Christopher Plummer
Encyclopedia
Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC (born December 13, 1929) is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck
, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther
and The Man Who Would Be King
.
In a career that spans over five decades and includes substantial roles in each of the dramatic arts, Plummer is probably best known to audiences as the autocratic widower Captain Georg Ludwig von Trapp in the hit 1965 musical movie The Sound of Music
opposite Julie Andrews
. Plummer has also tackled various television projects, including the legendary miniseries The Thorn Birds
and the role of General Chang on Star Trek
.
His most recent film roles include the The Insider
as Mike Wallace
, the Disney-Pixar
2009 film Up
as Charles Muntz, the Shane Acker
production 9 as 1, The Last Station
as Leo Tolstoy
, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
as Doctor Parnassus.
, Ontario, Canada, the son of Isabella Mary (née Abbott) and John Orme Plummer, who was secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University
. His maternal great-grandfather was Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Abbott
. Plummer was an only child. His parents were divorced shortly after he was born, and he was brought up at the Abbott family home in Senneville, Quebec
, outside Montreal
. He is bilingual. He studied to be a concert pianist, but developed a love for the theatre at an early age, and began acting in high school. Plummer took up acting after seeing Laurence Olivier
's film Henry V
(1944). He travelled by train to gain experience with the Canadian Repertory Theatre (the CRT) in Ottawa
.
in The Dark is Light Enough
, in a production by Katharine Cornell
in which she also starred. In his biography, Plummer states that Cornell was his 'sponsor.' In 1973, he appeared on Broadway as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac
in Cyrano
, a musical adaptation of Edmond Rostand
's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac
by Anthony Burgess
(libretto and lyrics) and Michael J. Lewis (music). For that performance, Plummer won the Tony Award
for Best Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Performance.
In 1971, he appeared at the National Theatre
in the play Amphitryon 38
, directed by Sir Laurence Olivier.
In 2002, he appeared in a lauded production of King Lear
, directed by Jonathan Miller
and performed at the Stratford (Canada) Shakespeare Festival. The production came to New York City's Lincoln Center
in 2004, where Plummer's performance as Lear garnered him his sixth Tony
nomination.
He returned to Broadway in 2007 as Henry Drummond in a revival of Inherit the Wind
, winning a Drama Desk Award nomination
as well as his seventh Tony
nomination.
Plummer returned to the stage at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in August 2008 in a critically acclaimed performance as Julius Caesar
in George Bernard Shaw
's Caesar and Cleopatra
directed by Tony
winner Des McAnuff
; this production was videotaped and shown in high-definition in Canadian cinemas on January 31, 2009 (with an encore presentation on February 23, 2009) and broadcast on April 4, 2009 on Bravo! in Canada. Plummer once again returned to the Stratford Festival in the summer of 2010 in The Tempest
as the lead character, Prospero
.
Plummer's eclectic career on screen began in 1958 when Sidney Lumet
cast him as a young writer in Stage Struck
. Since then he has appeared in a vast number of notable films which include Oedipus the King
, The Man Who Would Be King
, The Fall of the Roman Empire
, Jesus of Nazareth, The Return of the Pink Panther
, The Royal Hunt of the Sun
, Battle of Britain
, Waterloo, The Silent Partner
, Dragnet
, Shadow Dancing
, Inside Daisy Clover
, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
, Malcolm X
, Dolores Claiborne
, Wolf
, 12 Monkeys, The Insider
, Murder by Decree
, Somewhere in Time
, Syriana
, The New World, The Lake House
and International Velvet
.
One of Plummer's most critically acclaimed roles was that of television journalist Mike Wallace
in Michael Mann's Oscar-nominated The Insider
, for which he won Boston, Los Angeles, and National Society of Film Critics Awards for 'Best Supporting Actor'; he was also nominated for Chicago and Las Vegas Film Critics Awards, as well as a Satellite Award. Predictions of an Oscar nomination circulated, but such recognition only came in January 2010 when Plummer received his first Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of author Leo Tolstoy
in The Last Station
. Speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
in an interview that aired on March 7, 2010, Plummer appeared slightly irritated that it had taken so long to receive a personal Academy Award nomination, saying, "Well, I said it's about time! I mean, I'm 80 years old, for God's sake. Have mercy." Still, on Oscar night, March 7, 2010, Plummer lost the Best Supporting Actor
nomination to Christoph Waltz
in the Quentin Tarantino
2009 war film Inglourious Basterds.
Other recent successes include his roles as Dr. Rosen in Ron Howard
's Academy Award winning A Beautiful Mind
, Arthur Case in Spike Lee
's 2006 film Inside Man
, and the philosopher Aristotle in Alexander
, alongside Colin Farrell
. In 2004, Plummer played John Adams Gates in National Treasure
.
Plummer has also done some voice work, such as his role of Henri the pigeon in An American Tail
, the villainous Grand Duke of Owls in Rock-a-Doodle
, the antagonistic Charles Muntz in Up
and the elder leader 1 in the Tim Burton-produced action/science fiction film 9.
In 1963, he was the subject of a short National Film Board of Canada
documentary, 30 Minutes, Mister Plummer, directed by Anne Claire Poirier
.
In 2011, Plummer appeared in the feature length documentary The Captains. The film, which was written and directed by William Shatner
, sees Shatner interview Plummer at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theatre where they talk about their young careers, long lasting friendship, and Plummer's role as General Chang in Star Trek VI. The film also mentions how Shatner was Plummer's understudy for a production of Henry V
at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and that after Plummer had fell ill Shatner was forced to take the stage and thus earned his first big break.
(1965), Plummer remains best known for his portrayal of Captain Von Trapp, a role he reportedly disliked. He declined to attend the 40th Anniversary cast reunion, but did provide commentary on the 2005 DVD release. Plummer relented in 2010 for the 45th anniversary, and appeared with the full cast on The Oprah Winfrey Show
on October 28, 2010.
