George Plimpton

At 76 years old, George Plimpton has this physical status:

George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman.

He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review, as well as his patrician demeanor and accent.

He was also famous for "participatory journalism" which included competing in professional sporting events, acting in a Western, performing a comedy act at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and playing with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and then recording the experience from the point of view of an amateur.

Early life

Plimpton was born in New York City on March 18, 1927, and spent his childhood there, attending St. Bernard's School and growing up in an apartment duplex on Manhattan's Upper East Side located at 1165 Fifth Avenue. During the summers, he lived in the hamlet of West Hills, Huntington, Suffolk County on Long Island.

He was the son of Francis T. P. Plimpton and the grandson of Frances Taylor Pearsons and George Arthur Plimpton. His father was a successful corporate lawyer and partner of the law firm Debevoise and Plimpton; he was appointed by President John F. Kennedy as U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, serving from 1961 to 1965.

His mother was Pauline Ames, the daughter of botanist Oakes Ames (1874-1950) and artist Blanche Ames. Both of Plimpton's maternal grandparents were born with the surname Ames; his mother was the granddaughter of Medal of Honor recipient Adelbert Ames (1835-1933), an American sailor, soldier, and politician, and Oliver Ames, a US political figure and the 35th Governor of Massachusetts (1887–1890). She was also the great-granddaughter on her father's side of Oakes Ames (1804–1873), an industrialist and congressman who was implicated in the Crédit Mobilier railroad scandal of 1872; and Governor-General of New Orleans Benjamin Franklin Butler, an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts.

Plimpton's son described him as a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant and wrote that both of Plimpton's parents were descended from Mayflower passengers.

George had three siblings: Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton Jr., Oakes Ames Plimpton, and Sarah Gay Plimpton.

Education

After St. Bernard's School, Plimpton attended Phillips Exeter Academy (from which he was expelled just shy of graduation), and Daytona Beach High School, where he received his high school diploma, before entering Harvard College in July 1944. He wrote for the Harvard Lampoon, was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club, Pi Eta, the Signet Society, and the Porcellian Club. He majored in English. Plimpton entered Harvard as a member of the Class of 1948, but did not graduate until 1950 due to intervening military service. He was also an accomplished birdwatcher.

Plimpton's studies at Harvard were interrupted by military service from 1945 to 1948, during which time he served in Italy as an Army tank driver. After finishing at Harvard in 1950, he attended King's College, Cambridge, from 1950 to 1952, and graduated with third class honors in English.

Personal life

Plimpton was known for his distinctive accent which, by Plimpton's own admission, was often mistaken for an English accent. Plimpton himself described it as a "New England cosmopolitan accent" or "Eastern seaboard cosmopolitan" accent. His son, Taylor, described it as a mixture of "old New England, old New York, tinged with a hint of King's College King's English."

Plimpton was married twice. His first wife, whom he married in 1968 and divorced in 1988, was Freddy Medora Espy, a photographer's assistant. She was the daughter of writers Willard R. Espy and Hilda S. Cole, who had, earlier in her career, been a publicity agent for Kate Smith and Fred Waring. They had two children: Medora Ames Plimpton and Taylor Ames Plimpton, who has published a memoir entitled Notes from the Night: A Life After Dark.

In 1992, Plimpton married Sarah Whitehead Dudley, a graduate of Columbia University and a freelance writer. She is the daughter of James Chittenden Dudley, a managing partner of Manhattan-based investment firm Dudley and Company, and geologist Elisabeth Claypool. The Dudleys established the 36-acre (15 ha) Highstead Arboretum in Redding, Connecticut. Plimpton and Dudley were the parents of twin daughters Laura Dudley Plimpton and Olivia Hartley Plimpton.

At Harvard, Plimpton was a classmate and close personal friend of Robert F. Kennedy. Plimpton, along with former decathlete Rafer Johnson and American football star Rosey Grier, was credited with helping wrestle Sirhan Sirhan to the floor when Kennedy was assassinated following his victory in the 1968 California Democratic primary at the former Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Kennedy died the next day at Good Samaritan Hospital.

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Career

Plimpton founded The Paris Review in 1953, founding by Peter Matthiessen, Thomas H. Guinzburg, and Harold L. "Doc" Humes, becoming the country's first editor in chief. This periodical has a reputation in literature, but it has never been financially sound; in its first half-century, it was allegedly funded in large part by its publishers and Plimpton. Peter Matthiessen took the magazine over from Humes and fired him as editor, replacing him with Plimpton, which served as his cover for Matthiessen's CIA operations. Jean Stein was Jean Stein's co-editor. Plimpton was associated with the literary magazine in Montpellier, which eventually closed because the State Department withdrew its funds. Future Poet Laureate Donald Hall, who had attended Plimpton at Exeter, was the Poetry Editor. Author and screenplay writer Terry Southern, who was living in Paris at the time and formed a lifelong friendship with Plimpton, alongside writer Alexander Trocchi and future classical and jazz pioneer David Amram, was one of the magazine's most notable finds.

Plimpton was known for competing in professional sporting tournaments and then capturing the experience from the viewpoint of an amateur. Plimpton pitched against the National League in 1958, prior to a post-season exhibition game at Yankee Stadium between teams coached by Willie Mays (National League) and Mickey Mantle (American League). In the book Out of My League, his life was chronicled. (He meant to face both lines up, but he was drained and was relieved by Ralph Houk.) When Plimpton is on duty for Sports Illustrated, they were disqualified for three rounds with boxing heros Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson.

