Christopher Plummer died at his Connecticut home
Christopher Plummer, star of the legendary musical The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews, died Friday at the age of 91 at his home in Connecticut, in northern New York (United States), as confirmed by his family.
Although the causes of the actor's death have not yet been revealed, those closest to him have explained that his wife, Elaine Taylor, 77 (his third marriage) was accompanying him until the last minute. As did his only daughter, also actress Amanda Plummer. "Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his profession with excellent old-fashioned manners, critical humor, and musicality in his words. He was a national treasure and deeply proud of his Canadian roots. Through his artistry and humanity, he has come to all of our hearts and his legendary life will endure for generations to come. He will always be with us," his friend and manager Lou Pitt told Variety.
Known for his role in one of the most international musicals, The Sound of Music, where he played Captain Von Trapp, Plummer was married three times. The first of them was with the actress Tammy Grimes in 1956, and although their marriage lasted only four years, they had a daughter together, Amanda. He then met Patricia Lewis, a London showbiz columnist, and their relationship was cut short by a car accident that left her in a coma. After her recovery, they were married in 1962, but shortly after, just five years, the couple decided to divorce. Following the recordings of the musical Lock Up Your Daughters in 1969, he met Elaine Taylor, his now widow, whom he married just a year later.
Plummer made his film debut in 1954 and leaves behind a handful of glorious appearances ranging from The Dilemma to A Beautiful Mind, passing through The Last Station (where he played Tolstoy) or Beginners, in 2010, for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, which made him the longest-serving winner to win this award. After half a century of career, we could see him in Punales from behind, under the orders of Rian Johnson, where he coincided with Ana de Armas. Among his curiosities, he always regretted turning down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.
Considered one of the legends of Hollywood, Christopher was born in Toronto in 1929, although he grew up in Quebec and was the great-grandson of John Abbott, Canada's third prime minister. When he was young he joined the Montreal Repertory Theater and after a brief stint on Broadway, he landed his first leading role as Hal in Henry V at the 1956 Stratford festival in Ontario.
After this role came many others, both in Stratford and on Broadway and he was even nominated for a Tony in 1959 as the best performer in J.B., the work of Archibald MacLeish. He later won two of these awards, for Cyrano and Barrymore. His first major film role was in The Fall of the Roman Empire, playing Emperor Commodus, a job that led him to be cast as the male lead in The Sound of Music. The interpreter also participated in such important films as Twelve Monkeys, by Terry Gilliam; Malcolm X, by Spike Lee, and even in Star Trek VI: That unknown country. Such a loss to the movie world.
