Famous accents from the past

[Creoda]

Compile accents of celebrities that are interesting or don't seem to exist anymore.

John F. Kennedy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtLTmg2vCzY

Katherine Hepburn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_iooSis7bk

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOwLvNpKtRY

Teddy Roosevelt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFc-l_-T7Xo

Ian Paisley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2tRsE87vVU

Virginia Woolf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8czs8v6PuI

John Curtin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvo1flMnsXw

Sir Oswald Mosley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItM7nhP1pqw

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

There's a YouTube channel called "Life in the 1800s" with various interviews with people who were born in that era. It might also be of interest to you. That is if you can discern whether an accent has ceased to exist or not. As English is not my native language, it is more difficult for me to perceive the nuances and differences between various similar accents.

[Graham]

Arthur Conan Doyle's accent sounds Morningside Edinburgh and English mixed. Bit like some of the unionist politicians today.

[Creoda]

Aldous Huxley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCOGFSwrGNc

Ayn Rand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uHSv1asFvU

John Logie Baird

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuXhV78z0ck

Jimmy Stewart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5mcU74rHGM

[Creoda]

Sylvia Plath

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2lMsVpRh5c&t=71s

William Luther Pierce

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nXNckv-6xQ

Telly Savalas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axdkv0_kJZQ

[Daco Celtic]

Some obvious American examples. John Facenda has the most peculiar one being an Italian-American from Philadelphia who was never formally schooled in the Trans-Atlantic accent.

Gore Vidal

https://youtu.be/Ax5agwHo-Gw?si=pkzfV_CDoRyxE5DQ

George Plimpton

https://youtu.be/aYLly625cXE?si=m5MEyFzSOXiiveeL

William F. Buckley (could almost include Johnny Carson as an old midwestern accent)

https://youtu.be/TIrQn3Tjrb4?si=EXaLMp8Bqdg99TDq

Orson Welles

https://youtu.be/9NTOSevzp4w?si=yFTeKF28WmqpimmE

John Facenda

https://youtu.be/LyinyctgHOI?si=JafNXlbnKMjODdFC

[Creoda]

Shelby Foote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8Iw-j217yk

Bill Bryson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jupcJfqz_O0

Barry Humphries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNtwdGkCB1M

[Creoda]

Some of the oldest voice recordings in existence, of two famous Victorians:

Sir Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert & Sullivan (6:21), with an introduction from George Gouraud, an American Civil War veteran from NY, in 1888

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_-xQ_UtVhs

Florence Nightingale, 1890

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax3B4gRQNU4

[Creoda]

Famous Australians & New Zealanders from the past

Sir Edmund Hillary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBUYfhv2Rp8
To my ears New Zealanders used to sound a lot more like their Australian contemporaries, the accents have diverged considerably in recent decades

Charles Kingsford Smith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZzod_RZfYk

Nancy Bird Walton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVR35z9-bbs

Weary Dunlop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCgpK052CA4

Percy Grainger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkYWlCZT7HA

Chips Rafferty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnM5kLUBq6w

Jean Batten (NZ)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4bz-MVwY6k

Nellie Melba

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCqGFUTfY8M

Ernest Rutherford (NZ)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBHD8ksx_Sg&t=163s

[Creoda]

John McCormack, the most famous pre-war Irish singer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOY1SG7bjKk

[Creoda]

Lloyd George, PM from Wales

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXmlcGWdNs8

Joseph Lyons, PM from Tasmania

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXJ164Jhjfg

Bertrand Russell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TK9c-caEcw

[Sarmale]

The famous Trans-Atlantic accent of mid 20th century Hollywood (think Cary Grant for example) was contrived and not really naturally occurring.

[Creoda]

The famous Trans-Atlantic accent of mid 20th century Hollywood (think Cary Grant for example) was contrived and not really naturally occurring.
Yes, but many natural American (especially Northeastern) accents were closer to British accents in the past, and I've posted some.

[Creoda]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxH2BRFVlBQ&t=5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvR_6ny578g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeW4dkgEcOc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCeBS5NQntE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q32d6RdDfoQ

[Creoda]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik5BE5yMn4A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlePigmyQY4