As a legendary actor who crossed into pretty much every medium you could name, Christopher Plummer was a talent who wasn’t afraid to try something new. His career saw him do everything from musicals like The Sound of Music to farcical comedies like Knives Out, without losing a step along the way. His legacy will live on in the memory of that versatility, as we are sad to report that Mr. Plummer has passed away at the age of 91.
Deadline reported Christopher Plummer’s death, with the cause unnamed at the time of this writing. He passed away peacfully at home with his wife, Elaine Taylor, and the announcement came from his manager earlier today. Survived not only by his wife, but also daughter/actor Amanda Plummer, we here at CinemaBlend would like to extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Christopher Plummer. His was a life and career that took risks in the name of entertainment, and it shall be a history that fans of the arts will find themselves revisiting for some time.
Born in Ontario, in 1929, Christopher Plummer started out on the stage and small screen of his native Canada throughout the 1950s. Director Sidney Lumet would give him his first film role in the picture Stage Struck, but 1965 would land him one of his career’s first landmark projects: the film adaptation of Rogers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. From that point on, Plummer’s career would go to exciting and challenging places, with characters both kind hearted and gruff at his disposal.
Only a Grammy short of the coveted EGOT, Plummer was a Tony and Oscar nominated juggernaut. And when it came to the golden honors at the Oscars, he became not just another winner of the award for Best Supporting Actor, but also the oldest person to win the award, at 82, for his work in 2010’s Beginners. He would add another Oscar record to his belt six years later, when All The Money In The World made him the oldest nominee to date.
That particular film is one of the many examples of Christopher Plummer’s insane abilities, as was able to complete his part in Ridley Scott’s biopic on the Getty kidnapping scandal in only nine days right before the movie was set to come out. His pace of working is only eclipsed by his range, as Plummer’s CV includes such roles as the voice of dangerous eccentric Charles Muntz in Disney/Pixar’s Up, author Rudyard Kipling in The Man Who Would Be King, alongside Michael Caine and the late Sean Connery, and as a vengeful Klingon general in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. No matter who you are, or what your tastes may be, there’s a good chance a Christopher Plummer performance lies in your wheelhouse of entertainment; especially when he could bring down a room like he did in The Sound of Music.
Legends like Mr. Plummer are forged by how they navigate the times they exist in, and the opportunities they’re presented. With the quick glimpse into the man’s work presented above, it’s abundantly clear that Christopher Plummer’s legacy will be one that’s mourned by all corners of the world today. And if you ever found yourself emotional while he sang “Edelweiss” during The Sound of Music, there will always be that added ting of bittersweetness, knowing that he is no longer with us today.
