# Proper pronunciation of actor's name: Harve Presnell
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 10, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959 "2013-12-10T05:25:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959/1 "2013-12-10T05:25:56Z")
\*\*Harve Presnell \*\*enjoyed a very commendable career as a performer on stage, television, and the big screen. I was always a little unsure about how to pronounce his name. In a couple of days I will give a presentation during which I will need to say his name. I want to get it right. Is it like this?
Harve = rhymes with “carve”
Presnell = “prez” + “knell”
If not, how _should_ it be pronounced?
Thanks all, in advance.
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2013, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959/2 "2013-12-10T10:16:17Z")
Pruh-nell. And Harv like carve. At least that is how I would Americanize the pronunciation.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2013, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959/3 "2013-12-10T12:46:05Z")
I’d say Harve (rhymes with “carve”) Pres_nell_ (stress on the second syllable), but that may not be right. The correct way to pronounce someone’s name is they way _he or she_ pronounces it.
Examples:
Edmund Halley = _Haul_ley (stress on _Haul_);
Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt = _Rose_-evelt (not _Rooze_-evelt);
Stephen Colbert = Col_bere_ (the _T_ is silent).
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### Author:  [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959/4 "2013-12-10T13:23:57Z")
> [@terentii](#):
>
> Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt = _Rose_-evelt (not _Rooze_-evelt);
Hmm, I feel inclined to pronounce it the Dutch way: rooze-felt.
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959/5 "2013-12-10T13:27:55Z")
I may be wrong, but I keep remembering him being introduced on talk shows as “Harvey Prez-nell”.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959/6 "2013-12-10T13:59:39Z")
You can hear his daughter pronounce his name [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c20jAK1GcFQ#t=150). Sounds like “Harve” that rhymes with “carve” and then “prez-nell” with fairly equal accents.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959/7 "2013-12-10T14:11:46Z")
> [@Floater](#):
>
> Hmm, I feel inclined to pronounce it the Dutch way: rooze-felt.
I pronounced it that way until my Forensics professor corrected me in my Public Speaking class.
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### Author:  [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959/8 "2013-12-10T14:16:56Z")
Thanks for all the input so far.
For those of you who want to argue/discuss the pronunciation of “Roosevelt,” may I suggest you open another thread on the subject? I’m sure you’ll get plenty of comments and you can turn it into a very lively debate. I’d like to keep this thread about Harve Presnell. Thank you.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proper-pronunciation-of-actors-name-harve-presnell/675959/9 "2013-12-10T21:24:09Z")
I’ve always heard it rhyming with “carve press nell,” with the accent on “press.”