Christopher Plummer, ‘Sound Of Music’ Star, Dead At 91

Christopher Plummer, the Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor whose talents first came to life in the theater, has died. He was 91 years old. 

Plummer's longtime friend and manager, Lou Pitt, confirmed the news to Deadline. According to the outlet, he died peacefully at his home in Connecticut, with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side.

“Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his profession with great old fashion manners, self deprecating humor and the music of words," PItt's statement reads. "He was a National Treasure who deeply relished his Canadian roots. Through his art and humanity, he touched all of our hearts and his legendary life will endure for all generations to come. He will forever be with us.”

Over his more than 60-year career, Plummer amassed dozens of credits in TV, film and theater, including The Sound of Music, Inside Man, A Ghost in Monte Carlo, A Beautiful Mind, National Treasure and 2010's Beginners, which earned Plummer a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Though widely known for portraying Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Plummer was not exactly fond of the role, and typically refused to mention the film by name.

Born in Toronto, Canada, in 1929, Plummer technically began his acting career while attending the High School of Montreal. Despite initially studying piano as a child, Plummer took up acting after watching Laurence Olivier’s performance in 1944's Henry V. 

He later relocated from Montreal to New York, where he made his Broadway debut in 1953’s The Starcross Story. The show opened and closed on the same day, but Plummer would go on to appear in several Broadway productions including the Archibald MacLeish-written play J.B., for which he earned his first Tony nomination for Best Actor. 

Plummer also had a special talent for playing real-life people, like journalist Mike Wallace in The Insider, attorney F. Lee Bailey in the TV film American Tragedy, and Russian writer Anton Chekhovin the The Good Doctor. 

In 2017, Plummer portrayed J. Paul Getty (after Kevin Spacey was dropped from the already-completed film over sexual assault allegations) in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World.

The film role earned Plummer his third Academy Award nomination, making him the oldest actor to be nominated for an Oscar.