The Wikipedia entry for it is quite detailed. 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. George Plimpton is beautifully connected. Vault. Plimpton appeared in the 1989 documentary The Tightrope Dancer which featured the life and the work of the artist Vali Myers. And his apartment, with those windows that looked out onto the East River, became a famous landmark in NYC. Ad Choices. Norman Mailer said that George Plimpton was the best-loved man in New York. His final interview appeared in The New York Sports Express of October 2, 2003 by journalist Dave Hollander. He modestly shrugged off the compliment, but his bright smile betrayed his pleasureand ours. [45], Plimpton is the protagonist of the semi-fictional George Plimpton's Video Falconry, a 1983 ColecoVision game postulated by humorist John Hodgman and recreated by video game auteur Tom Fulp.[46]. 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. And later I woke upat 6 a.m. Later I called up George, I said, What happened?, I thought it over, he said, and I took mercy on you. Lewis Lapham, editor, Harpers Magazine:Georges immense enthusiasm was his primary characteristic. 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. They all gathered there. He did not appear last year, or the year before, and we feared he was done with us. I didnt know he was from the Larchmont area. 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 he has never employed that voice professionally, and certainly does not speak that way in real life. [47][48] Off screen, George Plimpton and Gore Vidal come to mind. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. I always thought it sounded similar to the accent of William F. Buckley, Jr., who I believe was not reared in Boston. He had a small role in the Oscar-winning film Good Will Hunting,[22] playing a psychologist. He was "George Plimpton"-editor, host . 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. What exactly is a Boston Brahmin accent? That was when Westbrook van Voorhis, the famous March of Time voice, did the intro narration of the pilot episode of The Twilight Zone. Now, in George, Being George, 200 friends, lovers and rivals detail Plimpton's remarkable exploits. 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. If you didnt know the man, you could, I think, be fooled by the voice. Consider his duties as host of Mousterpiece Theatre (my first intro to my father as celebrity), a childrens TV show in which he debated the adventures and psyches of Donald Duck and Goofy in that marvelously serious voice: Is Donald Duck really a strident existentialist and a hero? How wonderfulwhat fun!to have a constant reminder emerging from your lips that life was absurd, and identity, too; all of it a great game to be played at, enjoyed. Plimpton and Dudley were the parents of twin daughters Laura Dudley Plimpton and Olivia Hartley Plimpton. These are some of the things my father could not say: Shit. Fuck. I love you. His curses were never actually curse-words, though it was perhaps because of this that they held such weight. Was this sheer affectation? In the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated, Plimpton pulled off a widely reported April Fools' Day prank. My dad could never say what he feltnot reallyand neither can any of us. There was love thereactually, his inability to express it sometimes made him positively brim with itbut speak the words, his voice could not. 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. Next up: some sociological explanations of why someone like George Gershwin might have tried to speak like Westbrook Van Voorhis. He Was Shot by John Wayne. I havent heard that he is dead, but if so RIP George. [30] Plimpton later wrote the book Fireworks, and hosted an A&E Home Video with the same name featuring his many fireworks adventures with the Gruccis of New York in Monte Carlo and for the 1983 Brooklyn Bridge Centennial. I live in Connecticut which is both the richest and poorest state in the union - I think we still are - and we have our fair share of extremely rich folk who sit around all day in their large victorians wearing rockport loafers, no sox, khaki pants and a polo-shirt with the collar up. Suddenly, a New York cop remembered a long-ago murder. Ive known him forsix months and I just now learned hes not English!. And George had written it straight. There was one more matter I never heard my dad discuss. 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. 2) The Role of Broadway and Hollywood, and the Shift from Jimmy Cagney to Marlon Brando. As an old film buff, I am used to this voice, though it figures unevenly in old movies. 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. 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. 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. I dont give a rats ass about informing anyone about the death of Plimpton. Sign up for the Books & Fiction newsletter. (And, OK, Im not a linguist, but Im married to one!) 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! ), this isnt some kind of morbid contest to see who can be the first to inform the board of some celebritys death. He was 76.. What will you be mad about ten years after youre gone?). I think he came down [to the shooting of Paper Lion in] Florida once. 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. NYC speech in the sixties, in some ways, flipped prestige markers. 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. 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. They spoke in this manner, and it seemed perfectly natural, evocative of a background spent among the gentry of the northeast.. Yes he is gone. 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! Im having a harder time coming up with clear examples from the other side of the Atlantic, but Ive heard Alfred Molina (Londoner), and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Welsh) put on a Mid-Atlantic accent from time to time.. Manhattan DVD. 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. I can understand your frustration, but celebrities die every day. If you say, I parked my car in Harvard Yard, you are being rhotic. In all my years, Ive never heard this accent in person. 