Said Plummer of the movie and his role in a December 2009 interview, “I was a bit bored with the character (of Captain Von Trapp)," said Plummer. “Although we worked hard enough to make him interesting, it was a bit like flogging a dead horse. And the subject matter is not mine. I mean, it can’t appeal to every person in the world." However, Plummer admits the movie itself was well made and, despite his reservations, is proud to be associated with a film with such mass appeal. "The world has seen (The Sound of Music) so many times. And there’s a whole new generation every year—poor kids—that have to sit through it (laughs). But it was a very well-made movie, and it’s a family movie and we haven't seen a family movie, I don't think, on that scale for ages. I don’t mind that. It just happened to be not my particular cup of tea."
-nominated BBC
production Hamlet at Elsinore
, the five-time Emmy winning The Thorn Birds
, the Emmy-winning Nuremberg, the Emmy-winning Little Moon of Alban and the Emmy-winning Moneychangers. In 1956, he appeared with Jason Robards
and Constance Ford
in an episode entitled "A Thief There Was" of CBS
's anthology series Appointment with Adventure
.
He co-starred in American Tragedy
as F. Lee Bailey (for which he received a Golden Globe Nomination
), and appeared in Four Minute Mile
, Miracle Planet
, and a documentary by Ric Burns
about Eugene O'Neill
. He received an Emmy nomination for his performance in Our Fathers
and reunited with Julie Andrews
for a television production of On Golden Pond. He also played Herod Antipas in the miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth and was the narrator for The Gospel of John
. He also co-starred with Gregory Peck
in The Scarlet and The Black
.
He narrated the animated television series Madeline
, for which he received an Emmy, as well as the animated television series David the Gnome.
Plummer has also written for the stage, television and the concert-hall. Plummer and Sir Neville Marriner
rearranged Shakespeare
’s Henry V
with Sir William Walton
’s music as a concert piece. They recorded the work with Marriner's chamber orchestra the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
He performed it and other works with the New York Philharmonic
and symphony orchestras of London, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Ohio
, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Toronto
, Vancouver
and Halifax
. With Marriner he made his Carnegie Hall
debut in his own arrangements of Mendelssohn
's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream
.
, for Best Actor in Murder by Decree (1980) and has received three other Genie nominations. Plummer has won two Tony Awards (from seven nominations), and two Emmy Awards (six nominations) in the United States, and Great Britain's Evening Standard Award.
In 1968, he was invested as Companion of the Order of Canada
, Canada's highest civilian honour. In 2001, he received the Canadian Governor General
's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was made an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at New York's Juilliard School
and has received honorary doctorates from the University of Toronto
, Ryerson University
, McGill University
, the University of Western Ontario
, the University of Ottawa
, and most recently the University of Guelph
. Plummer was inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame in 1986 and into Canada's Walk of Fame
in Toronto in 1997.
His awards include the following:
, was in 1956 and lasted four years. The couple's daughter, Amanda Plummer (born 1957), is an acclaimed actress in her own right, but (as he mentions in his autobiography) he had no contact with her during her early and teenage years. They now maintain a friendly relationship. Plummer was married to journalist Patricia Lewis from May 4, 1962 until their divorce in 1967. He and his third wife, British dancer and actress Elaine Regina Taylor
, have been married since 1970 and live in a 100-year-old converted farm house in Connecticut
.
In a 2005 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Plummer maintained that in their early days he and his fellow actors did not drink to excess "because we had problems...Nonsense! Actually, I was taught as a child to drink. I came from a family that loved wine. I was twelve, I think, when I was drinking wine with dinner."
Plummer's memoir, In Spite of Myself, was published by Knopf Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in November 2008.
Stage Struck (film)
Stage Struck is a 1958 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet. The screenplay by Augustus and Ruth Goetz is based on a play by Zoe Akins, which served as the basis for the 1933 film Morning Glory starring Katharine Hepburn....
, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther
The Return of the Pink Panther
The Return of the Pink Panther is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series, released in 1975. The film stars Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Clouseau in his third Panther appearance, after the original The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark.Herbert Lom also reprises his role as Chief...
and The Man Who Would Be King
The Man Who Would Be King
For the 1975 film based on this story, see The Man Who Would Be King "The Man Who Would Be King" is a short story by Rudyard Kipling. It is about two British adventurers in British India who become kings of Kafiristan, a remote part of Afghanistan...
.
In a career that spans over five decades and includes substantial roles in each of the dramatic arts, Plummer is probably best known to audiences as the autocratic widower Captain Georg Ludwig von Trapp in the hit 1965 musical movie The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
opposite Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
. Plummer has also tackled various television projects, including the legendary miniseries The Thorn Birds
The Thorn Birds (TV miniseries)
The Thorn Birds is a television mini-series broadcast on ABC between 27 and 30 March 1983. It starred Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Christopher Plummer, Richard Kiley, Bryan Brown, Mare Winningham, Philip Anglim and Jean Simmons...
and the role of General Chang on Star Trek
Star Trek: Klingon Academy
Star Trek: Klingon Academy, also known as Klingon Academy, is a starship combat Space flight simulator computer game developed by 14 Degrees East, an internal development house of publisher Interplay Entertainment...
.
His most recent film roles include the The Insider
The Insider (film)
The Insider is a 1999 film based on the true story of a 60 Minutes television series segment, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand. The 60 Minutes story originally aired in November 1995 in an altered form because of objections by CBS’ then-owner, Laurence Tisch, who...
as Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace
Michael Wallace may refer to:*Mike Wallace , television correspondent**The Mike Wallace Interview, his TV series*Mike Wallace , American historian...
, the Disney-Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
2009 film Up
Up (2009 film)
Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film...
as Charles Muntz, the Shane Acker
Shane Acker
Shane Acker is an American film-maker known for directing 9, which is based on his 2005 Academy Award-nominated film, 9. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.- Background :...
production 9 as 1, The Last Station
The Last Station
The Last Station is a 2009 biographical drama film directed by Michael Hoffman. It is an adaptation of the 1990 biographical novel of the same name by Jay Parini about the final months of Leo Tolstoy's life. The film stars Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as his wife Sophia Tolstaya...
as Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a 2009 fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Charles McKeown. The film follows a traveling theater troupe whose leader, having made a bet with the Devil, takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations...
as Doctor Parnassus.
