He was a great addition to the human race. He could have done whatever he wanted. . Starring George Plimpton as Himself, directed by Tom Bean and Luke Poling, was released. He was an actor and writer, known for Good Will Hunting (1997), Nixon (1995) and Just Cause (1995). 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. [citation needed], In the movie Plimpton! Plimpton would not boast of his feat, so we did. 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.. Being, And Appreciating, George Plimpton : NPR The Blacklisted Journalist,George Plimpton, 76 Death Claims Another of [2][43], An oral biography titled George, Being George was edited by Nelson W. Aldrich Jr., and released on October 21, 2008. 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. Ever. 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. George Plimpton gives an auction winner a star-studded walk through the legendary NYC eatery Elaine's. It was a great partyraucous and long. Look out, Wilson! See Inside George Plimpton's Upper East Side Duplex Brown & Co. Re-issued George Plimpton Sports Books, 2016. 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. The first minute is a cameo by Henry Ford II, who speaks in an utterly flat Midwest rather than Mid-Atlantic accent that no one would call elegant but that would sound perfectly natural in 2015. 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. Plimpton was associated with the literary magazine in Paris, Merlin, which folded because the State Department withdrew its support.[why?] Except at parties. She was also the great-granddaughter on her father's side of Oakes Ames (18041873), an industrialist and congressman who was implicated in the Crdit Mobilier railroad scandal of 1872; and Governor-General of New Orleans Benjamin Franklin Butler, an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts. If he couldnt be taken quite seriously, that was fine with him (he took himself lightly, and relished being in on the joke). "[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. We were going to go looking for strange birds. He was also known for "participatory journalism," including accounts of his active involvement in professional sporting events, acting in a Western, performing a comedy act at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and playing with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra[1] and then recording the experience from the point of view of an amateur. Its something different, and Ive not encountered that in the mid-Atlantic. Dan Rather certainly marks the definitive end of the newsreel style and the ascendance of the folksy vernacular: those rustic analogies! (What else happened that year??? December 17, 2022 Rafael Garca. 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. If you say, I pahked my cah in Hahvahd Yahd, like some vaudeville version of a Boston accent, you are non-rhotic. Even the manliest actors, such as Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable sometimes slipped into this voice-coach mode. He was so open to life and all its new and unexpected situations. He also served as editor of the Harvard Lampoon. H.V. Now you know! (And, OK, Im not a linguist, but Im married to one!) If you didnt know the man, you could, I think, be fooled by the voice. 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. 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. rejoiced in the name of Euphemia van Renssalaer Wyatt. Since all we have are recordings of those long-vanished voices, we do not and cannot know whether people spoke "this way" when they were not being recorded, although I would be willing to wager that they did not. Harvard (where he edited the Lampoon), Kings College, As a result, this American version of a posh accent has all but disappeared even among the American upper classes. 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. What will you be mad about ten years after youre gone?). Harris trained himself as a young man to lose his native Bronx accent - to the point that he was asked if he were British. 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. George Plimpton was a literary man about town who did it all, from co-founding The Paris . Old money, would never say the word spanky, and certainly had more money than God could count. 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. (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? The clenched jaw tight-bite bit: the lockjaw dentiloquist. 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.. We worked at the Paris Review on the Rue Garanere for several years together. Get a life. An Oral History of George Plimpton: The Man Does Everything - Observer Losing, he knew, always makes a better story than winning. In the 50s Plimpton and staff came to New York, where they kept the Review going for half a century. Think of the accent of Jane Hathaway on the Beverly Hillbillies. He was very understanding of what we did and how we did it. 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 just heard that George Plimpton has died. 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. 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. 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. Was it me? 'Plimpton!' documentary looks at George Plimpton's lives He just did it because Columbia was another literary magazine. 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. For it was George Plimpton the writer, not the editor nor the celebrity, who was honored here . There was one more matter I never heard my dad discuss. He was one of her original supporters and had published an article about her work in The Paris Review. 