An oral history of George Plimpton. - Slate Magazine Orson Welles also comes to mind, though I noticed he spoke in this mode more often during his early days, on and off screen. Thats where there was that cross-section you once found in Parisof literary people, of people who were illiterate, of people down on their luck, and people of status. 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. Call me back.. Too old-fashioned. George . Read more in this thread (long). The Scout Is a Lonely Hunter. All rights reserved. How to find out, and whether you should care. Plimpton appeared in the 1989 documentary The Tightrope Dancer which featured the life and the work of the artist Vali Myers. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review. 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. Ive always heard it referred to as a patrician accent. Oh now, Im joking, Carnac ( see? Plimpton himself described it as a "New England cosmopolitan accent"[36] or "Eastern seaboard cosmopolitan" accent. Robert Silvers, editor, the New York Review of Books:I met George on the Ile Saint-Louis in 1953 as I was leaving NATO headquarters. Whether on the football field or on a golf course or in a poem or an essay, the notion of human talent in whatever form excited him. So it went in late 1960 at one of George Plimpton's legendary soirees at 541 E. 72nd St., New York. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review. 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 entered Harvard as a member of the Class of 1948, but did not graduate until 1950 due to intervening military service. If you were making a speech in a large hall, or speaking on the radio, you needed to enunciate very clearly and use a lot of emphases to be sure your audience could understand what you were saying. *Originally posted by bordelond * But looking back on it, its funny, too. 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. All the good guys have got to go. He would have a beer with you. We made $15,000-20,000. For more than fifty years, his friends made a circle whose circumference was vast and whose center was a fashionable tenement on New York's East Seventy-second street. He was respected by all. How George Plimpton's Sports Books Presaged the First-Person Media Age Final Twist of the Drama. The Wikipedia entry is indeed delightful. 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). During my fight, my nose got badly broken in the second round, but I did last all four scheduled rounds, though I lost. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 September 25, 2003) was an American writer. [41] She is the daughter of James Chittenden Dudley,[42] a managing partner of Manhattan-based investment firm Dudley and Company, and geologist Elisabeth Claypool. He appeared in the PBS American Masters documentary on Andy Warhol. George Plimpton - Wikipedia Yes indeed, George Plimpton is a man for all seasons. . Starring George Plimpton as Himself, directed by Tom Bean and Luke Poling, was released. He was one of her original supporters and had published an article about her work in The Paris Review. 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. The 16th at Cypress Point is one of the famous golf holes of the world, certainly one of the most difficult and demanding par 3's. One thinks of the glorious character actress, Kathleen Freeman, as the voice coach Phoebe Dinsmore in Singing in the Rain: Round tones, Miss Lamont. In Woody Allens Radio Days, Mia Farrow has an impossibly thick Brooklyn accent until she takes voice lessons and becomes a successful radio purveyor of celebrity gossip. By George Plimpton. 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. 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! Being, And Appreciating, George Plimpton - krvs.org 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. How George Washington Spoke (Brief Thoughts) | Dialect Blog 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. This brings us back to the why things changed question. My Father's Voice | The New Yorker Mid-Atlantic accent - Wikipedia [37] His son, Taylor, described it as a mixture of "old New England, old New York, tinged with a hint of King's College King's English."[14]. Is it in evidence among the Gen X set of Boston, or a passing phenomenon? [11], His mother was Pauline Ames,[12] the daughter of botanist Oakes Ames (1874-1950) and artist Blanche Ames. 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. He loved the ones that made a lot of noise and racket and excitement. They all gathered there. Was this sheer affectation? Ive known him forsix months and I just now learned hes not English!. George Plimpton Net Worth Now, in George, Being George, 200 friends, lovers and rivals detail Plimpton's remarkable exploits. 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. So it was that George Plimptons accent could not be imitated. Billy Collins, poet:Im one of these people who went from crashing Georges parties in the 70s to being invited in the 80s. 5 Things You Didn't Know About George Plimpton | Mental Floss Plimpton also appeared in a number of feature films as an extra and in cameo appearances. Plimpton played Tom Hanks's antagonistic father in Volunteers. That was the last party for a while., I just got back from a road trip from Michigan. By strange coincidence, I actually became quite good friends with his (ex-)in-laws here in Manhattan. Whee!! [2], A November 6, 1971, cartoon in The New Yorker by Whitney Darrow Jr. shows a cleaning lady on her hands and knees scrubbing an office floor while saying to another one: "I'd like to see George Plimpton do this sometime." George Plimpton, Out of My League: The Classic Account of an Amateur's Ordeal in Professional Baseball, 2016, Little Plimpton has grown. You should be very grateful. But Labov said that in post-World War II New York, fancier people started becoming rhotic, and recovering their Rs. Mid-Atlantic. Elaine Kaufman, owner of Elaines restaurant:Over the 40 years I knew him, George came in often, sometimes twice a week, usually on his way back from a cocktail party. Now the interview is perfect!. Few could give a toast or tell a story with equal humor. These interviews are a collaborative effort, and, I believe, a fascinating contribution to literary history. Plimpton was married twice. He modestly shrugged off the compliment, but his bright smile betrayed his pleasureand ours. Mr. Plimpton