Christopher Plummer (1929-2021)
Friday, February 5, 2021 at 3:45PM by Nathaniel R
I thought Christopher Plummer would never die. Which is to say, I thought he wouldn't die for a long time yet. The last act of his career, running roughly from the one-two punch of his second Tony win in Barrymore (1997) and his much-praised Oscar-snubbed Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999) through his mischievously pleasing star turn as Harlam Thrombley the manipulative patriarch in the surprise hit Knives Out (2019), was like a gauntlet thrown down; dare to imagine the movies without me!
We'd rather not, thank you very much. But now we sadly must with the actor's death at 91 years of age...
"and introducing CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER" - his film Stage Struck (1958)
The Canadian actor took to the arts in high school and found work quickly as an actor afterwards. By the age of 23 he had already made his television and his Broadway debut. By 29 he had his first film role, fifth billed playing a young writer in Stage Struck (1958) and by 30 his first Tony nomination for a play called J.B. about a travelling circus.
Triple Cross (1966)
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
Though he'd eventually win the Triple Crown of Acting (Emmy, Oscar, Tony), it was a long road to get there and it wasn't all rosy. His first Broadway show, for example, closed on opening night; you might consider it an omen of the career to come which began with enormous promise, but ended becoming more of a slow burn. The actor often spoke openly of his personal demons and his excessive drinking in the 1960s. It was the decade Hollywood was definitely toying with the idea of Plummer as Leading Man. In his memoir and in many talk show appearances he has been honest about how much he disliked his most titanic box office success as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965). He was drunk through much of filming.
Plummer was famously drunk during the filming of Sound of Music, particularly the climax.
“I was a pampered, arrogant, young bastard spoiled by too many great theatre roles... My behavior was unconscionable.”
Movie stardom, at least in leading roles, didn't materialize as one might expect after headlining one of the biggest box office hits of all time. But the actor obviously conquered his demons -- and kept a great sense of humor about them as well as his prodigious talent -- and his film work and television work only got richer.
Plummer backstage at Cyrano in 1973
A decade later, awards bodies began to take notice. He won his first Tony Award for Cyrano on Broadway and the Emmy for the miniseries The Moneychangers in the mid Seventies.
with Richard Chamberlain in "The Thorn Birds"
The 80s were a relatively minor decade in his career though he popped up with frequency onscreen -- the blockbuster miniseries The Thorn Birds, and the fan-favourite romantic drama Somewhere in Time were two of the highlights -- and received another Tony nomination playing the scheming "Iago" opposite James Earl Jones in Othello.
But it was the final act of his career that will keep Christopher Plummer in hearts and minds forever. He cemented his World Class Thespian rep with a long run (on Broadway and on tour) as an earlier stage titan John Barrymore in the play Barrymore which came just before the 1999 whammy of his hugely memorable role in The Insider which he followed up with another Best Picture nominated key supporting part in A Beautiful Mind.
By the late Aughts Hollywood, after decades of strong work, the momentum was there and Hollywood was finally invested in honoring him. He nabbed his long delayed first Oscar nomination for The Last Station (2009).
as Hal (his Oscar-winning role) in "Beginners"
The following year Plummer won the Oscar, as so few actors actually do, for what was actually his career-best work. Great actors can find the truth in any character but they can elevate richly conceived characters like Hal, a newly out senior citizen in Mike Mills profound and lovely Beginners (2010) into the stuff of movie legend. (Aside: when we've said that gay actors should be cast in gay roles in recent years we only mean it in the sense of career-opportunity parity, of which there is precious little; obviously great actors can excel in many different types of roles.)
His Oscar for Beginners wasn't a "career" prize, though surely that helped wih the vote count, but a slam dunk win resulting from one of the world's greatest actors acing a role that was both perfect for him and a stretch simultaneously. In one of the loveliest and funniest Oscar acceptance speeches ever, Plummer began...
[to Oscar] "You're only two years older than me darling, where have you been all my life?! [To audience] I have a confession to make. When I first emerged from my mother's womb, I was already rehearsing my Academy thank you speech. It was so long ago, mercifully for you, I've forgotten it."
That speech and the last wonderfully vital 20 years of his career -- in which he kept topping himself dramatically and making Oscar history (Oldest acting winner of all time for Beginners / Oldest acting nominee of all time for All the Money in the World) all while laying on the devilish charm were a reminder of his inimitable gifts. He could conjure grand emotions and unmistakable gravitas even while playing delicate little notes; I'll never forget his beautifully open and curious imitation of house music in Beginners. His work remained vital and lively to the very last note, even while playing men approaching or planning for their own death.
