Long John Silver
English actor Robert Newton is the "patron saint" of Talk Like a Pirate Day. He portrayed pirates in several films, most notably Long John Silver in both the 1950 Disney film "Treasure Island" and the 1954 Australian film "Long John Silver", and the title character in the 1952 film "Blackbeard the Pirate". Newton was born in Dorset and educated in Cornwall, and it was his native West Country dialect, which he used in his portrayal of Long John Silver and Blackbeard, that some contend is the origin of the standard "pirate accent". This was parodied in the 1950s and 1960s by British comedian Tony Hancock.