"Christopher Plummer RIP" Topic

Now this is a loss.

We all know "You could drive a battery of nine pounders through that" or even "Help yourselves boys, there's no fighter escort". We will forgive the Sound of Music or his triple X. But he was, I think the oldest Oscar winner? Plus again the oldest Oscar nominee very recently.

But how many of us think of his portrayal every time the DoW is mentioned? Granted he did not resemble him remotely, but I like to think he caught the personality that I imagine. I don't care of DoW never said "Now Maitland, Now's yer time". Indeed I suspect poor old Maitland would have been well out of earshot, or felt it was the C in C's job to decide such.

But I loved to think that Christopher Plummer was still acting and producing outstanding work.

So many of the older actors have passed in the last couple weeks, sad.

I agree, although I doubt the Duke twinkled quite so much as
Christopher Plummer did.

His Hamlet at Elsinore was the first time I saw him work and the first Shakespeare I'd seen, to boot (with Michael Caine playing second fiddle as Horatio + Robert Shaw, Donald Sutherland, and a few other fsmiliar faces). Recorded on location,only four of five years before he filmed Waterloo, it stands up pretty well to the memory.

YouTube link

'We' appreciate the Waterloo characters because we can identify the traits they displayed, showing great skills producing and in acting.
regards d

Loved him in Murder By Decree (1979) about the Jack the Ripper Murders – James Mason, Sutherland, Anthony Quayle etc. A truly frightening movie with a fantastic cast. I will not spoil the ending if you have not seen it.

A real loss – and I have to agree, I have yet to think of anyone who could do Wellington better

I always thought he made a great Wellington,

A fine Wellington, but a sublime Kipling in 'The Man Who Would Be King'. A great resume and too many roles to mention; an excellent actor indeed.
Rest in Peace sir.

I think he once said that he thought Wellington was a supercilious snob, and played him that way.

Even though he was a great Stratford actor, in fact a great all round actor, I will always remember him for his outstanding portrayal of the Great Duke at Waterloo. Indeed a sad passing.

He did what is probably the best portrayal of the DoW on screen.

RIP sir

RIP Lord Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington! One of my favorite movies of all time

His portrayal of Wellington was excellent especially when contrasted with Steiger's portrayal of Napoleon.

Raise him to Corporal! that man knows how to defend an impossible position!

A tough loss. I never realized that he was Canadian.

I agree that Christopher Plummer was a great actor and I enjoyed so many of his portrayals. Funnily enough, I thought Steiger was better as Napoleon than Plummer was as Wellington. As has been said, he was too 'twinkly' displaying a sense of humour which the real Wellington is not known to have had. Most of those who were around him thought him quite cold. I suspect the soldier with the pig would actually have been hung on the spot rather than be promoted. Nevertheless he was a great actor.

My wife and I were lucky enough to see him live as Caesar at The Stratford Festival a few years ago. He was absolutely brilliant. A tragic loss for us Canadians as well as the world. A very classy gentleman!! R.I.P. Mr. Plummer.
Regards,
Hitman
😎

What a loss to the craft.

My wife and daughter, who are both actors, have little truck with most of his era. But not him.

The Sound Of Music, which is played down South at certain times, is always watched in our house.

What Hitman said. Such a loss.

Eric

I will forever picture him in my mind whenever Wellington's name comes up. And I thought he made a pretty good Sherlock Holmes too.

John

I was surprised that the television report on his death referred only to The Sound of Music, and made no mention of his other Film roles, such as Kipling and Wellington.

A fine actor who deserves to be remembered for more than one musical.

Agree wholeheartedly. He even played a Klingon convincingly, quoting Shakespeare as he fought in space.

There was certainly some twinkle in the Duke who, when once called Irish, responded that being born in a stable didn't make you a horse. Plummer was a first-rate choice.

+1-well said.

To this fine actor's memory, when I heard of his passing, I watched "Waterloo" on YouTube.

YouTube link

Plummer played him well, and captured his dry, ironic wit perfectly.

The idea that Wellington was humorless is unfair. This is the man who, when walking past a formation of the Guards with Queen Victoria, gave the perfect response to her innocent question about the source of the unfamiliar smell: "Esprit de corps, ma'am."

Not bad for an off-the-cuff response.

Robert, to be fair though, while there are many examples for us to enjoy of Wellington's wit in conversation and on paper the 'stable and horse' quip was actually made by the Irish politician, Daniel O'Connell in 1843:
"The poor old duke what shall I say of him? To be sure he was born in Ireland, but being born in a stable does not make a man a horse."