Star Plummer Dies

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2021 NEWS/FEATURES 14 People & Places Obit An actor’s actor Plummer got 3rd act worth singing about By Lindsey Bahr t’s one of the great Hollywood ironies that Chris- Itopher Plummer didn’t like the film that made him a legend. He was an actor’s actor and had cut his teeth doing Shakespeare. “The Sound of Music,” he thought, was sentimental shlock. And he wasn’t alone - reviews at the time were famously terrible. Then, like a personal curse, it would go on to become a universally beloved classic. He’d played Henry V and Hamlet and yet Captain von Trapp, he said in 1982, followed him around “like an al- batross.” But even Plummer, who died Friday at the age of 91, lived long enough to soften a bit. And why wouldn’t he? He also got to enjoy something that so few actors do: A genuine third act with terrifi c roles as “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace in Michael Mann’s “The Insider,” a widower who comes out later in life in Mike Mills’ “Beginners” and, most recently, a slain mystery writer in Rian Johnson’s whodunnit “Knives Out.” He got Plummer three Academy Award nomi- nations in one decade and, at age 82, would become the oldest actor to ever win an Oscar (for “Beginners”). He still holds that title. “You’re only two years older than me, darling. Where have you been all my life?” he said to his Os- car in 2012. “When I fi rst emerged from my moth- Christopher Plummer poses for a portrait on July 25, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Plummer, the dashing award-winning actor who played Captain von Trapp in the er’s womb, I was already rehearsing my Academy film ‘The Sound of Music’ and at 82 became the oldest Academy Award winner in history, has died. He was 91. Plummer died Friday morning, Feb 5, at his home thank you speech. But it was so long ago, mercifully in Connecticut with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager. (AP) for you I’ve forgotten it.” Dapper and dashing with an aristocratic air, Plummer could have been a leading man without the talent. With it he was a star with a character ac- Obituary tor’s spirit, which he later would attribute his longevity to. “I’m thrilled that I turned into a character actor quite early on. I hated being a poncey leading man,” The oldest Academy Award acting winner in history he told Vanity Fair in 2015. “You really start to worry about your jawline. Please.” Voice ‘Sound of Music’ star Plummer dies Born in Toronto in 1929, Plummer was the great grandson of Canadian Prime Minister John Abbott NEW YORK, Feb 6, (AP): Christopher and fell for the theater at a young age. Classically Plummer, the dashing award-winning trained, he was a self-proclaimed snob about the actor who played Captain von Trapp in Andrews, Evans, Mirren, Shatner pay stage and resisted the allure of the big screen for a the fi lm “The Sound of Music” and at time. As if to prove his own point, his fi rst few fi lms 82 became the oldest Academy Award are not well-remembered. Then came “The Sound acting winner in history, has died. He ‘tribute’ to legendary actor Plummer was 91. of Music.” It didn’t help that he got the added blow NEW YORK, Feb 6, (AP): Reac- Trudeau in a statement. that his singing voice was going to be dubbed in the Plummer died Friday morning at tions to the death at 91 of Oscar “What an unbelievable loss. Few fi nal fi lm. his home in Connecticut with his wife, winner and “Sound of Music” star careers have such longevity and “The only reason I did this bloody thing was so I Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Christopher Plummer: impact. One of my favorite memo- could do a musical on stage on fi lm!” he said. But Pitt, his longtime friend and manager. “The world has lost a consummate ries from Knives Out was playing he did get a lifelong friendship with Julie Andrews This photo shows Eric Church per- Over more than 50 years in the in- actor today and I have lost a cher- piano together in the Thrombey forming at the 2016 Stagecoach dustry, Plummer enjoyed varied roles ished friend. I treasure the memories house between set ups. He was a out of the deal. Festival in Indio, Calif, on April 29, He retreated to the theater for a time, which would ranging from the fi lm “The Girl With of our work together and all the hu- lovely man and a legendary talent.” 