To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. And the role of Katharine Hepburn, whose Locust Valley Lockjaw accent was a cousin of announcer-speak: I was just discussing this not a week ago with a friend who has done voice work in film and television, and can adopt this accent in an instant to evoke that period, much to my amusement. The funny thing about Harris was that he did not start out with that accent - as I suspect George Gershwin did not. He had a way of putting it all together, of understanding fighters in the ring; he was a good analyst of boxing. Richard Howard, poetry editor, the Paris Review:I worked with George for 10 years on the magazine. He appeared in commercials for Oldsmobile and Intellivision, and appeared. That life couldnt contain him, hed burst its seams like it was an old coat two sizes too small. For such admissions to escape my fathers lips, they always had to be a little removed somehow. Ive lived in Boston for 30 years and have never heard a George Plimpton accent; so I guess it must be a Larchmont accent, *Originally posted by Carnac the Magnificent! He was previously married to Sara Whitehead Dudley and Freddy Medora Espy. I remember getting the news: It was my wife Madeleines birthday, Aug. 7. [3] During the summers, he lived in the hamlet of West Hills, Huntington, Suffolk County on Long Island. Kaltenborn was a famous mid . In this campaign, Plimpton touted the superiority regarding the graphics and sounds of Intellivision video games over the Atari 2600.[24]. Youll get another shot at the big time, trust me. Norman Mailer said that George Plimpton was the best-loved man in New York. Losing, he knew, always makes a better story than winning. Plimpton was an omnipresence for much of American cultural lifeboth high and lowin the last third of the 20th century. Vault. The risky pleasures of Plimpton's classic of participatory sportswriting, Paper Lion. [28], Plimpton was a demolitions expert in the post-World War II Army. After it was published, all of the baseball people were trying to get in touch with Sidd, but he didnt existit was an April Fools joke! Bill Buckley, Gore Vidal, George Plimpton. Nevertheless, its a strange thing that one of the great voices of modern storytelling had limitations, restrictions, words, and phrases it was incapable of uttering, matters it could not express: death, love, tragedy. The primary reason [for the accent] was primitive microphone technology: "natural" voices simply did not get picked up well by the microphones of the time, and people were instructed to and learned to speak in such a way that their words could be best transmitted through the microphone to the radio waves or to recording media. No matter where he was, or who he wasquarterback, trapeze artist, Philharmonic triangle-playerhis voice never changed, proving that you can be whomever you want to be without ever abandoning yourself. Puss, and my father enjoyed nothing more than holding the beast high in the air and making strange, affectionate sounds in that distinguished voice: Yeanngghh, Puss Yeaannngh Puss Puss Puss.) He called my sister Puss, too, sometimes, though mostly I think with her it was Kiddo, which he also called me, though there was a period in which he occasionally called me Ernie, which was the dogs name. George Plimpton writer, publisher, amateur lion tamer died in 2003 after 50 years as the founding editor of The Paris Review. I thought they were terrific. It was as if some old gentlemans code prohibited us from interacting as human beings. [3], He was the son of Francis T. P. Plimpton[4] and the grandson of Frances Taylor Pearsons and George Arthur Plimpton. Plimpton sparred for three rounds with boxing greats Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson while on assignment for Sports Illustrated. But it didnt define him, much the way he refused to be defined by the stiff, upper-crust world from which hed come. They were divorced, and had been for a while, but they still talked, and visited every now and then, and they would sit on my moms porch on Long Island and look out over the pond at the birds and tell each other stories and laugh until the tears came to their eyes, but he could not ask her this directlyHow are you, Freddy? He had lost my mom, at least in part because he had been unable to communicate with her, to show his love. What exactly is a Boston Brahmin accent? Several readers wrote in with specimens of Americans who had gone to England and ended up speaking in this mid-Atlantic way. Sometimes, we used to have quarrels, because he thought I took too many poems: Are you turning this magazine into a poetry magazine? he would say. 3 people found this helpful . Katharine Hepburn spoke this way, on and off screen until she died. Along with all the other things he does, George is an editor of the Paris Review, a literary quarterly published by the Aga Khan's uncle, Sadrudin, and his apartment is overstuffed with the comforts and legends of its use as a literary salon. I remember the Lowell Thomas documentary films of the 50s where Mr. Thomas' mellifluous tones and distinct radio-style pronunciation gave him a respectability that a similar huckster could hardly hope to replicate today by the mere application of such