Ode to a Renaissance Man

Since I can’t afford to travel as much as I’d like to, another form of travel for me is reading a good book that takes me into another world or time. I’m a sucker for autobiographies and memoirs by Hollywood stars, particularly from “old Hollywood.” I’m especially fascinated by memoirs—what people remember about their lives and choose to reveal to the reader—the good, the bad, the mundane, the fascinating. People like Kate Hepburn, Kirk Douglas, Sidney Poitier have all written compelling memoirs that I really enjoyed reading.

I’m always curious to see if there was a “road not taken” or a key decision they did or didn’t make that somehow impacted the trajectory of their lives as we so often like to think. What seems to often be the case is that these people were destined for their path of stardom as though fame perched on their shoulder and hung on for dear life. Sidney Poitier turned down roles that he found demeaning even when he was poor as a church mouse. Katherine Hepburn defied stereotypes and lived her life as she saw fit way long before feminism had taken hold in the 70's. That’s not to say they didn’t go through hard or challenging times, but what I find is that most of these “stars” somehow managed to stay true to themselves in spite of whatever challenges and opportunities came their way.

Most recently, I started reading Christopher Plummer’s memoir In Spite of Myself. He of The Sound of Music that he affectionately refers to in the book as S&M. I’ve had a crush on Christopher Plummer since I first saw that movie at age five and I have seen it at least 15 or 20 times since. I knew that Plummer was a serious stage actor who cut his teeth in stage productions of the great Shakespearean roles prior to signing on to the role of the captain in the Sound of Music. At this point in his life, he seems to have come to terms with his participation in this movie and says he finally understands why the movie is so beloved to millions worldwide.

Reading Plummer’s book is like taking a rollicking ride through the heyday of stage and cinema up to the present time. He gives us the back story to the stage productions and films he starred in, including the Sound of Music. Sadly, it shattered any illusions I might have had that he and Julie Andrews were romantically involved during the filming of the movie (the cast stayed in different hotels for the filming of the movie in Austria).

In his prime, Plummer palled around with Jason Robards, Jr. and other bad boys of Hollywood and had more than his share of romantic liaisons with women, which certainly isn’t surprising; I have always thought he is one of the best looking men to ever appear on the silver screen. Plummer’s great love of literature and wordplay comes through in his descriptions of how he tackled a particular role. He also sprinkles whimsical poems of his own and others throughout the text.

I was interested to learn that Plummer comes from distinguished lineage in Canada. His great grandfather was one of the first prime ministers of Canada; another ancestor was one of the founders of McGill University. His parents divorced when he was very young and his mother had to return to work in reduced circumstances. Plummer seems to have spent much of his life trying to distance himself from his elite gene pool.

If you’re looking for some introspection or soul searching, it doesn’t come until he meets the love of his life, Elaine (his third wife). He writes of her on page 464“Her appearance instantly broke a recurring dream that had plagued me most of my life but which now made complete sense. In it, I am the incubus fighting my way through bile and slime; something incredibly heavy is pushing down upon my face. I can breathe no longer, I’m suffocating, life is slipping away. Then far above a light begins to shine through and with one terrifying heave I am released. Some kind of nocturnal monster has retched and spewed what’s left of me out into the brilliant sunlight and like some beached flounder I land with a joyous slap onto the warm and welcoming white sands. Another temporary reprieve? No! This time I had been truly spared.”