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. Hed done it in Amsterdam, Moscow, and London; hed done it at a PEN benefit; and now he and Norman were going to do it in Cuba. You can. His father co-founded the law firm Debevoise Plimpton. Losing, he knew, always makes a better story than winning. No one realized till the next day that this was the weather that created the extreme blue skies of Sept. 11a condition I since learned that pilots call severe clear. The next day, friends called and said, That was the last party. Several weeks later at a book party, he spotted two writers who had played in that game. In Praise of Plimpton - Newsweek The conservative thinker may have shared an accent with some other men of the same age and social class, but his mannerisms and gestures made him entirely uniqueand occasionally prone to. George Plimpton: Writer, Quarterback, Pitcher, Boxer, Triangle Player 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. Even the manliest actors, such as Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable sometimes slipped into this voice-coach mode. Announcer-Speak: The Video Highlights Reel - The Atlantic George Plimpton | Military Wiki | Fandom (A variation is the Locust Valley Lockjaw.). He had a way of putting it all together, of understanding fighters in the ring; he was a good analyst of boxing. *Originally posted by j.c. * [33] A later attempt, fired at Cape Canaveral, rose approximately 50 feet (15m) into the air and broke 700 windows in Titusville, Florida. As an old film buff, I am used to this voice, though it figures unevenly in old movies. He had been in the war, if briefly (stationed in Italy towards the end of it, hed missed action, but met the Pope, an early sign of the great good fortuneone of his favorite phrasesthat marked his life). That life couldnt contain him, hed burst its seams like it was an old coat two sizes too small. See Inside George Plimpton's Upper East Side Duplex At Harvard, Plimpton was a classmate and close personal friend of Robert F. Kennedy. Ill pick you up., I had a hard time sleeping that night, as you might imagine. By strange coincidence, I actually became quite good friends with his (ex-)in-laws here in Manhattan. A few days after, I went to a Paris Review party and showed off my damaged nose and two black eyes to George. He majored in English. Here's a look inside the space, where the Paris Review editor hosted legendary parties. He came from a family where such endearments were not expressed, and phone conversations were curt. [11], His mother was Pauline Ames,[12] the daughter of botanist Oakes Ames (1874-1950) and artist Blanche Ames. So, pairing the Cagney hint with the Kennedy Inaugural, could we date the changeover to 1961? It includes clear pronunciation of each and every consonant cluster. Ive always heard it referred to as a patrician accent. BTW, I cant imagine a presidential candidate today getting anywhere close to a nomination with FDRs accent, cigarette holder, and aristocratic bearing. I have decided, he said, that I have got to jump from a plane. George Plimpton, the New York aristocrat and literary journalist whose career was a happy lifelong competition between scholarly pursuits and madcap attempts -- chronicled in self-deprecating. Plimpton revisited pro football in 1971,[18] this time joining the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts and seeing action in an exhibition game against his previous team, the Lions. His friendships testified to what an eclectic man he was. And I, of course, was looking them over, too. 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. Well, perhaps it's more accurate to say that the book provided entertaining confirmation to millions of people that they -- like the author . The Cuban revolutionaries, led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, had just marched on Havana and ousted the US-supported dictator Fulgencio Batista. $ 4.19 - $ 17.92. He wrote, "I suppose in a mild way there is a lesson to be learned for the young, or the young at heart the gumption to get out and try one's wings". Researcher and writer Samuel Arbesman filed with NASA to name an asteroid after Plimpton; NASA issued the certificate 7932 Plimpton in 2009. "He speaks with an oddly mannered accent, sounding as though on the verge of a stammer, polite, genteel, perhaps just a little Woosterish. I have a memory of George emerging out of the bush, with a terrible sunburn on his nose and face and legs; he was in safari gear, none of it hanging together very well, and over it all he was wearing a nice blue blazer. Of the Murrow Boys, Eric Sevareid held on to the newsreel style the longest; relying on memory, Im betting that we could actually watch the transition away from that to a more vernacular style in the long career of Walter Cronkite. When he was on the scene, everything was a big happeningan event. Friends were almost always happy to see him because you knew he was bound to improve your mood. He's a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. [Then] this August he showed up, pulled the shirt over his head, and said he was ready to bat. & FDR, George Plimpton, William F. Buckley, etc. See below!) Norman Mailer, author:George had a rare gift. Starring George Plimpton as Himself, which documents his life, adventures, and work as participatory journalist and editor of the Paris Review, my dad will be playing himself one more time. In his July 1936 obituary, the New York Times described George Arthur Plimpton (13 July 1855-1 July 1936) as an "internationally known publisher and collector, college trustee and philanthropist." As the materials in the George A. Plimpton Papers testify, those four areas of activity dominated Plimpton's public and private lives. Plimpton was married twice. Hows your mom? hed always ask me. 