by Conan Simmons – February 5, 2021 – 2:26 pm
The constantly working actor Christopher Plummer, known for his roles in ‘The Sound of Music’, ‘The Insider’ and ‘Knives Out’, has passed away at his home in Connecticut today, February 5, 2021.
Born December 13, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario Christopher Plummer became a successful stage actor appearing on Broadway and the West End often in Shakespearian roles. He began appearing on television in the 1950’s in series such as ‘Suspense’, ‘Kraft Theatre’ and ‘General Electric Theater’. His feature film debut came in 1958’s ‘Stage Struck’.
He started getting more film work in the 1960’s with a notable role in the 1964 historical epic, ‘The Fall of the Roman Empire’ before taking on his best known role as the patriarch of the Von Trapp family in the classic 1965 musical ‘The Sound of Music’. Other film roles followed including ‘Inside Daisy Clover’ (1965), ‘The Night of the Generals’ (1967), ‘Battle of Britain’ (1969) and ‘The Royal Hunt for the Sun’ (1969).
In the 1970’s Christopher Plummer took on roles in a variety of projects, from playing the Duke of Wellington in 1970’s ‘Waterloo’ to the 1975 comedy ‘The Return of the Pink Panther’. In 1975 he played two famous historical characters, the Archduke Ferdinand in ‘The Assassination at Sarajevo’ and the famed author Rudyard Kipling in ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ directed by John Huston and starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine.
Christopher Plummer won his first of two Emmy awards in 1976 for Best Lead Actor in a Limited Series for ‘The Moneychangers’. He finished the 1970’s continuing taking on character roles from the bank robbing Santa Claus in 1978’s ‘The Silent Partner’, the evil galactic villain in 1978’s ‘Starcrash’ and as Sherlock Holmes in 1979’s ‘Murder by Decree’.
The 1980’s kept Christopher Plummer busy on television and the stage. He did make a few feature films of note, with voice acting for Steven Spielberg’s animated production ‘An American Tail’ in 1986 and as a vampire hunter in 1988’s ‘Nosferatu in Venice’ starring Klaus Kinski reprising his role for this sequel to the 1979 remake.
Plummer stayed busy in the 1990’s with roles in ‘Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country’ and 1992’s Spike Lee joint ‘Malcolm X’ starring Denzel Washington as the Civil Rights leader.
In 1994 Plummer won his second Emmy award, this time for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in ‘The New Adventures of Madeline’. That same year he appeared in the feature horror film ‘Wolf’ starring Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer. Continuing with genre roles he appeared in 1995’s Terry Gilliam directed sci-fi ’12 Monkeys’ starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, as well as the Stephen King adaptation ‘Dolores Claiborne’.
Playing notable television journalist Mike Wallace in 1999’s ‘The Insider’ opposite Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, Plummer followed it up the following year with another turn as a vampire hunter, this time playing Van Helsing in ‘Dracula 2000’.
Christopher Plummer reteamed with Russell Crowe for the 2001 Best Picture Oscar winner, ‘A Beautiful Mind’. He continued with roles in highly acclaimed films of that decade including ‘National Treasure’ (2004), ‘Alexander’ (2004), ‘Syriana’ (2005), ‘The New World’ (2005) and another Spike Lee joint, ‘The Inside Man’ (2006).
2009 brought Christopher Plummer his first Oscar nomination after more than 50 years on the screen. He earned the nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Leo Tolstoy in ‘The Last Station’. That same year he voiced the lead character in the highly popular animated Pixar hit, ‘Up’ and starred as the eponymous character in Terry Gilliam’s ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’ opposite Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell.
Christopher Plummer won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2010’s ‘Beginners’ opposite Ewan McGregor. He also won the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for the same.
His final decade in film brought roles in the sci-fi action film ‘Priest’ (2011) and the mystery thriller ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (2012) opposite Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.
In 2017 Plummer earned another Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as oil magnate, John Paul Getty in ‘All the Money in the World’, a role he filmed just a month before the movie’s release after previous star Kevin Spacey was dropped in the fallout from the numerous sexual misconduct allegations that plagued Hollywood that year. For many of the scenes cgi effects were used to place Christopher Plummer into the previously shot footage.
2019 brought Christopher Plummer his last hit movie, the ensemble mystery ‘Knives Out’, as well as his final film role in ‘The Last Full Measure’.
Christopher Plummer was married three times. His first to Tammy Grimes from 1956-1960 (divorced), they had one child, the actress Amanda Plummer’. His second to Patricia Lewis from 1962-1967 (divorced). He is survived by his third wife Elaine Taylor, whom he married in 1970.