an artifice. In the "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" episode of The Simpsons, he hosts the "Spellympics" and attempts to bribe Lisa Simpson to lose with the offer of a scholarship at a Seven Sisters College and a hot plate; "it's perfect for soup! There youd be, talking with her on the phone, and shed say, Well, tell him I called, and youd say, O.K., Grandma, good to talk to you, I Grandma?. Well have a lot more to say about Buckley and Vidal for now the leaders in the race for Last American to Talk This Way (with George Plimpton in third)in the next installment. All rights reserved. **Oh, I suppose we should all just lavish praise upon Carnac the Magnificent now for bringing this to your attention, is that it? In the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated, Plimpton pulled off a widely reported April Fools' Day prank. Is it in evidence among the Gen X set of Boston, or a passing phenomenon? NEW YORK -- George Plimpton, the self-deprecating author of "Paper Lion" and other sporting adventures and a patron to Philip Roth, Jack Kerouac and countless other writers, has died. George Plimpton is beautifully connected. And they founded this thing called the Paris Review and published poetry and short story writers and did interviews. [13], Plimpton's son described him as a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant and wrote that both of Plimpton's parents were descended from Mayflower passengers.[14]. He smiled broadly, signaled for the coach to send Lupica in to run for him, and trotted back to the sidelines. Plimpton[2] was born in New York City on March 18, 1927, and spent his childhood there, attending St. Bernard's School and growing up in an apartment duplex on Manhattan's Upper East Side located at 1165 Fifth Avenue. He was stationed primarily in Italy, where he worked as a tank driver. [31][32][33] His firework, a Roman candle named "Fat Man",[31][32][33] weighed 720 pounds (330kg)[31] and was expected to rise to 1,000 feet (300m)[33] or more[31] and deliver a wide starburst. Jonathan Ames, author:Back in the fall of 1999, in preparation for my one and only boxing match, I read George Plimptons great book, Shadow Box, where he recounted his foray into the world of boxing and his famous encounter with Archie Moore. Of course, my dad had tried out for the role of himself and not gotten it, though he would go on to have a steady film career playing one version or another of a striking white-haired figure with a distinguished, chivalrous voice in bit roles in some twenty or so movies, including Reds and Good Will Hunting. Fortunately, in the upcoming film Plimpton! He liked the fact that I had broken my nose in defeat. It was a hot, sweltering day. From looking at Labovs study, I know today, as I didnt know yesterday, that linguists use the term rhotic to describe whether a person pronounces, or doesnt, the R sound before a consonant or at the end of a word. Jay McInerney, author:Arriving in Manhattan as a young writer, nothing was more thrilling or daunting than attending my first Paris Review party at Georges townhouse on East 72nd in the fall of 1984. George Plimpton, who has died aged 76, became a best-selling author by not only writing about sporting heroes but by participating in those sports as well. Too old-fashioned. During our time in Paris, he had a famous little car, a dark blue Peugeotit was mine originally; I sold it to himand it had to be seen to be believed. Self-help author and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson has a unique accent that, . And what have we here? My moms initial impression was that he was a little hoity-toityI mean, who did this guy think he was?, But the second time they met, it was, in fact, my fathers voice that won her over. History / Biographical Note Biographical Note. George also approved, I think, of the fact that I lost. When Plimpton, the co-founder of The Paris Review, died in 2003 at age 76, The New York Times . He has the same type of patrician upper-class New Yorker accent as Jane Wyatt. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. 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. See below!) Kim Noble, one of the announcers on the NPR affiliate in Kansas City, KCUR, speaks with a very affected Connecticut Lockjaw accent. Plimpton's most memorable writings involved him inserting himself into a daunting situation about which he knew . I enjoy doing it. Thats it, George cried out. They all gathered there. Macklem . To me, Mid-Atlantic English is the nom juste for a related but distinct phenomenon (which is also mentioned in Wikipedia). Felix Grucci Jr., of Fireworks by Grucci (Plimpton wrote about the Grucci family, widely held to be the first family of fireworks, in Fireworks: A History and Celebration):George had a very big passion for fireworks. I hope not. He Was Shot by John Wayne. Think of the accent of Jane Hathaway on the Beverly Hillbillies. Harvard (where he edited the Lampoon), Kings College, [40] They had two children: Medora Ames Plimpton and Taylor Ames Plimpton, who has published a memoir entitled Notes from the Night: A Life After Dark. Except at parties. 1) The linguists have a name for it: they call it Mid-Atlantic English. I dont like this name, for reasons Ill explain in a minute. 