input question: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: What is the last name of the person who bakes pies?  Monte Beragon, the second husband of Mildred Pierce, is shot. The police tell Mildred that the murderer is her first husband, Bert Pierce, after he is interrogated and confesses to the crime. Mildred protests that he is too kind and gentle to commit murder, and reveals her life story to the investigating officer in flashback. Mildred and Bert are unhappily married. Mildred must bake and sell pies and cakes to support the family after Bert splits with his business partner, Wally Fay. Bert bitterly accuses Mildred of favoring their daughters, especially Veda, over him. Their quarrel intensifies after a phone call from Bert's mistress, Maggie Biederhof, and they decide to separate. Mildred retains custody of her two daughters, the 16-year-old Veda, a bratty social climber and aspiring pianist, and 10-year-old Kay, a tomboy. Mildred's principal goal is to provide material possessions for Veda, who longs for a social status above that of her family and is ashamed of her mother's work as a baker. When Mildred is forced to take a job as a waitress, she tries to hide the fact from Veda, but Veda learns the truth and treats her mother with derision. Mildred meets Monte Beragon, a Pasadena society playboy and heir whose inheritance is almost depleted. Beragon owns the building that Mildred wants to purchase for a restaurant, and he pursues a romantic interest in her. While the two are at his beach house during a weekend jaunt, Kay contracts pneumonia and dies after a trip with Veda and Bert. Mildred channels her grief into work and throws herself into opening a new restaurant. With the help of her friend and former supervisor, Ida Corwin, Mildred's restaurant is a success. Wally helps Mildred buy the property, and soon she owns a chain of restaurants throughout Southern California.???
output answer: Pierce

input question: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: Whose album changed perceived notions about the number of successful singles that could be taken from one album?  Blender described Jackson as the "late 20th century's preeminent pop icon", while The New York Times gave the opinion that he was a "musical phenomenon" and that "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else". Jackson changed the way the industry functioned: both as an artistic persona and as a financial, profitable entity. His attorney John Branca observed that Jackson achieved the highest royalty rate in the music industry to that point: approximately $2 (US$4.82 in 2018 dollars) for each album sold. As a result, Jackson earned record-breaking profits from compact disc sales and from the sale of copies of the documentary, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, produced by Jackson and John Landis. Funded by MTV, the film sold over 350,000 copies in its first few months. In a market then driven by singles, Thriller raised the significance of albums, yet its multiple hit singles changed perceived notions as to the number of successful singles that could be taken from an individual album. The era saw the arrival of novelties like the Michael Jackson doll, that appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12 (US$29 in 2018 dollars). Thriller retains a position in American culture; biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli explains, "At some point, Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie—and started selling like a household staple".At the time of the album's release, a press statement from Gil Friesen, the then President of A&M Records, read that, "The whole industry has a stake in this success". Time magazine speculated that "the fallout from Thriller has given the [music] business its best years since the heady days of 1978, when it had an estimated total domestic revenue of $4.1 billion". Time summed up Thriller's impact as a "restoration of confidence" for an industry bordering on "the ruins of punk and the chic regions of synthesizer pop". The publication described Jackson's influence at that point as, "Star of records, radio,...???
output answer: Michael Jackson

input question: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: Who does Sir Edith take to London?  Elliot Hopper is a workaholic widower who is about to land the deal of a lifetime at work, which he hopes will win him a promotion and a company car. After he forgets his daughter Diane's birthday, he attempts to make it up to her by promising her she can have his car when he secures the deal at work on the coming Thursday. After being persuaded to give the car to his daughter early, Elliot must hail a taxi from work, which is driven by Satanist Curtis Burch, who drives erratically and is of control. Attempting to get the taxi stopped, Elliot announces that he is Satan and commands him to stop the taxi, and also attempts to give him his wallet. Shocked to see his "Evil Master", Burch drives off a bridge and into the river. Elliot emerges from the accident scene, only to learn that he is a ghost when a police officer fails to notice him and a speeding bus goes straight through him. When he gets home he discovers that his three children can see him, but only in a totally dark room, and they can't hear him at times. He struggles to tell them what happened when he is whisked away to London by paranormal researcher Sir Edith, who tells him he is a ghost who has yet to enter the afterlife because "they screwed up"; his soul will not cross over until Thursday. The pressures of work and family life lead to many comedic events, as Elliot attempts to renew his life insurance policy and complete his company's merger, so his family will be provided for once he crosses over. One day, he must choose between staying in an important work meeting and helping his son with a magic trick at school. He eventually decides that his family's happiness is more important and walks out on his furious boss, Mr. Collins, who later smugly fires him. Dejected, Elliot reveals himself as a ghost to his love interest, Joan, whose initial shock soon turns to sympathy.???
output answer:
Elliot Hopper