He received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree perjury, but lost a Columbia University teaching job. The scandal destroyed Van Doren’s reputation. The quiz show scandal, which engulfed other programs and contestants, was chronicled in the 1994 movie Quiz Show, directed by Robert Redford and with Ralph Fiennes playing Van Doren, who later broke his decades long silence about the scandal and noted that he turned down $100,000 to serve as a consultant on the film, according to The Times.
2, 1959, Van Doren confessed that he had been given answers in advance. But with rumors circulating about network rigging of the extremely popular prime time quiz shows, a congressional investigation ensued.