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18th out of 62 books
—
19 voters
In Spite of Myself: A Memoir
A rollicking, rich portrait of a life. And what a life! By one of today’s greatest living actors.
He was born a Canadian on a Friday the thirteenth in 1929—the year of the Crash. His boyhood was one of privilege: an ancestor was a Governor General; his great-grandfather Sir John Abbott was Canada’s third prime minister and owned railroads. There were steam yachts, mansions,...more
He was born a Canadian on a Friday the thirteenth in 1929—the year of the Crash. His boyhood was one of privilege: an ancestor was a Governor General; his great-grandfather Sir John Abbott was Canada’s third prime minister and owned railroads. There were steam yachts, mansions,...more
Hardcover, 656 pages
Published
November 4th 2008
by Knopf
(first published 2008)
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It took me the better part of two weeks to read this - not because it is a bad book but because it is so overwhelming in scope. I was amazed at the number of people this man has worked with over the last forty years, ranging from Lillian Hellman and Raymond Massey to Russell Crowe and Spike Lee. The sheer number of names dropped from the world of Hollywood and New York Theatre are amazing. Plummer is probably best known as the Baron von Trapp from the Sound of Music and after thirty years or so...more
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It's just after midnight here in Chicago. The deep cold outside is seeping in at the windows of my room here at the Hotel Blake. I've just turned the last page of In Spite of Myself: A Memoir by Christopher Plummer. Most of this I read in my dressing room over the last four weeks. I read it during the quiet time before half hour is called, in the fifteen minutes between half and fight call, and during intermissions in Cincinnati, South Bend, Peoria, and Chicago at the Auditorium. And I haven't e
...more
This is one of the best showbiz memoirs I’ve read. It’s very long (over 600 pages) but never boring, largely due to Plummer’s narrative skill, wit and charm.
A large part of the book reads like a Who’s Who of the American and British theatre of the 1950s and 1960s, with Plummer having worked with most major theatrical figures of those decades, from Elia Kazan to Peter Hall. And his friendships have also ranged widely, including figures such as Noël Coward, Rex Harrison, Laurence Olivier, Kathari...more
A large part of the book reads like a Who’s Who of the American and British theatre of the 1950s and 1960s, with Plummer having worked with most major theatrical figures of those decades, from Elia Kazan to Peter Hall. And his friendships have also ranged widely, including figures such as Noël Coward, Rex Harrison, Laurence Olivier, Kathari...more
This book took me FOREVER to read. Not only is because it's like 800+ pages (a fucking tomb in my book) but the writing was a little funny and as it is an older book, I kept putting it off. This is Christopher Plummer's memoir. Recognize that name? You should. He played Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, one of everyone's favorite movie. I always thought he was kind of hot and when the whole cast was on Oprah (fuck, I have been watching way too much of that trash this year) and he chatted...more
There's a bit in In Spite of Myself when Plummer is writing the memoir and trying to remember the details of how he and his wife Elaine met and got together. So he asks her. She's reading a book.
"Help me," I plead. "Take me back, in your own words, to the time we met." She looks up. "There must have been something about you. And, oh, yes, we tumbled into bed and all that, but I didn't like you very much. I thought you were the most conceited prig--the way you ponced about in that big convertible...more
This is a rollicking, vivid and a bit-too-much detailed autobiography by the actor who apparently acted—and drank with—everybody, from Barrymore to Russell Crowe. His elegant retelling of his childhood in upper-crust Montreal is like a crash course in Canadian history (he's linked to a Prime Minisster and other early Anglophone titians). Plummer remains wistful throughout for all the times that pass, but he continually adapts to new performance outlets (live TV, movies). Along the way he sires a...more
Wow! I don't know how this book passed an editor's blue pencil. It was so long-winded I found myself skipping whole pages. If you can stick with the verbosity of it there are quite a few gems buried in the text. I had a bit of a preconceived idea of what Christoper Plummer would be like as I had read several other autobiographies (of other actors with whom he's worked) in which he played a part. It's interesting to read Plummer's take on certain circumstances. Overall, this would've been a much...more
I bought this book at the Ontario Stratford Festival bookstore while I was there seeing Christopher Plummer in "The Tempest". Well written memoir with juicy tidbits of his life and great insight in the theater of Canada, U.S.A. and England. He was there with all the "greats" and has good reporting of fun filled nights during stage and filming and afterwards at the party. I always thought of Plummer as Captain Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music", but he is more like a James Bond playboy the first 4...more
Long as this book is, I was spellbound by the stories of the adventurous life of one of my favorite actors, from beginning to end. He includes anecdotes of the famous--like Raymond Massey and Jennifer Jones--and the little known of his day, and his own wayward wanderings through bars and strange cities, along with the wonderful backstage stories every actor worth his salt delights in telling. A chapter is devoted to the filming of "The Sound of Music," about which he was so deprecating at the ti...more
This is a highly entertaining piece of writing by a great entertainer. He has certainly done a lot of things that aren't looked kindly on by society: drinking a lot, playing tricks on people, having a lot of relationships; but he notes those and moves on.
