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**. After returning to New York from Paris, he routinely launched fireworks at his evening parties. It's a Scottish accent that's been modified somewhat for a mainstream audience that tends to associate them with Groundskeeper Willie. She would not even say goodbye. Plimpton appeared in the 1989 documentary The Tightrope Dancer which featured the life and the work of the artist Vali Myers. Impressively liberated from our opulent life-style, Sidd's deciding about yogaand his future in baseball. Manhattan DVD. I dont give a rats ass about informing anyone about the death of Plimpton. George Plimpton. Few could give a toast or tell a story with equal humor. ), this isnt some kind of morbid contest to see who can be the first to inform the board of some celebritys death. 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"). . Read more in this thread (long). Paul McCartney and his then-girlfriend Heather showed up. Whee!! **Your transparent jealousy is very unbecoming, Carnac. I have worked as poetry editor with editors on other magazines; only with George has the experience been entirely agreeable. Quite sad, as he just had a daughter not many years back. 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. Was this sheer affectation? Prestigious prep schools and ivy league institutions (though Gore Vidal never went to college). History / Biographical Note Biographical Note. tweedy demeanor and Oxford accent. While I don't normally think of Lithgow as speaking with a Mid-Atlantic accent, he does a great job affecting one for the role. But it didnt define him, much the way he refused to be defined by the stiff, upper-crust world from which hed come. 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. 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." (He intended to face both line-ups, but tired badly and was relieved by Ralph Houk.) It includes clear pronunciation of each and every consonant cluster. Dan Rather certainly marks the definitive end of the newsreel style and the ascendance of the folksy vernacular: those rustic analogies! He rounded first as if he were about to go for a double, then glided back to the base, with fans waving and cheering. 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. 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. $ 4.19 - $ 17.92. George Plimpton, Out of My League: The Classic Account of an Amateur's Ordeal in Professional Baseball, 2016, Little My fathers voice was like one of those supposedly extinct deep-sea creatures that wash up on the shores of Argentina every now and then. Even in the UK we sometimes subtitle various Scots dialects on the news and TV and whatnot, so it makes sense that he wouldn't go full Dundee for the show. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Over the years, we held a lot of dinner parties for him, and he brought a lot of people inmany, many writers. But for now, just one more category: 3) Changing technology, changing voices. 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. Future Poet Laureate Donald Hall, who had met Plimpton at Exeter, was Poetry Editor. [citation needed] Some of these events, such as his stint with the Colts, and an attempt at stand-up comedy, were presented on the ABC television network as a series of specials. Whats the matter?, Well, he said. The s. *Originally posted by bordelond * I want you to go [to the shop] pull out the biggest firework you have and go out and light it up, because you just won the firework contest in Monaco!, I was so stunned, all I could think to say was, I dont think I can get a permit that fast!, Alice Quinn, director of the Poetry Society of America, poetry editor, The New Yorker:When I was an adviser at Columbia Magazine [a journal run out of Columbia University], we were scraping barrel, with no money in the bank, and I said to the students we should have a benefit auction. 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. Ive always heard it referred to as a patrician accent. Greetings From the Vortex of Unpredictability, Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career. Look out, Wilson! It was horrifying.. It was a hot, sweltering day. What exactly is a Boston Brahmin accent? We were bound to play the roles of father and son, unable to simply be ourselves. 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 would not boast of his feat, so we did. rejoiced in the name of Euphemia van Renssalaer Wyatt. [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]. That was the last party for a while., I just got back from a road trip from Michigan. Think of the accent of Jane Hathaway on the Beverly Hillbillies. This was his habit. 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. Plimpton was .the public face of the New York intellectual: tweedy, eclectic and with a plummy accent he himself described as "Eastern seaboard cosmopolitan." . He was previously married to Sara Whitehead Dudley and Freddy Medora Espy. I have decided, he said, that I have got to jump from a plane. With the evolution of talkies in the late 1920s, voice was first heard in motion pictures. Yes he is gone. Now the interview is perfect!. It sounds like Somerset Maugham, was a favorite putdown. In 1994, Plimpton appeared several times in the Ken Burns series Baseball, in which he shared some personal baseball experiences as well as other memorable events throughout the history of baseball.[20]. I didnt know he was from the Larchmont area. Brown & Co. Re-issued George Plimpton Sports Books, 2016. In 1992, Plimpton married Sarah Whitehead Dudley, a graduate of Columbia University and a freelance writer. 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. He was one of her original supporters and had published an article about her work in The Paris Review. He wanted to play his own part, but they wouldnt let him. **. The Curious Case Of Sidd Finch. 