was born in Manhattan in 1927 and raised in Huntington, L.I. Norman Mailer, author:George had a rare gift. [5][6][7][8][9][10] His father was a successful corporate lawyer and partner of the law firm Debevoise and Plimpton; he was appointed by President John F. Kennedy as U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, serving from 1961 to 1965. The s. I didnt know he was from the Larchmont area. But the gentleman amateur - a Harvard. The guys here in Detroit treated him like one of us. It was as if he was trying out again. *Originally posted by CBCD * George Plimpton. Shadow Box. A little before my time, but Kennedy certainly didnt, even if his vernacular was more formal than Brandos. If you say, I pahked my cah in Hahvahd Yahd, like some vaudeville version of a Boston accent, you are non-rhotic. He could as easily have been my grandfather as father. Aldas version was always angry or consternated, like a character in a Woody Allen film, while my dad, though he certainly faced hurdles as an amateur in the world of the professional, bore his humiliations with a comic lightness and charmmuch of which emanated from that befuddled, self-deprecating professors voice. (A variation is the Locust Valley Lockjaw.). [33] A later attempt, fired at Cape Canaveral, rose approximately 50 feet (15m) into the air and broke 700 windows in Titusville, Florida. Vault. He was stationed primarily in Italy, where he worked as a tank driver. Been there, done that | Books | The Guardian [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. 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. 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. Plimpton was a writer-raconteur and dilettante in the best sense of the word: He co-founded an important literary magazine, the Paris Review, and tried his hand at everything from quarterbacking for the Detroit Lions (which he wrote about in Paper Lion), boxing with light-heavyweight champ Archie Moore (which became Shadow Box), and becoming New Yorks unofficial official fireworks commissioner. His exploits were such that at one point, The New Yorker ran a cartoon in which a patient eyed a surgeon with misgiving and said, But how do I know youre not George Plimpton?, But perhaps foremost among his accomplishments was his elevation of the interview to a literary form, both in the Paris Review and in his two superb works of oral history, Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career, and Edie, a biography of Edie Sedgwick, which he and Jean Stein compiled. 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. My dad could never say what he feltnot reallyand neither can any of us. Why couldnt we have a good time, too? 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. Even if it had nothing else going for itsomething very far from the truth Shadow Box by George Plimpton will forever remain a bastion of boxing literature because of the image it contains of the "Near Room," a place of dreadful foreboding which Muhammad Ali once described to the famed . :rolleyes: Ive got news for you, buddy, youre not even second in line! He came from a family where such endearments were not expressed, and phone conversations were curt. Well, perhaps it's more accurate to say that the book provided entertaining confirmation to millions of people that they -- like the author . George Plimpton. It was a hot, sweltering day. & FDR, George Plimpton, William F. Buckley, etc. Plimpton was .the public face of the New York intellectual: tweedy, eclectic and with a plummy accent he himself described as "Eastern seaboard cosmopolitan." . I think it was an affectation people adopted because they thought it made them sound much more intelligent! I can understand your frustration, but celebrities die every day. [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. People two or three deep stood looking out at the East River. Eerily enough, one of the messages on my answering machine was from George, with that distinctive accent of his: Hallo, its George Plimpton. Everything he did was like this, just a bit odd. [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. Friends were almost always happy to see him because you knew he was bound to improve your mood. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to these men speak. He was immensely generous in every waygenerous about sharing the work and about giving one a chance to edit things. . His friendships testified to what an eclectic man he was. The enormously popular speech styles of Brando and Dean (and I could add Elvis Presley) clearly pushed vernacular style into a kind of mainstream acceptability, then desirability. Between 2000 and 2003, Plimpton wrote the libretto to a new opera, Animal Tales, commissioned by Family Opera Initiative, with music by Kitty Brazelton directed by Grethe Barrett Holby. Over the years, we held a lot of dinner parties for him, and he brought a lot of people inmany, many writers. Plimpton's The Bogey Man chronicles his attempt to play professional golf on the PGA Tour during the Nicklaus and Palmer era of the 1960s. Shootout at Rio Lobo", "The Smaller the Ball, the Better the Book: A Game Theory of Literature", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Plimpton&oldid=1137974740, This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 10:19. This book is the party that was George's life-and it's a big one-attended by scores of famous people, as well as. O ne afternoon this summer, I sat in George Plimpton's study waiting for the gentleman editor, participatory journalist, and beloved gadfly of American letters to arrive. She was also the great-granddaughter on her father's side of Oakes Ames (18041873), an industrialist and congressman who was implicated in the Crdit Mobilier railroad scandal of 1872; and Governor-General of New Orleans Benjamin Franklin Butler, an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts. That is the tendency of Americans trying to sound more British, or Brits trying to sound more Yank, to split the difference and speak in an accent whose home ground is no real country but somewhere in the middle of the sea. And he stood there ebullient and charming all night; he bid on many items himself. *Originally posted by cuauhtemoc * Plimpton! The Great Quarterback Sneak - YouTube Hearing the words Dammit, Im mad as a hornet! uttered in George Plimptons voice made anger sound totally ridiculous, which is exactly what it most often is.