The ‘Sound Of Music’ and ‘All The Money In The World’ actor Christopher Plummer has died at the age of 91, his manager has said.
Lou Pitt, his long-time 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 humour and the music of words.
Plummer, who began his career on stage, made his film debut in 1958’s “Stage Struck” and went on to a successful movie career that spanned more than six decades.
He starred in a vast variety of films, including “The Return of the Pink Panther,” “Murder by Decree,” “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Up,” “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” “All the Money in the World,” “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and “Knives Out.”
He earned his first Oscar nomination in 2010 for playing Leo Tolstoy in “The Last Station.” He told Canadian television just before the Oscar broadcast, “Well, I said it’s about time! I mean, I’m 80 years old, for God’s sake. Have mercy.” He lost that year to Christoph Waltz.
Two years later, at 82, he won the Academy Award for best supporting actor in “Beginners.”
Plummer, an accomplished Shakespearean actor honoured for his varied stage, television and film work in a career that spanned more than six decades, was best known for his role in The Sound of Music, which at the time eclipsed Gone With the Wind (1993) as the top-earning movie ever.
The actor ended the century as TV journalist Wallace in “The Insider” with Al Pacino and Russell Crowe. Variety said, “Plummer delivers enormous satisfaction in an authoritative portrait of the celebrated newsman who is gruff, shrewd, arrogant when he needs to be and always extremely smart — except for one crucial moment.”
He was married three times, the first to actress Tammy Grimes, the second to journalist Patricia Audrey Lewis.
Plummer is survived by third wife, actress-dancer Taylor, and a daughter with Grimes, actress Amanda Plummer.
