So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye to one of Hollywood’s finest
SOUND OF MUSIC star, Christopher Plummer, was not only one of the Hollywood’s finest actors but also one of its grumpiest.
Following his death last week, many tributes were paid to his career that saw him become one of the industry’s leading men.
Despite his most famous role playing singing anti-Nazi Captain von
Trapp alongside Julie Andrews, making him a household name, it was a movie he despised.
Plummer always refused to refer to his most famous film by its real title. To him, it was The Sound Of Mucus, or S&M — a reference to sado-masochism.
Devoting a brief chapter of his autobiography to the five-time Oscar-winning movie, he opened with a quote: “Watching The Sound Of Music is like being beaten to death by a Hallmark card.”
Plummer, who was 91 when he died, said of it: “That sentimental stuff is the most difficult for me to play, especially because
I’m trained vocally and physically for Shakespeare.
“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.”
His opinion of the film mellowed with age, and he relented he was “grateful to the film in many ways because it was such a success,” adding” I’ve made my peace with it.”
Plummer was no different to many stars who dislike the very thing that made them famous.
But thanks to the movie, millions got to see what a truly great actor he was.