Why did the Transatlantic accent end? The public stopped using the Transatlantic accent toward the end of World War II, when public schools began to phase it out. Still, actors who wanted to align their name with swankiness continued to use it.

When did the Transatlantic accent end?

After the accent's decline following the end of World War II, this American version of a "posh" accent has all but disappeared even among the American upper classes, as Americans have increasingly dissociated from the speaking styles of the East Coast elite; if anything, the accent is now subject to ridicule in ...

Why did movies use Transatlantic accent?

The Transatlantic accent offers a fascinating glimpse into a unique period in American cinema and theater history. This consciously cultivated accent, blending American and British English, was more than just a way of speaking; it represented sophistication, education, and a certain era of filmmaking.

Why did people talk with a Transatlantic accent?

The Transatlantic or mid-Atlantic accent is half British half American. It was a learned accent that was popular amongst American actors from the 1930. Also taught at some elite American schools. It was an accent of prestige and it was also suppose to maximize the clarity of actors speech.

What movies have a Transatlantic accent?

This accent was in vogue among a list of classic Hollywood superstars for years and years and it even became a fixture in many classic movies such as The Philadelphia Story, Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, All About Eve, It Happened One Night and Citizen Kane.

The Origin of That Old-Timey Accent in Classic Movies

What accent did Marilyn Monroe have?

Yes, Marilyn Monroe had a recognizable accent and speaking voice. Her accent, which was frequently described as a blend of the typical American accent with a subtle breathiness and softness, was a product of her birth and upbringing in Los Angeles, California.

What accent did Audrey Hepburn have?

Audrey Hepburn was pretty well consistent with non-rhotic. and spoke refined English. Her accent can be characterized as British with somewhat of Flemish or Dutch blend because of her Belgian and Dutch roots. Audrey was born in Brussels, Belgium.

What accent did Katharine Hepburn have?

Throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood, stars including Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Bette Davis, and Orson Welles employed what's known as a “Mid-Atlantic accent,” a sort of American-British hybrid of speaking that relies on tricks like dropping “R” sounds and softening vowels, in order to convey wealth and ...

What kind of accent did Julia Child have?

According to Distractify, while Child was raised for the most part in California, her voice may have been inspired by Mid-Atlantic accents while attending Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Why did actors talk so fast in old movies?

Sound quality was often lousy, and audiences were easily distracted. So, actors had to project, speak distinctly, and get their points across quickly. This rapid-fire delivery, though unnatural to modern ears, served a crucial purpose – ensuring everyone understood the story, even if the sound was crackly.

How did the English lose their accent when they came to America?

The first is isolation; early colonists had only sporadic contact with the mother country. The second is exposure to other languages, and the colonists came into contact with Native American languages, mariners' Indian English pidgin and other settlers, who spoke Dutch, Swedish, French and Spanish.

What accent did Grace Kelly have?

Any actor or actress of her period would have spoken in much the same accent, the mid-Atlantic accent, as that is the accent actors would have been trained in at the time. Grace Kelly needed lessons to get rid of her Philadelphia accent, not a British accent.

What happened to the American accent?

A string of recent studies shows that some iconic American accents are fading out. Georgians are speaking less “Southern,” Texans are sounding less “twangy,” and Bostonians are pronouncing their Rs. These changes likely occur due to migration.

What is the oldest accent in the world?

Geordie. As the oldest English dialect still spoken, Geordie refers to the people and dialect of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in Northeast England.

Which accent is older British or American?

American English is actually older

When the first settlers set sail from England to America, they took with them the common tongue at the time, which was based on something called rhotic speech (when you pronounce the r sound in a word).

Does the Transatlantic accent still exist?

Is there anywhere in the US where people speak with a transatlantic accent? No. The accent used by actors in American movies largely during the 1930s and 1940s was pretty much completely made up. It was closest to accents you might hear in Maryland and the vicinity, but it was so exaggerated as to be unrecognizable.

What accent did Cary Grant have?

I'm curious because his mid atlantic accent is one of the things he is famous for. He was born and raised in England and then spent his adult life in American movies, so he tried to imitate the American accent and the result was a very unique form of pronunciation that he is famous for.

Could Julia Child speak fluent French?

By the time they left for other postings six years later, Julia was fluent in French, ran a cooking school and was co-authoring a comprehensive cookbook that would later make her famous.

What accent did Humphrey Bogart have?

Strange, then, that other famed male actors at the time—Jimmy Stewart and Humphrey Bogart—had wildly unencumbered manners of speaking. Their accents were very much their own: the former's a rural dialect of Pennsylvania; the latter's a spin on a regional New York accent.

Did Cary Grant change his accent?

Cary Grant was originally from Bristol and was known as Archibald Leach. He was a bus driver. He moved to Hollywood to make films. He started out with a Bristol accent and it morphed into a mid Atlantic one, sort of American West coast with a discernable west country rhotic burr.

What accent does Obama have?

President Barack Obama, for example, has a mild Inland Northern accent.

What actors have a Transatlantic accent?

It was made famous by actors like Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Eleanor Parker, and Grace Kelly, just to name a few.

What is the quintessential American accent?

The idea that there is one accent that is the most neutrally American has been around for a long time, and it is usually called “General American.” The term was coined in 1925 by the descriptive linguist George Philip Krapp as a way to describe the accent he thought was becoming the norm in the United States.

Where is Kelsey Grammer's accent from?

While we can assume Kelsey, the actor (who, to be clear, speaks totally normal American English), developed his Transatlantic accent, along with the many others he masters, in theater school, his character, Frasier, probably picked it up from one of the many snobby private schools he attended in Boston.