Sound of Music actor Christopher Plummer dies aged 91

5 February 2021, 18:26 | Updated: 5 February 2021, 18:38

Christopher Plummer, who starred in The Sound Of Music and became the oldest actor to win an Oscar, has died aged 91, his manager said.

Plummer died on Friday morning at his home in Connecticut with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Pitt, his long-time friend and manager.

Plummer is perhaps best known for playing Captain Georg von Trapp in hit 1965 film The Sound Of Music.

He had a varied career across film, television and theatre, starring in productions on Broadway and with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Over more than 50 years in the industry, Plummer enjoyed varied roles ranging from the film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, to the voice of the villain in 2009's Up and as a canny lawyer in Broadway's Inherit The Wind.

The official Twitter account for The Oscars shared a tribute to Christopher Plummer.

"Christopher Plummer beguiled audiences across generations in memorable roles from Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music to Harlan Thrombey in Knives Out," it said.

"He worked steadily for 60+ years, winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2012 for Beginners. He will be missed."

But it was opposite Julie Andrews as von Trapp that made him a star.

He played an Austrian captain who must flee the country with his folk-singing family to escape service in the Nazi navy, a role he lamented was "humourless and one-dimensional".

Plummer spent the rest of his life referring to the film as "The Sound of Mucus" or "S&M".

"We tried so hard to put humour into it," he told The Associated Press in 2007.

"It was almost impossible. It was just agony to try to make that guy not a cardboard figure."

The role catapulted Plummer to stardom, but he never took to leading men parts, despite his silver hair, good looks and ever-so-slight English accent. He preferred character parts, considering them more meaty.

Plummer had a remarkable film renaissance late in life, which began with his acclaimed performance as Mike Wallace in Michael Mann's 1999 film The Insider, continued in films such 2001's A Beautiful Mind and 2009's The Last Station, in which he played a deteriorating Tolstoy and was nominated for an Oscar.

In 2017, it was announced the Canadian actor would replace Kevin Spacey in All The Money In The World after allegations of sexual misconduct emerged against the actor.

The following year he was nominated for an Oscar for his role, after being enlisted at the 11th hour, as frugal billionaire J Paul Getty in Sir Ridley Scott's film.

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