In Memory of Christopher Plummer

 Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer passed away yesterday, at the ripe old age of 91. He left behind a stellar body of work, lending a touch of class to every role he played.

    Christopher Plummer always seemed to convey a genuine joy of performance, a joy that arguably was most manifest whenever he found himself talking about his love for the works and words of William Shakespeare. Note the glimmer in his eye and the wide grin when, in the documentary The Captains, he reminisces with William Shatner about the two of them performing Shakespeare as young unknowns in the Canadian theater. Plummer occasionally got to land a role that allowed him to infuse his love of Shakespeare into the character. What fun he has when this occurs! Whether he's putting his own spin on the Danish prince in Hamlet at Elsinore, breaking into impromptu Shakespearian monologue as Jonathan Lawrence in The Cosby Show, or gleefully taking Shakespeare quotes out of context as General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Plummer knows the Bard like the back of his hand, and makes the now ancient words sound not just like poetry but like music.

    Plummer's love of classical characters wasn't limited to Shakespeare, and for my money, his performance as Sherlock Holmes in Murder by Decree marks him as one of the very best Sherlocks -- high praise, when you consider that Holmes has been depicted on-screen more than any other fictional character. (Look it up! It's true! Count Dracula is a distant second.)

    My wife and I both first knew Plummer as slimy villains, a role in which he excelled. My first two Christopher Plummer films were the 80s movies Dragnet and Dreamscape. In the former, Plummer is Reverend Jonathan Whirley, whose public face as a caring man of God and a moral crusader contrasts sharply with his secret identity as the leader of a cult dedicated to the corruption of morality. In Dreamscape, Plummer plays Bob Blair, a political consultant who uses his personal friendship with the President to manipulate and eventually assassinate the Leader of the Free World. My wife, and many others, know Plummer best as William Fawcett Robinson, the cruel supporting character who tries to keep the two lovers apart in the romance Somewhere in Time.

    One notable aspect of Plummer's love for acting is that even when he appeared in projects that definitely didn't need a Christopher Plummer, he had a talent for making it never seem like he was slumming. He could have a supporting role in a Nicolas Cage action movie (as John Adams Gates in National Treasure), for example, and he never made it feel like he was sacrificing his dignity to do so.

    I suggest all of the above films and more to see Christopher Plummer at his finest. As far as his performances go, you could pick pretty much anything off of his extensive IMDb list and walk away satisfied. But if you really want to see Plummer cut loose, check out his amazing one-man show Barrymore, in which Plummer pours his passion and talent into playing another classy, respected actor, Mr. John Barrymore. It's another perfect example of Plummer finding truth in his own joy of performance, and communicating that truth and joy through the screen and directly into the viewer's own heart and soul. He won a Tony Award for this exact same performance on the stage, and watching the movie, it's easy to see why. It's pretty much just one man talking for nearly an hour and a half, and kudos to Plummer for making that talk so compelling you just can't look away the entire time. The role represents the absolute highest end example of bringing theater to the screen.

    His next project immediately after that? Providing the voice of the wizard Arngeir in the fantasy video game Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. And you know what? He's damn good in that too. Plummer poured his best into everything he did.