Christopher Plummer, acclaimed for a wide range of standout stage performances as Lear and Iago amongst many others, became a household name because of his role as Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music alongside Julie Andrews. He loathed the movie and the indelible imprint it made on his image describing it as like being beaten to death by a Hallmark card. He has just died aged 91 after a fall.
His long career was marked by periods of excessive drinking and boorish behaviour but he staged a late revival in his 80s with an Oscar for Beginners and other creditable movies.
Born 13 December 1929 in Toronto, Canada, no birth time, he had a fiery and outspoken Sagittarius Sun Mars conjunction; with Venus in Sagittarius opposition Jupiter square Neptune and Venus trine Uranus in Aries. Lively to say the least. His Moon was in heavyweight Taurus conjunct the North Node.
When The Sound of Music premiered the tr Uranus Pluto in Virgo opposition tr Saturn in Pisces was moving to hard aspect his Sagittarius planets and his Jupiter – for highs and lows. He wasn’t the easiest mix for Julie Andrews with his Uranus falling in her 7th house of relationship and his chilly Saturn in her 4th. Though his Jupiter would smooth over a few rough edges. There is a slight crossover of each of their North Nodes which is probably significant for such an iconic movie – his Moon North Node in Taurus fell in Julie’s 8th opposition her Moon; and his Pluto opposed her North Node.
He was married three times, the first two only lasting a few years each, and the third cleaned up his act and survived for 53 years. His third wife Elaine Taylor was a Libra like Julie Andrews – and both ladies had hard Saturn Mars aspects allowing them to put up with difficult men.
Hi Marjorie,
Could you elaborate about Mars/ Saturn and difficult men.
Thanks, Jac
Mars = assertion, I want, I choose, I intend to do. Saturn puts the blocks on that. In a chart it suggests a childhood where there was too much discipline, hardship, unfair treatment or downright cruelty. So ‘I want’ never got a look in.
Since old patterns repeat in adult life until understood and dumped, the tendency is to attract partners who carry the familiar negative energy. Even when resolved, the individual will still be more disciplined than most and better able to suppress their ego’s needs when necessary. So they’ll be able to handle tricky partners.
Thank you for your response Marjorie.
I rectified his chart to 7:11:47 pm, Asc 25Cn21. His first name was Arthur and we find
asteroid Arthur on his Asc and asteroid Shakespeare conj his 7th cusp for public projection.
His Sun-Mars conj is in his 5th House of entertainment along with Venus.
His mother predicted that the second half of his life would be best…..she was probably
an astrologer to make this prediction….he has Uranus, astrology, conj his 10th House cusp.
The 10th House rules mother, and Uranus rules his 8th H, common for astrologers.
I imagine it would have been difficult for such a serious stage actor – I think this is due to his Mercury conjunct Saturn in Capricorn, since stage requires intellectual rigor not all film actors have – to be remembered mostly as Captain Von Trapp. I think he would have enjoyed comments people on Twitter poured there yesterday, remembering his Yago or Macbeth from decades ago. Also, he definitely got redeemed a lot later in life for those more serious and complexed screen roles. I think these started coming with “Insider” in 1999, so maybe tr Saturn conjunct Taurus Moon?
Anyhow, since artists can’t be fully in control of their legacies, I have to say I personally enjoyed “Sound of Music” a lot growing up, and can’t wait to watch it with my daughter, who is starting to be the right age now. She might note Captain Von Trapp looks a bit like her daddy, too. 😉