Christopher Plummer, the Canadian-born Shakespearean actor who starred in The Sound of Music and won an Oscar for Beginners, died peacefully on Friday morning at his home in Connecticut. He was 91.
Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager of 46 years said; “Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his profession with great old fashion manners, self-deprecating humor and the music of words. He was a National Treasure who deeply relished his Canadian roots. Through his art and humanity, he touched all of our hearts and his legendary life will endure for all generations to come. He will forever be with us.”
Plummer was born in Toronto but grew up in Montreal where he made his film debut in Sidney Lumet's Stage Struck (1958), before winning great acclaim with audiences for his performance as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music alongside Julie Andrews.
Plummer portrayed numerous major historical figures and starred in over 100 movies including Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992), Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys (1995), Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind (2001), Terrence Malick's The New World (2005), Mike Mills' Beginners (2011), and Rian Johnson's Knives Out (2019).
He also won two Tony Awards for the musical Cyrano and for Barrymore plus seven Tony nominations.
His TV appearances, which number close to 100, include the Emmy-winning BBC Hamlet at Elsinore playing the title role; the Emmy-winning productions The Thornbirds, Nuremberg, Little Moon of Alban and HBO’s Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight earning him his seventh Emmy nomination, of which he won two.
He was last seen in the Canadian series, Departures.
In 1986 he was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame and in 2000 Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Plummer is survived by third wife, actress-dancer Elaine Taylor, and a daughter with Grimes, actress Amanda Plummer.