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. 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). [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]. The 16th at Cypress Point is one of the famous golf holes of the world, certainly one of the most difficult and demanding par 3's. After the technology improved the need to speak so histrionically went away, and so did "announcer English.". The wife is also old money, as Phlosphr mentions, and she talks exactly the same way. His final interview appeared in The New York Sports Express of October 2, 2003 by journalist Dave Hollander. [citation needed]. A friend of the New England Sedgwick family, Plimpton edited Edie: An American Biography with Jean Stein in 1982. There was intellectual heft in the Plimpton genes too: one Ames was a Professor of Botany, another was Governor of Massachusetts, another relation was a publisher, and yet another a writer-philanthropist fascinated with the subject of how the great figures of the past were educated Young Georges educational path was precisely that of a 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 was scary, because he was never mad, and to see this normally benevolent, white-haired figure of civility fill with pink steam, to hear this gentle man, who loved nothing more than to tell lighthearted stories and laugh, suddenly shout-whisper Dammit at some injustice on the other end of the telephone was unsettling. 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. *Originally posted by CBCD * He's a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Plimpton, George 1927-2003 | Encyclopedia.com :rolleyes: Ive got news for you, buddy, youre not even second in line! Plimpton sparred for three rounds with boxing greats Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson while on assignment for Sports Illustrated. 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. When Muhammad Ali was fighting, George Plimpton was always there. This was his habit. Plimpton also appeared in a number of feature films as an extra and in cameo appearances. Greetings From the Vortex of Unpredictability, Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career. For more than five decades, author and journalist George Plimpton delved deeply into an array of high-profile and often physically grueling experiences, including professional baseball, boxing . Archie Moore, after all, had broken his nose. Among other challenges for Sports Illustrated, he attempted to play top-level bridge, and spent some time as a high-wire circus performer. George Plimpton Detroit Lions | The Pop History Dig The last time I heard my fathers voice, it was over the telephone. What stood in our way? Manhattan DVD. **, In this case, Mid-Atlantic refers to speech in which the attributes of British English and American English meet halfway. *Originally posted by cuauhtemoc * 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. [35], Plimpton was known for his distinctive accent which, by Plimpton's own admission, was often mistaken for an English accent. What exactly is a Boston Brahmin accent? Talking about sports with Georgeor, even better, reading George about sportswas more fun than sports themselves. He was "George Plimpton"-editor, host . To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Katharine Hepburn spoke this way, on and off screen until she died. Middle class? Well, perhaps it's more accurate to say that the book provided entertaining confirmation to millions of people that they -- like the author . Actually, thats not far off from how my mom felt when she first met him. Mr. Plimpton was born in Manhattan in 1927 and raised in Huntington, L.I. Jean Stein became his co-editor. The flipped prestige markers point here is fascinating. [2], In 1975, in Bellport, Long Island, Plimpton, with Fireworks by Grucci attempted to break the record for the world's largest firework. George Plimpton | About the Film | American Masters | PBS His response was "no, just affected.". He was 76. The Very Good Life Of George Plimpton - The Washington Post LL is typified, I think, but an almost clenching of the teeth while talking, producing a mushy sound, if you will. 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. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007. Best-selling author George Plimpton shares his experience as a "Storyteller For Life" with Dean Nelson of Point Loma Nazarene University as part of PLNU's 5th Annual Writer's Symposium By The. He rounded first as if he were about to go for a double, then glided back to the base, with fans waving and cheering. It was always as if one were setting out with him on a special adventure. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. All rights reserved. Quite sad, as he just had a daughter not many years back. Did he have the celebrated "Boston Brahmin" accent, or was it a psuedo-Brit affectation? A few days after, I went to a Paris Review party and showed off my damaged nose and two black eyes to George. To me, Mid-Atlantic English is the nom juste for a related but distinct phenomenon (which is also mentioned in Wikipedia). Look out, Wilson! He had it all going! But it didnt define him, much the way he refused to be defined by the stiff, upper-crust world from which hed come. He got the personality totally wrong, too. Hows your mom? hed always ask me. Thurston Howell III had the Larchmont Lockjaw accent. 