Four good examples come to mind: the wolf from the Droopy cartoons ("hey, man"), Foghorn Leghorn, Pappy, and Elvis (the last 3 from Looney Tunes). Foghorn was modeled from a Southern senator, I think, but was understandably exaggerated.
Hollywood "Southern" accents
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Four good examples come to mind: the wolf from the Droopy cartoons ("hey, man"), Foghorn Leghorn, Pappy, and Elvis (the last 3 from Looney Tunes). Foghorn was modeled from a Southern senator, I think, but was understandably exaggerated.
I can't speak for his southern accents, as I'm not from the US. But I saw him recently in a low budget british film about Scottish soccer players, and his Scots accents was quite passable. Worked a little too hard to try to understate it, and was a mish mash of regions, but to outsiders he'd have got away with it.
Brad Pitt's accent in The Devil's Own' was a bit of a shocker to those of us in this neck of the woods.
I read somewhere that Vivien Leigh's prep to do a Southern accent was to just say 'Four door ford' over and over again for several days, pronouncing it as 'fowaah dowaah fowaad'.
Has anyone mentioned Rod Steiger yet? Surely he pinned it completely down?
But I suppose in most cases if the actor actually used a completely authentic accent then most of the people in the cinema would not understand a word that was said.
I think about half the cast were British.
True - Dexter Fletcher, who played Sgt. Martin, is also British and also did a superb job.
That's funny. I had no idea Hugh Laurie was British until running into some Brits on vacation that mentioned how weird it was for them to see him in a serious role. I'd say his accent is pretty good
I say the same! He sounds as American as I do. What about his accent is amiss, Tom?
Too hard, deliberate and over-enunciating - like this guy (Bruce Boa) from the Fawlty Towers episode "Waldorf Salad":
Waldorf Salad
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Yes, haha it was rough, but his character was pretty funny.
Yeah, but isn't that how you'd imagine a curmudgeonly doctor speaking?
I'm just going to chalk it up to the fact that Tom is living in Connecticut. Those New England types speak kind of funny.
Foghorn was, as I understand it, modeled on the character of Sen Claghorn on the Fred Allen Show. Fred Allen was from Boston, originally. The actor who voiced Sen Claghorn, his name escapes me right now, was supposed to be buffoonish, Of course all of the characters on the show were buffoonish, but that was part of the humor back then and it I don't remember reading anyone being offended by it. Sen Claghorn was a rascally character and nobody got the better of him.
Mel Brooks borrowed the character's voice for Loony Tunes and Foghorn was a play on Claghorn. I think I have the right.
My guess is Fred's humor would not go over well today. We seemed to have lost a lot of our humor, other than the mean variety.
I thought they all were - it was filmed in Buckinghamshire.
Having now decided to contribute to this thread which I have enjoyed reading,may I say that as a native of a country where regional accents seem to be rapidly disappearing how important it is that they should be preserved.
How this can be achieved, however, I cannot say - it seems a general rule that regional accents are now spurned in favour of "culture-identity" accents such as Rap and other "Streetwise" accents or "Aspirational" ones such as what we in the UK refer to as "BBC Newsreader" or "Standard English" accents.
Well I say be damned to standardisation - let us all be proud of who we are and precisely where come from - and parade the fact!
I have just realised how far off-topic this has become - sorry - please indulge me!
Cordially, AvT.
Mel Blanc.
Sorry, can never remember actor names, but I believe the actor that plays Bill is British on the HBO series True Blood. His accent is simply painful. "Vampowwer"
Backtracking in the thread a bit, Kentucky was truly a border state during the Civil War in many respects. Northern Ky was more populated, more industrial and the southern part of the state was more rural, aggriculturally based and less densely populated. Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born in Kentucky. Although it never seceeded, it probably would have if it weren't for the Union army presence in the capital Frankfort.
Backtracking in the thread a bit, Kentucky was truly a border state during the Civil War in many respects. Northern Ky was more populated, more industrial and the southern part of the state was more rural, aggriculturally based and less densely populated. Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born in Kentucky. Although it never seceeded, it probably would have if it weren't for the Union army presence in the capital Frankfort.
I remember now, you're right - the inspiration was a fictional character. Wasn't Claghorn modeled after a real senator, though? I remember some connection to a real guy, probably a type that would show up in V.O. Key's massive tome on Southern politics.
Mel Blanc was an absolute genius, and none of the Looney Tunes characters have been voiced nearly close enough since his death. I miss those old cartoons. The DVD box set is always on my wish list.
Just to give me a reference, would you say that Robert Knepper's accent as T-Bag in Prision Break is a good one?
Whoops. You are correct, sir. Gee, how did I miss that one?
My Cousin Vinnie was on TV the other night. I thought that Fred Gwynne's accent was pretty good for a New Yorker. But I'm not sure how accurate it was, it's supposed to be from Alabama and to this Californian most Deep South accents sound pretty much the same.
+1 on Duvall, he's one of my favorite actors. I watched the movie that someone mentioned where he plays a Scott, and to an outsider it sounded pretty authentic.
I think Hugh Laurie's American accent is very good. So is Damien Lewis's.
As for the Aussies on US TV, they're also doing well with their accents. I'm thinking particularly of Anna Torv (Fringe), Simon Baker (The Mentalist) and the LaPaglia brothers. Especially Anthony, that guy should be an honorary New Yorker. Oh yea, and that girl in his show is also an Aussie, Poppy Montgomery... not bad either.
+1 on Duvall, he's one of my favorite actors. I watched the movie that someone mentioned where he plays a Scott, and to an outsider it sounded pretty authentic.
I think Hugh Laurie's American accent is very good. So is Damien Lewis's.
As for the Aussies on US TV, they're also doing well with their accents. I'm thinking particularly of Anna Torv (Fringe), Simon Baker (The Mentalist) and the LaPaglia brothers. Especially Anthony, that guy should be an honorary New Yorker. Oh yea, and that girl in his show is also an Aussie, Poppy Montgomery... not bad either.