# Worst attempts at British accents by American actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 23, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884 "2016-02-23T16:04:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/61 "2016-02-24T17:47:03Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I’ve always carried the idea that Tony Curtis did the very worst job of any actor of any nationality with any kind of accent. I’m guessing this may stem from his work with Laurence Olivier. > > Was it Spartacus? Remember? But, there were many other films with many other horrible, terrible accents. > > Please don’t get me wrong. I really like Tony Curtis. It’s just when he tries to speak with an accent that everything seems to just go to Hell. I don’t know why. Do you know why? Can you explain it to me? I would really love to understand this. He is really just so fine in most every other way. Not **Spartacus**. With the exception of Varinia, the slaves all had American accents, the Romans all British accents. Varinia (Jean Simmons) was explained as having an accent because she was a tutor. Of course, although a slave, Tony Curtis’ character was supposed to be a scribe, as well, but he’s got that “Yondah lies da castle of my Faddah” Brooklynese. And it suits his character. Maybe you’re thinking of when Curtis is trying to put on airs in _Some Like it Hot_. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/62 "2016-02-24T18:26:16Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Not **Spartacus**. With the exception of Varinia, the slaves all had American accents, the Romans all British accents. Varinia (Jean Simmons) was explained as having an accent because she was a tutor. > > Of course, although a slave, Tony Curtis’ character was supposed to be a scribe, as well, but he’s got that “Yondah lies da castle of my Faddah” Brooklynese. And it suits his character. > Maybe you’re thinking of when Curtis is trying to put on airs in _Some Like it Hot_. I was thinking of “Yondah lies da castle of my Faddah”. You just did that to perfection! Excellent! ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/63 "2016-02-24T18:46:25Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I’ve always carried the idea that Tony Curtis did the very worst job of any actor of any nationality with any kind of accent. I’m guessing this may stem from his work with Laurence Olivier. Tbf Laurence Olivier didn’t do a good British accent. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/64 "2016-02-24T18:57:17Z")
Just a reminder that there isn’t a ‘British’ accent! 😉 Stephen Fry has an **English** accent. Craig Ferguson has a **Scottish** accent. Tom Jones has a **Welsh** accent. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/65 "2016-02-24T19:01:45Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Craig Ferguson has a **Scottish** accent. IIRC, Ferguson once said that, upon hearing James Doohan in STAR TREK, he wondered why no one was helping that Pakistani gentleman who’d obviously had a stroke. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/66 "2016-02-24T19:07:23Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > IIRC, Ferguson once said that, upon hearing James Doohan in STAR TREK, he wondered why no one was helping that Pakistani gentleman who’d obviously had a stroke. Dude. Obviously, Doohan was speaking with a _23rd century_ Scottish accent. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/67 "2016-02-24T20:07:34Z")
I don’t know why this popped into my head, but how is Scrooge McDuck’s accent? ---
**Author:** ![nicky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f0a364/32.png) [@nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicky)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/68 "2016-02-24T20:29:12Z")
Daphnes brother in Frasier. Ok the actor was australian but i blame the american makers of the show for a) not noticing his accent was shit and b) it was totally different to his sisters. As a brit i found tim roths crap accent undermined reservoir dogs. Im susprises at hugh lauries success, he just doesnt sound right to me. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/69 "2016-02-24T20:41:00Z")
> [@nicky](#): > > Daphnes brother in Frasier. > > Ok the actor was australian but i blame the american makers of the show for a) not noticing his accent was shit and b) it was totally different to his sisters. > > As a brit i found tim roths crap accent undermined reservoir dogs. > Im susprises at hugh lauries success, he just doesnt sound right to me. Daphne’s brother was played by Anthony LaPaglia who often does an American accent quite well. I used to catch a few things in Hugh Laurie’s accent in the beginning but from midpoint till the end it was pretty much flawless. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/70 "2016-02-24T23:09:12Z")
I remember seeing Seth Green doing a terrible British accent in an equally terrible movie. I think it was called _The Best Man._ ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/71 "2016-02-24T23:20:07Z")
In the case of Daphne Moon’s family, by the end there was surely the deliberate joke that none of their accents really made sense. In most cases the accents didn’t match her’s, genuine Mancunian or the actors and actresses real voices, nor was there really any overlap between any of them at all. It must have wound-up as an intentional mash-up acknowledging that there was a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/72 "2016-02-24T23:20:52Z")
> [@nicky](#): > > As a brit i found tim roths crap accent undermined reservoir dogs. > Im susprises at hugh lauries success, he just doesnt sound right to me. I’ve heard a number of Brit’s say Laurie’s accent “doesn’t sound right” but he sure does fool the Americans - maybe it’s because those Brits heard him as a Brit first, and that’s what makes it seem off? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/73 "2016-02-24T23:47:16Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’ve heard a number of Brit’s say Laurie’s accent “doesn’t sound right” but he sure does fool the Americans - maybe it’s because those Brits heard him as a Brit first, and that’s what makes it seem off? Laurie’s accent is brilliant. He not only sounds American, he sounds like he’s from what we called “non-New York New Jersey.” I think he must have been imitating a particular person. The only thing he ever did that surprised me, was correctly pronounce Ypres the way a Brit would. Now, House is very educated, so I let it go, but not many Americans are familiar with the way a Brit would pronounce this (which is to say, few Americans have ever heard the word pronounced, and I know of it only from the BBC _Testament of Youth_, which aired in the US a loooong time ago). Other than that, he even mispronounced barbiturate just the way Americans do. ETA: I heard Laurie as a Brit first, as Bertie Wooster. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/74 "2016-02-24T23:59:21Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The only thing he ever did that surprised me, was correctly pronounce Ypres the way a Brit would. Just out of curiosity, how would you expect an American to pronounce it? When I was in college in southern California, there was a campus dog named Ypres, which was pronounced to rhyme with “beeper.” ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/75 "2016-02-25T00:55:04Z")
Christopher Lambert in **Highlander** sounded a lot more French than Scottish. And Sean Connery a lot more Scottish than Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/76 "2016-02-25T01:33:07Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I remember seeing Seth Green doing a terrible British accent in an equally terrible movie. I think it was called _The Best Man._ British commenters on the Youtube clips I’ve seen say he sounds just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/77 "2016-02-25T02:01:33Z")
Dave Thomas on Arrested Development. Ok, he’s Canadian and the point was that he was a foreigner doing the accent badly. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/78 "2016-02-25T02:18:09Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Just out of curiosity, how would you expect an American to pronounce it? During WWI, I believe both Tommies and Doughboys pronounced it “Wipers.” Knowing some French, I’d say “Eep,” or maybe “Eepre.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/79 "2016-02-25T02:21:02Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > I don’t know why this popped into my head, but how is Scrooge McDuck’s accent? Depends. In at least some cartoons, I believe he speaks with a Scottish accent. I’ve also heard that in others, he sounds like Donald. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/80 "2016-02-25T02:25:45Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Dude. Obviously, Doohan was speaking with a _23rd century_ Scottish accent. FWIW, I read somewhere that Doohan based his Scottish accent on that of a bunkmate on his trans-Atlantic troopship who came from Aberdeen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884.md?page=5)