Jackie Kennedy's accent

[Anonymous]

Considered a "Continental accent" one in which no traces of region remain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it makes her sound a bit slow or high on drugs. I don't find it appealing or cultured at all.

[Anonymous]

Just read her secret service agent's, Clint Hill, book "Mrs. Kennedy and Me". I came out with a complete love of her. My Irish-Catholic, New-England mother worshiped her and it was always a bit of a joke between my husband and me.

But---man, that book blew me away. She was VERY intelligent---history, multiple languages, highly curious...hated the publicity and spent a lot of time trying to hide out. She was completely gracious and if she trusted you---you were in for life and she did anything for you.

She had a wild-streak. She was only in her early 30s after all..and did like to have a good time. Some of the trips she took to Europe during the presidency and the last birthday party she threw for her husband highlight that.

The voice is misleading.

[Anonymous]

I think the voice is somewhat contrived and what was expected of a woman of the time

[Anonymous]

Why Do People In Old Movies Talk Weird?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpv_IkO_ZBU

[Anonymous]

Fun fact: The kids playing the Von Trapp family in The Sound of Music movie were taught to speak with mid-Atlantic accents. They hired speech therapists for this, because they needed a) the kids to all sound somewhat alike, and b) pick an accent that would sound vaguely aristocratic.

You're welcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's casually referred to as "Locust Valley lockjaw" - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locust_Valley_lockjaw

Her speech is slow and deliberate on the White House tour but if you listen to the recordings of her interviews with Arthur Schlesinger (published as "Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy") you can hear what she sounded like in a more casual setting -- less deliberate, at times (but not always) less whispery, but still with an accent.

I doubt she was faking it -- she didn't have to.

I was active in theater when I went to school in Boston and they do a lot of the locked jaw enunciation exercises. I don't know anyone who talks like this everyday, but I occasionally notice bits of it slipping into presentations/talks/etc. among people who went to school in the Northeast AND were all really active in performing arts.

[Anonymous]

I don’t care how ‘posh’ or deliberate her speaking voice was, Jackie had a speech impediment & because she was the President’s wife, no one will admit to it. Nice lady, highly educated, probably the salt of the earth. But the timbor & announciation of her voice & words had a lot to be desired..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care how ‘posh’ or deliberate her speaking voice was, Jackie had a speech impediment & because she was the President’s wife, no one will admit to it. Nice lady, highly educated, probably the salt of the earth. But the timbor & announciation of her voice & words had a lot to be desired..

Five year old thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care how ‘posh’ or deliberate her speaking voice was, Jackie had a speech impediment & because she was the President’s wife, no one will admit to it. Nice lady, highly educated, probably the salt of the earth. But the timbor & announciation of her voice & words had a lot to be desired..

Timbre and enunciation. Your spelling leaves a lot to be desired.

[Anonymous]

Aka, her phone voice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the voice is somewhat contrived and what was expected of a woman of the time

Why Do People In Old Movies Talk Weird?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpv_IkO_ZBU


Yes, I've always thought little bit of both of the above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Years ago I read an article or biography that stated her breathy "little girl voice" was an affectation and her real speaking voice was much different. I'm sure anything we could find in a documentary or on YouTube would have the affectation.

The distinctive Kennedy accent is theirs alone. The pure Boston accent is much different, as is the upperclass Brahmin. As a wealthy daughter of a high-profile politician, Rose would have been taught elocution to mask anything that would make her sound "common."

Katharine Hepburn's is also atypical of what we would hear in Connecticut.

Agree with all of this. I did hear a recording once of Jackie O's voice when she was speaking more naturally, and it did sound quite different. The accent was similar, but it lost that "breathy" quality.

[Anonymous]

I know plenty of people who went to Miss Porter's in my generation and none sound like that. My cousins went to Miss Porter's.

However...I just had Thanksgiving dinner with DH's 90 year old Great Aunt and she has that same infection in her voice. Great Aunt is from DC and has the same pauses, etc. Always sounded like that, even when she was younger.

[Anonymous]

*inflection.

Great Aunt also has the same unnatural pauses and breathy quality.