Early life
Plummer was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario, Canada, the son of Isabella Mary (née Abbott) and John Orme Plummer, who was secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
. His maternal great-grandfather was Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Abbott
John Abbott
Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, PC, KCMG, QC was the third Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the office for seventeen months, from June 16, 1891 to November 24, 1892. - Life and work :...
. Plummer was an only child. His parents were divorced shortly after he was born, and he was brought up at the Abbott family home in Senneville, Quebec
Senneville, Quebec
Senneville is a village on the western tip of the Island of Montreal. It is the wealthiest town on the West Island, closely followed by Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Baie D'Urfé...
, outside Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. He is bilingual. He studied to be a concert pianist, but developed a love for the theatre at an early age, and began acting in high school. Plummer took up acting after seeing Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
's film Henry V
Henry V (1944 film)
Henry V is a 1944 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. The on-screen title is The Cronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France . It stars Laurence Olivier, who also directed. The play was adapted for the screen by Olivier, Dallas...
(1944). He travelled by train to gain experience with the Canadian Repertory Theatre (the CRT) in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
.
Theatre
Plummer has played most of the great roles in classic repertoire. In 1953, Plummer was the understudy to Tyrone PowerTyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
in The Dark is Light Enough
The Dark is Light Enough (play)
The Dark is Light Enough is a 1954 play by Christopher Fry, which he wrote for Dame Edith Evans and set during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...
, in a production by Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.Cornell is known as the greatest American stage actress of the 20th century...
in which she also starred. In his biography, Plummer states that Cornell was his 'sponsor.' In 1973, he appeared on Broadway as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac
Hercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist and duelist. He is now best remembered for the works of fiction which have been woven, often very loosely, around his life story, most notably the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand...
in Cyrano
Cyrano (musical)
Cyrano is a musical with a book and lyrics by Anthony Burgess and music by Michael J. Lewis.Based on Edmond Rostand's classic 1897 play of the same name, it focuses on a love triangle involving the large-nosed poetic Cyrano de Bergerac, his beautiful cousin Roxana, and his classically handsome but...
, a musical adaptation of Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand
Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
by Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
(libretto and lyrics) and Michael J. Lewis (music). For that performance, Plummer won the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Performance.
In 1971, he appeared at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in the play Amphitryon 38
Amphitryon 38
Amphitryon 38 is a play written in 1929 by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, the number in the title being Giraudoux's whimsical approximation of how many times the story had been told on-stage previously.-Original productions:...
, directed by Sir Laurence Olivier.
In 2002, he appeared in a lauded production of King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
, directed by Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
and performed at the Stratford (Canada) Shakespeare Festival. The production came to New York City's Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
in 2004, where Plummer's performance as Lear garnered him his sixth Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination.
He returned to Broadway in 2007 as Henry Drummond in a revival of Inherit the Wind
Inherit the Wind (play)
Inherit the Wind is a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. The play, which debuted in 1955, is a parable that fictionalizes the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means to discuss the then-contemporary McCarthy trials.-Background:...
, winning a Drama Desk Award nomination
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
as well as his seventh Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination.
Plummer returned to the stage at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in August 2008 in a critically acclaimed performance as Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
in George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
's Caesar and Cleopatra
Caesar and Cleopatra (play)
Caesar and Cleopatra, a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw, was first staged in 1901 and first published with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple in his 1901 collection, Three Plays for Puritans. It was first performed at Newcastle-on-Tyne on March 15, 1899...
directed by Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
winner Des McAnuff
Des McAnuff
Desmond McAnuff is the Canadian-American artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and director of musical theatre of such Broadway productions as Big River, The Who's Tommy and Jersey Boys.-Biography:...
; this production was videotaped and shown in high-definition in Canadian cinemas on January 31, 2009 (with an encore presentation on February 23, 2009) and broadcast on April 4, 2009 on Bravo! in Canada. Plummer once again returned to the Stratford Festival in the summer of 2010 in The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
as the lead character, Prospero
Prospero
Prospero is the protagonist in The Tempest, a play by William Shakespeare.- The Tempest :Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, who was put to sea on "a rotten carcass of a butt [boat]" to die by his usurping brother, Antonio, twelve years before the play begins. Prospero and Miranda survived,...
.
Film
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
cast him as a young writer in Stage Struck
Stage Struck (film)
Stage Struck is a 1958 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet. The screenplay by Augustus and Ruth Goetz is based on a play by Zoe Akins, which served as the basis for the 1933 film Morning Glory starring Katharine Hepburn....
. Since then he has appeared in a vast number of notable films which include Oedipus the King
Oedipus the King
Oedipus the King , also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone...
, The Man Who Would Be King
The Man Who Would Be King (film)
The Man Who Would Be King is a 1975 film adapted from the Rudyard Kipling short story of the same title. It was adapted and directed by John Huston and starred Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Saeed Jaffrey, and Christopher Plummer as Kipling .The film follows two rogue ex-non-commissioned officers of...
, The Fall of the Roman Empire
The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)
The Fall of the Roman Empire is a 1964 English-language epic film produced by Samuel Bronston Productions and the Rank Organisation, and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Anthony Mann and produced by Samuel Bronston with Jaime Prades and Michal Waszynski as associate producers. The...
, Jesus of Nazareth, The Return of the Pink Panther
The Return of the Pink Panther
The Return of the Pink Panther is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series, released in 1975. The film stars Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Clouseau in his third Panther appearance, after the original The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark.Herbert Lom also reprises his role as Chief...
, The Royal Hunt of the Sun
The Royal Hunt of the Sun
The Royal Hunt of the Sun is a 1964 play by Peter Shaffer that portrays the destruction of the Inca empire by conquistador Francisco Pizarro.-Premiere:...
, Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain (film)
Battle of Britain is a 1969 Technicolor film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film broadly relates the events of the Battle of Britain...
, Waterloo, The Silent Partner
The Silent Partner (1978 film)
The Silent Partner is a 1978 Canadian crime film directed by Daryl Duke. It stars Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer and Susannah York....
, Dragnet
Dragnet (1987 film)
Dragnet is a 1987 film comedy starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks, directed by Tom Mankiewicz, based on the television crime drama of the same name starring Jack Webb. The screenplay is written by Aykroyd, Alan Zweibel and Mankiewicz. The original music score is by Ira Newborn...
