Christopher Plummer Has Passed Away

[Sunsilver]

The oldest actor to ever be awarded an Oscar, Plummer has passed away and age 91.

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/chri ... zw-E6-MLok

[N.E. Brigand]

taH pagh taHbe



Let us sit on the ground and tell sad stories of the deaths of kings.

[Sunsilver]

It' very interesting to me that I've heard two entirely contradictory stories about his reaction to having to sing in the Sound of Music.

One account said he was absolutely horrified at the thought.
The other account said he was outraged when he found out his voice was going to be dubbed! That account said he'd sung before, and had worked very hard to improve his voice. He did not know until after the film was 'in the can' that his voice was going to be dubbed.

It's possible both accounts are true. He could have been horrified at first, then worked very hard during the film to get his singing just right, only to find his voice was going to be dubbed over. Apparently, he does have some vocal recordings to his credit, so his voice couldn't have been that terrible.

He actually does sing the beginning and ending of "Edelweiss" at the music festival, while the middle section was dubbed. He confesses to being very drunk at the time.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Christopher Plummer Regretted Turning Down a Role in ‘The Lord of the Rings

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[Sunsilver]

Voronwë, did you post the wrong link? That one doesn't say anything about LOTR.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Wow, they changed the headline, and removed the information from the article!

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[Jude]

I did a search on the "Christopher Plummer Lord of the Rings". It turns out that he was the first choice to play Gandalf.

I doubt he would have been as good as Ian McKellen, but we'll never know.

[Túrin Turambar]

It would have been a different Gandalf, but I wouldn't say it would have been a better or worse one. It would have been interesting to see. I could have seen Plummer nailing the role as McKellen did.

Plummer was one of those actors who had a strained relationship with his most iconic role. Which is one of the hazards of going into acting as a profession, I suppose. I'm always reminded of Alec Guinness, who had a brilliant career on stage on screen and was then maddeningly frustrated that he was known to future generations as Obi-Wan Kenobi. The difference is that Plummer's famous role came early in his career.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The article said (before they removed it) that Plummer was a long-time fan of Tolkien, but that he was not willing to commit to relocating to New Zealand for a number of years, as the role required. He also said that he enjoyed what he described as McKellen's "warm" portrayal of Gandalf, but that his Gandalf would have been "colder". Based on that comment, I'm glad that we got what we got.

Still, a great actor.

[Túrin Turambar]

Which is funny, as I'd envision Plummer-Gandalf to be more wry and less gruff than McKellen-Gandalf. But I agree, McKellen got the perfect balance between the friendly and intimidating aspects of the character.

[Dave_LF]

I'm sure it wasn't his favorite or his best, but the film I'll remember him for is the excellent Knives Out, which was the last film I saw in a theater before The Change. His character there gives a good idea what his Gandalf would have been like, I bet.

[Frelga]

I'm sure it wasn't his favorite or his best, but the film I'll remember him for is the excellent Knives Out, which was the last film I saw in a theater before The Change. His character there gives a good idea what his Gandalf would have been like, I bet.

Basically this word for word.

[Alatar]

He'll always be General Chang to me.

[Sunsilver]

He was a very versatile actor, and did very well in numerous roles. A discussion on another forum reminded me of what a good job he did as Sherlock Holmes in Murder by Decree.

That movie had a very strong cast, including James Mason as Watson, Anthony Quale, John Gielgud and Donald Sutherland. It was also an edge-of-the-seat thriller, and an excellent entry into the long list of Holmes movies.