the voices of famous actors? why no modern actors sound like them anymore?

[Nobert]

McGregor is a Scot. Surely even an American ear can tell his Edinburgh burr apart from a Sassenach..... or do they talk about this mythical "British Accent" over there because they really can't tell the difference between Tim Curry and Sean Connery?

Actually we can't, usually. For the average American, a Scots accent has to be up to about Billy Connolly level before we could peg it as such.

 

[HudsonHawk]

McGregor is a Scot. Surely even an American ear can tell his Edinburgh burr apart from a Sassenach..... or do they talk about this mythical "British Accent" over there because they really can't tell the difference between Tim Curry and Sean Connery?

Most can. I have a good ear for accents, and happen to have heard my share of Scots. As a matter of fact, I was discussing this with my former boss and co-worker, when I said "not only are you both from Scotland, I can tell you're from Glasgow, he's from Aberdeen". They were both shocked.

 

[vitanola]

Actually we can't, usually. For the average American, a Scots accent has to be up to about Billy Connolly level before we could peg it as such.

Actually, perhaps up to Harry Lauder level!

[video=youtube;ZMKKWhnDcnk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMKKWhnDcnk&feature=youtube_gdata_player [/video]

 

[Stearmen]

[video=youtube;QSL0QO54JpM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSL0QO54JpM[/video]

 

[jamespowers]

Actually, perhaps up to Harry Lauder level!

[video=youtube;ZMKKWhnDcnk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMKKWhnDcnk&feature=youtube_gdata_player [/video]

Now THAT is obvious. lol lol

 

[Benzadmiral]

To me, the question is, "Who would do impressions of today's actors?" I grew up watching impressionists like Rich LIttle and others on the TV variety shows of the time, and reruns of the old WB cartoons in which Mel Blanc and others did sendups of popular actors. They knew the audience would get the joke when someone did Cagney or Edward G. Robinson. They and their contemporaries were distinctive, in voice and mannerisms.

Who's going to do impressions of Bradley Cooper?

 

[jamespowers]

To me, the question is, "Who would do impressions of today's actors?" I grew up watching impressionists like Rich LIttle and others on the TV variety shows of the time, and reruns of the old WB cartoons in which Mel Blanc and others did sendups of popular actors. They knew the audience would get the joke when someone did Cagney or Edward G. Robinson. They and their contemporaries were distinctive, in voice and mannerisms.

Who's going to do impressions of Bradley Cooper?

Bradley who?

 

[LizzieMaine]

On the other hand, there were plenty of actors and personalities in the Era who had bland, absolutely forgettable generic voices. Quick, what did Robert Taylor sound like? What did Gene Raymond sound like? Do an imitation of Richard Dix, if you can. Jimmy Wallington was one of the most successful and popular announcers in radio for over twenty years -- but I defy anyone to imitate any distinctive quality in his voice. Some actors were successful precisely because of this -- because Paul Muni's voice was a blank slate, he could sound like any character, from an escaped convict to Emile Zola.

The ultimate example of this was Conrad Nagel -- whose voice was so bland, featureless, and devoid of any perceptible eccentricity that he was in dozens of movies at the start of the talkie era as an example of what the generic American movie actor ought to sound like. The fan press of the time praised his "microphonic" voice, which evidently did not mean that his grid was vibrating within his plate.

 

[Trapped in T-wilight Zone]

I am curious. Where would some of you put Alfred Hitchcock in all this? When I was much younger, I looked forward to watching his "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" tv show. I really like his wit, the jabs at the sponsors, and his unique sound. Most of the stories were good also. One thing, he was not so much an actor. He was a director and producer. But he did a fair amount of showmanship himself.
Another unusual one was Andy Devine. His voice was the result of a nasty accident as a child. The specific details of which have wandered into legend, and vary from source to source. I watched Andy's Gang on television as a kid, and I have always enjoyed movies with him in them. His episode of the Twilight Zone wasn't half bad either. It actually influenced me to learn to play the harmonica.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Andy Devine's voice really beacme a household fixture as a result of his association with Jack Benny -- he was a semi-regular on Benny's program in 1936-37, and his greeting of "Hiya Buck! would always lead into a "Buck Benny" western sketch. Benny's show was always a haven for oddball character voices -- Rochester, Harry Baldwin, Frank Nelson, Sheldon Leonard, etc etc etc.

Nobody had much awareness of Hitchcock's voice until his TV series -- he'd made occasional radio appearances, but never had his own program. His "kidding the sponsor" schtick was lifted verbatim from what Arthur Godfrey and Henry Morgan were best known for doing, although Benny and Ed Wynn had done it on radio as far back as the early thirties.

 

[scottyrocks]

Every era will have a few distinctive voices that cry out for impersonators.

I don't keep up with the latest show biz folks these days, but from just a few years ago, Schwarzenegger and Stallone stand out as oft-imitated voices.

As in years past, there are way more blend-into-the-woodwork voices than stand-outs.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Another oft-imitated voice is Christopher Walken.

[video=youtube;pYBDHCmlXco]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYBDHCmlXco[/video]