The mother's voice

[bliss]

Mrs. Anderson had this proper British accent that made her stand out from the other TV housewives back then.

[Cincy Guy]

Jane Wyatt was basically a New York/New Jersey lady although it is reported she had some British ancestry on her father's side. In quickly thinking about it, the closest accent-wise that I can think of in a sitcom would be Lee Patrick who played "Henrietta" (the wife) in the Topper series. She, too, was from the New York area.

[Wawwie]

Margaret Anderson did not sound British to me. Her way of speaking did sound proper though.

[comedyfreak]

I liked the way she would pronounce girls, she did seem very proper.

[missy's pop pop]

Jane Wyatt always enunciated everything crisply and clearly. She would have made a wonderful English teacher (but of course Eve Arden had that profession sewn up as "Our Miss Brooks").

Perhaps the best example of a British-sounding actress in a '50s sitcom was Hillary Brooke (of Astoria, Queens) as Roberta Townsend on "My Little Margie."

[Cloud9 Lorraine]

I never could figure out her accent, but it is noticeable. It certainly isn't a New York or New Jersey accent. I thought perhaps Boston. I never considered British, although why would she have a British accent, being from NJ.

[Wawwie]

Originally Posted by bliss

Mrs. Anderson had this proper British accent that made her stand out from the other TV housewives back then.

You might need your hearing checked. Mrs. Anderson did not sound British at all.

[CanICallYouDad]

One of her ancestors, Rufus King, was a signatory to the United States Constitution, a U.S. Senator and ambassador, and the Federalist candidate in the 1816 United States presidential election. Wyatt was a descendant, on her father's side, of British Royal Navy Captain Christopher Billopp, as well as a distant cousin of Eleanor Roosevelt and the poet Harry Crosby, through their shared descent from Philip Livingston, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.[2]

[PhoenixAcres]

When I first started watching this show I thought she had a British accent and it always confused me. I guess it's actually a mild accent I'm just not familiar with.

[stevea]

She was originally from northern New Jersey, raised in Manhattan. Not pronouncing "r's" is typical of New York, but as other posters noted, it is definitely refined. It definitely is not Springfield, somewhere-in-the-midwest.

[MichaelMartinD]

It was an upper class "transatlantic" accent.

[stevea]

Springfield is supposedly a midwestern town--one thing is for sure, her accent is definitely not midwest.

[stevea]

I had two posts in this thread, and I don't remember it. Some of the old posts are very interesting, particularly about her ancestry. Yet she still was willing to don a bandana and tear the living room apart for cleaning.

[PracTz]

Originally Posted by stevea

I had two posts in this thread, and I don't remember it. Some of the old posts are very interesting, particularly about her ancestry. Yet she still was willing to don a bandana and tear the living room apart for cleaning.

Which is MORE than June Cleaver was seen doing! At most, she might have worn a frilly apron when doing housework but she didn't wear anything to protect her pristine hairdo.

Oh, BTW, Miss Wyatt was born in New Jersey back in 1910 (and would live to 96) and she had a patrician accent not dissimilar to a New England one- and Wyatt was her actual original surname (unlike President Reagan's onetime wife Jane Wyman who was born Sarah Jane Mayfield in Missouri but used her 1st ex's surname the rest of her life). However, she would later cheerfully admit that while she was a dedicated wife and mother to her family ( she and her investment banker husband named Edgar Ward would have three children and stay married almost 65 years to his death), she told her husband flat out at beginning that he'd have to hire someone ELSE to do the housework!

BTW, I recall one interview with Jane Wyman in later years in which they heralded her arrival on set with the theme of the original 'Lost Horizon' - the 1937 movie that had featured Jane WYATT! Miss Wyman was cordial enough not to call that show's host or producers on the rather glaring error and was perfectly charming during the entire interview. By no means the first or last time these two performers would get confused with each other!

[CanICallYouDad]

Originally Posted by stevea

I had two posts in this thread, and I don't remember it. Some of the old posts are very interesting, particularly about her ancestry. Yet she still was willing to don a bandana and tear the living room apart for cleaning.

And the size of that vacuum she totes around. My Gosh!