Turner reappears in season two as the wife of whom?
Mr. Winterton
As Mrs. Winterton she schemes for the centre box at the Met.