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In it Van Voorhis has the formal delivery that would have seemed familiar to many mid-century listeners but which in retrospect we know was on the way out. Plimpton and Dudley were the parents of twin daughters Laura Dudley Plimpton and Olivia Hartley Plimpton. With a little more practice, you could give us boys in the big leagues a run for our money. He's a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. [3] During the summers, he lived in the hamlet of West Hills, Huntington, Suffolk County on Long Island. In another cartoon in The New Yorker, a patient looks up at the masked surgeon about to operate on him and asks, "Wait a minute! 5 Things You Didn't Know About George Plimpton | Mental Floss In early 1959, George Plimpton was preparing to watch an execution in Cuba. [32] When lit, the firework remained on the ground and exploded, blasting a crater 35 feet (11m) wide and 10 feet (3.0m) deep. What accent does Logan have in the show? : r/SuccessionTV Eerily enough, one of the messages on my answering machine was from George, with that distinctive accent of his: Hallo, its George Plimpton. It's a Scottish accent that's been modified somewhat for a mainstream audience that tends to associate them with Groundskeeper Willie. He also appeared in a featurette about Edie Sedgwick found on the Ciao! He was 76.. The Sidd Finch story was accompanied by a series of photos which managed to convince even the eagle-eyed fans . He knew we were just as good as he was, but in a different field. Too old-fashioned. ), this isnt some kind of morbid contest to see who can be the first to inform the board of some celebritys death. Plimpton was associated with the literary magazine in Paris, Merlin, which folded because the State Department withdrew its support.[why?] (My dads been dead nearly ten years: not that he held many in his life, but what grudges could he possibly be holding on to now? [citation needed], Plimpton's studies at Harvard were interrupted by military service from 1945 to 1948, during which time he served in Italy as an Army tank driver. Thurston Howell III had the Larchmont Lockjaw accent. Paris Review - Writers, Quotes, Biography, Interviews, Artists [11], His mother was Pauline Ames,[12] the daughter of botanist Oakes Ames (1874-1950) and artist Blanche Ames. Friends were almost always happy to see him because you knew he was bound to improve your mood. On Sept. 26, George Plimpton died in his sleep, at the age of 76. 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. 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. The Moth | The Art and Craft of Storytelling Description above from the Wikipedia article George Plimpton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of . But he would do this in the most charming and agreeable way. 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. George Plimpton: what kind of accent? I had George tell him the story of Sidd Finch. So it was that my father played himself not just in movies and on TV, but in life, too. [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. He majored in English. His father co-founded the law firm Debevoise Plimpton. A graduate of Harvard University and King's College, Cambridge, Plimpton was recruited to Paris by Peter Matthiessen in 1952 and signed on to the project shortly thereafter. And they founded this thing called the Paris Review and published poetry and short story writers and did interviews. 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. Labov suspected that WWII had something to do about it. [citation needed], In 1963, Plimpton attended preseason training with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League as a backup quarterback, and he ran a few plays in an intrasquad scrimmage. I just knew it was going to be something terrible. Actually, thats not far off from how my mom felt when she first met him. In most situations, he had the remarkable quality of making everyone he talked to feel at ease, at home, welcome, no matter who they were or what they didbut for whatever strange reason there wasnt this effortlessness with me, this warmth. 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. Mr . I received many notes like this one: The variety of English you are referring to has a name in linguistics: "Mid-Atlantic English". Why Did William F. Buckley Jr. Talk Like That? - Slate Magazine The Wikipedia entry is indeed delightful. Off screen, George Plimpton and Gore Vidal come to mind. So it was that George Plimptons accent could not be imitated. A reader writes: Ive wondered about this myself when I see old Jimmy Cagney moviesand the date of his last starring role might give us a hint towards the date range of the change: "One, Two, Three" in 1961. 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. H.V. Between 1945 and 1948, Plimpton was a soldier in the United States Army. Spoke in a mid-Atlantic accent, reflecting a privileged Upper East Side (in New York City) upbringing. Isnt that what they call it. If you found him at a fancy restaurant, he was there as a guest: For his own meals he preferred cheap Chinese or bangers and mash at a local Irish pub. Bill, who was from the South, kept saying to me, Can you believe Georges not English? I have worked as poetry editor with editors on other magazines; only with George has the experience been entirely agreeable. Look out, Wilson! Lionel on Twitter: "News children today have no concept of the Mid 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. Queen Elizabeth doesnt say car, and neither did Franklin D. Roosevelt, nor did the newsreel announcers or movie actors of his day. April Fool's Day: Throwback to the time George Plimpton fooled the 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. George Plimpton - Rotten Tomatoes (This is not to belittle Lowell Thomas, but to recognize the artifice that served him so well in his career). If you are in the big league, God help us all. 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. Did he have the celebrated "Boston Brahmin" accent, or was it a psuedo-Brit affectation? Hes just trying it out and will come back and write a book about his experiences. Actors Nathan Lane (from Jersey City, NJ) and Robin Williams (grew up in SF Bay area) often adopt this accent. 