Christopher Plummer dead at 91

Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, who played the famous Captain Von Trapp in “The Rebel Novice” but had to wait until the end of his career to win an Oscar, has died at the age of 91, his agent announced Friday.

Plummer died at his home in Connecticut, in the northeastern United States, accompanied by his wife Elaine Taylor, with whom he had been married for 53 years.

“Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his craft,” said Lou Pitt, his friend and agent of decades.

“He was a national treasure who deeply appreciated its Canadian roots. Through his art and humanity, he touched all our hearts and his legendary life will endure for generations, ”he added.

He starred alongside Julie Andrews in 1965’s “The Rebel Novice”, playing the aristocratic widower Captain Georg von Trapp in the remembered film about a massive family in Austria on the brink of World War II.

Raised in Montreal, Christopher Plummer had a 75-year career, with more than 100 films, in both English and French.

His first Oscar nomination came in 2010 for his portrayal of the Russian writer Leon Tolstoy in “The Last Station.”

He finally got the gold statuette two years later, at age 82, for his supporting role in “Beginners” of a man who comes out when his wife dies.

So far he is the oldest actor to win it.

In 2018, he was again nominated for the highest film award for “All the money in the world” after impersonating the previous protagonist, Kevin Spacey, at the last minute, whose scenes already shot were eliminated after accusations of sexual misconduct against him.

Born on December 13, 1929, in Toronto, Plummer made his acting debut in the theater in 1950, before gaining worldwide fame with “The Rebel Novice” three decades later.

“I managed to finish the cycle of the great classic roles,” he told the British newspaper The Guardian in 2018. “I played them all, some more than once.

“But the roles that I’m getting in movies now are wonderful, the last 10 have been fascinating.”