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. Even the manliest actors, such as Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable sometimes slipped into this voice-coach mode. 1 draft choice of the Lions in 1965. That he died in his sleep was impressive. He came from a family where such endearments were not expressed, and phone conversations were curt. 26 Feb 2023 12:18:23 "[27], Plimpton was a member of the cast of the A&E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (200102). We were both excitedId just come back from a weekend in Las Vegas, and hed just come back from celebrating the fortieth anniversary reunion of his Detroit Lions team at Ford Field, where the fans had given him a standing ovation, and he had raised his hatand for a moment we were no longer father and son, but just two big excited boys, each comparing adventures, and I could hear the pride in his voice, the happiness. The Wikipedia entry is indeed delightful. The Left Bank really became East 72nd Street. And the many candidates for the crown of Last American to Speak This Way. After several problems with transporting and preparing the fireworks, Plimpton and Grucci became the first competitors from the United States to win the event. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review, as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. Just in time for the Sixties, with all their other pressures towards some kind of anti-Eisenhower authenticity. 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?. At Harvard, Plimpton was a classmate and close personal friend of Robert F. Kennedy. . 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. His friendships testified to what an eclectic man he was. Hemingway on Fiction, Part Two. He had, for instance, a series of antiquated phrases and terms of affection. Bill, who was from the South, kept saying to me, Can you believe Georges not English? 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. . But looking back on it, its funny, too. Oh now, Im joking, Carnac ( see? [21] The prank was so successful that many readers believed the story, and the ensuing popularity of the joke resulted in Plimpton's writing an entire book on Finch. 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). "[25] He had a recurring role as the grandfather of Dr. Carter on the NBC series ER. "I've decided to stay over here in . Kaltenborn was a famous mid . With a little more practice, you could give us boys in the big leagues a run for our money. George Plimpton is beautifully connected. [26] He also appeared in an episode of the NBC sitcom Wings. :rolleyes: Ive got news for you, buddy, youre not even second in line! Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 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. Self-help author and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson has a unique accent that, . 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. On one website, I read about a Choate alumn saying one can still hear the LL (see above thread) accent on campus. [2] His first wife, whom he married in 1968[38] and divorced in 1988, was Freddy Medora Espy, a photographer's assistant. 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. 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. And the answer may explain partly why it has gone out of fashion: Jonathan Harris, the actor who played Dr. Smith on the television show "Lost in Space.". Get a life. His experience was captured in the book Out of My League. 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]. Famed participatory journalist George Plimpton (1927-2003) was a writer, editor, amateur sportsman, actor, and friend to many. At least, not to me, nor even to my sister, a fact she mentions in the movie. Bill Buckley, Gore Vidal, George Plimpton. Talking about sports with Georgeor, even better, reading George about sportswas more fun than sports themselves. [23] He was also notable for his appearance in television commercials during the early 1980s, including a memorable campaign for Mattel's Intellivision. *Originally posted by CBCD * He was respected by all. Queen Elizabeth doesnt say car, and neither did Franklin D. Roosevelt, nor did the newsreel announcers or movie actors of his day. He was "George Plimpton"-editor, host . Above all, he was a gentleman, one of the lasta figure so archaic, it could be easily mistaken for something else. I just knew it was going to be something terrible. Gay Talese, author:As a young man not long out of university, at 26, 27 years of age, George Plimpton went with his friends to Paris to be benighted in the tradition of Paris culture. [citation needed]. After finishing at Harvard in 1950, he attended King's College, Cambridge, from 1950 to 1952, and graduated with third class honors in English. He was smooth. 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. Youll get another shot at the big time, trust me. Congratulations Carnac, for posting about George Plimptons death at 3:44 PM. Friends were almost always happy to see him because you knew he was bound to improve your mood. 2023 Cond Nast. Vault. And he told everyone that night, and for many years after, that hed diverted me from a career of filling prescriptions. One night Joe DiMaggio was here, and they had never met, so I introduced them. 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. 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. Yes indeed, George Plimpton is a man for all seasons. 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? As such, it was popular in the theatre and other forms of elite culture in that region. Never heard of this decidedly imprecise term. Youll get another shot at the big time, trust me. 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. Oh, I suppose we should all just lavish praise upon Carnac the Magnificent now for bringing this to your attention, is that it? Where are you?, Im at dinner with my wife, I said. Your transparent jealousy is very unbecoming, Carnac. Description above from the Wikipedia article George Plimpton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of . He very much approved. Larchmont Lockjaw? He had it all going! 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. It took the form of a statement: I dont know writers who write about sex better than you. I rose to the bait and answered saying, Thank you. Ad Choices. 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. expelled from the very expensive, very WASP-y Philips I do believe his accent was decidedly Swamp Yankee. Hows your mom? hed always ask me. [3], He was the son of Francis T. P. Plimpton[4] and the grandson of Frances Taylor Pearsons and George Arthur Plimpton. It was a great partyraucous and long. As Poling puts it, George was known as an unrivaled raconteur and, in making a film of his life story, it only seemed natural to allow him to tell it..