why did actors in old black and white tv shows and movies talk funny and when did that end?
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The “Mid-Atlantic Accent,” so called because it contained traits from both American and English upper-class accents, was popular because it was seen as the fancy hoity-toity accent. It’s what was taught to students in private schools, professional orators, and classically trained theater actors. And since it was popular in theater, it carried over into radio, film, and television. Another incidental reason that it was popular was that it sounded very crisp and clear on the recording and broadcast equipment of the time, which had limited dynamic range and poor audio quality.
It declined after World War II, largely because fancy schools stopped teaching it. East coast old money WASPs were no longer the sole tastemakers of America, and it was no longer trendy to imitate them, and it lost value as a social signifier.
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