Reader Comments (36)
2021 has not been kind so far.
I've loved him for years, ever since I was a kid. What a rakish star, what a great actor and brilliant Oscar-winner. It's been heartbreaking to lose so many legends in such a short period of time.
Cloris Leachman, Cicely Tyson, Christopher Plummer.
2021 is relentless
This is very sad indeed. So long, farewell, goodbye.
Cloris Leachman, Cicely Tyson, Hal Holbrook, and now Christopher Plummer. All of them made it to their 90s, so there's that. I was a fan of each of them, RIP to you all xo
2021 is quickly wiping out our nonagenarian acting legends (Leachman, Tyson, Holbrook and now Plummer).
One small bit of clarification in your lovely tribute. A Beautiful Mind and The Insider were not released in the same year. The Insider was 1999 and A Beautiful Mind was 2001, but they both did star Russell Crowe too.
Raul -- of course you are correct. I dont know what i was thinking. fixed.
The first Christopher Plummer works I saw - which I remember - were The Thorn Birds, really a super hit when TV invested in this type of entertainment, and Somewhere in Time, a cult for romantics with one of the best and most beautiful soundtracks. Both supporting roles.With The Thorn Birds I also met Barbara Stanwick and Jean Simmons for the first time. And one of my first crushes, Bryan Brown. When I saw The Sound of Music I found it curious that in the future he would play an Archbishop in The Thorn Birds and a Nazi officer in made-for-tv film The Scarlet and the Black. Amazing and gifted actor. I think that the fact that he did not become a leading man in cinema led him to have a more diverse and long career; in the end, it was good for him. RIP.
Like Cloris Leachman he did exude that indefatigable vibe of inexhaustibility. Always bright and chipper which makes his going all the more surprising.
I saw him in Macbeth with Glenda Jackson on Broadway in the late 80's which was a fantastic experience. Both were extraordinary.
He was always interesting and fine on screen but in his youth there was at times a humorlessness to him which receded as he aged when an elfin charm replaced it.
Sorry to see him go but what a magnificent legacy he's left behind.
Beautifully written. What a shame to lose so many great ones right in a row. His Oscar speech was wonderful.
FYI: J.B. (Plummer's first Tony nomination) is Archibald MacLeish's Pulitzer Prize-winning verse play, a modern retelling of the biblical story of Job. Plummer played the Satan figure. (The play is indeed set in an enormous circus tent.)
My favorite unsung performance by Christopher Plummer was in The Man Who Would Be King. I really thought he had a chance at an Oscar nomination. I'm very happy to read that it was one of his own favorite performances, because with it he realized that playing character roles was more fulfilling than being a leading man.
It's been a rough week with all these bona fide legends passing. Plummer passing especially sticks out because more than anything this past decade has been his career peak and you can never really say that about an actor male or female in his late 80's.
I recently watched his screen debut (the 58 remake of Hepburn's Morning Glory) and while it wasn't a particularly interesting film Plummer stood out. His win for Beginners is the greatest male actor win of the past decade and as Nathaniel mentioned is the rare time an actor wins for their greatest performance.
He will be missed and honestly the final performance I will have seen of him being Knives Out is such a perfect send off even though we were not aware it would be his final film when we watched in a year ago.
Wow. Hal Holbrook, Cloris Leachman, Cicely Tyson, Dustin Diamond, and now Christopher Plummer. They say they death comes in threes, but this is too much.
I loved that Oscar speech, could be my favorite, a marvelous, fine looking legend.
Looking back today at his filmography, I realized how frequently he appeared in favourite films of mine. He was a terrific foil for Kathy Bates' towering performance in Dolores Claiborne. And I love how much he seemed to enjoy his foray into the Star Trek universe in The Undiscovered Country. He understood (like Ricardo Montalban) how to go just big enough to create a magnetic villain.
I’d watch sound of music every holiday season with my parents traditionally on nbc or abc. I knew Christopher Plummer when I was 8 years old not personally but on television
As captain von trapp. Sadly he will be missed around Hollywood and around the world. He gave us many happy moments on screen and characters that were familiar. Great actor. Always teared me up. Rip sir Christopher
He is one of the greats. He is one of the last of the great stars who could inspire such huge affection and devotion. He had a beauty inside and out. This is so, so sad. The Sound of Music cements his immortality. Good Night, Mr Plummer.
