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(And, OK, Im not a linguist, but Im married to one!) Read more in this thread (long). Next up: some sociological explanations of why someone like George Gershwin might have tried to speak like Westbrook Van Voorhis. Middle class? Its a joke to say 500 of my closest friends, but that would have been true with George1,000 of his closest friends, actually. In that vein, here is an oral biography of George Plimpton. But the average person never talked that way. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. What exactly is a Boston Brahmin accent? As an old film buff, I am used to this voice, though it figures unevenly in old movies. Mr. Plimpton was born in Manhattan in 1927 and raised in Huntington, L.I. Look out, Wilson! . Plimpton was an optimist, a teller of amusing and amazing stories. Firstly, then-managing director of SI, Mark Mulvoy, gave Plimpton the liberty to create a hoax.Secondly, SI photographer Lane Stewart recruited his friend, Joe Berton to play the part of Sidd Finch. $ 9.19 - $ 32.19. I thought they were terrific. Her mother, a writer and critic for Commonweal and Catholic World. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Paul McCartney and his then-girlfriend Heather showed up. Kaltenborn was a famous mid . And he told everyone that night, and for many years after, that hed diverted me from a career of filling prescriptions. Congratulations Carnac, for posting about George Plimptons death at 3:44 PM. George Plimpton. During my fight, my nose got badly broken in the second round, but I did last all four scheduled rounds, though I lost. On Sept. 26, George Plimpton died in his sleep, at the age of 76. [citation needed], In the movie Plimpton! [citation needed] In 1958, prior to a post-season exhibition game at Yankee Stadium between teams managed by Willie Mays (National League) and Mickey Mantle (American League), Plimpton pitched against the National League. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. Discussing the accent he used for Washington in an interview with The Onion AV Club, he explained: The accent back then was probably nothing like what we think of as a Southern accent now or a New England accent now, so we tried to find the root of the accents. As a result, this American version of a posh accent has all but disappeared even among the American upper classes. We worked at the Paris Review on the Rue Garanere for several years together. He very much approved. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review, as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. The Wikipedia entry for it is quite detailed. He wrote for the Harvard Lampoon, was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club, Pi Eta, the Signet Society, and the Porcellian Club. The book offers memories of Plimpton from among other writers, such as Norman Mailer, William Styron, Gay Talese and Gore Vidal, and was written with the cooperation of both his ex-wife and his widow. After running the pilot, Rod Serling realized the narration needed a less pompous sounding and more natural voice himself. Even Orson Welles on occasion. Norman Mailer said that George Plimpton was the best-loved man in New York. Hemingway on Fiction, Part Two. George Plimpton. Back to Plimpton I dont remember the LL affect at all. *Originally posted by cuauhtemoc * Thurston Howell III had the Larchmont Lockjaw accent. George Plimpton: what kind of accent? I think all the editors who worked at the magazine can recount a time when they ascended to his office to argue for a particular story that had been submitted, certain that George hadnt read it or hadnt read it closely enough, only to stand gape-mouthed as he reeled off, from memory, its every deficiency. But for now, just one more category: 3) Changing technology, changing voices. Thats a common name for such an accent. Anyhow, I asked Terry Gross from Fresh Air and George Plimpton to be auctioneers. George was not vainhe didnt care a whit about his image. Plimpton would not boast of his feat, so we did. I always thought it sounded similar to the accent of William F. Buckley, Jr., who I believe was not reared in Boston. Share; Copied! Those of us whose families are from Larchmont (that would be me) just call it lockjaw. Plimpton, along with former decathlete Rafer Johnson and American football star Rosey Grier, was credited with helping wrestle Sirhan Sirhan to the floor when Kennedy was assassinated following his victory in the 1968 California Democratic primary at the former Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The fake English announcer voice lingered on sporadically until the end of the Johnson administration in newsreels, which themselves ceased production around the same time, but Rod Serlings decision sounded the death knell for that accent. Archie Moore, after all, had broken his nose. Here's how Geroge Plimpton and his team created a prodigious pitcher out of thin air. Shadow Box. (This is not to belittle Lowell Thomas, but to recognize the artifice that served him so well in his career). Plimpton was married twice. Plimpton's most memorable writings involved him inserting himself into a daunting situation about which he knew . When George told the story, DiMaggio laughed so hard I thought he was going to fall on the floor. . Daniel Kunitz, managing editor of the Paris Review from1995-2000: I once heard George joking with William F. Buckley on the phone about how they had the last affected accents in New York. Orson Welles notably spoke in a mid-Atlantic accent in the 1941 film Citizen Kane, as did many of his co-stars, such as Joseph Cotten. The Writers won the game with a home run in extra innings, but the highlight was Plimptons hit. Ken Auletta, author:Sometime after age 70, when his reflexes dulled, George took to the sidelines in the Artists and Writers softball game in Easthampton, N.Y. Each year his name was announced, and each year he was hailed by the crowd, who paid more attention to him than to the game. rejoiced in the name of Euphemia van Renssalaer Wyatt. Ad Choices. This kept his magazine fresh for 50 years. ), this isnt some kind of morbid contest to see who can be the first to inform the board of some celebritys death. He called his computer the machine. At dinner, when offered seconds, he would often decline by saying, Thank you, no, Ive had a gracious plenty. He called my mom Puss (this was also the name of our fat, raccoon-striped cat, though he was Mr. [29], His enthusiasm for fireworks grew, and he was appointed Fireworks Commissioner of New York by Mayor John Lindsay,[29][30] an unofficial post he held until his death. George Plimpton, who died last week at his town house, on East Seventy-second Street near the river, was a serious man of serious accomplishments who just happened to have more fun than a van. I received many notes like this one: The variety of English you are referring to has a name in linguistics: "Mid-Atlantic English". Why couldnt we have a good time, too? It was horrifying.. George had three siblings: Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton Jr., Oakes Ames Plimpton,[15] and Sarah Gay Plimpton. In the 50s Plimpton and staff came to New York, where they kept the Review going for half a century. She was having lunch at P. J. Clarkes with the publisher Bennet Cerf and his son Chris, and my dad swooped over to the table (he was wearing a cape) and introduced himself in that ridiculously gallant voice: Bennet, Chris, what a pleasant surprise! I can understand your frustration, but celebrities die every day. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review, as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. Shoot! hed hiss, when he was mad. From what other people had told me, I knew a little bit about itthat my father (and mother) had been right by Bobbys side in California when he was shot, that my father had tackled Sirhan Sirhan to the ground, and wrestled the gun from his handbut not a word of it came from my dad himself. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 September 25, 2003) was an American writer. [35], Plimpton was known for his distinctive accent which, by Plimpton's own admission, was often mistaken for an English accent. I hope not. Could it be fairly said that Plimptom had it? It evoked a sense of Paris from a time when Paris was still the literary capital of the world, publishing literary giants who were considered obsceneHenry Miller, D.H. Lawrence. 1. I think it was an affectation people adopted because they thought it made them sound much more intelligent! 1 draft choice of the Lions in 1965. Old money, would never say the word spanky, and certainly had more money than God could count. And similarly on the role of ridicule in speeding the move away from this accent: This is only partly facetious, but I think I know who was the American to speak "Announcer." Famed participatory journalist George Plimpton (1927-2003) was a writer, editor, amateur sportsman, actor, and friend to many. Buckley clearly flaunts it, probably to set himself apart from the hoi polloi of his contemporaries. Youll get another shot at the big time, trust me. Speaking of which, didnt the young Jackie Kennedy have something of this, along with a kinda dreamy, airy, Monroe-esque (though many degrees less contrived) essence to it? When Plimpton, the co-founder of The Paris Review, died in 2003 at age 76, The New York Times . George Plimpton gives an auction winner a star-studded walk through the legendary NYC eatery Elaine's. My suspicion is that the shift might have begun in the switch away from the two paired styles in American movies, the classical acting of the British School and the rapid patter of popular American actors (Marx Brothers, Cagney, Powell and Loy, etc), and over to the Method Acting style of the Strasberg/Brando/Dean school. But looking back on it, its funny, too. Over the years, we held a lot of dinner parties for him, and he brought a lot of people inmany, many writers. He hosted Disney Channel's Mouseterpiece Theater (a Masterpiece Theatre spoof which featured Disney cartoon shorts). George was a little more in-depth than a lot of us, of course, with his education and all. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. I'm not an expert, but Bill Labov from UPenn is, and he is quoted thusly: According to William Labov, teaching of this pronunciation declined sharply after the end of World War II. Hed ask what was new in fireworks business and doodle around the facility with my dad, and he would always leave with a package of fireworks, to put on his own show. He knew we were just as good as he was, but in a different field. George . & FDR, George Plimpton, William F. Buckley, etc. He could have been a fight trainer, a fight manager! How do I know you're not George Plimpton? And being good at losing was one of Georges many gifts. I always thought it sounded similar to the accent of William F. Buckley, Jr., who I believe was not reared in Boston. A similar phenomenon can be noted in the use, well into the 1980s, of the recorded sound of teletype machines in the background of newscasts, a sound still faintly evoked by the bip-bip-bip patterns of music that often introduces news broadcasts, even though teletype machines are long gone The subconscious association of this pattern of sound with news is fading fast with the passing of the years and will undoubtedly disappear entirely in the coming decade as surely as the over-enunciated style of radio speech of the 30s disappeared within a generation of its no longer being needed. We made $15,000-20,000. I live in Connecticut which is both the richest and poorest state in the union - I think we still are - and we have our fair share of extremely rich folk who sit around all day in their large victorians wearing rockport loafers, no sox, khaki pants and a polo-shirt with the collar up. He appeared in the PBS American Masters documentary on Andy Warhol. I have decided, he said, that I have got to jump from a plane. Jean Harlow, one of my favorites, is all over the map with this, sometimes sounding like a tough streetwalker, other times like a society matron, and, oddly, slipping in and out of both dialects in the same role, or even in one sentence. BTW, I cant imagine a presidential candidate today getting anywhere close to a nomination with FDRs accent, cigarette holder, and aristocratic bearing. Yes he is gone. Rose Styron, wife of William Styron and former Paris Review editor:My husband Bill was with George when he started the Paris Review. Others outside the entertainment industry known for speaking Mid-Atlantic English include William F. Buckley, Jr., Gore Vidal, George Plimpton, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Norman Mailer, Diana Vreeland, Maria Callas, Cornelius Vanderbilt IV.