Christopher Plummer, the beloved star of over 200 films spanning seven decades, has passed away at the grand age of 91.
The Oscar-winning actor’s death was confirmed by his family who said he had passed peacefully at his home in Connecticut, with Elaine Taylor, his wife of 53 years by his side.
Born in Toronto, Plummer grew up in Montreal as an only child and was exposed to the arts by his mother at an early age.
He made his acting debut on stage in The Starcross Story (1954) and was able to land more leading roles at the National Theatre and for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
After a series of minor parts, Plummer finally got his big-break in films with his role as Joe Sheridan in the Sidney Lumet-directed drama Stage Struck (1958).
The following year, he then scored his first Emmy nomination for his performance as a soldier who falls for a nurse in the romance Little Moon of Alban (1959).
In the early 1960s, he portrayed Cyrano de Bergerac in a television adaptation about the famous poet and followed that up with his Emmy-nominated role as tragic Shakespearean hero Hamlet in Hamlet at Elsinore (1964).
After appearing as Commodus in the historical epic The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Plummer then landed his most memorable role as Captain Von Trapp, the stern yet widowed patriarch of an Austrian family who found love with governess Julie Andrews in the beloved musical The Sound of Music (1965).
Despite the film’s dominant success and five Oscar wins, Plummer had ambivalent feelings about it and even went as far as renaming it The Sound of Mucus in interviews. However, he later reconciled with the film and described it as “warm, touching, joyous and absolutely timeless” in his memoir.
More lucrative roles soon followed with appearances in the romantic drama Inside Daisy Clover (1965), the Greek tragedy Oedipus the King (1968) and the WWII-drama Battle of Britain (1969).
In the 1970s, Plummer continued to contribute memorable performances in the likes of Waterloo (1970), The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), The Assassination at Sarajevo (1975), The Man Who Would be King (1975), Jesus of Nazareth (1976), The Silent Partner (1978) and Murder by Decree (1979).
That decade also saw him clinch a first Emmy win for his portrayal of bank vice-president Roscoe Heyward in the mini-series Arthur Hailey’s the Moneychangers (1976).
After starring in the romantic fantasy Somewhere in Time (1980), Plummer produced more exceptional work including his Emmy-nominated turn as Archbishop Vittorio Contini-Verchese in another hit mini-series The Thorn Birds (1983) and his vocal role as Henri in the Don Bluth animation An American Tail (1986).
While juggling appearances in films like Dragnet (1987), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (as the villainous Chang), Malcolm X (1992) and Twelve Monkeys (1995), he also enjoyed a recurring role as international industrialist Alexander Addington in the action series Counterstrike (1990-93).
He also flourished as a narrator particularly with the popular children series Madeline. He would provide his voice in several outings for the character with his work on The New Adventures of Madeline (1995) winning him a second Emmy.
Plummer continued to work extensively even into his twilight years starting with acclaimed performances as Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999), F. Lee Bailey in American Tragedy (2001) and as Dr. Rosen in the Oscar-winning biopic A Beautiful Mind (2001).
Additionally, he also made his presence felt in the likes of Nicholas Nickleby (2002), National Treasure (2004), Alexander (2004), Our Fathers (2005), Syriana (2005), The New World (2005), The Lake House (2006), Inside Man (2006) and Closing the Ring (2007).
2009 proved to be a banner year for Plummer starting with his role in the fantasy The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. That was swiftly followed by his vocal performance as dastardly explorer Charles Muntz in the hit Pixar animation Up.
At the age of 80, he finally made it into the Oscar history books with a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of veteran Russian author Leo Tolstoy in the historical drama The Last Station (2009).
Fortunately, Plummer didn’t need to wait long to land a gold statue. In 2012, he became the oldest male actor to win an Academy Award for his performance as homosexual man Hal Fields in the indie-dramedy Beginners (2010).
Towards the end of his life, the Canadian veteran continued working in the likes of The Tempest (2010), Barrymore (2011), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Danny Collins (2015), Remember (2015) and The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017).
When disgraced actor Kevin Spacey was forced to drop out of starring in the factual thriller All the Money in the World (2017), Plummer stepped into the part of billionaire J. Paul Getty and landed his third Oscar nomination in the process.
2019 marked his final appearances in film which included a memorable turn as murdered novelist Harlan Thrombey in the comedic mystery Knives Out.
Plummer is survived by his third wife and a child from his first marriage.
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