[HPFGU-Movie] Timothy Spall

[GulPlum]

At 14:17 19/02/03 , Monica Coyne wrote:
>Not sure if this has been posted before but the BBC has a bit of
>information about Timothy Spall on their web site.  There are a couple
>clips from interviews he did about the BBC drama Auf Weidersehen Pet and
>a link to their information about him.  Might be worth a look if you
>want to hear his real voice.
>
>http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/pet/barry.shtml

A very timely post, Monica. :-)

I owe both Tim and everyone here apologies for some serious misinformation. 
I've just come back from lunch with a friend (also an HP fan) at the local 
university. As it happens, they have a very good media/arts library and we 
did some research (it's good to have friends in high places). :-)

It seems that I have fallen into a trap I thought was well beyond me. He's 
played so many Midlanders in the past that I simply assumed that his 
Brummie accent was his natural one. As the interviews above (and what I 
have read) have borne out, it's 100% fake - he has never lived in the area! 
As a Brummie myself, I am doubly impressed. I hear the accent all around me 
on a daily basis and I would have thought that I could tell a fake a mile off.

My (virtual) hat is doffed in Tim's direction!

My comments about his size remain valid, though; apart from his roundness, 
I'd estimate him at around 6'1" tall. :-)

And while I'm here, in reply to Anne, who asked  on a related issue:

>Brummie means "someone from the English Midlands"? Is it an
>abbreviation of something? I know Oxonians are from Oxford, and
>Mancunians are from Manchester, and Liverpudlians are from Liverpool,
>but I have no idea about Brummies.

A Brummie is someone from (or, as an adjective, anything related to) 
Birmingham, the region's largest city (and second largest in the UK after 
London) which is commonly referred to as Brum - the city's original name 
when it was nothing but a tiny hamlet beyond the mists of time was 
Brummagem. It happens to be my home town and current residence, so I could 
gush on, but I don't want to bore you all. :-)

(BTW, the word "brummagem" exists in its own right as an adjective and the 
OED offers the following synonyms: "Tastelessly showy: chintzy, flashy, 
garish, gaudy, glaring, loud, meretricious, tawdry". Nobody could possibly 
say that any of those apply to Birmingham, which has always had the 
reputation of being grey and dirty.  The reputation is eminently deserved, 
but the city is finally trying to do something to liven the place up a 
bit.) :-)

--
GulPlum AKA Richard, who is feeling particularly sheepish about jumping to 
conclusions about Tim's accent.