Plimpton played in 1963 as a backup quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League, and he played a few plays in an intrasquad scrimmage. These events were recalled in his best-known book Paper Lion, which was later turned into the 1968 feature film starring Alan Alda. In 1971, Plimpton returned to football, this time with the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts and seeing action against his former team, the Lions. These experiences inspired another football book, Mad Ducks and Bears, but the bulk of the book dealt with Alex Karras ("Mad Duck") and John Gordy ("Bear"), although much of the book dealt with the off-field adventures and observations of football friends Alex Karras ("Mad Duck") and John Gordy ("Bear"). Open Net, another sports book, saw him train as an ice hockey goalie with the Boston Bruins and even participate in a National Hockey League preseason game.

The Bogey Man from Plimpton chronicles his struggle to play pro golf on the PGA Tour in the 1960s, particularly during the Nicklaus and Palmer periods. He attempted to play top-level bridge and spent some time as a high-wire circus performer, among other Sports Illustrated's challenges. On the ABC television network, several of these performances, such as his stint with the Colts and an attempt at stand-up comedy, were shown as a series of specials.

Plimpton appeared in Ken Burns' Baseball series in 1994, in which he shared some of his personal baseball experiences as well as other memorable events throughout history.

Plimpton prank a widely circulated April Fools' Day in the Sports Illustrated issue from 1985. Plimpton wrote a convincing account of a new unknown pitcher in the Mets spring training camp named Siddhartha Finch, who threw a baseball over 160 mph, was a practicing Buddhist with a largely unknown background. The prank was so popular that many readers believed the tale, and the joke's increasing success resulted in Plimpton's writing a whole book on Finch.

Plimpton edited Edie: An American Biography with Jean Stein in 1982, a friend of the New England Sedgwick family. On the Ciao, he was also featured in a film about Edie Sedgwick. Manhattan DVD. Andy Warhol's appearance in the PBS American Masters documentary on him appeared. Plimpton appeared in the closing credits of Factory Girl, a 2006 film. Plimpton wrote the libretto to a new opera, Animal Tales, commissioned by Family Opera Initiative, with music by Kitty Brazelton directed by Grethe Barrett Holby between 2000 and 2003. "I believe there is a lesson to be learned for the youth or the young at heart," he said.

Plimpton has appeared in a number of feature films as an extra and in cameo appearances. He appeared in the Oscar-winning film Good Will Hunting as a psychologist. In Volunteers, Plimpton played Tom Hanks' antagonistic father. He was also known for his appearance in television commercials in the early 1980s, including a memorable campaign for Mattel's Intellivision. Plimpton praised Intellivision's graphics and sounds over the Atari 2600 in this campaign.

He hosted the Mousepiece Theatre on the Disney Channel (a Masterpiece Theatre parody that included Disney cartoon shorts). "I'm Spelling as Fast As I Can" episode of The Simpsons, he hosts the "Spellympics" and threatens to bribe Lisa Simpson to forfeit with the promise of a scholarship to Seven Sisters College and a hot plate; "it's perfect for soup." On the NBC series ER, he appeared as the grandfather of Dr. Carter. In addition, he appeared in an episode of the NBC sitcom Wings.

Plimpton appeared in The Tightrope Dancer, a 1989 film that showcased Vali Myers' life and work. He was one of her early supporters and had written an article about her involvement in The Paris Review. "Me?" the actor appeared in the 1996 documentary "When We Were Kings about the "Rumble in the Jungle" derogating Muhammad Ali as a poet who wrote the world's shortest poem.

Whee!!"

Plimpton was a member of the A&E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (1901–02).

In 2013, the documentary Plimpton!

George Plimpton as Himself was released, directed by Tom Bean and Luke Poling. A posthumous narration was created using archived audio and video of Plimpton lecturing and reading.

Plimpton, a demolitions specialist in the postwar I Army, was a post-World War II Army demolitions specialist. He used to fire at his evening parties after returning to New York from Paris.

His enthusiasm for fireworks soared, and he was appointed Fireworks Commissioner of New York by Mayor John Lindsay, an unofficial position he held until his death.

Fireworks by Grucci, a 1950s firework company in Bellport, Plimpton, tried to smash the world's largest firework record. His firework, a Roman candle named "Fat Man," weighed 720 pounds (330 kg) and was forecast to climb to 1,000 feet (300 m) or more and produce a large starburst. When ignited, the firework exploded on the ground and exploded, resulting in the explosion of a 35-foot (11 m) wide and 10 feet (3.0 m) deep crater. In Titusville, Florida, a later attempt, fired at Cape Canaveral, soaring about 50 feet (15 m) into the air and cracked 700 windows.

Plimpton, Felix Grucci, appeared in the 16th International Fireworks Festival in Monte Carlo in 1979. Plimpton and Grucci became the first competitors from the United States to win the competition after several difficulties with transporting and preparing the fireworks. Plimpton wrote Fireworks and later hosted an A&E Home Video of his many fireworks adventures with the Gruccis of New York in Monte Carlo and the 1983 Brooklyn Bridge Centennial.

A cleaning lady on her hands and knees scrubbing an office floor in The New Yorker by Whitney Darrow Jr. on November 6, 1971, while another one says, "I'd like to see George Plimpton do this sometime." In another cartoon in The New Yorker, a patient stares at the masked surgeon who is about to do surgery on him and says, "Wait a minute!" How can I tell you that you are not George Plimpton? He was focusing on "Some Really Dangerous Jobs for George Plimpton," a Mad documentary about him swimming across Lake Erie, strolling around New York's Times Square in the middle of the night, and spending a week with Jerry Lewis.

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