2) The Role of Broadway and Hollywood, and the Shift from Jimmy Cagney to Marlon Brando. Plimpton played quarterback for the Detroit Lions and triangle for the New York Philharmonic, an. He had the bearing of Gen. MacArthur, but the soul of Charlie Chaplin. Angelo Dundee, trainer for Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard:George was such a great guy. So, pairing the Cagney hint with the Kennedy Inaugural, could we date the changeover to 1961? #1 was Who Was the Last American to Speak This Way, #3 is Class-War Edition, and #4 is The Origin Story., Who Was the Last American to Speak This Way. The Wikipedia entry for it is quite detailed. He never went all the way, though his authenticity and newly-downstyle speaking could probably be marked in the crisis/triumph stages of his reporting: the death of JFK; the Vietnam report; the moon landing. Charles McGrath, editor of the New York Times Book Review:I dont think George had played golf in years, but he used to save up oddball tips for me and others. Harris trained himself as a young man to lose his native Bronx accent - to the point that he was asked if he were British. I had made about five thousand egg and tuna sandwiches. Ive rarely heard this accent in real life but its often used by actors doing a stereotype character based on other actors impersonations! Its a joke to say 500 of my closest friends, but that would have been true with George1,000 of his closest friends, actually. If you are in the big league, God help us all. I have decided, he said, that I have got to jump from a plane. His high Boston accent might have been heard as an influential transitional hybrid, and its interesting how prominent parodies of the speech of Brando, Dean, and Kennedy were at the time: seems a sign that we were noticing a marked change. Among other challenges for Sports Illustrated, he attempted to play top-level bridge, and spent some time as a high-wire circus performer. After finishing at Harvard in 1950, he attended King's College, Cambridge, from 1950 to 1952, and graduated with third class honors in English. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. Starring George Plimpton as Himself, "George Plimpton, Urbane and Witty Writer, Dies at 76", "Obituary: Frances T. P. Plimpton, 82, Dies", "Obituary: Pauline A. Plimpton, 93, Author Of Works on Famed Relatives", "Milton at the Midpoint of the Last Century: One Collection of Memories", "How Failing at Exeter made a Success of George Plimpton", "Legendary Humorist, Poonster Dies at 76 | News | The Harvard Crimson", "George Plimpton, Paris Review Founder, Pitches 1980s Video Games for the Mattel Intellivision", "The Simpsons: I'm Spelling As Fast As I Can", "George Plimpton, Author And Editor, Is Dead at 76", "Professor Muhammed Ali Delivers Lecture; Poems and Parables Fill Talk on Friendship | News | The Harvard Crimson", "George Plimpton | Full Film | American Masters | PBS", "George Plimpton, Still Burning His Punk at Both Ends, Finds a Sport in Which He Can Sparkle", "George Plimpton: The Professional Amateur", "Some Really Dangerous Jobs For George Plimpton", "Being, And Appreciating, George Plimpton", "Obituary: Willard Espy, Who Delighted In Wordplay, Is Dead at 88", "George Plimpton, Writer and editor, Is Wed to Sarah W. Dudley, a Writer", "Obituary: James C. Dudley, 77, Investment Adviser", "Naming the Sky: The true story of one man's quest to give George Plimpton a permanent presence in orbit", "DEAD END-DRIVE-IN | Plimpton! If you didnt know the man, you could, I think, be fooled by the voice. Plimpton scowled, and said he was perfectly capable of running for himself. Another entertainment-related explanation for the shift, right about the time of the Eisenhower-Kennedy transition: The plumby announcer voice that hovers over the Atlantic midway between the Eastern Seaboard and England was mortally wounded in 1959. It was always a surprise. But for now, just one more category: 3) Changing technology, changing voices. . What was our problem? Congratulations Carnac, for posting about George Plimptons death at 3:44 PM. Peter even came with us on our honeymoon in Ravello, though George didnt. A lordly accent acquired at St. Bernard's and burnished later at Cambridge, in England, enhanced his distinguished aura, as did elevated stature and a silver head of hair which might have encouraged a career in politics but mercifully did not. He was equally at home on a bicycle or getting out of a limousine with a Saudi Arabian prince. It was horrifying.. And his apartment, with those windows that looked out onto the East River, became a famous landmark in NYC. Oh, I suppose we should all just lavish praise upon Carnac the Magnificent now for bringing this to your attention, is that it? They spoke in this manner, and it seemed perfectly natural, evocative of a background spent among the gentry of the northeast. Middle class? Plimpton died on September 25, 2003, in his New York City apartment from a heart attack later determined to have been caused by a catecholamine surge. So think of Margaret Anderson or Amanda and you can place George. I think the term Old Money or patrician pretty much says it. Hows your mom? hed always ask me. [47][48] Plimpton himself described it as a "New England cosmopolitan accent"[36] or "Eastern seaboard cosmopolitan" accent. In 1966, George Plimpton's book Paper Lion, recounting his attempt to play football with the Detroit Lions, allowed millions of Americans to vicariously live out their childhood dream of playing in the NFL. Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 429-432. One reader writes: I've wondered whether that "announcer English" was at least partly caused by poor loudspeakers and microphones. And bolstering this last point, a reader who grew up in Depression-era Chicago writes: All I can think of is that people were imitating FDR. George Plimpton was born on March 18, 1927 in New York City, New York, USA. Thanks for the scores of replies that have arrived in the past day, in response to my post asking why the stentorian, phony-British Announcer Voice that dominated newsreel narration, stage and movie acting, and public discourse in the United States during the first half of the 20th century had completely disappeared. A lifelong New Yorker, he never tasted a bagel or an olive, and he never chewed a stick of gum. Over the years, we held a lot of dinner parties for him, and he brought a lot of people inmany, many writers. Jean Stein became his co-editor. At Harvard, Plimpton was a classmate and close personal friend of Robert F. Kennedy. Of course, I think he enjoyed the odd persona his voice and mannerisms conferred on him. Paul McCartney and his then-girlfriend Heather showed up. (Newsreels ran in movie theaters, of course: what better critique of the high newsreel style than the new movies that jarred against it?). He was 76. [11], His mother was Pauline Ames,[12] the daughter of botanist Oakes Ames (1874-1950) and artist Blanche Ames. When he found a story to be short of the mark, he rejected it no matter who the author wasan old friend, a Pulitzer winner, an unknown. He once said that, in writing Paper Lion, he wanted to reveal the "humor and grace" of football. Is your language rhotic? 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. In the 50s Plimpton and staff came to New York, where they kept the Review going for half a century. Hed have that and a scotch on the rocks, his favorite drink. Lewis Lapham, editor, Harpers Magazine:Georges immense enthusiasm was his primary characteristic. He was so open to life and all its new and unexpected situations. Hed go on to move freely through so many worlds and circles, without ever not speaking in that singular accentthough it probably would have made life easier for him if hed adopted a new way of talking (after all, as a journalist in the locker rooms, where slang and cursing were art-forms, my dads stiff, formal tongue made him stick out like an egret among ducks). The Sidd Finch story was accompanied by a series of photos which managed to convince even the eagle-eyed fans . She is the product of a line of the original Dutch settlers of New York and grew up in Tuxedo Park and the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan, very exclusive. And here for the full interview). 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. You're going to play for us-making some sort of big comeback." "That's right," Plimpton replied in his patrician accent. George was a little more in-depth than a lot of us, of course, with his education and all. Brown & Co. Re-issued George Plimpton Sports Books, 2016. Vault. He looked like a very eccentric old Englishman. Premiring on June 21st at the SilverDocs festival, in Washington, D.C., and directed by Tom Bean and Luke Poling, the film contains interviews with notable friends and peers like Hugh Hefner, Peter Matthiessen, and James Lipton, though the majority of this remarkable account is narrated by none other than George Plimpton. Revolutionary musket, a stairwell and a housemaster), He had a small role in the Oscar-winning film Good Will Hunting,[22] playing a psychologist. With a little more practice, you could give us boys in the big leagues a run for our money. This speech pattern might be common among US expatriates in the UK, of which Grossman would seem to represent just the most ostentatious example. Orson Welles also comes to mind, though I noticed he spoke in this mode more often during his early days, on and off screen. He knew we were just as good as he was, but in a different field. After St. Bernard's School, Plimpton attended Phillips Exeter Academy (from which he was expelled just shy of graduation), and Daytona Beach High School, where he received his high school diploma,[16] before entering Harvard College in July 1944. A little before my time, but Kennedy certainly didnt, even if his vernacular was more formal than Brandos. Since all we have are recordings of those long-vanished voices, we do not and cannot know whether people spoke "this way" when they were not being recorded, although I would be willing to wager that they did not. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review, as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. His response was "no, just affected.". But the gentleman amateur - a Harvard. So it went in late 1960 at one of George Plimpton's legendary soirees at 541 E. 72nd St., New York. The Wikipedia entry is indeed delightful. That made him a great storyteller. Share; Copied! Now, in George, Being George, 200 friends, lovers and rivals detail Plimpton's remarkable exploits. Would you admit to there being symbolism in your novels? I had George tell him the story of Sidd Finch. Indeed, the police deposition the filmmakers managed to uncover may be the only time my dad ever spoke about the tragedy, publicly or privately. The film used archival audio and video of Plimpton lecturing and reading to create a posthumous narration. The limited frequency response of the recording technology of the late 19th and early 20th centuries has left us with only a pale, and sometimes caricatural image of the original sound. On Sept. 26, George Plimpton died in his sleep, at the age of 76. & FDR, George Plimpton, William F. Buckley, etc. It includes clear pronunciation of each and every consonant cluster. Its strange to think, but he would have been eighty-five this year: fourteen years older than my mom, fifty years older than me. He loved the ones that made a lot of noise and racket and excitement. She would not even say goodbye. How to find out, and whether you should care. In that vein, here is an oral biography of George Plimpton. Plimpton entered Harvard as a member of the Class of 1948, but did not graduate until 1950 due to intervening military service. No, my fathers voice was not an act, something chosen or practiced in front of mirrors: he came from a different world, where people talked differently, and about different things; where certain things were discussed, and certain things were notand his voice simply reflected this. Articles From This Author. Spoke in a mid-Atlantic accent, reflecting a privileged Upper East Side (in New York City) upbringing. Vault. Anyhow, I asked Terry Gross from Fresh Air and George Plimpton to be auctioneers. Even the most basic conversation was often a struggle. The clipped English of George Plimpton and William F. Buckley, Jr. were vestigial examples.. Return of the Big Bopper. [45], Plimpton is the protagonist of the semi-fictional George Plimpton's Video Falconry, a 1983 ColecoVision game postulated by humorist John Hodgman and recreated by video game auteur Tom Fulp.[46]. :rolleyes: Ive got news for you, buddy, youre not even second in line! He modestly shrugged off the compliment, but his bright smile betrayed his pleasureand ours. It came from a different era, shouldnt have still existed, but nevertheless, there it wasold New England, old New York, tinged with a hint of Kings College Kings English. I think that perhaps Harris' portrayal of Dr. Smith made the accent so identified with cowardly buffoonery that no one in the baby boom generation and later would want to use the accent as anything other than a joke. George Plimpton boxed with Archie Moore, played quarterback for the Detroit Lions, and played percussion for the New York Philharmonic. I feel that his work on this and many other language-related matters should be far more widely known than it is. This was his habit. Vault. Whom is it spoken bymerely the elite, old-money types? Yes he is gone. A few days after, I went to a Paris Review party and showed off my damaged nose and two black eyes to George. **. I dont give a rats ass about informing anyone about the death of Plimpton. To me, it meant admission to this little exclusive club at the Paris Review. It sounds like Somerset Maugham, was a favorite putdown. But dying in sleep: It was as if he was doing what he did when he tried out for all those other things as an amateurballooning, acting, boxing, performing at amateur night. How widespread, numerically and geographically? Well, perhaps it's more accurate to say that the book provided entertaining confirmation to millions of people that they -- like the author . Whats the matter?, Well, he said. Think of the accent of Jane Hathaway on the Beverly Hillbillies. I saw him [last] Wednesday night at a party; we rode home together, and he told me that he was planning to go down to Cuba, to revisit the site of his famous interview with Hemingway. . Mr . Was this sheer affectation? I dont give a rats ass about informing anyone about the death of Plimpton. Whee!! **. Eerily enough, one of the messages on my answering machine was from George, with that distinctive accent of his: Hallo, its George Plimpton. He was one of her original supporters and had published an article about her work in The Paris Review. For his grandfather, the publisher and philanthropist, see, Calvin Gay Plimpton and Priscilla G. Lewis were the parents of, He was widely reviled for years after the war by Southern whites, who gave him the nickname "Beast Butler." For more than five decades, author and journalist George Plimpton delved deeply into an array of high-profile and often physically grueling experiences, including professional baseball, boxing . Almost twenty years ago, writing quirky sports pieces for the Village Voice, I decided to enter the world of championship arm wrestling.Like many young writers, I was inspired by the sports adventures of the gaunt but game George Plimpton, who had made a literary career out of placing himself in .
Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation Board, What To Say When Someone Asks If You're Awake, Articles G