Several names I've struggled with are...
- Franchot (-ought or -oh?) Tone
Mahlon Hamilton
Frank Borzage
Freida Inescourt
Ann Dvorak
Deborah Kerr
That quote was taken from Joe's "In the Spotlight" Over There....May 31, 2007.Miss G, when Dvorak was asked how to say her name, she told The Literary Digest: "My name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent. I have had quite a time with the name, having been called practically everything from Balzac to Bickelsrock."
"Ming"???? Well, there's one I can't work out linguistically. Was that his given name, or a nickname? I do recall some British TV show where someone called Menzies was correcting everyone who said "Men-zees," saying they should pronounce it "Men-ees." Language is a funny thing, and given names are generally the funniest part.charliechaplinfan wrote:I'd concur for the first two. It sounds ridiculous but unless TV has taken liberties with the pronunciations, that is how I believe they are pronounced.
Menzies as in the Scottish male Christian name is pronounced 'Ming' crazy isn't it. The leader of the Liberal Democrats was called Menzies Campbell, I wonder how many times he has to correct mispronunciation.