His life is really his acting career, and yet he is not all about himself. He notes those he admired, those he worked with and gives praise to those he thinks deserve it (and that is a lot of them).
Even when he talks about those he had difficult...more
His life is really his acting career, and yet he is not all about himself. He notes those he admired, those he worked with and gives praise to those he thinks deserve it (and that is a lot of them).
Even when he talks about those he had difficult...more
Admittedly, I picked this up on a whim after watching the 45th Anniversary Sound of Music reunion on Oprah. I was nostalgic, I was tearful, I was vulnerable.
I love Christopher Plummer. I love his acting. I thought he was one of the best parts of The Sound of Music. I loved to hate him in Somewhere in Time. I loved it when he guest-starred on The Cosby Show. I even loved his turn in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
He should never try to write. Really. It wandered and rambled and meandered....more
I love Christopher Plummer. I love his acting. I thought he was one of the best parts of The Sound of Music. I loved to hate him in Somewhere in Time. I loved it when he guest-starred on The Cosby Show. I even loved his turn in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
He should never try to write. Really. It wandered and rambled and meandered....more
I've always loved Christopher Plummer and live theatre especially, which it turns out, is his preference over movies as well.
I gave this book a high rating because it was an absolute pleasure to read. He has an excellent use of the English language, with the occasional smattering of French, and a good sense of dry humour throughout.
The most surprising aspect of the book was it actually reads like an historical account of who's who in the theatre and in film throughout his lifetime. I'm so grate...more
I gave this book a high rating because it was an absolute pleasure to read. He has an excellent use of the English language, with the occasional smattering of French, and a good sense of dry humour throughout.
The most surprising aspect of the book was it actually reads like an historical account of who's who in the theatre and in film throughout his lifetime. I'm so grate...more
Christopher Plummer has got away with a lot in his long life. Part of this must be due to sheer luck. Given his appetite for alcohol, food, and women, all of which appears to be meticulously detailed in this autobiography, it's a miracle he's in the good shape he's in, or indeed, alive at all, given more than one close call (also carefully related). Another thing that gets him off is his extreme good looks. People are always more willing to forgive handsome and charming people. The third thing t...more
I thought to add this to my shelf as I was reading about his one-man show in today's New York Times. This book was great but like someone else mentioned, it's a little overwhelming. The guy knew or knows EVERYBODY that's anybody in the theater. For some reason, I can't give it five stars like I gave Keith Richards' book--maybe because Christopher seems a bit less easy to relate to than Keith does. Sort of. But both of their books have great stuff in them about what they do and why--acting and wr...more
Meh ... I'll admit I only read this for the chapter on The Sound of Music, and I'll just tell you that if you're only reading it for that chapter, prepare to be disappointed. It's short, and it won't tell you anything you didn't learn from the Oprah episode you most assuredly watched. There are several good anecdotes (mostly centered upon alcohol), and it did make me want to read my Shakespeare anthology, but other than that, you can probably pass on this this unless you are (1) Canadian (like P...more
This is one sensational memoir. I must admit that Christopher Plummer is never my favorite actor. I may not like him any better as an actor after reading this...but he has had a hell of a life. A contemporary of the great Jason Robards, Shakespeare specialist, bodacious drinker; his life has intersected with many of the most interesting characters in theater, music, and the arts.
This rollicking memior proves that Plummer has forgotten nothing. His story of behind the curtain dish, international...more
This rollicking memior proves that Plummer has forgotten nothing. His story of behind the curtain dish, international...more
Christopher Plummer could have pretty much Madlibbed this book. It would go like this: "I starred in (fill in the name of film or play), co-starring (famous stars of stage and screen). The details on staging, direction, and relationships were (describe in detail). Afterwards, the cast would go to (fancy restaurant, hip dive, club, villa, or mansion) and get (wasted, in brawls, in trouble with the law), after which I would get laid by (fill in the blank)."
It was much better written than I am maki...more
It was much better written than I am maki...more
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Very poetic and passionate storyteller.
From the start of his career through the 1950s, most of his acting was done on the stage and television. His great passion for the works of Shakespeare kept him happily occupied.
