Oscar-winner, ‘Sound of Music' star Christopher Plummer dies At 91
New York: Christopher Plummer, the dashing award-winning actor who played Captain von Trapp in the film The Sound of Music and at 82 became the oldest Academy Award acting winner in history, has died. He was 91.
Plummer died Friday morning at his home in Connecticut with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager.
Over more than 50 years in the industry, Plummer enjoyed varied roles ranging from the film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, to the voice of the villain in 2009's Up and as a canny lawyer in Broadway's Inherit the Wind.
But it was opposite Julie Andrews as von Trapp that made him a star. He played an Austrian captain who must flee the country with his folk-singing family to escape service in the Nazi navy, a role he lamented was humorless and one-dimensional. Plummer spent the rest of his life referring to the film as The Sound of Mucus or S&M.
We tried so hard to put humor into it, he told The Associated Press in 2007. It was almost impossible. It was just agony to try to make that guy not a cardboard figure.
The role catapulted Plummer to stardom, but he never took to leading men parts, despite his silver hair, good looks and ever-so-slight English accent. He preferred character parts, considering them more meaty.
Plummer had a remarkable film renaissance late in life, which began with his acclaimed performance as Mike Wallace in Michael Mann's 1999 film The Insider, continued in films such 2001's A Beautiful Mind and 2009's The Last Station, in which he played a deteriorating Tolstoy and was nominated for an Oscar.
In 2012, Plummer won a supporting actor Oscar for his role in Beginners as Hal Fields, a museum director who becomes openly gay after his wife of 44 years dies. His loving, final relationship becomes an inspiration for his son, who struggles with his father's death and how to find intimacy in a new relationship.
Too many people in the world are unhappy with their lot. And then they retire and they become vegetables. I think retirement in any profession is death, so I'm determined to keep crackin', he told AP in 2011.
Plummer in 2017 replaced Kevin Spacey as J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World just six weeks before the film was set to hit theaters. That choice that was officially validated in the best possible way for the film a supporting Oscar nomination for Plummer, his third. (AP)
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8 children between ages of 1 and 14 dead after mass shooting in Louisiana, police say
Shreveport(US) (AP): A gunman in Louisiana killed eight children in shootings at two different homes early Sunday in the nation's deadliest mass shooting in more than two years, police in Shreveport said.
The victims ranged in age from one to about 14 years old, said Shreveport police spokesperson Chris Bordelon. A total of 10 were shot and some of the children were related to the suspect, Bordelon said.
The gunman later died after a chase with officers who fired at the suspect, Bordelon said. The suspect stole a car while leaving the scene of the shootings and was followed by police, according to Bordelon.
Police did not release the name of the suspect but did say he was an adult male. The shootings were the result of a “domestic disturbance,” Bordelon said.
Officials said they were still gathering details at the crime scenes south of downtown Shreveport — the two homes and a third location.
“This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” he said.
It was the deadliest mass shooting in the US since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community as they sorted through multiple crime scenes.
“I just don't know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. “I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”
“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we've ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. “It's a terrible morning.”
Louisiana State Police say their detectives have been asked by Shreveport police to investigate. In a statement, state police say no officers were harmed in the shooting that involved an officer after a police pursuit into Bossier City on Sunday morning.
State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with state police detectives.
Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry said in a statement that he and his wife were heartbroken. “We're deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers and first responders working tirelessly on the scene,” he added.