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. Get book recommendations, fiction, poetry, and dispatches from the world of literature in your in-box. 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. 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.". Back to Plimpton I dont remember the LL affect at all. He very much approved. By strange coincidence, I actually became quite good friends with his (ex-)in-laws here in Manhattan. Is it in evidence among the Gen X set of Boston, or a passing phenomenon? It includes clear pronunciation of each and every consonant cluster. Youll get another shot at the big time, trust me. I received many notes like this one: The variety of English you are referring to has a name in linguistics: "Mid-Atlantic English". [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 is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review, as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. 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. The presentation was called Freedom of the American Road and was made 60 years ago, in 1955, as part of the campaign to build support for the new Interstate Highway system. Would you like Mike to run for you, George? the coach asked. Those of us whose families are from Larchmont (that would be me) just call it lockjaw. Havent heard that term in years. Its something different, and Ive not encountered that in the mid-Atlantic. He also appeared in the 1996 documentary When We Were Kings about the "Rumble in the Jungle" 1974 Ali-Foreman Championship fight opposite Norman Mailer crediting Muhammad Ali as a poet who composed the world's shortest poem: "Me? [citation needed]. But he could easily have said, Alice, I have enough trouble raising money for my magazine.. . If you say, I pahked my cah in Hahvahd Yahd, like some vaudeville version of a Boston accent, you are non-rhotic. 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. At the time, he was getting ready to pitch for the Yankees,and we would throw pitches across 72nd Street in preparation. I feel that his work on this and many other language-related matters should be far more widely known than it is. George Plimpton boxed with Archie Moore, played quarterback for the Detroit Lions, and played percussion for the New York Philharmonic. What fine manners he had! He had it, as does/did William Buckley, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and Julia Child. 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. So it went in late 1960 at one of George Plimpton's legendary soirees at 541 E. 72nd St., New York. [11], His mother was Pauline Ames,[12] the daughter of botanist Oakes Ames (1874-1950) and artist Blanche Ames. By George Plimpton. I dont give a rats ass about informing anyone about the death of Plimpton. George Plimpton. But its clear that the diction I call Announcer Voice has been the object of close linguistic study. . How to find out, and whether you should care. 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. [28], Plimpton was a demolitions expert in the post-World War II Army. It evoked a sense of Paris from a time when Paris was still the literary capital of the world, publishing literary giants who were considered obsceneHenry Miller, D.H. Lawrence. Plimpton didnt die. He was one of her original supporters and had published an article about her work in The Paris Review. You should be very grateful. They all sound just like George. Your transparent jealousy is very unbecoming, Carnac. He plays the 'fancy pants' to our outhouse Americana," Flaherty asserted. *Originally posted by CBCD * 2) Truman v. Kaltenborn, 1949. George Plimpton gives an auction winner a star-studded walk through the legendary NYC eatery Elaine's. Interesting that the two competitors for his anchor chair were both fully vernacular speakers from the South and West: Mudd and Rather. George Plimpton: what kind of accent? You heard it and it could only be him. 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. Final Twist of the Drama. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. And so fuck was definitely out of the question, but what about I love you? He could have been a fight trainer, a fight manager! It sounds like Somerset Maugham, was a favorite putdown. [23] He was also notable for his appearance in television commercials during the early 1980s, including a memorable campaign for Mattel's Intellivision. Quite sad, as he just had a daughter not many years back. He could have done whatever he wanted. May a diseased yak squat in your hot tub. George had three siblings: Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton Jr., Oakes Ames Plimpton,[15] and Sarah Gay Plimpton. 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. [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. Rose Styron, wife of William Styron and former Paris Review editor:My husband Bill was with George when he started the Paris Review. That he died in his sleep was impressive. He loved the ones that made a lot of noise and racket and excitement. He also appeared in a featurette about Edie Sedgwick found on the Ciao! [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]. When Muhammad Ali was fighting, George Plimpton was always there. He joined us in Monte Carlo when we won the international [fireworks] competition. It came from a different era, shouldn't have still existed, but nevertheless, there it wasold New England, old New York, tinged with a hint of King's College King's English. :rolleyes: Ive got news for you, buddy, youre not even second in line! His high Boston accent might have been heard as an influential transitional hybrid, and its interesting how prominent parodies of the speech of Brando, Dean, and Kennedy were at the time: seems a sign that we were noticing a marked change. And being good at losing was one of Georges many gifts. He is also credited with saving, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Plimpton! I have worked as poetry editor with editors on other magazines; only with George has the experience been entirely agreeable. 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").