, Shadow Dancing
Shadow Dancing (1988 film)
Shadow Dancing Also Known As La bailarina Venezuelais is a 1988 thriller shot in Toronto Canada.-Plot:Jess is a struggling dancer trying to land a dream role in musical about Medusa. As she practices, the director, who has been haunted for decades by the memory of his former dancer and lover,...
, Inside Daisy Clover
Inside Daisy Clover
Inside Daisy Clover is a 1965 American drama film based on the 1963 novel by Gavin Lambert. It stars Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall and Ruth Gordon in her Academy Award nominated role.- Plot :...
, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the sixth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise and is the last of the Star Trek films to include the entire main cast of the 1960s Star Trek television series. Released in 1991 by Paramount Pictures, it was directed by Nicholas Meyer and...
, Malcolm X
Malcolm X (film)
Malcolm X is a 1992 biographical motion picture about the Muslim-American figure Malcolm X . It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington as the titular character. It co-stars Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman, Jr., and Delroy Lindo...
, Dolores Claiborne
Dolores Claiborne (film)
Dolores Claiborne is a 1995 film based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, starring Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It was directed by Taylor Hackford.-Plot:...
, Wolf
Wolf (film)
Wolf is a 1994 American horror film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Jim Harrison, Wesley Strick, and an uncredited Elaine May, with music by Ennio Morricone and cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno....
, 12 Monkeys, The Insider
The Insider (film)
The Insider is a 1999 film based on the true story of a 60 Minutes television series segment, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand. The 60 Minutes story originally aired in November 1995 in an altered form because of objections by CBS’ then-owner, Laurence Tisch, who...
, Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper...
, Somewhere in Time
Somewhere in Time (film)
Somewhere in Time is a 1980 romantic science fiction film directed by Jeannot Szwarc. It is a film adaptation of the 1975 novel Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson, who also wrote the screenplay...
, Syriana
Syriana
Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil...
, The New World, The Lake House
The Lake House (film)
The Lake House: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in 2006.# "This Never Happened Before" - Paul McCartney# " Make You Mine" - The Clientele# "Time Has Told Me" - Nick Drake# "Ant Farm" - Eels...
and International Velvet
International Velvet (film)
International Velvet is a 1978 dramatic film. It was a remake of the 1944 classic, National Velvet. The film stars Tatum O'Neal, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Hopkins and Nanette Newman. The film got mixed reviews.-Plot:...
.
One of Plummer's most critically acclaimed roles was that of television journalist Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace (journalist)
Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
in Michael Mann's Oscar-nominated The Insider
The Insider (film)
The Insider is a 1999 film based on the true story of a 60 Minutes television series segment, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand. The 60 Minutes story originally aired in November 1995 in an altered form because of objections by CBS’ then-owner, Laurence Tisch, who...
, for which he won Boston, Los Angeles, and National Society of Film Critics Awards for 'Best Supporting Actor'; he was also nominated for Chicago and Las Vegas Film Critics Awards, as well as a Satellite Award. Predictions of an Oscar nomination circulated, but such recognition only came in January 2010 when Plummer received his first Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of author Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
in The Last Station
The Last Station
The Last Station is a 2009 biographical drama film directed by Michael Hoffman. It is an adaptation of the 1990 biographical novel of the same name by Jay Parini about the final months of Leo Tolstoy's life. The film stars Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as his wife Sophia Tolstaya...
. Speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
in an interview that aired on March 7, 2010, Plummer appeared slightly irritated that it had taken so long to receive a personal Academy Award nomination, saying, "Well, I said it's about time! I mean, I'm 80 years old, for God's sake. Have mercy." Still, on Oscar night, March 7, 2010, Plummer lost the Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
nomination to Christoph Waltz
Christoph Waltz
Christoph Waltz is an Austrian-German actor. He received international acclaim for his portrayal of SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa in the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and...
in the Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
2009 war film Inglourious Basterds.
Other recent successes include his roles as Dr. Rosen in Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
's Academy Award winning A Beautiful Mind
A Beautiful Mind (film)
A Beautiful Mind is a 2001 American drama film based on the life of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. The film was directed by Ron Howard and written by Akiva Goldsman. It was inspired by a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar...
, Arthur Case in Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
's 2006 film Inside Man
Inside Man
Inside Man is a 2006 crime-drama film directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe and Jodie Foster. The film's screenplay was written by Russell Gewirtz and produced by Brian Grazer...
, and the philosopher Aristotle in Alexander
Alexander (film)
Alexander is a 2004 epic film based on the life of Alexander the Great. It is not a remake of the 1956 film which starred Richard Burton. It was directed by Oliver Stone, with Colin Farrell in the title role...
, alongside Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
. In 2004, Plummer played John Adams Gates in National Treasure
National Treasure (film)
National Treasure is a 2004 mystery adventure heist film from the Walt Disney Studios under Walt Disney Pictures. It was written by Jim Kouf, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Jon Turteltaub...
.
Plummer has also done some voice work, such as his role of Henri the pigeon in An American Tail
An American Tail
An American Tail is a 1986 American animated adventure film directed by Don Bluth and produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios and Amblin Entertainment. The film tells the story of Fievel Mouskewitz and his family as they immigrate from Russia to America for freedom. However, Fievel gets lost and must...
, the villainous Grand Duke of Owls in Rock-a-Doodle
Rock-A-Doodle
Rock-a-Doodle is a 1992 American animated re-telling of Edmond Rostand's comedy, Chantecler. This film was directed by Don Bluth, produced by Goldcrest Films for The Samuel Goldwyn Company, and originally released in the United States on April 3, 1992.-Plot:Chanticleer is a proud rooster whose...
, the antagonistic Charles Muntz in Up
Up (2009 film)
Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film...
and the elder leader 1 in the Tim Burton-produced action/science fiction film 9.
In 1963, he was the subject of a short National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
documentary, 30 Minutes, Mister Plummer, directed by Anne Claire Poirier
Anne Claire Poirier
Anne Claire Poirier is a Canadian film producer, director and screenwriter. She is one of the most important female filmmakers in Canadian history; her documentary film De mère en fille is the first feature film ever directed by a French-Canadian woman...
.
