Talk:Christopher Plummer

As of 16 July 2024, this article is a good article. (compare to current). This means the community feels it is written well. You may see the discussion that promoted the article here.

Comments from Lights and freedom

@TDKR Chicago 101 This article looks fairly simplified, but its Flesch reading ease score is 53, which is rated as fairly difficult to read. Specific comments:

• In "Early life", it says twice that he never attended college or university.
• In "Later stage career", what is A Word or Two?
• Last paragraph of "The Sound of Music and success": 'He called the movie "boring" and told him to "get a new writer".' Actually Plummer called Terry Malick boring, not the movie. And he said "You’ve got to get yourself a writer", and "he needs a writer desperately, because he insists on doing everything", not "get a new writer". As others have said at your past PGA/PVGA noms, you can't change quotes (although maybe you can use [brackets]?...I'm not sure ask others)
• In "Beginners and final years", "The decision was made a few weeks before the movie was going to be released." Seems like a complicated verb tense, is there a simpler way to phrase it?
• In "Personal life and death", you wrote 'Plummer's family said that he had died "peacefully with his family at his side".' However that doesn't seem to be a real quote. The news article says "According to reports, Plummer died peacefully at his home in Connecticut with his wife Elaine Taylor at his side."

These are just suggestions, if you don't agree with them that's okay. Lights and freedom (talk) 01:37, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

Great suggestions! Thank you. I've fixed all the issues you've listed. Appreciate it. @Lights and freedom: TDKR Chicago 101 (talk) 14:35, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

A few comments

Please see my recent simplifications in the article history as examples. Below is a very close reading of the article pointing out issues.

*His final roles were as Harlan Thrombey in Knives Out (2019), Frank Pitsenbarger in The Last Full Measure (2020) and as Howard Lawson in the television drama Departure. -- Why three final roles? One is undated.

*At an early age, he loved acting and went to High School of Montreal. -- Poor sentence structure. Two separate unconnected ideas.

*At an early age, he loved acting and went to High School of Montreal. He wanted to become an actor after watching Laurence Olivier's movie Henry V (1944). He learned acting as an apprentice with the Montreal Repertory Theatre. Plummer never went to college or university, something he wished he did. Later in life, McGill University gave an honorary degree to Plummer. In 1946, the Montreal Gazette's theatre critic Herbert Whittaker liked Plummer's role as Mr Darcy in a Montreal High School play of Pride and Prejudice. Whittaker was also a stage director and he hired Plummer at age 18 to play Oedipus in Jean Cocteau's La Machine infernale. -- Time order. High school. Late in life. High school. Reorganize.

*Plummer began acting at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1956. -- Ambiguous.

• Not sure how this is ambiguous. It's a bit straightforward. --TDKR Chicago 101 (talk) 18:48, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

*In April 1961, he played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. -- Is this the same as the Stratford Shakespeare Festival mentioned before and after? Broken up into three paragraphs. Organize more clearly?

• It's different I'm sure. Shakespeare Memorial Theatre is different than Stratford Shakespeare Festival. --TDKR Chicago 101 (talk) 18:50, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

*In 1988, he played the main role in Broadway's Macbeth. He also had positive reviews for his role as the main character. He worked with Jason Robards in the 1994 version of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land. For his role in No Man's Land, Plummer was nominated for a Tony Award. -- Structure. Why is this a paragraph? (( and 94? Macbeth and Pinter? There is no connection. Simplify the second sentence.

• Never said these two were connected. Not sure where it's inferred that they were connected. I merged this into another paragraph. What specifically needs simplifying? I changed "positive" to "good" for a start.

*Plummer became well known for playing actor John Barrymore in the 1997 Broadway play of William Luce's Barrymore. -- You wrote that he became well known for Von Trapp in 65. Which is it? The "known for" construction is very common in En Wikipedia but is often redundant.

• Fixed it saying how it's "one of his popular roles" but someone could be known for multiple roles/plays/films/television, etc. --TDKR Chicago 101 (talk) 18:55, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

*His role as Barrymore, gave Plummer his second -- Unsimple metaphor. The role did not give him anything. The committee did.

*Plummer's movie career began in 1958 when Sidney Lumet hired him as a young writer -- As written, hired as a writer, not an actor. But I suspect you meant the character was a writer.

*He was in Inside Daisy Clover (1965) and then played World War II agent Eddie Chapman in Triple Cross (1966). -- Why is this a sentence? It is npt a single complete idea. It is two unconnected events.

* He had a role as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in The Night of the Generals (1967). Plummer replaced Rex Harrison for the movie version of Doctor Dolittle. However, Harrison later came back for the movie. Plummer was paid $87,500 for signing the contract. -- String of disconnected events. Unclear from reading this exactly what happened with Doolittle. It sounds like Plummer did not replace Harrison.

• He was hired to replace Harrison at first, but then he returned. He was paid for signing the contract regardless, despite not starring in the movie. Made it more clear in the article's body. --TDKR Chicago 101 (talk) 19:00, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

That's all I have time or energy for now. --Gotanda (talk) 09:03, 16 September 2022 (UTC)

Consistency lacking

*In the intro: His career started in 1946

*in early life: critics enjoyed him in a school production in 46

*In career, Plummer started acting in 1948.

Is the career start point his acting in a school production or when he starts working as an actor? Career is profession so the later should be the start date.

Also the intro says he his first Broadway role was in '54 but the career section says it was Jan '53

There seems to be an issue with consistency of information. These are only two examples. How many more are there in the article

Pure Evil (talk) 14:59, 3 January 2023 (UTC)

Fixed the issues. Stated more boldly that his professional career began in 1948. It appears his first Broadway role was in 1953, but the show was shutdown on opening night. His broadway role in 1954 was his first one that lasted longer. Made that more clear in the article as well. TDKR Chicago 101 (talk) 18:44, 19 April 2024 (UTC)