Due to his age and perhaps his Canadian roots, there were many topics which were foreign to me. In the first half of the book, many references were made to particular music and musicians, actors and directors, films, plays, theaters, etc., most of which I’d never heard, although I’d...more
From the start of his career through the 1950s, most of his acting was done on the stage and television. His great passion for the works of Shakespeare kept him happily occupied.
Due to his age and perhaps his Canadian roots, there were many topics which were foreign to me. In the first half of the book, many references were made to particular music and musicians, actors and directors, films, plays, theaters, etc., most of which I’d never heard, although I’d...more
Finally finished it, only seven months after I began it. True, there were several weeks through the summer I did not touch it. Once I got into the rhythm of the book, it went better. I realized it made for good bedtime reading. I don't mean that it is so boring it put me to sleep! The book is a compilation of vignettes throughout Plummer's life. It's easy to read a few pages and stop: perfect for calming down my mind at the end of the day in preparation for sleep. With a novel, you want to know...more
It took me weeks to read this all too aptly titled memoir. Despite a gargantuan effort to present himself as charming – and a very effortful effort it is, rather as if someone once described charm to him but he’d never actually seen it in action himself – Plummer is ultimately unable to disguise the thing that has probably kept him from entering the pantheon of legendary and beloved North American actors: he is a simply terrible human being. His choice of anecdotes, the way he talks about collea...more
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Christopher Plummer has led an interesting life, but it was hard to read anecdote after anecdote about a bunch of theater actors, producers, etc. that I've never heard of. He's not kind to himself - readily admitting taking a lot of sub-par jobs for the money, constantly disparaging his good looks and describing in incredible detail what an enormous jerk he was for most of his life; the kind of self-absorbed drunken asshole who missed his daughter's birth because he lost track of time while talk...more
This was an amazing memoir - very long but absolutely gripping provided you're interested in the history of theatre - especially Shakespearean theatre in Canada - as well as the Montreal jazz scene, and going behind the scenes of Plummer's various movies including The Sound of Music. His stories about early interactions with Oscar Peterson and William Shatner are priceless.
I read David Niven's memior back in the 1970's or 89's and remember it as a charming delightful, as graceful as the author.
Looking for something similar in Christopher Plummer"s book and didn't find it. May be unfair comparsion, as I was much more familar with David Niven's career then Plummer's.
I did find it interesting enough to browse.
Looking for something similar in Christopher Plummer"s book and didn't find it. May be unfair comparsion, as I was much more familar with David Niven's career then Plummer's.
I did find it interesting enough to browse.
I enjoyed reading this autobiography. As is probably the case with most people, I knew Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp. I had no idea that he had such a prolific stage career. I ate up all the name-dropping. I think the book could have benefited from more judicious editing. Most of the anecdotes were entertaining, but there was an occasional anecdote that didn't involve Plummer directly and that was instead a story about a friend-of-a-friend or an experience that had happened to someone...more
Probably a 3.75. I really liked this book despite the over-the-top writing style. Learned lots of theatre gossip, from early days in Canada onward. I was prompted to read it from having seen him at Stratford last summer in a wonderful production of "Caesar and Cleopatra".
Very interesting, especially the parts on his early life in Anglo-Quebec. All of the theatrical and movie notes will resonate with baby boomers--who will recognize most, if not all, of the names. The younger audience will probably be theater history majors. Very well written and enjoyable to this boomer.
Plummer's understated humor and self-deprecating writing style make this a charming read, and he's had a rich theatrical life. Though there are few deeply personal insights he's willing to share, there's plenty of meat in his professional memories and a plethora of famous names and stars. He's had a good life and he's happy to say so.
Fourth book finished in 3 days - very satisfying. I actually was within 50 pages of finishing this book when I left town for 10 days, but I couldn't justify carrying a 650 page hardback just to get through the last 50 pages so it had to wait til I got back. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was like sitting and listening to a grandfather tell stories about his life, but with more tales of romance and sex than my grandfather ever included. There was a constant stream of people I'd heard of o...more
Jan 16, 2011
Cynthia
marked it as rejected-unread
Dreadful so far, but giving it one more crack before I send it back to the library. Cannot adequately express how much I hate the contrivance of the "being raised by a dog" lead-in. Ugh. Just say what you've got to say in your natural voice and stop trying to be cute. Unless that *IS* his natural voice, which is even more gag-inducing.
I was actually looking forward to reading this book. However, this is an autobiography and Plummer comes across as insufferable boor (I don't mean bore). Couldn't finish the book.
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