2016. Church will join forces to sing the Dragon Tattoo,” to the voice of the mor and fun we shared through the — Chris Evans, who co-starred be a refrain through his life. He won Tony Awards the national anthem at the Super villain in 2009s “Up” and as a canny years. My heart and condolences go with Plummer in 2019’s “Knives for Cyrano and Barrymore and would even get to Bowl, Feb 7, where Grammy-winning lawyer in Broadway’s “Inherit the out to his lovely wife, Elaine, and his Out,” on Twitter. go back to Shakespeare, as King Lear, later in life. singer H.E.R. will perform ‘America Wind.” In 2019 he starred as murdered daughter, Amanda.” — Plummer’s “RIP to Christopher Plummer, a Over his six-decade career, his screen credits the Beautiful.’ (AP) mystery novelist in Rian Johnson’s “Sound of Music” co-star Julie An- living legend who loved his craft, would prove wildly diverse. He was in “Malcolm whodunnit “Knives Out” and in the TV drews, in a statement. and was an absolute gentleman. X” and “Must Love Dogs.” He was a Klingon in a suspense drama series “Departure.” “He was a mighty force both as So lucky to have shared a set with “Star Trek” and Tolstoy in “The Last Station,” Rud- But it was opposite Julie Andrews Man and Actor. He was an actor him.” — “Knives Out’ director Rian yard Kipling in “The Man Who Would Be King” Variety as von Trapp in 1965 that made him in the 19th century meaning of the Johnson, via Twitter. and Captain Newport in “The New World.” a star. He played an Austrian captain word-his commitment to his profes- “My heart is broken, my dear Chris. “For a long time, I accepted parts that took me who must fl ee the country with his sion. His art was total, theater be- I feel your loss deep inside. How lucky WINNIPEG, Manitoba: A judge on ing a constant and the most impor- was I having you next to me in what’s to attractive places in the world. Rather than shoot- folk-singing family to escape service tant part of the totality of his drive bveen one the best experiences of my ing in the Bronx, I would rather go to the south of Friday denied bail to Canadian fashion in the Nazi navy, a role he lamented mogul Peter Nygard, who was arrested in to engage with storytelling. He was career.” — “Knives Out” star Ana de France, crazed creature than I am,” he told The As- was “humorless and one-dimension- fearless, energetic, courageous, Armas on Instagram. December on US charges that alleging he al.” Plummer spent the rest of his life sociated Press in 2007. “I sacrifi ced a lot of my ca- sexually abused women and girls he lured knowledgeable, professional and a “Chris Plummer knew every act- reer for nicer hotels and more attractive beaches.” referring to the fi lm as “The Sound of monument to what an actor can be. ing trick in the book — and many with promises of opportunities in fashion Mucus” or “S&M.” Plummer was also a legendary “hard-fi sted” and modeling over the last 25 years. A Great Actor in the truest sense.” that weren’t even in the book.” — drinker, alongside similarly inclined friends like That means Nygard, 79, will await his “We tried so hard to put humor — Helen Mirren, who co-starred Taylor Hackford, who directed Jason Robards, Richard Harris and Peter O’Toole. extradition hearings in jail. Nygard was into it,” he told The Associated Press with Plummer in his Oscar-nomi- Plummer in 1995’s “Dolores Clai- arrested in December in Winnipeg and in 2007. “It was almost impossible. It nated role of Tolstoy in “The Last borne,” in a statement. “Our intention was that we should be if were to be Station,” in a written statement. “He was what I call a friend. What called men. We must drink as much as we can. And faces nine counts in the Southern District was just agony to try to make that guy of New York. not a cardboard fi gure.” “Mr Plummer was a timeless ac- is the definition of a friend? Some- if we can still get through Hamlet the next day with- tor who entertained millions around body you know intimately whose out a hitch, that made you a man, my son,” he told Justice Shawn Greenberg said she Acclaimed has concerns about a history of Nygard the world and inspired many to pur- every breath and every thought that Terry Gross in 2008. “You weren’t worth anything not showing up to court and using em- A GIF of the captain ripping a Nazi sue the arts.

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