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. Realizing that I probably didnt know anyone, George took me around the room to introduce me to his guestsWilliam Styron, Norman Mailer, Robert Stone, and Gay Talese among them. 'Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself' review George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 September 25, 2003) was an American writer. This periodical has carried great weight in the literary world, but has never been financially strong; for its first half-century, it was allegedly largely financed by its publishers and by Plimpton. 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. He wrote, "I suppose in a mild way there is a lesson to be learned for the young, or the young at heart the gumption to get out and try one's wings". Whether on the football field or on a golf course or in a poem or an essay, the notion of human talent in whatever form excited him. On Saturday Night Live, even the great impersonator Dana Carvey couldnt get it quite right. The young Paris Review editor and other New York literary figures arrived during a period marked by hope for a democratic Cuba. And he stood there ebullient and charming all night; he bid on many items himself. Where are you?, Im at dinner with my wife, I said. Eerily enough, one of the messages on my answering machine was from George, with that distinctive accent of his: Hallo, its George Plimpton. I can understand your frustration, but celebrities die every day. 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]. In no way do I recall Plimpton talking in a way that is typically associated with LLa style which, as I understand it, is associated with unclear pronunciation of most consonant cluster. Plimpton had a quasi-Brit patrician accent, which in no way corresponds with the official descriptions of LL that Ive read on the Net. Ken Auletta, author:Sometime after age 70, when his reflexes dulled, George took to the sidelines in the Artists and Writers softball game in Easthampton, N.Y. Each year his name was announced, and each year he was hailed by the crowd, who paid more attention to him than to the game. Kim Noble, one of the announcers on the NPR affiliate in Kansas City, KCUR, speaks with a very affected Connecticut Lockjaw accent. 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. Plimpton played quarterback for the Detroit Lions and triangle for the New York Philharmonic, an. In that vein, here is an oral biography of George Plimpton. Prestigious prep schools and ivy league institutions (though Gore Vidal never went to college). I think it was an affectation people adopted because they thought it made them sound much more intelligent! Bill, who was from the South, kept saying to me, Can you believe Georges not English? Now, in George, Being George, 200 friends, lovers and rivals detail Plimpton's remarkable exploits. So it went in late 1960 at one of George Plimpton's legendary soirees at 541 E. 72nd St., New York. 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. He was going to put on a reading of his play Zelda, Scott, and Ernest. Self-help author and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson has a unique accent that, . In this campaign, Plimpton touted the superiority regarding the graphics and sounds of Intellivision video games over the Atari 2600.[24]. George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored When he was on the scene, everything was a big happeningan event. (To read Part One, click here. I never thought that George slept. 'Plimpton!' documentary looks at George Plimpton's lives 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. 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. He could as easily have been my grandfather as father. 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." To me, it meant admission to this little exclusive club at the Paris Review. [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. 'Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself' TV review - SFGATE ), this isnt some kind of morbid contest to see who can be the first to inform the board of some celebritys death. **Mid-Atlantic. George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman. Hes just trying it out and will come back and write a book about his experiences. Starring George Plimpton as Himself" - is meant as a wink-wink to Plimpton's career as a "participatory journalist." As a writer for Sports . I received many notes like this one: The variety of English you are referring to has a name in linguistics: "Mid-Atlantic English". The Paris Review was a testimony to his literary taste and his sense of glamour. He thought Castro might come. Actors Nathan Lane (from Jersey City, NJ) and Robin Williams (grew up in SF Bay area) often adopt this accent. Ive known him forsix months and I just now learned hes not English!. He was smooth. From what other people had told me, I knew a little bit about itthat my father (and mother) had been right by Bobbys side in California when he was shot, that my father had tackled Sirhan Sirhan to the ground, and wrestled the gun from his handbut not a word of it came from my dad himself. Ive rarely heard this accent in real life but its often used by actors doing a stereotype character based on other actors impersonations! I saw him [last] Wednesday night at a party; we rode home together, and he told me that he was planning to go down to Cuba, to revisit the site of his famous interview with Hemingway. 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. 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. 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. 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. Call me back.. What was our problem? See below!) That was how it was in New York in those days, George just dragged it out a bit longer." Dudley Plimpton suspects the excess contributed to Plimpton's death in his sleep in 2003, at the age of 76.