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. In 1955 or 56, he went back to New York. It was a hot, sweltering day. Been there, done that | Books | The Guardian He died on September 26, 2003 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. Plimpton played Tom Hanks's antagonistic father in Volunteers. It was always as if one were setting out with him on a special adventure. There was one more matter I never heard my dad discuss. When Plimpton, the co-founder of The Paris Review, died in 2003 at age 76, The New York Times . He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review. George Plimpton's duplex apartment on the Upper East Side hit the market for $5.495 million on April 18. George Plimpton Broke My Arm. The risky pleasures of Plimpton's | by With the help of the New York Mets organization and several Mets players, Plimpton wrote a convincing account of a new unknown pitcher in the Mets spring training camp named Siddhartha Finch, who threw a baseball over 160mph, wore a heavy boot on one foot, and was a practicing Buddhist with a largely unknown background. Vault. He was "George Plimpton"-editor, host . Your transparent jealousy is very unbecoming, Carnac. Plimpton himself described it as a "New England cosmopolitan accent"[36] or "Eastern seaboard cosmopolitan" accent. Hed have that and a scotch on the rocks, his favorite drink. *Originally posted by cuauhtemoc * $ 3.99 - $ 27.44. Yes he is gone. George Plimpton writer, publisher, amateur lion tamer died in 2003 after 50 years as the founding editor of The Paris Review. 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. George Plimpton. George Plimpton The Movie Database (TMDB) After returning to New York from Paris, he routinely launched fireworks at his evening parties. (What else happened that year??? George Plimpton gives an auction winner a star-studded walk through the legendary NYC eatery Elaine's. He was not himself interested in poetry, but he read all of the poems every quarter, and he would tell me what he thought of them. *Originally posted by bordelond * George was the one who read my name out to the commissioner. He was stationed primarily in Italy, where he worked as a tank driver. To me, Mid-Atlantic English is the nom juste for a related but distinct phenomenon (which is also mentioned in Wikipedia). 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! By George Plimpton. Hows your mom? hed always ask me. What exactly is a Boston Brahmin accent? The name George Plimpton is synonymous with a kind of all-in participatory journalism. That tension between what was in his heart and what his voice allowed him to express is the basic tension of language we all face, only heightened. Archie Moore, after all, had broken his nose. If you say, I parked my car in Harvard Yard, you are being rhotic. In the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated, Plimpton pulled off a widely reported April Fools' Day prank. Plimpton was a writer-raconteur and dilettante in the best sense of the word: He co-founded an important literary magazine, the . My dad and I could not lose each other, but we could never quite find each other, either. Angelo Dundee, trainer for Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard:George was such a great guy. By George Plimpton. Could it be fairly said that Plimptom had it? Plimpton entered Harvard as a member of the Class of 1948, but did not graduate until 1950 due to intervening military service. 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. Peter even came with us on our honeymoon in Ravello, though George didnt. It sounds like Somerset Maugham, was a favorite putdown. Those of us whose families are from Larchmont (that would be me) just call it lockjaw. Think of the accent of Jane Hathaway on the Beverly Hillbillies. Heres a sampling for today, with more planned in the days ahead. The clipped, non-rhotic English accents of George Plimpton and William F. Buckley Jr. were vestigial examples. We had the book party for my selected poems, Sailing Alone Around the Room, at Georges house on Sept 10, 2001. The guys here in Detroit treated him like one of us. Would you admit to there being symbolism in your novels? Even the manliest actors, such as Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable sometimes slipped into this voice-coach mode. Were taking off from Teterburo, N.J., at 4 a.m. tomorrow. 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! *Originally posted by Phlosphr * George Plimpton was born on March 18, 1927 in New York City, New York, USA. Plimpton's most memorable writings involved him inserting himself into a daunting situation about which he knew . (Did Eisenhower speak the newsreel style? And being good at losing was one of Georges many gifts. But the gentleman amateur - a Harvard. In Praise of Plimpton - Newsweek See Inside George Plimpton's Upper East Side Duplex 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. Shoot! hed hiss, when he was mad. Cambridge. Whats the matter?, Well, he said. 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 CBCD * **Your transparent jealousy is very unbecoming, Carnac. But Labov said that in post-World War II New York, fancier people started becoming rhotic, and recovering their Rs. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. [citation needed]. Norman Mailer, author:George had a rare gift. [2][43], An oral biography titled George, Being George was edited by Nelson W. Aldrich Jr., and released on October 21, 2008. Mid-Atlantic accent - Wikipedia Thats a common name for such an accent. [citation needed], Outside the literary world, Plimpton was famous for competing in professional sporting events and then recording the experience from the point of view of an amateur. Harris trained himself as a young man to lose his native Bronx accent - to the point that he was asked if he were British. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. And so it seemed only fitting to commemorate his death with the form he made his own.Meghan ORourke. Here's a look inside the space, where the Paris Review editor hosted legendary parties. The journal, which had operated out of his home, moved downtown. 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! I believe the accent was at one time known as Larchmont Lockjaw. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. List of books by author George Plimpton - ThriftBooks Is your language rhotic? 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 . rejoiced in the name of Euphemia van Renssalaer Wyatt. Few could give a toast or tell a story with equal humor. Rose Styron, wife of William Styron and former Paris Review editor:My husband Bill was with George when he started the Paris Review. When I eventually went back to be an editor at Harpers, I arrived at his flat, not having been in New York for eight years. George Plimpton (1927-2003) George Plimpton was the editor of The Paris Review from its founding in 1953 until his death in 2003. These experiences served as the basis of another football book, Mad Ducks and Bears, although much of the book dealt with the off-field escapades and observations of football friends Alex Karras ("Mad Duck") and John Gordy ("Bear"). Bill and I met in Rome, several months after the Paris Review was startedwe were, as they say, courtingand he drove me to Paris so George and Peter [Mathiessen] could look me over. Anyhow, I asked Terry Gross from Fresh Air and George Plimpton to be auctioneers. Even the most basic conversation was often a struggle. expelled from the very expensive, very WASP-y Philips Its something different, and Ive not encountered that in the mid-Atlantic. Peter Matthiessen took the magazine over from Humes and ousted him as editor, replacing him with Plimpton, using it as his cover for Matthiessen's CIA activities. Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career. YESTERDAY IS NOT FAR AWAY. How do I know you're not George Plimpton? As a result, this American version of a posh accent has all but disappeared even among the American upper classes. He grew up in New York City with bona fide WASP credentials; became the longtime editor of the Paris Review, working with many of the great novelists of the day; contributed to the New Journalism. He very much approved. That he died in his sleep was impressive. **. It was always a surprise. 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. You should be very grateful. 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. He came from a family where such endearments were not expressed, and phone conversations were curt. Here are five things you may not have known about him. Its strange to think, but he would have been eighty-five this year: fourteen years older than my mom, fifty years older than me. The responses fall into interesting categories: linguistic descriptions of this accent; sociological and ethnic explanations for its rise and fall; possible technological factors in its prominence and disappearance; explanations rooted in the movie industry; nominees for who might have been the last American to talk this way; and suggestions that a few rare specimens still exist. Ever. 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 is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review, as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. Vault. He did not appear last year, or the year before, and we feared he was done with us. It was then that the majority of audiences first heard Hollywood actors speaking predominantly in Mid-Atlantic English, British expatriates John Houseman, Henry Daniell, Anthony Hopkins, Camilla Luddington, and Angela Cartwright exemplified the accent, as did [a long list of North Americans, from Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly to Richard Chamberlain and Christopher Plummer]. 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. George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored Norman Mailer said that George Plimpton was the best-loved man in New York. People two or three deep stood looking out at the East River. Starring George Plimpton as Himself, the writer James Salter said of Plimpton that "he was writing in a genre that really doesn't permit greatness. So, pairing the Cagney hint with the Kennedy Inaugural, could we date the changeover to 1961? Shed wandered out to the balcony of a lonely Manhattan cocktail party, and was standing out there, smoking a cigarette and looking down mournfully at the street far below, when from behind her she heard a voice: I know a better way down.. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Sidd Finch: A pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. - Sports Illustrated As an old film buff, I am used to this voice, though it figures unevenly in old movies. My Father's Voice | The New Yorker [17], In 1953, Plimpton joined the influential literary journal The Paris Review, founded by Peter Matthiessen, Thomas H. Guinzburg, and Harold L. "Doc" Humes, becoming its first editor in chief. Look out, Wilson! George had three siblings: Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton Jr., Oakes Ames Plimpton,[15] and Sarah Gay Plimpton. For such admissions to escape my fathers lips, they always had to be a little removed somehow. I dont give a rats ass about informing anyone about the death of Plimpton. He was an actor and writer, known for Good Will Hunting (1997), Nixon (1995) and Just Cause (1995). 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 wanted to play his own part, but they wouldnt let him. I mean, if George Plimpton wasnt my father and Id never met him, and I heard that voice emerge from his lips and matched it with his severe Roman features and his usual blue blazer, oxford shirt, and tie, I might have assumed that he was a little pompous or snooty or affected. 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. He liked the fact that I had broken my nose in defeat. 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. [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. He plays the 'fancy pants' to our outhouse Americana," Flaherty asserted. Ive always heard it referred to as a patrician accent. 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 scowled, and said he was perfectly capable of running for himself. Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback: Plimpton, George The Dudleys established the 36-acre (15ha) Highstead Arboretum in Redding, Connecticut. In that vein, here is an oral biography of George Plimpton. George Plimpton boxed with Archie Moore, played quarterback for the Detroit Lions, and played percussion for the New York Philharmonic.

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