Between 1945 and 1948, Plimpton was a soldier in the United States Army. 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. The guys here in Detroit treated him like one of us. [citation needed]. His response was "no, just affected.". George Plimpton - Rotten Tomatoes He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review, as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. Documentary Shows George Plimpton's Best Story Was His Own : NPR - NPR.org I always thought it sounded similar to the accent of William F. Buckley, Jr., who I believe was not reared in Boston. You should be very grateful. Oh, I suppose we should all just lavish praise upon Carnac the Magnificent now for bringing this to your attention, is that it? George Plimpton Detroit Lions | The Pop History Dig You're going to play for us-making some sort of big comeback." "That's right," Plimpton replied in his patrician accent. Your transparent jealousy is very unbecoming, Carnac. In this campaign, Plimpton touted the superiority regarding the graphics and sounds of Intellivision video games over the Atari 2600.[24]. He got the personality totally wrong, too. The last time I heard my fathers voice, it was over the telephone. Look out, Wilson! Those of us whose families are from Larchmont (that would be me) just call it lockjaw. Suddenly, a New York cop remembered a long-ago murder. He plays the 'fancy pants' to our outhouse Americana," Flaherty asserted. Shadow Box. 2) Truman v. Kaltenborn, 1949. A few days after, I went to a Paris Review party and showed off my damaged nose and two black eyes to George. 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. Being, And Appreciating, George Plimpton : NPR I do believe his accent was decidedly Swamp Yankee. He is connected by blood to Benjamin "Beast" Butler, a rakish pol who told Abraham Lincoln he would be his running mate "only if you die within three. Greetings From the Vortex of Unpredictability, Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career. Was this sheer affectation? He came from a family where such endearments were not expressed, and phone conversations were curt. [citation needed]. Mona Abboud remembers George Plimpton - Orlando Sentinel It was a great partyraucous and long. 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. I think he came down [to the shooting of Paper Lion in] Florida once. They were born to Plimpton and his second wife, Sarah Dudley, 26 years younger than he, who is chairwoman of the East Harlem Tutorial Program, for which he was a trustee. News children today have no concept of the Mid-Atlantic accent. 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. 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. 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). 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? George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored We were bound to play the roles of father and son, unable to simply be ourselves. I thought they were terrific. And George had written it straight. Back in the 1960s and '70s, I would nightly sit alone in front of a TV set in a darkened room in the Midwest munching on potato chips watching late night talk shows out of New York CityJohnny Carson and Dick Cavett in particularand Plimpton was a regular on those shows. Shoot! hed hiss, when he was mad. Ive rarely heard this accent in real life but its often used by actors doing a stereotype character based on other actors impersonations! By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. After his discharge, Plimpton returned to Harvard and finished his undergraduate education. Katharine Hepburn spoke this way, on and off screen until she died. And I, of course, was looking them over, too. Of course, I think he enjoyed the odd persona his voice and mannerisms conferred on him. 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. $ 3.99 - $ 27.44. He had it, as does/did William Buckley, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and Julia Child. Few could give a toast or tell a story with equal humor. Old money, would never say the word spanky, and certainly had more money than God could count. He was a great addition to the human race. Peter even came with us on our honeymoon in Ravello, though George didnt. Big, tall, good-looking guy, easy-going. 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. Everything he did was like this, just a bit odd. That phony-baloney feigned British pronunciation thing. Jean Stein became his co-editor. Is it in evidence among the Gen X set of Boston, or a passing phenomenon? 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. Billy Collins, poet:Im one of these people who went from crashing Georges parties in the 70s to being invited in the 80s. [2] His first wife, whom he married in 1968[38] and divorced in 1988, was Freddy Medora Espy, a photographer's assistant. He had a small role in the Oscar-winning film Good Will Hunting,[22] playing a psychologist. 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. He was stationed primarily in Italy, where he worked as a tank driver. An Oral History of George Plimpton: The Man Does Everything - Observer Yes he is gone. A heuristic approximation! This brings us back to the why things changed question. Vault. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. Future Poet Laureate Donald Hall, who had met Plimpton at Exeter, was Poetry Editor. Never heard of this decidedly imprecise term. When George Plimpton Met the Best Bartender in Brooklyn Two New York Legends Collide By Tim Sultan February 26, 2016 The only other person that I had known who possessed a similar charisma to Sunny Balzano's was my first employer in New York: George Plimpton. 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. At the time, he was getting ready to pitch for the Yankees,and we would throw pitches across 72nd Street in preparation. Whom is it spoken bymerely the elite, old-money types? *Originally posted by CBCD * Talking about sports with Georgeor, even better, reading George about sportswas more fun than sports themselves. 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. Articles From This Author. The Detroit Lions let a reporter play QB. Can you guess how it went When Plimpton, the co-founder of The Paris Review, died in 2003 at age 76, The New York Times . H.V. Update: This post is #2 in the announcer-speak series. 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. George Plimpton was born on March 18, 1927 in New York City, New York, USA. George also approved, I think, of the fact that I lost. Several readers wrote in with specimens of Americans who had gone to England and ended up speaking in this mid-Atlantic way. 