Canadian actor Christopher Plummer died peacefully at his home in Connecticut on Friday with his wife Elaine Taylor at his side. He was 91.
Plummer â who was born in Toronto and grew up in Senneville, Quebec â was best known as Captain Von Trapp in the 1965 film The Sound of Music starring next to Julie Andrews, but his career flourished later in life. Some of Plummer s most well-known films include The Insider, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Knives Out, and A Beautiful Mind.
Plummer â who was a member of the Stratford acting company for 11 seasons between 1956 and 2012 â won an Oscar in 2012 for the film Beginners and was also nominated in 2010 and 2018. Plummer also won two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Bafta.
Every great actor should be fortunate enough to become an internet meme in their 80s. Christopher Plummer, who died Friday at 91, experienced his own late-in-life social-media anointing at least twice over.
There was the oft-recurring GIF of Capt. von Trapp in “The Sound of Music,” Plummer’s best-known and most inescapable role, tearing a Third Reich flag in two an image that has become handy Twitter shorthand for anti-neo-Nazi resistance over the past few years. That quick single shot is a marvelous bit of acting in itself: You can’t help but notice Plummer’s ramrod-straight military-man posture or the tight-lipped expression playing on his handsome face, a grimace teetering on the edge of a smile. And then, of course, there are those two swift, satisfying rips right down the middle of the swastika. (He really puts his arms into it.)
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Plummer said: Although we worked hard enough to make him (Captain Von Trapp) interesting, it was a bit like flogging a dead horse. And the subject matter is not mine. I mean, it can’t appeal to every person in the world. It’s not my cup of tea.
The actor confessed in his 2008 memoir, In Spite of Myself: I was drinking like mad at the time. I was a pampered, arrogant, young bast d spoiled by too many great theatre roles.
Unlike many, Plummer was able to enjoy a lengthy and successful career and find a new perspective with the passing of time. What is so wonderful is the acceptance and affection Plummer found for his iconic role over the years.
February 5, 2021
Plummer starred in movies like Up, Knives Out and was well known for his role as Captain von Trapp in the classic hit The Sound of Music.
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Plummer played Captain von Trapp in the classic hit The Sound of Music.
He was also known for his roles in hit movies such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Up, and Knives Out.
At age 82, Plummer became the oldest person to win an Academy Award for acting.
Christopher Plummer was 91 when he died.