Christopher Plummer, Oscar Winner and ‘Sound of Music’ Star, Dies at 91
Christopher Plummer, iconic Academy Award-winning film and stage actor best known for roles including Captain Von Trapp in 1965’s The Sound of Music, has died. He was 91.
Deadline reports Plummer’s death was confirmed by his family and noted, “He passed peacefully at his home in Connecticut, with Elaine Taylor, his wife and true best friend for 53 years by his side.”
In a statement to Deadline, Plummer’s long-time manager Lou Pitt 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’s impressive career spanned eight decades and netted him many honors, including an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in 2012 for his performance in Beginners. Plummer’s win was historic as he became the oldest Oscar winner in an acting category at the age of 82. Plummer also had success on Broadway and won two Tony Awards: One for Best Actor in a Musical in 1974 for his performance in Cyrano and one for Best Actor in a Play in 1997 for his performance in Barrymore.
Plummer had many notable film roles in his career, from Dr. Rosen in 2001’s A Beautiful Mind to Harlan Thrombey in 2019’s Knives Out, but his most popular film role came in 1965 as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1966.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that Plummer had mixed feelings about the film saying in a 2011 interview, “It was so awful and sentimental and gooey. You had to work terribly hard to try and infuse some minuscule bit of humor into it.” The outlet added, “Plummer, however, had changed his tune when he appeared with Andrews before a screening of the musical at the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood and added his hand- and footprints to the collection outside the TCL Chinese Theatre.”