I, too, thought Christopher Plummer would never die, Nathaniel. Such a sad day. R.I.P. Christopher.
This one really hurt, because not only Plummer's career was so rich and extensive, but because Beginners means a lot to me in a personal sense and his performance is a huge reason for it: he does not play the "old man dying" trick, he plays a human finding the true meaning of his life with such grace, beauty and empathy, and i'll be forever thankful for that
All these great distinct actors leaving us is getting to be a downer in an already downer of a time
Best and Favourite performance The Insider should have had the Oscar.
Underseen Gem of a performance Dolores Claiborne.
I also can't see anyone topping his 3 Oscar nominations all after the age of 80.
Oh I am so gutted. RIP Captain.
One of the greatest actors to have ever lived and.... he is $$$$$$$$$. When a filmmaker wants to have Christopher Plummer in his/her film, you get Christopher Plummer. Why? He's $$$$$$$$$
The idiots at Sony who says "he's not a draw" were idiots and forced Ridley Scott to cast Kevin Spacey instead and well, that went to shit once it turned out Spacey is a pervert. Sony freaks out and Ridley was like "get me fucking Christopher Plummer. He was my original choice and he's the only person that can save this film". Sony gives in, gives Plummer money, and Plummer just nails it. And he is great in that film and he did save that film.
You don't ever doubt the draw of Christopher Plummer. That is the lesson learned. He was in The Sound of Music. That movie made a shitload of $$$$$$$$. He is one of the reasons that movie succeeded despite his love/hate relationship towards it. At least it gave him a career.
Thank you Christopher Plummer, you will be missed. Sorry you didn't enjoy working on The New World though I love that film and your performance.
I think the thing that’s the saddest, particularly about Tyson, Leachman and Plummer is they were all still working and seemed so vibrant! Tyson had been on the phone about her memoir the day before, Leachman just had two new movies and Plummer seemed so timeless and was coming off the hit that was Knives Out... not saying it was too soon but they still had so much more gas in the tank to give and we’re poorer for not having them here anymore
So sad, they are all dropping like flies. I do think Plummer was aclaudio Calibre though. If you got a superstar on your team, farewelling a legend is a good time to utilise them.
He was pretty meh besides SoM until The Insider. After that he was highly dependable andnoften very good. I enjoy his Oscar win for Beginners, but he benefited from weak competition that year.
Show respect -- Please follow the advice in your username and show respect. Stop comparing writers. It's insulting to everyone involved.
In any case, Plummer was indeed a legend that I love and I'm glad Nathaniel wrote this beautiful piece about him. Thanks for doing justice to this brilliant star.
I have little to add after Claudio's first comment. So succinct and perfect, truly the king of writing memorial pieces (Be wise with your team Nathaniel, don't let pride shackle them).
Love hearing joel6's broadway story. I really enjoy when the lucky and privileged share their experiences with an artist that few are able to experience themselves.
I'm sort of thankful he didn't become a huge leading man after Yhe Sound Of Music because young Plummer on screen gave off 'hot douche' vibes.
Thank God for Beginners, that beautiful performance and that well-deserved Oscar win. May we all die with such with grace.
When Cloris died I shed a tear. When Cicely passed I wept. Now with Screech gone I am inconsolable.
And now Hal Holbrook. I'm not sure I can go on.
AND NOW Plummer!? I need the number of a suicide hotline.
.....fuck 2021
Some actors live up to their legend.
Christopher Plummer was everything in interviews that I expected him to be. Elegant and articulate.
But when I think of him acting, he was always better than I expected. Shakespeare in the original Klingon. Or Sherlock Holmes, Rudyard Kipling, and on and on.
Glad he went out on a high with Knives Out.
His live action roles will live on forever, but so will his marvelous narration in the English version of the Oscar winning animated short film The Man Who Planted Trees
RIP
My first Plummer experience was The Insider in 1999. Just W O W! The scene where he was totally cut away in an interview is legendary!
I lost some respect for him after bad mouthing his experience with working in The New World movie by Terrence Malick. That was really not necessary
LSS, I thought about Ian McKellen in Plummer's role in "Knives Out" actually. Movie was a fantastic final film for Christopher Plummer, though. He will be missed.
I remember his line from "Knives Out," where he makes fun of himself for being "so old" in a frail old man voice, then immediately reverts to his hearty nonagenarian self. I had thought to myself it was proof he'd make it another ten years! He was such a force until the end!