Connie Booth's Accent
I'm American and I was just wondering what you folks in the UK think of Connie's British accent in the show. Do you find it convincing?
shareI'm English...I never thought Connie Booth was trying to sound English in Fawlty Towers. I thought she just had a mild American or Canadian accent (having lived in the UK for a while).
shareI'm American-born, resettled in New Zealand aged 5 and I can remember trying to sound Kiwi at school so I would fit in and American at home so I wouldn't be ridiculed by my elder sisters for "turning into a Noozealander". In the episode where the doctor (played by Geoffrey...?) certifies the death of the guest overnight, and has to cook his own sausages, he calls them "sossages" -- while Connie Booth calls them "sauce-ages", exaggerating the English accent and taking it to a place the English themselves never do -- unless they're really up themselves, trying to impress royalty. I can relate to this when I used to, as a kid, say "circum-stahnces" for example, lengthening the "a" instead of plain "circumstances" with a flat vowel sound.
shareNever mind her accent, what about her figure?? She looked fantastic while trying on Polly's designer dress in the Wedding Party.
John Cleese was so lucky to have been married to Connie Booth in the 1970s - She can talk with any accent she likes as far as I'm concerned!
But yes I do agree with all of the posters who correctly state that Polly was meant to be a young American girl who just happened to have spent some time studying and working in England/Europe, hence her mid-Atlantic accent.
"Stop listening to music made by poofs - Stick on some Elton John".
For me as student of English Polly always sounded very Mid-Atlantic accent, like a mix of both accents. I'm guessing that character was meant to be British but Connie couldn't sound all that British yet, so she slips up sometimes.
The actress is born and raised in U.S but moved to Britain at a young age so there is British features in her accent but American accent is still recognizable.
Kind of similar to how some British actors sounds American when moving to U.S but their English accent is still very much there.
Connie Booth does a better British accent than Bruce Boa(Mr. Hamilton in the episode, WALDORF SALAD) does a American accent. That was so painful, it hurt my feelings.
Whom the Gods destroy, they first made mad.