Christopher Plummer: Busier than ever at 82

Years after "The Sound of Music" in 1965, actor Christopher Plummer is still on the screen . . . in roles as different from THAT one as you can imagine. Anthony Mason has our Sunday Profile:

In the new film of the blockbuster novel, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," Christopher Plummer is Henrik Vanger, the patriarch of a wealthy Swedish family, who hires a journalist, played by Daniel Craig, to investigate the disappearance of his grand niece:

"Someone in the family murdered Harriet, and for the past 40 years has been trying to drive me insane."

When asked how he got the part in "Dragon Tattoo," Plummer replied, "I suppose they thought, 'Who old is left in the world of theater or film?'"

At 82, the veteran actor is in demand. In another film this year, "Beginners," Plummer plays a father who finds new life when he comes out of the closet - at age 75.

He said it was the freest he ever felt in front of the camera: "Yes, I think it was. I really think so. Because it was a real character, you know, something I've never played before."

After earning his first Oscar nomination in 2009 playing Russian writer Leo Tolstoy in "The Last Station," Plummer is now being tipped as a frontrunner for another nomination.

"In many ways it feels like you're kind of in the prime of your movie career," said Mason.

"Yes, it's extraordinary to wait this long," he said. "I work harder and more frequently now that I'm in my 80s than I ever did before."

He's appeared in more than 90 films, most famously as leading man in "The Sound of Music."

But Plummer has never quite become a movie star, in part because his heart has always been on the stage: "I always go back to the theater, and that's very hard for film people and Hollywood people to understand - Why on earth is he going - he must be dead! He's either dead or he's in the theater, which is the same thing."

Growing up in Montreal, the great-grandson of a former Canadian prime minister, he caught the acting bug in high school, and at 18 was already winning rave reviews on the Canadian stage.

His first role in America was at the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut: "Very early '50s I came here."

It's the audience that Plummer says he feeds off of, even if he can't always see them.

"But you feel them, that's the thing. That's the ticket. And it's alive. It's a buzz."

He won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Cyrano in 1974. When he played Iago in 1982, opposite James Earl Jones' Othello, the New York Times' critic called it "quite possibly the best single Shakespearean performance ... on this continent in our time."

He earned another Tony in 1997 playing actor John Barrymore. The play is now being made into a film:

Plummer's home in Connecticut is filled with photographs of his great roles and his great co-stars, including Julie Andrews.

"For all the less-than-nice things you've said about 'Sound of Music' over the years, you've had only nice things to say about her," remarked Mason.

"Oh well, who wouldn't? I mean, what a professional," Plummer responded. "I love Julie."

But of "Sound of Music," Plummer said, "there were too many nuns in it, I thought."

As Capt. Von Trapp, father of the singing Von Trapps, he teaches his children the song "Edelweiss."

"Have you ever sung 'Edelweiss' in public after that?" Mason asked.

"Not on your Nellie!"

And he wasn't about to start now. "You mean, you were hoping for instance that I might, if things got dull here, I might sing it for you here now?" Plummer said. "It's a wrap!"

But last year, for the first time, Plummer consented to reunite with the cast on "Oprah."

"That was sweet," Plummer said. "I was dreading it. But they paid me to go."

"I love what your co-star, Charmian Carr, who played Liesl, said when she was asked if she learned anything from you: 'Yes. I learned how to drink,'" Mason recalled.

"I know you weren't initially a big fan of the movie."

"Listen, I think The 'Sound of Music,' for what it is, is absolutely a wonderful film. I am thankful for it because it certainly helped get audiences in the seats when I went back to the theater."

"That's the blessing. Did you view it as a curse in some way as well?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, because I was immediately cast in all those rather uptight, young arrogant leading men," Plummer said.

Plummer preferred playing character roles, like Rudyard Kipling in "The Man Who Would Be King" . . . Sherlock Holmes in "Murder by Decree" . . . and CBS' Mike Wallace in "The Insider."

But there was a part that got away: "Yes, I do regret that I didn't play the king in 'Becket.'"

Plummer had won raves in the play in London, but in 1964 the film role went to another rising star named Peter O'Toole.

"Well, he had just made 'Lawrence of Arabia,' you know, that tiny little film that hardly anyone saw," Plummer said.

Mason offered that, 'It's up there with 'Sound of Music' as one of the really bad films of all time."

"Yes!" Plummer laughed. "I love Peter. But the son of a bitch took my part, and I'll kill him."

By his own admission Plummer lived a wild life in his early years.

In the late Sixties, he met actress Elaine Taylor, who became his third wife. They've been together now more than 40 years: "In this business, it's a record-breaker," said Plummer.

"Especially for you, given your early record."

"I've only been married three times. Good God, it's not an awful lot, is it?"

"Well, early on, they were coming fast."

"Yeah, well, every 5 years. You know, but at least 5 years. So I got to know their names."

"So why did this one stick?"

"Elaine's strength has really been extraordinary for me. She's saved my life. First of all, I was drinking too much. And she said, 'If you don't stop, we're finished. We're out.' So she saved my life, literally.

"When we do fight, which is occasional, we always end up absolutely screaming with laughter because we suddenly see ourselves performing, and it turns into a performance."

"Can your hear yourself acting sometimes?"

"Oh God, yeah," Plummer said.

"What's that like?"

"It's awful. Most of this interview has been acting!" Plummer replied.

"I was afraid of that . . . "

But it's a part Christopher Plummer plays well.

When asked if he ever tires of walking out of the wings, Plummer said, "No, I just love it."

Another fine performance from an actor who, at 82, isn't about to leave the stage:

For more info:

• Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, Conn.
• "In Spite of Myself" by Christopher Plummer (Knopf)
• Thanks to Peter Le Donne, producer of "Barrymore"; and to Harpo Productions, Inc,, for the clip of Christopher Plummer's appearance on "Oprah."