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? He watched the first pitch sail high for a ball, and then hit a rope into left field. LL is typified, I think, but an almost clenching of the teeth while talking, producing a mushy sound, if you will. What exactly is a Boston Brahmin accent? [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. Indeed, the police deposition the filmmakers managed to uncover may be the only time my dad ever spoke about the tragedy, publicly or privately. Sign up for the Books & Fiction newsletter. **Get a life. [2], In 1975, in Bellport, Long Island, Plimpton, with Fireworks by Grucci attempted to break the record for the world's largest firework. silk-stockinged New Englander - private schools (he was Kaltenborn was a famous mid . And similarly on the role of ridicule in speeding the move away from this accent: This is only partly facetious, but I think I know who was the American to speak "Announcer." The wife is also old money, as Phlosphr mentions, and she talks exactly the same way. Final Twist of the Drama. George Plimpton writer, publisher, amateur lion tamer died in 2003 after 50 years as the founding editor of The Paris Review. 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. Its strange to think, but he would have been eighty-five this year: fourteen years older than my mom, fifty years older than me. Plimpton and Dudley were the parents of twin daughters Laura Dudley Plimpton and Olivia Hartley Plimpton. The Curious Case Of Sidd Finch. That life couldnt contain him, hed burst its seams like it was an old coat two sizes too small. When he was on the scene, everything was a big happeningan event. In 1955 or 56, he went back to New York. Thats a common name for such an accent. I have worked as poetry editor with editors on other magazines; only with George has the experience been entirely agreeable. (A variation is the Locust Valley Lockjaw.). With such a useful explanation, why do I gripe about the name? He hosted Disney Channel's Mouseterpiece Theater (a Masterpiece Theatre spoof which featured Disney cartoon shorts). 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. George Plimpton and Papa in Cuba - Guernica A similar phenomenon can be noted in the use, well into the 1980s, of the recorded sound of teletype machines in the background of newscasts, a sound still faintly evoked by the bip-bip-bip patterns of music that often introduces news broadcasts, even though teletype machines are long gone The subconscious association of this pattern of sound with news is fading fast with the passing of the years and will undoubtedly disappear entirely in the coming decade as surely as the over-enunciated style of radio speech of the 30s disappeared within a generation of its no longer being needed. Whats the matter?, Well, he said. He was previously married to Sara Whitehead Dudley and Freddy Medora Espy. What was our problem? The Very Good Life Of George Plimpton - The Washington Post The list of authors interviewed is extraordinary, and stretches from Hemingway years ago to Amy Hempel (in the 50th anniversary issue that has just been published). :rolleyes: Ive got news for you, buddy, youre not even second in line! The Moth | The Art and Craft of Storytelling 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. [35], Plimpton was known for his distinctive accent which, by Plimpton's own admission, was often mistaken for an English accent. They spoke in this manner, and it seemed perfectly natural, evocative of a background spent among the gentry of the northeast.. That was the last party for a while., I just got back from a road trip from Michigan. **. Besides, third is a very respectable showing! There was one more matter I never heard my dad discuss. 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. 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. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. **. 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 just did it because Columbia was another literary magazine. Plimpton was an omnipresence for much of American cultural lifeboth high and lowin the last third of the 20th century. What will you be mad about ten years after youre gone?). You can. And I felt such love for my sweet old excited dad at that moment that I thought I would do him the favor of not telling him so, of leaving it unsaid. What accent does Logan have in the show? : r/SuccessionTV "[34] A feature in Mad titled "Some Really Dangerous Jobs for George Plimpton" spotlighted him trying to swim across Lake Erie, strolling through New York's Times Square in the middle of the night, and spending a week with Jerry Lewis. George Plimpton: what kind of accent? - Straight Dope Message Board Get a life. Where are you?, Im at dinner with my wife, I said. After returning to New York from Paris, he routinely launched fireworks at his evening parties. Sidd Finch: A pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. - Sports Illustrated The journal, which had operated out of his home, moved downtown. And you are going to come with me. Its our anniversary. Id like to offer a speculation, for what its worth. With 'Paper Lion,' George Plimpton Played Pro Football So We Didn't Have To Please educate me. All the good guys have got to go. For such admissions to escape my fathers lips, they always had to be a little removed somehow. Plimpton, along with former decathlete Rafer Johnson and American football star Rosey Grier, was credited with helping wrestle Sirhan Sirhan to the floor when Kennedy was assassinated following his victory in the 1968 California Democratic primary at the former Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Losing, he knew, always makes a better story than winning. 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. Richard Howard, poetry editor, the Paris Review:I worked with George for 10 years on the magazine. Its a shot from a YouTube video that itself is a fascinating time-capsule portrait of language change. During a career that spanned the second half of the 20th century, Plimpton was a quarterback for the Detroit Lions, pitched at Yankee Stadium, sparred with Archie Moore, played the triangle with. Quite sad, as he just had a daughter not many years back. 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. (To read Part One, click here. Youll get another shot at the big time, trust me. :rolleyes: Ive got news for you, buddy, youre not even second in line! In the 50s Plimpton and staff came to New York, where they kept the Review going for half a century. Even the most basic conversation was often a struggle. And they founded this thing called the Paris Review and published poetry and short story writers and did interviews. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. 1. Typical of George to laugh about something others saw as a defining traithe never took himself all that seriously. Famed participatory journalist George Plimpton (1927-2003) was a writer, editor, amateur sportsman, actor, and friend to many. Plimpton didnt die. Vault. In His League: Being George Plimpton | The Nation But it didnt define him, much the way he refused to be defined by the stiff, upper-crust world from which hed come. What stood in our way? I think it was an affectation people adopted because they thought it made them sound much more intelligent! Are you saying that the denizens of Larchmont sound like Plimpton did? Hear Stories By George Plimpton. 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. 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..