Katharine Hepburn on Buying Furniture

[notdeadjustlazy]

I don't quite understand why american actors would care about "sounding" british to have more of an appeal when their normal accents are clear & stylish enough. Im british and have travelled to several spots in america & have never heard anybody with a Katharine Hepburn accent not even in New England or Connecticut. It sounds very strange to my ears, beautiful but strange.

[cudaclan]

The dialect & linguists is "Old Connecticut Yankee". This in no way refers to our beloved Ms. Hepburn who is ageless.

[NFitalianGuy]

Back in the days of the Studio System, They all had a sort of "Britishy" accent. You can never put your finger on what accent those actresses had/used. They ll used the term " Darling, Marvelous, rather, my dear." etc. It sounded classy and the women in old hollywood if you watch them, all walk the same way. It was all about poise, proper english etc. When the women walked down stairs they always looked str8 a head never @ their feet or stairs. bette davis, Kate hepburn and the rest were alike

[DarthCormac]

She has a powerful accent. I love the sound of it.

[QueenMab057]

Trained movie actors back in the day learned a standard "mid-atlantic" dialect, which arguably doesn't really exist. They tried to keep their voices neutral, clear and articulate.

Ms Hepburn worked tremendously hard on her voice to give it character and memorability; she doesn't really have any "accent" but instead developed her own individual way of speaking.

[Jeffin90019]

The accent is called "affected elitist Northeasterer"

[renaccio]

She went to Bryn Mawr College. People in Bryn Mawr don't talk that way. And if they do it's the old timers..and it's fake something or other even at that.

Whatever, it sounds great. One of a kind.

[Pipe61]

She was born in Connecticut and has a New England accent. It has a touch of Bryn Mawr to it as well.

[TolsmaLMC]

I don't think that kind of accent is a typical New England accent nowadays. I lived out there for about a year and a half. I think this type of accent is fading out these days...kind of like the old New York accent of FDR.

[ConcertPianist]

her and I share the same middle name and last name... and have the same accent... I think it is just the Hepburn line.

[gottamatch]

"well that's.. stupid" HAHA she is adorably, unforgivably gorgeous.

She was so ahead of her time, such a modern woman.

Thanks for posting this remarkable woman's interview on a great piece of furniture.

[TolsmaLMC]

What kind of an accent does she have?

[henrysinaga]

she has a strong and distinctive new england accent.

[ummjw]

Trans Atlantic, mostly dead now, but a classic one closly ascociated with the golden age of hollywood and affluence

[OneoftheImmortals]

She has a trained voice and I believe she talks about it in the complete interview.

James Earl Jones also has a trained voice. As a boy he had a terrible stutter.

The top British actors have trained voices as well.

[thefabulousone123]

@TolsmaLMC she has a trans-atlantic or trans-continental accent. People in tv, radio, or movies were taught to speak in that accent. The theory was that it sounds kind of like a mixture of a north american accent, and a british accent so that people on either side of the pond could understand clearly.