Plummer Offers Prose at the Playhouse

Distinguished actor Christopher Plummer stepped onto the stage of the Westport Country Playhouse on Thursday evening and paid tribute to his late friend, poet Archibald MacLeish.

MacLeish (1892-1982) was an American poet, playwright, teacher, public official and a Pulitzer Prize winner. Says Plummer, "Archie was a distinguished man of letters, stoically concealing most of the time with much dignity his passionate and romantic side. He is considered still one of the great, if somewhat unsung, heroes of American literature."

Through an oral dance of verse and commentary, Plummer, a Tony and Emmy Award winner, effortlessly combined the poetry of MacLeish with his own commentary during The Malloy Lecture in the Arts presentation, titled "Remembering Archie (Archibald MacLeish—The Poet and the Man), as told by Christopher Plummer."

"I was genuinely fond of Archie," Plummer told the capacity crowd. "He was a special genius and I loved him."

He recalled how he met McLeish 50 years ago, when the poet phoned him to offer him a part in his play, "J.B."

"At the time I was wondering where my next job was coming from, luxuriating in my own brand of self-pity, when I heard bells," Plummer said.

The bells, it turns out, was the phone ringing a "joyous sound," said Plummer, chuckling.  "My life was brightened by the call." MacLeish was on the line and he had an offer for the young actor: to play the devil in his play.

The production ran on Broadway from 1958 to 1959. "'J.B.' was a tremendous success," said Plummer. "It ran about a year and I was the happiest of inmates in a Broadway jail." MacLeish received the the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work.

But McLeish was much more than a playwright, noted Plummer. "I became enamored of his poems. It was where his heart lay."

 Poems by MacLeish include "The End of the World," "An Eternity," "The Happy Marriage" and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Conquistador."

During his life, MacLeish, who was born in Illinois, traveled to Paris in the early 1920s and formed friendships with Gertrude Stein, dos Passos, James Joyce,  Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the Gerald Murphy. "But the golden age of creativity could not last forever," said Plummer.

Upon returning to the U.S., President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him a librarian of Congress. He later became an assistant secretary of state for public affairs and he represented the United States at the creation of UNESCO. In 1977, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom.

He died at the age of 90.  Plummer was invited to speak at a tribute for his friend that took place at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. This was the inspiration for the evening's presentation.

"I hope sincerely that this brief, nostalgic journey of mine makes clear the extent of my admiration and friendship for this wise and gentle champion of human nature," Plummer wrote in the program's notes.

Following his presentation, Plummer regaled the audience with tales from his own career during an on-stage interview conducted by Westport Country Playhouse Artistic Advisor Anne Keefe.

Keefe made reference to Plummer's career as well as discussed excerpts from his memoir, "In Spite of Myself," which was published in 2008.

Books were available afterward for purchase and signing at the conclusion of the presentation.

About Christopher Plummer

Plummer has enjoyed almost 60 years as one of the theater's most respected actors and as a veteran of more than 100 films.

He first appeared on the Playhouse stage in 1953, opposite Eva LaGallienne, in "The Starcross Story."  In 1954, the play went on to Broadway and he made his debut on the "Great White Way" as George Phillips, performing with LaGallienne and Mary Astor.
       
He later appeared in the Playhouse production of" Home is the Hero, an Irish play by Walter Macken.

Raised in Montreal, he began his professional career on stage and radio in both French and English.

He has won two Tony Awards for the musical "Cyrano" and for "Barrymore" plus seven Tony nominations, his latest for his King Lear (2004) and for his Clarence Darrow in "Inherit the Wind" (2007); also three Drama Desk Awards and the National Arts Club Medal. A former leading member of the Royal National Theater under Sir Laurence Olivier and the Royal Shakespeare Company under Sir Peter Hall, where he won London's Evening Standard Award for Best Actor in "Becket," he has also led Canada's Stratford Festival in its formative years under Sir Tyrone Guthrie and Michael Langham.

Since Sidney Lumet introduced him to the screen in "Stage Struck" (1958), his range of notable films include "The Man Who Would Be King," "Battle of Britain," "Waterloo," "Fall of the Roman Empire," "Star Trek VI," "Twelve Monkeys," and the 1965 Oscar-winning "The Sound of Music"; more recently, Oscar-nominated "The Insider" (as Mike Wallace, he won the National Film Critics Award), the Oscar-winning "A Beautiful Mind," "Man in the Chair," "Must Love Dogs," "National Treasure," "Syriana," and "Inside Man."

His TV appearances, which number close to 100, include the Emmy-winning BBC "Hamlet at Elsinore" playing the title role; the Emmy-winning productions "The Thornbirds," "Nuremberg," "Little Moon of Alban" and many others.  He has himself won two Emmys plus six Emmy nominations. He has also written for the stage, television, and concert-hall.

He was the first performer to receive the Jason Robards Award in memory of his great friend, the Edwin Booth Award, and the Sir John Gielgud Quill Award. In 1968, sanctioned by Elizabeth II, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada (an honorary knighthood). An Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at Juilliard, he also received the Governor General's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. In 1986, he was inducted into the Theatre's Hall of Fame and, in 2000, Canada's Walk of Fame.

His most recent roles include Pixar's "Up," "9," and "My Dog Tulip," all animated film projects, and also the title role of "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," directed by Terry Gilliam. Also, he received nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globes, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for "The Last Station" in which he plays the great novelist Tolstoy opposite Helen Mirren, written and directed by Michael Hoffman.

About the Malloy Lecture

The Westport Public Library began The Malloy Lecture in the Arts in 2002 with a generous gift from local resident Susan Malloy. Open to the public, the lecture presents an individual who has had a significant cultural influence and whose work has enhanced the understanding and appreciation of the arts.

In previous years the lecture has been given by Philippe de Montebello, Arthur Miller, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Joshua Bell, Billy Collins, Vartan Gregorian, Joyce Carol Oates and Roz Chast.