Leslie Phillips 1924-2022. Whatever happened to his Tottenham accent?
The actor Leslie Phillips died this week at 98. He was born in Tottenham but did not have the accent. His Wiki entry reveals why
After his father’s death, Phillips was sent to the Italia Conti Academy at his mother’s insistence.[7] There, he attended drama, dance and notably elocution to lose his cockney accent; at the time, a regional accent was considered an impediment to an aspiring actor. Phillips took time to refine his Received Pronunciation accent, and later declared that “the biggest elocution lessons came from mixing with people who sounded right, people in theatrical circles and in the officers’ mess during the war.” He left school at 14 in 1938
A survey by the Sutton Trust has revealed that even in 2022 some regional accents are not well received. It might be reflected that Leslie Phillips acting career might have been rather different had he retained his Tottenham accent..
Leave a Reply