In 2011, Plummer appeared in the feature length documentary The Captains. The film, which was written and directed by William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
, sees Shatner interview Plummer at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theatre where they talk about their young careers, long lasting friendship, and Plummer's role as General Chang in Star Trek VI. The film also mentions how Shatner was Plummer's understudy for a production of Henry V
Henry V
Henry V may refer to:People* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg * Henry V of England * Henri, comte de Chambord, nominally Henry V of France, Entertainment...
at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and that after Plummer had fell ill Shatner was forced to take the stage and thus earned his first big break.
The Sound of Music
Owing to the box office success and continued popularity of The Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
(1965), Plummer remains best known for his portrayal of Captain Von Trapp, a role he reportedly disliked. He declined to attend the 40th Anniversary cast reunion, but did provide commentary on the 2005 DVD release. Plummer relented in 2010 for the 45th anniversary, and appeared with the full cast on The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
on October 28, 2010.
Said Plummer of the movie and his role in a December 2009 interview, “I was a bit bored with the character (of Captain Von Trapp)," said Plummer. “Although we worked hard enough to make him interesting, it was a bit like flogging a dead horse. And the subject matter is not mine. I mean, it can’t appeal to every person in the world." However, Plummer admits the movie itself was well made and, despite his reservations, is proud to be associated with a film with such mass appeal. "The world has seen (The Sound of Music) so many times. And there’s a whole new generation every year—poor kids—that have to sit through it (laughs). But it was a very well-made movie, and it’s a family movie and we haven't seen a family movie, I don't think, on that scale for ages. I don’t mind that. It just happened to be not my particular cup of tea."
Television
Among his television appearances, which number almost a hundred, are the EmmyEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-nominated BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
production Hamlet at Elsinore
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, the five-time Emmy winning The Thorn Birds
The Thorn Birds (TV miniseries)
The Thorn Birds is a television mini-series broadcast on ABC between 27 and 30 March 1983. It starred Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Christopher Plummer, Richard Kiley, Bryan Brown, Mare Winningham, Philip Anglim and Jean Simmons...
, the Emmy-winning Nuremberg, the Emmy-winning Little Moon of Alban and the Emmy-winning Moneychangers. In 1956, he appeared with Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
and Constance Ford
Constance Ford
Constance Ford was an American actress and model. She is best known for her long-running role as Ada Hobson on the daytime soap opera Another World.-Career:...
in an episode entitled "A Thief There Was" of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's anthology series Appointment with Adventure
Appointment with Adventure
Appointment with Adventure is a half-hour adventure/dramatic anthology television series broadcast live on CBS from 1955-1956. The program has no host. It aired at 10 p.m...
.
He co-starred in American Tragedy
American Tragedy
American Tragedy was a post-hardcore/metalcore band from San Diego, California. In 2002, they released a split album with the metalcore band As I Lay Dying on Pluto Records....
as F. Lee Bailey (for which he received a Golden Globe Nomination
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
), and appeared in Four Minute Mile
Four Minute Mile
Four Minute Mile is the first full-length album released by Kansas City, Missouri emo band The Get Up Kids.-Recording:The album was recorded in April 1997 on a budget of $4,000. It was produced by Shellac bassist Bob Weston in Chicago over the course of two and a half days. It was released by...
, Miracle Planet
Miracle Planet
Miracle Planet is a six-part documentary series, co-produced by Japan's NHK and the National Film Board of Canada , narrated by Christopher Plummer , which tells the 4.6-billion-year-old story of how life has evolved from its humble beginnings to the diversity of living creatures today.Filmed...
, and a documentary by Ric Burns
Ric Burns
Ric Burns is an American documentary filmmaker and writer. He has written, directed and produced historical documentaries for nearly 20 years, beginning with his collaboration on the celebrated PBS series The Civil War , which he produced with his older brother Ken Burns and wrote with Geoffrey C...
about Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
. He received an Emmy nomination for his performance in Our Fathers
Our Fathers (film)
Our Fathers is a 2005 television film directed by Dan Curtis and starring Ted Danson, Christopher Plummer, Brian Dennehy and Ellen Burstyn...
and reunited with Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
for a television production of On Golden Pond. He also played Herod Antipas in the miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth and was the narrator for The Gospel of John
The Gospel of John (film)
The Gospel of John is a 2003 film that is the story of Jesus' life as recounted by the Gospel of John. It is a motion picture that has been adapted for the screen on a word-for-word basis from the American Bible Society's Good News Bible...
. He also co-starred with Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
in The Scarlet and The Black
The Scarlet and the Black
The Scarlet and the Black is a 1983 made for TV movie starring Gregory Peck and Christopher Plummer. This production should not be confused with the 1993 British television mini series Scarlet and Black, which starred Ewan McGregor and Rachel Weisz....
.
He narrated the animated television series Madeline
Madeline
Madeline is a children's book series written by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series and a live action feature film...
, for which he received an Emmy, as well as the animated television series David the Gnome.
Plummer has also written for the stage, television and the concert-hall. Plummer and Sir Neville Marriner
Neville Marriner
Sir Neville Marriner is an English conductor and violinist.-Biography:Marriner was born in Lincoln and studied at the Royal College of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. He played the violin in the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Martin String Quartet and London Symphony Orchestra, playing with the...
rearranged Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
’s Henry V
Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
with Sir William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
’s music as a concert piece. They recorded the work with Marriner's chamber orchestra the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
He performed it and other works with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
and symphony orchestras of London, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and Halifax
Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia
Halifax Regional Municipality is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The Regional Municipality had a 2006 census population of 372,679, while the metropolitan area had a 2010 estimated population of 403,188, and the urban area of Halifax had a population of 282,924...
. With Marriner he made his Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
debut in his own arrangements of Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
.
Honours and awards
Plummer has won many honours in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Austria. He was the first winner of Canada's Genie AwardGenie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
, for Best Actor in Murder by Decree (1980) and has received three other Genie nominations. Plummer has won two Tony Awards (from seven nominations), and two Emmy Awards (six nominations) in the United States, and Great Britain's Evening Standard Award.
In 1968, he was invested as Companion of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, Canada's highest civilian honour. In 2001, he received the Canadian Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was made an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at New York's Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
and has received honorary doctorates from the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, Ryerson University
Ryerson University
Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...
, McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...
, the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, and most recently the University of Guelph
University of Guelph
The University of Guelph, also known as U of G, is a comprehensive public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College, the Macdonald Institute, and the Ontario Veterinary College...
. Plummer was inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame in 1986 and into Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
in Toronto in 1997.
His awards include the following:
- London Evening Standard Award as Best Actor (1961), for his portrayal of King Henry IIHenry II of EnglandHenry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
in the stage play, Becket - Genie AwardGenie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading RoleThe Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian actor.-1st Genie Awards:* Christopher Plummer, Murder by Decree...
(1980), for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in Murder by DecreeMurder by DecreeMurder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper... - Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical (1974), for his lead role in Cyrano
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayTony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayThe Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play presented since 1947, is awarded to actors in productions of new or revival plays.-1940s:*1947 - José Ferrer – Cyrano de Bergerac / Fredric March – Years Ago...
(1997), for his lead role in BarrymoreBarrymore (play)Barrymore is a two-person play by William Luce which depicts John Barrymore a few months before his death in 1942 as he is rehearsing a revival of his 1920 Broadway triumph as Richard III.... - Emmy Award (1976), as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for Arthur HaileyArthur HaileyArthur Hailey was a British/Canadian novelist.- Biography :Born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, Hailey served in the Royal Air Force from the start of World War II during 1939 until 1947, when he went to live in Canada. Hailey's last novel, Detective , is a mystery told from the perspective of a...
's The MoneychangersThe MoneychangersThe Moneychangers is a 1975 novel written by Arthur Hailey. The plot revolves around the politics inside a major bank.-Plot summary:As the novel begins, the position of CEO of one of America's largest banks, First Mercantile American is about to become vacant due to the terminal... - Emmy Award (1994), for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his work on the Family Channel's Madeline children's series
- Edwin Booth Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)
- Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre (2002)
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award (1999) for The InsiderThe Insider (film)The Insider is a 1999 film based on the true story of a 60 Minutes television series segment, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand. The 60 Minutes story originally aired in November 1995 in an altered form because of objections by CBS’ then-owner, Laurence Tisch, who...
- Boston Society of Film Critics Award (1999) for The InsiderThe Insider (film)The Insider is a 1999 film based on the true story of a 60 Minutes television series segment, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand. The 60 Minutes story originally aired in November 1995 in an altered form because of objections by CBS’ then-owner, Laurence Tisch, who...
Personal life
Plummer has been married three times. His first marriage, to Tony Award-winning actress Tammy GrimesTammy Grimes
-Early life:Grimes was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the daughter of Eola Willard , a naturalist and spiritualist, and Nicholas Luther Grimes, an innkeeper, country-club manager, and farmer. She attended high school at the then-all girls school, Beaver Country Day School, in Chestnut Hill,...
, was in 1956 and lasted four years. The couple's daughter, Amanda Plummer (born 1957), is an acclaimed actress in her own right, but (as he mentions in his autobiography) he had no contact with her during her early and teenage years. They now maintain a friendly relationship. Plummer was married to journalist Patricia Lewis from May 4, 1962 until their divorce in 1967. He and his third wife, British dancer and actress Elaine Regina Taylor
Elaine Taylor (actress)
Elaine Regina Taylor is an English-born actress, best known as a leading lady in comedy films of the late 1960s and early 70s. She is married to the Canadian actor Christopher Plummer.-Early life:...
, have been married since 1970 and live in a 100-year-old converted farm house in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
.
In a 2005 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Plummer maintained that in their early days he and his fellow actors did not drink to excess "because we had problems...Nonsense! Actually, I was taught as a child to drink. I came from a family that loved wine. I was twelve, I think, when I was drinking wine with dinner."
Plummer's memoir, In Spite of Myself, was published by Knopf Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in November 2008.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Stage Struck Stage Struck (film) Stage Struck is a 1958 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet. The screenplay by Augustus and Ruth Goetz is based on a play by Zoe Akins, which served as the basis for the 1933 film Morning Glory starring Katharine Hepburn.... |
Joe Sheridan | ||
| 1958 | Wind Across the Everglades Wind Across the Everglades Wind Across the Everglades is a 1958 film directed by Nicholas Ray. Ray was fired from the film before production was finished, and several scenes were completed by screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who also supervised the editing.... |
Walt Murdock | ||
| 1959 | Torvald Helmer | |||
| 1961 | Playdate Playdate Playdate is a British television dating programme that was made by Hamma & Glamma Productions for ITV. It was screened Monday to Fridays on ITV Play between 8.00pm and 10.00pm, and daily on ITV2 between 1.00am and 4.00am... |
Host | ||
| 1962 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano de Bergerac Hercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist and duelist. He is now best remembered for the works of fiction which have been woven, often very loosely, around his life story, most notably the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand... |
||
| 1964 | Commodus Commodus Commodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded... |
|||
| 1964 | Hamlet at Elsinore Hamlet at Elsinore Hamlet at Elsinore is a 1964 television version of Shakespeare's play. Produced by the BBC, in association with Danish Radio, it was shown in the U.S. on NET in 1965. Winning wide acclaim both for its performances and for being shot entirely at Elsinore, in the castle in which the play is set, it... |
