I was a frequent to television and films as a child, so I can’t think of a time in my life where Christopher Plummer wasn’t there in some fashion.
As a Kindergartener, I was introduced by my teacher to the French-oriented Madeline books. My five year old mind was set ablaze upon learning that there was an animated television show that aired reruns every Sunday morning. Plummer’s role as the narrator was my first exposure to his genius. Hoo boy, little did I know.
Embarrassingly enough, I never watched The Sound Of Music until my middle school chorus director Christened me as a “criminal” in sixth grade, for not having seen it before. So for a number of days, we watched the film as a class. It was impossible to have been a part of Mrs. Cavanagh’s middle school choir for all three years without knowing this film cover to cover.
After Julie Andrews’ legendary hilltop scene, Chris’ name came up in the opening credits. This was a point in my life where, instead of spending time with friends or playing video games, I’d surf IMDB, and learn about golden age actors, so I had heard of this guy before. But from the first time we saw Captain Von Trapp, catching Maria wandering around the forbidden music room, I eternally put a face to a name. At first glance, his boyish face and Beatle-esque suit gave me the vibe that he would turn out to be kind of a prodigal scoundrel. Many years and many viewings later, I laugh at my eleven-year-old self for making such an absurd observation.
The Sound Of Music is obviously his best known role, hence why during his introduction at the 2013 Oscars to present Best Supporting Actress to Anne Hathaway, someone ran in and yelled “He’s gone!” This was easily one of the few moments that makes the Oscars worth watching year after year.
Needless to say, Chris’ resume stretches far beyond the broken Captain Von Trapp (a role he apparently loathed with all his heart). I was amazed to learn that one of his Shakespearean roles was Iago (who else?) in an 80s Broadway production of Othello, opposite James Earl Jones. He even squeaked his way into the Star Trek universe, portraying General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Those were just two of his roles–and yet, this gave nerds and theatre kids alike some common ground: He was a Hollywood treasure, born in Toronto.
My heart may be crushed and my nostalgia may be disappearing piece by piece, but 91 years is an amount of time that most of us strive to live for. And we should be so lucky that we had Christopher Plummer for as long as we did.
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night.
Josh Bradley Live 