Farewell to a Canadian legend
Stage and screen star maintained close ties to birthplace throughout his long career. Obituary,
Christopher Plummer, the Oscar-winning acting legend whose storied career encompassed stage, television and film, and who was, perhaps, best-known for portraying Capt. Georg von Trapp in “The Sound of Music,” has died.
Throughout his glittering international career spanning six decades, the Canadian-born icon maintained his deep ties with Ontario’s Stratford Festival, where he first played Henry V in 1956, a role he would cherish as one of his most rewarding.
Plummer died peacefully at his home in Connecticut after suffering a fall two weeks ago, said his wife, Elaine Plummer. He was 91.
The actor went through a particularly fertile creative period in his golden years, receiving his first Academy Award at the age 82 for his heartwarming supporting turn as a widower who embraces his homosexuality in “Beginners.” The trophy made him the oldest Oscar winner in an acting category.
“You’re only two years older than me darling; where have you been all my life?” Plummer said as he accepted the statuette to rapturous applause in 2012.
The Oscar came just two years after Plummer received his first Academy Award nomination for playing Russian writer Leo Tolstoy in “The Last Station.”
He also received a nomination in the supporting actor category in 2018 for “All the Money In the World,” a mere month after he’d replaced Kevin Spacey as billionaire J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott’s biographical drama. Spacey was abruptly cut from the film in the wake of allegations of sexual assault.
The circumstances of “All the Money in the World” made Plummer a social media sensation, as fans heralded him for stepping in to play the role at the last minute. Plummer was also trending on Twitter when he turned 90 at the end of 2019 and appeared on the quiz show “Jeopardy!” shortly thereafter.
His longevity was no surprise, said Toronto director Atom Egoyan in an interview with the Star. Plummer was endlessly curious and enthusiastic — and crucially, says Egoyan, never took himself too seriously. While his sense of fun occasionally landed him in trouble, it also furnished him with an impressive agility throughout his career.
“He was just engaged and loved what he was doing,” Egoyan said.
Christopher Orme Plummer was born in Toronto in 1929 into a notable family.
His great-grandfather on his mother’s side was Prime Minister John Abbott. His parents divorced when he was a baby and Plummer was raised by his mother’s family in Montreal.
In his 2008 autobiography, “In Spite of Myself,” he wrote that his first memory was of a “dear slobbering old Airedale” who was “christened after another shaggy old Airedale, Field Marshal Lord Byng of Vimy, whom my grandparents had known when he was governor general.” Plummer’s upbringing in Montreal was culturally rich. He became acquainted with the theatre and ballet, and one of his school classmates was Oscar Peterson, who went on to become a Canadian jazz legend.
Pummer developed a love of classic literature through childhood reading sessions with his family.
He acted with the Montreal Repertory Theatre and made his professional debut in 1948 with Ottawa’s Stage Society, which later became the Canadian Repertory Theatre. He also worked at the CBC, in radio and television.
By his early 20s, Plummer was already touring the U.S. in plays. His Broadway debut came in 1954’s “The Starcross Story.” That was promptly followed by his film debut, in Sidney Lumet’s “Stage Struck.”
Plummer took on his first role at Ontario’s Stratford Festival in 1956, playing Henry V. He would later credit then-artistic director Michael Langham for instilling in him a strong sense of discipline and technique, setting up a lifelong connection with the festival.
It was in 1965, with the release of “The Sound of Music,” that Plummer would become forever known to moviegoers as a crusty Austrian widower whose frosty heart is melted by a young nun-turned-governess hired to care for his children.
The film has become a classic, but Plummer expressed disdain for the production, calling it “The Sound of Mucus.”
He was careful to add, however, that he had “terrific memories” of making the movie, and forged a lifelong friendship with co-star Julie Andrews. (He once said that working with her was like “getting hit over the head with a Valentine.”) He spoke at a memorial for “Sound of Music” director Robert Wise.
He continued to do strong and varied work throughout the 1970s, appearing in “The Return of the Pink Panther” and “The Man Who Would Be King,” and playing Sherlock Holmes in “Murder by Decree.”
Plummer worked steadily in the 1990s, in films such as “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” and “Dolores Claiborne.”
In 1999, he was lavished with critical praise for portraying journalist Mike Wallace in Michael Mann’s “The Insider,” alongside Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.
He was married three times. His first marriage in the 1950s, to actress Tammy Grimes, produced a daughter, Amanda, an accomplished actor whose film credits include “Pulp Fiction.” He married and divorced again in the 1960s; his second wife was journalist Patricia Lewis. Plummer married danc- er/actress Elaine Regina Taylor in 1970.
Splitting his time between Palm Beach, Fla., and Connecticut, he never forgot his Canadian roots.
In a statement Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remembered the actor and Order of Canada recipient for his “gravitas, dignity, and heart.”
“Mr. Plummer was a timeless actor who entertained millions around the world and inspired many to pursue the arts. A true gentleman and a consummate professional, his presence both on and off the stage will be thoroughly missed. On behalf of all Canadians, I extend my deepest condolences to his family, his friends, and his many fans.”
In 2002, Plummer appeared in Egoyan’s critically acclaimed film “Ararat” as an aging customs inspector. While his natural charm and gravitas may have lent themselves to performances as “a count, or a king, or a dashing philanderer,” Plummer relished playing precisely the opposite.
“He was drawn to this idea of playing a regular man,” said Egoyan.
The actor’s love of stage, where he was revered for his magnetic and seemingly effortless performances, will be commemorated by the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto on Saturday. The venue will dim its marquee lights at 8 p.m., the time its curtain would rise. Plummer returned to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival several times. In 2008, he played the lead role in Bernard Shaw’s “Caesar and Cleopatra.”
Executive director, Anita Gaffney, said the festival remained a “north star” for the actor throughout his career.
“Christopher enriched the Stratford Festival in so many ways,” Gaffney said.
“As he garnered such success in his life, he was coming back to the festival to help us to draw attention to our work. And I really appreciated his generosity and (his) spending time in Stratford, because he didn’t need to do that.”
For all of his success, the onset nerves never went away, Plummer admitted.
“I usually walk on terrified that I’m going to not make it through the first take,” he told The Canadian Press in January 2020.
“Without jitters, you’re no good. You’d be terrible. They supply all sorts of different colours.”