The Week - UK (2021-02-13)

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THEWEEK 13 February 2021

Obituaries

ChristopherPlummerwas

a“tremendous”Canadian

actor,with“sculpted

features,animposing

physiqueandamagnificentvoice”,who

is“destined,ordoomed”,tobeprimarily

rememberedforhisroleasCaptainvonTrapp

inTheSoundofMusic( 1965 ),saidMichael

CoveneyinTheGuardian.Itwasaboxoffice

smash,andremainsoneofthebest-lovedfilms

evermade;anditishardtoimagineanyother

actorbringingsuchcharmtotheroleofthe

suavebutauthoritarianpatriarchofthevon

Trappfamily,yetPlummerneverlikedthefilm.

Consideringit“sentimentalandgooey”,he

referredtoitasthe“SoundofMucus”,and

resentedthewayitovershadowedmuchof

therestofhiscareer.Appearingon“stage,

screenandAlpinemeadow”formorethansix

decades,heplayedallthegreatShakespearean

roles,outlivedhisfellowhellraiserstobecome

a“go-to”actorforseniorstarroles–andaged

82,becametheoldestactorevertowinanOscar.

ChristopherPlummerwas bornin 1929,and broughtupoutside

Montreal.His motherwas the granddaughterofCanada’sthird

prime minister,JohnAbbott;his fathersoldstocksandsecurities.

Hisparents splitup when hewasveryyoung,however, and

moneywastight afterthat.He scarcelymethisfather untilhe was

17, and hedidn’tseemuch ofhismother,either. “Iwasbrought

up byanAiredale” isthefirstline ofhisautobiography. Hegot

atasteforactingat school,andsoimpressedasMrDarcyin a

school productionofPrideandPrejudice,he wasofferedarole

on theprofessionalstageinMontreal. Bythemid-1950s,he had

establishedhimselfasaclassicalactor ofnote,makingfrequent

appearancesat theShakespearefestivalatStratford,Ontario. In

1956,DavidO. Selznickspotted hispotential,and invitedhim

to Hollywood,butPlummerturnedhimdown,inorderto play

Hamlet.Heeventuallymadehisscreendebut

in 19 58.TheSoundofMusicwashisthird

film.At35,hewasratheryoungerthanthe

characterhewasplaying;andhelateradmitted

thathewasan“arrogantyoungbastard”who

“harbouredtheold-fashionedstageactor’s

snobbismtowardmovie-making”.Hewas

determinedtomakeitlookasthoughhe

wasmakingthefilm“underduress”,and

hisbehaviourwas,hesaid,“unconscionable”.

Duringonebreakfromfilming,helivedit

uptosuchanextent,hecouldn’tfitintohis

costumeswhenhegotbacktotheset.Hehad

alwaysbeenaboozer:itwaspartofthetheatre

culture,hesaid.“Youprovedyourselfaman,

myson,ifyoustayedupallnight,drankten

gallonsofwhisky.”Once,heandTyrone

Powerdranksomuch,theybothgothepatitis.

HisotherdrinkingpartnersincludedPeter

O’Toole,RexHarrisonandRichardBurton.

TheSoundofMusicmadehimaninternational

star;buthewasnot,hesaid,temperame ntallysuitedtothe

Hollywoodlimelight,and hefoundthe constantauditioningfor

films“exhaustingand frightening”.So hecontinuedmainly to

act onthe classical stage–onbothsides oftheAtlantic–while

picking andchoosingfilmroles, fromBattleofBritain(1969)to

The Return ofthePink Panther(1975).Hedid not achievethe

fameofsome ofhis contemporaries, but heenjoyedalate-life

flourishing:he received hisfirstOscarnominationaged80,forhis

role asLeoTolstoyinTheLastStation(2009);hewon the Oscar

for Mike Mills’sBeginnersin2012, andwasnominated againin

2018,forhisperformanceasJohn PaulGetty,in RidleyScott’s

All the Moneyinthe World,arolehe’dtakenovermid-filming

fromKevin Spacey. Hehad curtailedhisdrinkingin the1970s,

followi nghismarriage tohis third wife,Elaine Taylor. She

survives him, alongwith hisdaughter,theactressAmanda

Plummer, fromhisfirstmarriage, totheactressTammyGrimes.

Christopher

Plummer

1929-2021

MaureenColquhoun, who has

diedaged92,waselectedto

Parliament in 1 974,at atime

whentherewerefewer than 3 0

women intheHouseofCommons.AsLabour

memberfor NorthamptonNorth,she foughtfor

reformson arange ofissues–includingequal

rightsforwomen and thedecriminalisation of

somedrugs –that “gained growing support in

subsequent years”,said The Times.Asaresult,

she came to be seen by herparty asacourageous

pioneer;butatt he time,she wassometimes

dismissedas “difficult”, andwhenshe ca me out

as alesbian in 1976–the firstMPtodoso–she

was reviled in thepress, andherparty votedto

deselect her.“Another eight years would pass

beforeafuture Labourmini ster wasable to

introducehimselfatarally with,‘I’m Chri sSmith...and I’mgay’

and be met with afive-minuteovation”; and“it wasnot until

1997” thatanother female MP cameout –Angela Eagle.

Maureen MorfyddSmith wasborn in 1928inEast Sussex, and

brought up by her singlemother, Elizabeth. Educated ataconvent

in Eastbourne,she later studiedeconomics at LSE.Aged20, she

marriedKeith Colquhoun, with whom shehad three children.

Having alwaysbeeninterestedinpolitic s(shehad joinedthe

Labour Partyaged 17), shestood as alocal councillor in

Shorehamin 1964. Shemade waveseventhen –and was barred

fromallitscommitteesbyher “overwhelmingly

maleandTory”colleagues,saidTheDaily

Telegraph;they dubbed her“MrsChatterbox”.

Nevertheless, she perseveredinpolitics,and in

the snapelection ofFebruary 1974,shewas

electedtoParliament.Although someyears

earlier, she’d hadasecretaffairwithawoman,

sheconsideredherself happilymarriedtoKeith.

“I maybeliberated, butIstill want to get home

to cook hisdinner,” she said, whencallingfor

betterworkin ghours for MPs.But whileworking

on th eBalance of the Sexesbill,she fellin love

with Barbara“Babs” Todd,publisher of Sappho

magazine;soonafter, sheended hermarriage

(amicably, shesaid)and movedinwith Toddand

herchildren; herown were by thengrow nup.

Thepart ytried to keepher affair quiet,but news leaked.The

media attentionwasbrutal; shetook the DailyMail to the Press

Councilfor ha rassi ng herfamily, andfor t he tone ofitscover age.

But thedecisionto deselect hermay nothave been entirely down

to hersexuality: shehadupset manyint he partybyseeming to

defend Enoch Powell’s views onracial strife.Ina ny case,she

suc cessfullyappealed her deselection–butlost herseatinthe

Tory landslideof1979. Later, shespent eightyearssittingon

Hackney Council; andafter sheandToddmoved to th eLake

District,she wasanactiv ememberoft he National Park

Authority.Theyweremarriedin 2015; Todd diedlast year.

Maureen

Colquhoun

1928-2021

Versatile Canadian actor who played Captain von Trapp

Plummer:dedicatedtothestage

Colquhoun: dismissed as difficult

Britain’s first openly gay female MP