Your Queries: Are the Newmans the family with the most Oscar winners, why is there a Dallas in Moray and does a horse have one horsepower?

Composer Randy Newman (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Got a question for our Queries Man? Email query@sundaypost.com or write to The Queries Man, The Sunday Post, 2 Albert Square, Dundee, DD1 9QJ

I’M a big fan of singer/songwriter Randy Newman’s music – songs such as Short People and I Love L. A. are absolute classics.

He has also written music for films and has won a couple of Oscars.

While reading about him, I discovered his brother and uncle were Academy Award winners, too.

So my Query is this – are the Newmans the family with the most Oscar winners? –J.

Randy has won Best Original Song twice, in 2002 for If I Didn’t Have You (from Monsters, Inc) and in 2011 for We Belong Together (from Toy
Story 3).

His brother, Lionel, won Best Score in 1969 for Hello Dolly! and their uncle, Alfred Newman, won nine Oscars for writing scores for movies such as Camelot and The King And I, giving the Newmans a total of 12 Oscars, the most for a single family.

Between the three, they were also nominated by the Academy a further 59 times.

However, if you are judging the most successful clan by the number of Oscar-winning relatives, it has to be the Coppolas.

Francis Ford Coppola has won five times as director of iconic movies such as The Godfather.

His daughter Sofia, son-in-law Spike Jonze, father Carmine, brother-in-law David Shire, nephew Nicholas Cage and niece-in-law Patricia Arquette, have all won a golden statuette, making it seven family members.

I enjoyed last week’s Query about the village of Moscow. Now I have another – Dallas in Moray. What can you tell me about it? – D.

The village sits on the banks of the River Lossie, just 10 miles from Elgin.

The name Dallas comes from the Gaelic name of the village, Dollas, meaning “valley of water”.

William Anderson, who was born in the village, was awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery in the First World War.

Pub row – what was the name of the Rangers player of the ’70s, Quinton or Quenton Young? – A.

Rangers’ Quinton Young in action, 1973 (SNS Group)

That was Quinton Young, who turned out for the Gers 82 times from 1973-76.

He began his career with his local side, Ayr United, in 1969, making 67 appearances until a move in 1971 to Coventry City.

After Rangers, he notched up 67 games for East Fife.

Does a horse have exactly one horsepower? – H.

Engineer James Watt came up with the measurement to compare the output of steam engines with the power of work horses.

Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement for power, which is the rate at which work is done over an extended period of time – so horses can produce around 14 or 15hp.

By comparison, a human is capable of five hp at peak power production.

Whatever happened to the actor who played Trevor in EastEnders? – I.

Lennoxtown-born Alex Ferns played the part of abusive husband Trevor so well he received death threats!

Since leaving Albert Square in 2002, Alex has continued his TV acting career, most notably in Wolfblood.

He has also had roles in films such as The Legend Of Tarzan and the forthcoming Romans.

Story behind the movie

I love The Muppet Movie. Can you share any behind-the-scenes tales? – S.

Prior to the lovable gang’s first theatrical outing, audiences were only accustomed to seeing hand puppets from the waist up.

The 1979 comedy broke the rules by displaying the zany characters’ entire bodies.

One memorable musical scene, featuring Kermit the Frog alone on a log in a swamp, took five days to complete.

To control the banjo-strumming Muppet, creator Jim Henson spent hours underwater inside a cramped diving bell, oxygen pumped in through a hose.

“No place for someone with claustrophobia,” he admitted.

Story behind the song

What can you tell me about Ironic by Alanis Morissette? – L.

You can’t blame the grammar police for taking light-hearted pot-shots at the singer in the 21 years since its release.

While various scenarios outlined in the lyrics – “rain on your wedding day”, “a black fly in your Chardonnay” – are unfortunate, they aren’t actually examples of irony! The Canadian-American finally allowed herself in on the joke when she duetted with US chat show host James Corden on a reworked version two years ago.

Laughing, she sang: “It’s singing ironic … but there are no ironies.”

Sales of parent album Jagged Little Pill have topped 33m.