Actor Christopher Plummer dies

Christopher Plummer, the award-winning actor who played Capt. Georg von Trapp in the film The Sound of Music, has died. He was 91.

What was he like? Born in Montreal in 1929, he grew up in Canada and studied to be a concert pianist. He quit because acting was easier and less time-consuming. He almost lost his first acting job after arriving to rehearsal late and hungover. “From then on, I vowed to be on time,” Plummer said. Plummer was an alcoholic but “cut down on the booze” at the request of actress Elaine Taylor in 1969. They married one year later—Plummer’s third marriage.

He said he tried to get out of his leading role in 1965’s The Sound of Music “about 16 times.” He complained: “What have I done, playing with all these children?” He kept the part because 20th Century Fox threatened to sue him. He later referred to the film as the “Sound of Mucus.”

Plummer acted in movies and theater productions and voiced cartoons and audiobooks. He turned down the role of Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of The Rings series because he didn’t want to be in New Zealand for more than a year of filming. He said he asked himself, “Are there other countries I’d like to visit before I croak?” At 82, Plummer became the oldest Academy Award winner for his supporting actor role in Beginners. He is one of 24 people to earn the Triple Crown of Acting: an Emmy, a Tony, and an Academy Award. His third wife and his only daughter, from his first marriage, survive him.