Christopher Plummer never made it as a leading man in films. He did not become a star, lacking that je ne sais quoi that someone like a Gary Cooper or a Paul Newman had naturally. Perhaps if he had been born earlier (he made his debut in Toronto in 1929) into the studio system of Hollywood’s golden age, he could have been carefully groomed for stardom. As it was, he shared the English stage actors’ disdain — and he was equally at home in London as he was on the boards of Broadway or on-stage in his native Canada — for the movies, which did not help him in that medium, as he has confessed. As he aged, Plummer excelled at character parts.
Though he likely always be remembered as “Baron Von Trapp” in the atomic bomb-strength blockbuster The Sound of Music (1965) (a film he publicly despised until softening his stance in his 2008 autobiography “In Spite of Myself”), his later film work includes such outstanding performances as the best cinema Sherlock Holmes–other than Basil Rathbone — in Sherlock Holmes and Saucy Jack (1979), the chilling villain in The Silent Partner (1978), his iconoclastic Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999), the empathetic psychiatrist in A Beautiful Mind (2001), and as Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009). It was this last role that finally brought him recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, when he was nominated as Best Actor in a supporting role.
He continues to be a very in-demand character actor in prestigious motion pictures. If he were English rather than Canadian (he is the great-grandson of Sir John Abbott, the third Prime Minister of Canada) he’d have been knighted long ago. (In 1968, he was a made a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor and one which requires the approval of the sovereign). If he were an American, he might have been honored by the Kennedy Center. If he lived in the company town of Los Angeles, he likely would have several more Oscar nominations to go with the one for “The Last Station.”
As it is, as attested to in his witty and well-written autobiography, Christopher Plummer has been amply rewarded in life. In 1970, Plummer – a self-confessed 43-year-old “bottle baby” – married his third wife, dancer Elaine Taylor (I), who helped wean him off his dependency on alcohol. They live happily with their dogs on a 30-acre estate in Weston, Connecticut and, although he spends the majority of his time in the United States, he remains a Canadian citizen.
Prematurely, Predicts Best Supporting Actor & Actress At The 2012 Oscars:
Christopher Plummer—”Beginners”
We’re absolutely dying to see Mike Mills’ sophomore film, “Beginners” it does seem heavyweight enough to make a real impression at the Oscars. Incredibly, Christopher Plummer has only been nominated once, for 2009’s “The Last Station.” But here, as a man who comes out in the twilight of his life, he seems to have a killer role, and from the glimpses of the film we’ve seen so far, the performance looks like a joy. Plus, there are hints of terminal illness in the film’s plotline, which can’t exactly hurt. With Focus Features behind the film, we’ve got a hunch that this could finally be Plummer’s year.
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