You may remember him as Captain von Trapp, a role he later in life would became proud, but earlier on was rather embarrassed by the attention he gained.
Christopher Plummer, often described as a modern day Richard Burton, a tremendous actor with extensive film, television and stage experience, winning an Oscar, two Emmys and two Tonys, passed away yesterday at the age of 91.
Christopher Plummer said in a People Magazine interview in 1982: “To do a lousy part like von Trapp, you have to use every trick you know to fill the empty carcass of the role. That damn movie follows me around like an albatross”
The role of Captain von Trapp from Sound of Music propelled him to international fame that made him instantly recognizable for generations to come. The slightly stiff father of seven children, who falls in love with the governess Maria. They family flee the Nazis as they invade and occupy Austria.
But this versatile actor’s first passion was Shakespeare and loved performing it on stage. He is often remembered for his remarkable performances as Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard III and Mark Anthony. Plummer was a regular at Stratford Festival in Ontario Canada, as he was born in Canada.
Stage provided great enjoyment, Plummer can be remembered for his title role in Barrymore, a play about the life of famed actor John Barrymore, which Plummer won his second Tony award in 1997.
Barrymore was also made into a film in 2011 which starred Plummer.
Christopher Plummer it is often remarked that earlier on in his career as being a little difficult to work as he took great care to develop his craft and often didn’t take fools lightly.
An incident in 1971, as reported in the New York Times, Plummer was dismissed from the production of Coriolanus by the National Theater in London for his “crude and outrageous behavior”
But later in life the work that came Plummer’s way is what he is remembered. The somber and sexy emperor from Starcrash, a spoof of Star War, the archbishop from The Thorn Birds, Tostoy from The Last Station.
Plummer finally won an Oscar in 2012 for his performance as Hal, in the movie Beginners, a recently out gay man, who has only decided to come out following the passing of his wife. The revelation is a shock to his family but also helps define this father-son relationship. Ewan McGregor played Plummer’s son in this film and it is a beautiful story that is highly recommended.
Upon winning the Oscar, Plummer declared.
“You’re only two years older than me, darling… where have you been all my life?”
More recently Christopher Plummer replaced Kevin Spacey in the film All the Money in the World, as Spacey was cut from the film following sexual misconduct allegations. Plummer, again was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of J. Paul Getty.
Last year Plummer starred in whodunnit blockbuster Knives Out with Jamie Leigh Curtis, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans and Toni Collette.
It is reported that at the time of his death, a fall that resulted in a serious head injury, Plummer was preparing to appear in the film adaption of the famed Shakespearean play, King Lear with Christopher Plummer due to appear as Lear.
“I’m not a superstar-thank God” Plummer is reported to have said in an interview with The Times, “Christ, to be a superstar must be extremely tiring and limiting”.
Christopher Plummer the great actor of stage and screen was 91 years old.