Return of the Big Bopper. 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. [citation needed]. What was our problem? The guys here in Detroit treated him like one of us. I thought Id died and gone to Olympus. Just when Jim and I thought we had finished, and we had been working a long time, George, who loved the result of our efforts, decided he wanted to talk to me as well. 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. The Scout Is a Lonely Hunter. *Originally posted by CBCD * George Plimpton, who died last week at his town house, on East Seventy-second Street near the river, was a serious man of serious accomplishments who just happened to have more fun than a van. . He was 76.. [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. And so fuck was definitely out of the question, but what about I love you? $ 9.19 - $ 32.19. 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. The flipped prestige markers point here is fascinating. Even Orson Welles on occasion. **. Eerily enough, one of the messages on my answering machine was from George, with that distinctive accent of his: Hallo, its George Plimpton. Just in time for the Sixties, with all their other pressures towards some kind of anti-Eisenhower authenticity. George Plimpton Dec 1, 2014 In which the venturous author, the rawest rookie pro football has ever known, recounts all the excruciating details of what happened when he called five plays as. 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.. He saw athletes as heroes he. How to find out, and whether you should care. Call me back.. Hemingway on Fiction, Part Two. He had it all going! Macklem . It includes clear pronunciation of each and every consonant cluster. The coach for the Writers team announced that Plimpton would pinch-hit for the first batter of the game, Daily News sports columnist Mike Lupica, and the crowd roared. [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. . Orson Welles also comes to mind, though I noticed he spoke in this mode more often during his early days, on and off screen. Its a joke to say 500 of my closest friends, but that would have been true with George1,000 of his closest friends, actually. Typical of George to laugh about something others saw as a defining traithe never took himself all that seriously. Plimpton, George 1927-2003(George Ames Plimpton) Source for information on Plimpton, George 1927-2003: Concise Major 21st Century Writers dictionary. After her transformation, I noted that Mia sounds precisely like her mother, Maureen OSullivan, who had that patrician manner of speaking on and off screen. But he would do this in the most charming and agreeable way. [26] He also appeared in an episode of the NBC sitcom Wings. 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. **Oh, I suppose we should all just lavish praise upon Carnac the Magnificent now for bringing this to your attention, is that it? 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. 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. Billy Collins, poet:Im one of these people who went from crashing Georges parties in the 70s to being invited in the 80s. When Muhammad Ali was fighting, George Plimpton was always there. He joined us in Monte Carlo when we won the international [fireworks] competition. 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. If you say, I parked my car in Harvard Yard, you are being rhotic. Sign up for the Books & Fiction newsletter. He also served as editor of the Harvard Lampoon. George Plimpton. Congratulations Carnac, for posting about George Plimptons death at 3:44 PM. George Plimpton. 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! 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. He loved the ones that made a lot of noise and racket and excitement. Showdown in the Pits. With such a useful explanation, why do I gripe about the name? Read more in this thread (long). George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. And the many candidates for the crown of Last American to Speak This Way. 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. 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. [23] He was also notable for his appearance in television commercials during the early 1980s, including a memorable campaign for Mattel's Intellivision. [3] During the summers, he lived in the hamlet of West Hills, Huntington, Suffolk County on Long Island. So it was that my father played himself not just in movies and on TV, but in life, too. On one website, I read about a Choate alumn saying one can still hear the LL (see above thread) accent on campus. He thought Castro might come. 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. Old money, would never say the word spanky, and certainly had more money than God could count. Plimpton played Tom Hanks's antagonistic father in Volunteers. #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. Well, perhaps it's more accurate to say that the book provided entertaining confirmation to millions of people that they -- like the author . 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. I havent heard that he is dead, but if so RIP George. 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. The risky pleasures of Plimpton's classic of participatory sportswriting, Paper Lion. You heard it and it could only be him. Yes indeed, George Plimpton is a man for all seasons. George Plimpton boxed with Archie Moore, played quarterback for the Detroit Lions, and played percussion for the New York Philharmonic. The title of the PBS documentary - "Plimpton! [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. By strange coincidence, I actually became quite good friends with his (ex-)in-laws here in Manhattan. Anyhow, I asked Terry Gross from Fresh Air and George Plimpton to be auctioneers. 1. I have worked as poetry editor with editors on other magazines; only with George has the experience been entirely agreeable. It was a hot, sweltering day. Please educate me. He had the bearing of Gen. MacArthur, but the soul of Charlie Chaplin. He wrote for the Harvard Lampoon, was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club, Pi Eta, the Signet Society, and the Porcellian Club. The Writer's Chapbook A Compendium of Fact, Opinion, Wit, and Advice from the Twentieth Century's Preeminent Writers. 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?. Your transparent jealousy is very unbecoming, Carnac. 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. Mr. Plimpton was born in Manhattan in 1927 and raised in Huntington, L.I. By George Plimpton. 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. 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. Norman Mailer said that George Plimpton was the best-loved man in New York. Its a shot from a YouTube video that itself is a fascinating time-capsule portrait of language change. December 17, 2022 Rafael Garca. In 1955 or 56, he went back to New York. The most recent was about how to extend the swing though impact, and the trick, George said, was to station an imaginary dwarf several feet in front of your ball and then (you have to re-create those broad Plimptonian vowels here) smack the dwarf in the ass. I dont know whether it works, because I cant think of it without laughing. Mr . The funny thing about Harris was that he did not start out with that accent - as I suspect George Gershwin did not.
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