Obituaries
Actor and Dialect Coach Robert Easton of Toluca Lake Dies
Easton taught famous stars how to speak with different accents and dialects.
Actor and dialect coach Robert Easton, known as the "Henry Higgins of Hollywood," died of natural causes on Friday, Dec. 16, in his Toluca Lake home, according to the Los Angeles Times. Easton was 81.
Easton earned his nickname after the speech tutor in the musical My Fair Lady, as he taught some of Hollywood's most famous actors how to speak with different regional dialects and accents.
He taught Arnold Schwarzenegger how to speak with a Russian accent, according to the Times, and he also Forest Whitaker to talk like Idi Amin Dada for his Oscar-winning role in The Last King of Scotland.
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He also taught Liam Neeson, Charlton Heston, Anne Hathaway, and many other stars. He coached Robert Duvall how to talk like Confederate commander Robert E. Lee.
"They said, 'We want Virginia accents,'" Duvall told the Times. "Bob said, 'Which one? There are 12 distinct accents, from the Piedmont to the ocean.' He knew them all."
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Read more about Easton in the Times' profile, and at altfg.com
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