Veteran Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, whose decades-long career featured an indelible star turn in "The Sound of Music" and an Oscar win late in life, died on Friday, his manager announced
Christopher Plummer died at his home in Connecticut with his wife Elaine Taylor at his side, his longtime friend and manager Lou Pitt said. He was 91.
"Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his profession with great old fashion manners, self-deprecating humour and the music of words," Pitt said in a statement.
"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."
Plummer starred as the aristocratic widower Captain Georg von Trapp opposite Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, the beloved 1965 cinematic tale of a musical family and their mischievous governess in Austria on the eve of World War II.
Despite its enormous worldwide success, Plummer publicly despised the film, calling his role "gooey" in The Hollywood Reporter in 2011.
But he later softened, telling the same publication in 2015 that the production was "the last bastion of peace and innocence in a very cynical time."
Andrews called Plummer a "consummate actor," adding in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: "I treasure the memories of our work together and all the humour and fun we shared through the years."
See also: In Memory Of Sean Connery: Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan & More Pay Tribute On Instagram
Plummer was one of the most recognisable and admired character actors in Hollywood, with some 100 films under his belt and dozens of television roles.
His first Academy Award nomination came in 2010 for The Last Station, for his portrayal of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.
He finally took home the golden statuette two years later, becoming—at the age of 82—the oldest actor to win an Oscar, for his supporting role in Beginners as a man who openly embraces his homosexuality only after his wife dies.
"Where have you been all my life?" he joked to the trophy at the awards ceremony, quipping that he had been rehearsing his Oscar acceptance speech since he was born.
In 2018, he earned another Oscar nomination after standing in at the last minute in All the Money in the World for Kevin Spacey, who was dropped from the film following accusations of sexual misconduct.
Plummer played the hard-hearted billionaire J Paul Getty, who refused to pay a ransom for his kidnapped grandson.
Recently, he starred in the 2019 whodunit Knives Out alongside Daniel Craig, Chris Evans and Jamie Lee Curtis.
The director of that film, Rian Johnson, called Plummer a "legend who loved his craft, and was an absolute gentleman."
"So lucky to have shared a set with him," Johnson tweeted.
See also: Golden Globes 2021: Netflix Dominates With 42 Nominations