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Tuesday, May 25, 2010
A silly question
Sue,
To what region in the US did Humphrey Bogart's accent belong? He has a nasal accent. Is this type of accent common in many areas in America?
Bogart was born in New York of very wealthy parents: father a surgeon and mother a rather famous illustrator. However, he never took to school and some say he was expelled from Phillips Acadamy, a famous private school for rich kids. He joined the navy and somehow (various stories) got an injury to his lip which left some scarring and may have caused his lisp and rather strange accent.
Bogart was a complex man and there is the possibility that his accent was totally faked in order to give him a distinctive way of speaking.
I agree, Ali. Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney gave the whole world a movie version look at crime in New York and Chicago. Like most movies, everything, including the accents, were just a wee bit exaggerated. And the real thing wasn't nearly as glamous as Hollywood made it out to be.
3 comments:
Bogart was born in New York of very wealthy parents: father a surgeon and mother a rather famous illustrator. However, he never took to school and some say he was expelled from Phillips Acadamy, a famous private school for rich kids. He joined the navy and somehow (various stories) got an injury to his lip which left some scarring and may have caused his lisp and rather strange accent.
Bogart was a complex man and there is the possibility that his accent was totally faked in order to give him a distinctive way of speaking.
Wow, Sue! I knew I couldn't trust that glossy TV screen that much! Still my heart is full of memories of his films. Thank you very much.
I agree, Ali. Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney gave the whole world a movie version look at crime in New York and Chicago. Like most movies, everything, including the accents, were just a wee bit exaggerated. And the real thing wasn't nearly as glamous as Hollywood made it out to be.
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