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! He was previously married to Sara Whitehead Dudley and Freddy Medora Espy. I havent heard that he is dead, but if so RIP George. There was intellectual heft in the Plimpton genes too: one Ames was a Professor of Botany, another was Governor of Massachusetts, another relation was a publisher, and yet another a writer-philanthropist fascinated with the subject of how the great figures of the past were educated Young Georges educational path was precisely that of a 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. $ 3.99 - $ 27.44. He appeared in commercials for Oldsmobile and Intellivision, and appeared. At least, not to me, nor even to my sister, a fact she mentions in the movie. He had, for instance, a series of antiquated phrases and terms of affection. [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. [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. One reader writes: I've wondered whether that "announcer English" was at least partly caused by poor loudspeakers and microphones. 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. George Plimpton - American Academy of Arts and Letters . That Weirdo Announcer-Voice Accent: Where It Came From and Why It Went Plimpton has grown. I didnt know he was from the Larchmont area. Realizing that I probably didnt know anyone, George took me around the room to introduce me to his guestsWilliam Styron, Norman Mailer, Robert Stone, and Gay Talese among them. [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. On Sept. 26, George Plimpton died in his sleep, at the age of 76. Plimpton also appeared in the closing credits of the 2006 film Factory Girl. 1. He looked like a very eccentric old Englishman. If you say, I pahked my cah in Hahvahd Yahd, like some vaudeville version of a Boston accent, you are non-rhotic. 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. April Fool's Day: Throwback to the time George Plimpton fooled the 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? [32] When lit, the firework remained on the ground and exploded, blasting a crater 35 feet (11m) wide and 10 feet (3.0m) deep. He liked the fact that I had broken my nose in defeat. When I spoke to him my voice went up an octave and took on his formal tone and became careful and unnatural; his voice became like his fathersstern, authoritative, disciplinarianwhen his father was the last person in the universe he wanted to be. All rights reserved. You heard it and it could only be him. Id like to offer a speculation, for what its worth. They all sound just like George. He plays the 'fancy pants' to our outhouse Americana," Flaherty asserted. Whats the matter?, Well, he said. I received many notes like this one: The variety of English you are referring to has a name in linguistics: "Mid-Atlantic English". George Plimpton Biography - life, family, children, wife, school, son He wanted to play his own part, but they wouldnt let him. The flipped prestige markers point here is fascinating. This speech pattern might be common among US expatriates in the UK, of which Grossman would seem to represent just the most ostentatious example. Too old-fashioned. Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback: Plimpton, George When George told the story, DiMaggio laughed so hard I thought he was going to fall on the floor. ), this isnt some kind of morbid contest to see who can be the first to inform the board of some celebritys death. And his apartment, with those windows that looked out onto the East River, became a famous landmark in NYC. Plimpton was .the public face of the New York intellectual: tweedy, eclectic and with a plummy accent he himself described as "Eastern seaboard cosmopolitan." . Kaltenborn was a famous mid . Indeed, the police deposition the filmmakers managed to uncover may be the only time my dad ever spoke about the tragedy, publicly or privately. You heard it and it. George Plimpton was a literary man about town who did it all, from co-founding The Paris Review to boxing (and dribbling and quarterbacking) with the pros. Youd be on the phone with him and get to the end of the conversation, and youd say I love you, Dad, and at most, hed reply, without subject or object, Love, like he was signing a letter. Listen to Caruso singing or Bix Beiderbecke playing his cornet to hear how muffled was the recording of those sounds. 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. Best-selling author George Plimpton shares his experience as a "Storyteller For Life" with Dean Nelson of Point Loma Nazarene University as part of PLNU's 5th Annual Writer's Symposium By The. If he couldnt be taken quite seriously, that was fine with him (he took himself lightly, and relished being in on the joke). The picture at the top of this post is of the same Westbrook Van Voorhis who epitomized FDR-era announcer-speak but didnt fit the sensibility of the early-cool-cat-era Twilight Zone. [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]. Several readers wrote in with specimens of Americans who had gone to England and ended up speaking in this mid-Atlantic way. 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.
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