Actor Christopher Plummer R.I.P.
For all the roles he embodied and for all the acclaim he earned during his long and distinguished career, Christopher Plummer found himself helplessly chained to Capt. Von Trapp, the imperious patriarch of the Trapp Family Singers in "The Sound of Music."
The role rocketed Plummer to stardom, opened doors in Hollywood and ensured he would be fondly and forever remembered by filmgoers around the world. Yet, the classically trained actor found Von Trapp to be a tired, one-dimensional and wooden character, and the film syrupy, at best.
"I’m just sorry that after all the years of playing marvelous roles, to be known for something as saccharine as that,” he told The Times in 1976. Still, he allowed, "It became easier for me to fill a theater."
A bankable and widely respected stage and film actor for half a century, Plummer died early Friday at his home in Connecticut, where he lived with his longtime wife, Elaine Taylor. He was 91.
For all the roles he embodied and for all the acclaim he earned during his long and distinguished career, Christopher Plummer found himself helplessly chained to Capt. Von Trapp, the imperious patriarch of the Trapp Family Singers in "The Sound of Music."
The role rocketed Plummer to stardom, opened doors in Hollywood and ensured he would be fondly and forever remembered by filmgoers around the world. Yet, the classically trained actor found Von Trapp to be a tired, one-dimensional and wooden character, and the film syrupy, at best.
"I’m just sorry that after all the years of playing marvelous roles, to be known for something as saccharine as that,” he told The Times in 1976. Still, he allowed, "It became easier for me to fill a theater."
A bankable and widely respected stage and film actor for half a century, Plummer died early Friday at his home in Connecticut, where he lived with his longtime wife, Elaine Taylor. He was 91.
