Quote of the Day (John Travolta, on His Irish Ancestry and Talent for Mimicry)

“I’m half-Irish. My mother was Irish. Deadly with imitations. Loved mimicking people. And we all grew up with this fine art of how-well-could-you-get-someone-down.”—Oscar-nominated American actor John Travolta quoted in Steve Daly, “Face to Face in ‘'Face/Off,’'' Entertainment Weekly, June 20, 1997

What Travolta (like yours truly, a product of Englewood, NJ) is talking about, in a sense, is his uncanny “ear” for how people talk. While acting is the obvious vehicle for this talent, others of Irish descent channeled that into writing instead:  John O’Hara, George V. Higgins, and James Joyce.

(The image accompanying this post shows Travolta in the movie Primary Colors, in which he played Jack Clayton, a Presidential candidate with a Southern accent and a smooth way with words—surely not like anyone the American people have ever encountered, right?)