Hamlet Hamlet The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601... |
||
| 1965 | Captain von Trapp | |||
| 1966 | Inside Daisy Clover Inside Daisy Clover Inside Daisy Clover is a 1965 American drama film based on the 1963 novel by Gavin Lambert. It stars Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall and Ruth Gordon in her Academy Award nominated role.- Plot :... |
Raymond Swan | ||
| 1966 | Triple Cross | Eddie Chapman Eddie Chapman Edward Arnold "Eddie" Chapman was an English pre-war criminal and wartime spy. During the Second World War he offered his services to Nazi Germany as a spy and a traitor whilst intending all along to become a British double agent. His British Secret Service handlers code named him 'ZIGZAG' in... |
||
| 1967 | Field Marshal Irwin Rommel | |||
| 1968 | Oedipus the King | Oedipus Oedipus Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family... |
||
| 1968 | Nobody Runs Forever Nobody Runs Forever Nobody Runs Forever also called The High Commissioner is a 1968 film directed by Ralph Thomas based on Jon Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. It stars Rod Taylor as Australian policeman Scobie Malone and Christopher Plummer as the Australian High Commissioner in England caught up in... |
Sir James Quentin | ||
| 1969 | Battle of Britain Battle of Britain (film) Battle of Britain is a 1969 Technicolor film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film broadly relates the events of the Battle of Britain... |
Squadron Leader Colin Harvey | ||
| 1969 | Atahualpa Atahualpa Atahualpa, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa, or Atawallpa , was the last Sapa Inca or sovereign emperor of the Tahuantinsuyu, or the Inca Empire, prior to the Spanish conquest of Peru... |
|||
| 1969 | Lock Up Your Daughters Lock Up Your Daughters Lock Up Your Daughters is a musical based on an 18th century comedy, Rape Upon Rape, by Henry Fielding and adapted by Bernard Miles. The lyrics were written by Lionel Bart and the music by Laurie Johnson... ! |
Lord Foppington | ||
| 1970 | Waterloo | Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century... |
||
| 1971 | Don Juan in Hell | Don Juan Don Juan Don Juan is a legendary, fictional libertine whose story has been told many times by many authors. El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra by Tirso de Molina is a play set in the fourteenth century that was published in Spain around 1630... |
||
| 1973 | Dt. Sgt. Jim Henderson | |||
| 1974 | After the Fall After the Fall (play) After the Fall is a play by American dramatist Arthur Miller. The original performance opened in New York City on January 23, 1964, directed by Elia Kazan and starring Barbara Loden and Jason Robards Jr., with an early appearance by Faye Dunaway. Kazan also collaborated with Miller on the script... |
Quentin | ||
| 1974 | The Happy Prince | |||
| 1975 | Dr. Joe Sherman | |||
| 1975 | Sir Charles Litton | |||
| 1975 | Conduct Unbecoming Conduct Unbecoming (film) Conduct Unbecoming is a 1975 British drama film, an adaptation of the Barry England play Conduct Unbecoming first staged in 1969. It was directed by Michael Anderson and starred an ensemble cast of actors including Michael York, Richard Attenborough and Trevor Howard.-Plot:Two young British... |
Maj. Alastair Wimbourne | ||
| 1975 | Rudyard Kipling Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature... |
|||
| 1975 | Archduke Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Ferdinand of Austria There have been several men titled Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, including:*Archduke Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Joseph , better known as Franz Ferdinand, was Heir to the Austrian throne from 1896 until he was assassinated in 1914, sparking World War IOthers who have held the title:*Archduke... |
|||
| 1976 | Aces High Aces High (film) Aces High is a 1976 British war film directed by Jack Gold and starring Malcolm McDowell, Christopher Plummer and Simon Ward. The screenplay was written by Howard Barker. As acknowledged in the opening credits, the film is based on the 1930s play Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff and the memoir... |
Capt. 'Uncle' Sinclair | ||
| 1976 | Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers | Roscoe Heyward | Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie | |
| 1977 | Jesus of Nazareth | Herod Antipas Herod Antipas Herod Antipater , known by the nickname Antipas, was a 1st-century AD ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch... |
||
| 1977 | Captain Behounek | |||
| 1977 | Deverell | |||
| 1977 | Silver Blaze Silver Blaze "Silver Blaze", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It was adapted in 1937 to a film starring Arthur Wontner, and an ITV drama starring Christopher Plummer which was... |
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve... |
||
| 1978 | Harry Reikle | |||
| 1978 | International Velvet International Velvet (film) International Velvet is a 1978 dramatic film. It was a remake of the 1944 classic, National Velvet. The film stars Tatum O'Neal, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Hopkins and Nanette Newman. The film got mixed reviews.-Plot:... |
John Seaton | ||
| 1979 | Starcrash Starcrash Starcrash is an Italian 1979 science fiction film, which was also released under the English title of The Adventures of Stella Star . The film is a low budget and is often regarded as a rip-off of Star Wars... |
Emperor | ||
| 1979 | Murder by Decree Murder by Decree Murder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper... |
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve... |
Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian actor.-1st Genie Awards:* Christopher Plummer, Murder by Decree... |
|
| 1979 | Riel Riel (film) Riel is a 1979 Canadian biographical television movie about Métis leader Louis Riel.-Plot:* Louis Riel leads the Red River and North-West Rebellions against the Canadian government's expansionist ideas leading up to his capture, trial and execution in 1885.-Cast:* Raymond Cloutier ... as Louis... |
John A. Macdonald | ||
| 1979 | Hanover Street | Paul Sellinger | ||
| 1980 | Desperate Voyage | Burrifous | ||
| 1980 | Brian | |||
| 1980 | Somewhere in Time Somewhere in Time (film) Somewhere in Time is a 1980 romantic science fiction film directed by Jeannot Szwarc. It is a film adaptation of the 1975 novel Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson, who also wrote the screenplay... |
William Fawcett Robinson | ||
| 1981 | When the Circus Came to Town When the Circus Came to Town When the Circus Came to Town is an American television movie that originally aired on CBS as a "movie of the week" on January 20, 1981. Directed by Boris Sagal, the film stars Elizabeth Montgomery, Christopher Plummer, and Eileen Brennan.-Story:... |
Duke Royal | ||
| 1981 | Eyewitness | Joseph | ||
| 1981 | Professor Lakos | Nominated – Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian actor.-1st Genie Awards:* Christopher Plummer, Murder by Decree... |
||
| 1982 | Little Gloria... Happy at Last Little Gloria... Happy at Last Little Gloria... Happy at Last is a 1982 television miniseries directed by Waris Hussein.It stars Martin Balsam, Bette Davis, Michael Gross, Lucy Gutteridge, John Hillerman, Barnard Hughes, Glynis Johns, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Plummer and Maureen Stapleton... |
Reggie Vanderbilt | ||
| 1983 | Col. Herbert Kappler | |||
| 1983 | Archbishop Vittorio Contini-Verchese | Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie | ||
| 1983 | Prototype | Dr. Carl Forrester | ||
| 1984 | Lily in Love Lily in Love Lily in Love is a 1984 Hungarian-American co-production in English language based on a play by Ferenc Molnár, starring Christopher Plummer, Maggie Smith and Elke Sommer... |
Fitzroy Wynn/Roberto Terranova | ||
| 1984 | Dreamscape Dreamscape (film) Dreamscape is a 1984 science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Ruben and written by David Loughery, with Chuck Russell and Ruben co-writing... |
Bob Blair | ||
| 1984 | Highpoint | James Hatcher | ||
| 1984 | Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 documentary film about horror films featuring clips from Friday the 13th I and/or II, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween I and II, Jaws 1 and 2, Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Shining and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and The Birds. The film is hosted by... |
Archival appearance | ||
| 1984 | Ordeal by Innocence Ordeal by Innocence Ordeal by Innocence is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 3 1958 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at twelve shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.95... |
Leo Argyle | ||
| 1985 | Játszani kell | |||
| 1985 | ||||
| 1985 | Rumpelstiltskin Rumpelstiltskin (1985) Rumpelstiltskin is a twenty-four minute animated feature depicting the famous Brothers Grimm story of a miller's daughter and a little man who can spin straw into gold.... |
Narrator | ||
| 1986 | Knox | |||
| 1986 | Crossings | Armand DeVilliers | ||
| 1986 | Mr. Roalvang | |||
| 1986 | Henri | Voice talent | ||
| 1986 | Spearfield's Daughter | Lord Jack Cruze | ||
| 1986 | Vampire in Venice | Professor Paris Catalano | ||
| 1987 | Dragnet Dragnet (1987 film) Dragnet is a 1987 film comedy starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks, directed by Tom Mankiewicz, based on the television crime drama of the same name starring Jack Webb. The screenplay is written by Aykroyd, Alan Zweibel and Mankiewicz. The original music score is by Ira Newborn... |
Reverend Jonathan Whirley | ||
| 1987 | Sir Giles Staverley | |||
| 1987 | Narrator | |||
| 1987 | Narrator | |||
| 1988 | Light Years Light Years (film) Light Years is a 1988 French animated science fiction and fantasy film. The original version was directed by René Laloux, and was based on Jean-Pierre Andrevon's novel Les Hommes-machines contre Gandahar .An English version was directed by Harvey Weinstein and produced by Bob Weinstein, while noted... |
Metamorphis | ||
| 1988 | Shadow Dancing Shadow Dancing (1988 film) Shadow Dancing Also Known As La bailarina Venezuelais is a 1988 thriller shot in Toronto Canada.-Plot:Jess is a struggling dancer trying to land a dream role in musical about Medusa. As she practices, the director, who has been haunted for decades by the memory of his former dancer and lover,... |
Edmund Beaumont | ||
| 1988 | Narrator | |||
| 1988 | I Love N.Y. | John Robertson Yeats | ||
| 1989 | Souvenir Souvenir (1989 film) Souvenir is a 1989 British drama film directed by Geoffrey Reeve and starring Christopher Plummer, Catherine Hicks and Michael Lonsdale. It was based on the novel The Pork Butcher by David Hughes... |
Ernst Kestner | ||
| 1989 | Nabokov on Kafka | Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist... |
||
| 1989 | Mindfield Mindfield The thrash metal band Mindfield began in Germany in the year 1994. The band started when guitarist Rainer Sickler joined with four other musicians. However the band line-up altered frequently for the following two years, it was then, in 1996 that the band released its first demo titled "Fields Of... |
Doctor Satorius | ||
| 1989 | Kingsgate Kingsgate -Places:* Kingsgate, East Kilbride, Scotland* Kingsgate, Kent, England, part of Broadstairs* Kingsgate, Washington* Kingsgate, Winchester, Hampshire, England-Church:... |
|||
| 1990 | Where the Heart Is Where the Heart Is (1990 film) Where the Heart Is is a 1990 romantic comedy film directed by John Boorman, and starring Dabney Coleman and Uma Thurman.-Plot summary:Stewart McBain is a successful self-made demolitions expert who blows up buildings for a living. In the midst of one such project, a group of protesters stops the... |
Jerry | ||
| 1990 | The Grand Duke Ivan | |||
| 1990 | Red Blooded American Girl | Dr. John Alcore | ||
| 1990 | Money Money (film) Money is a 1991 drama film directed by Steven Hilliard Stern.-Plot:Frank Cimballi is a rich 21-year-old who goes to claim his inheritance only to find it has been embezzled by his father's former business partners... |
Martin Yahl | ||
| 1990 | Madeline | Narrator | ||
| 1990 | Counterstrike | Alexander Addington | ||
| 1991 | Firehead | Col. Garland Vaughn | ||
| 1991 | Young Catherine Young Catherine Young Catherine is a 1991 American TV miniseries based on the early life of Catherine II of Russia. It stars Julia Ormond as Catherine and Vanessa Redgrave as Empress Elizabeth.... |
Sir Charles | ||
| 1991 | Alfred Stieglitz | |||
| 1991 | Rock-a-Doodle Rock-A-Doodle Rock-a-Doodle is a 1992 American animated re-telling of Edmond Rostand's comedy, Chantecler. This film was directed by Don Bluth, produced by Goldcrest Films for The Samuel Goldwyn Company, and originally released in the United States on April 3, 1992.-Plot:Chanticleer is a proud rooster whose... |
Grand Duke | Voice talent | |
| 1991 | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the sixth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise and is the last of the Star Trek films to include the entire main cast of the 1960s Star Trek television series. Released in 1991 by Paramount Pictures, it was directed by Nicholas Meyer and... |
General Chang Chang (Star Trek) General Chang is a fictional character from the Star Trek fictional universe who was portrayed by Christopher Plummer in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.... |
||
| 1991 | Berlin Lady | Wilhem Speer | ||
| 1991 | Victor Abakumov | |||
| 1992 | Secrets Secrets (1992 film) Secrets, also known as Danielle Steel's Secrets, is a 1992 television film directed by Peter H. Hunt. The film is based upon the 1985 novel of the same name written by Danielle Steel... |
Mel Wexler | ||
| 1992 | Impolite | Naples O'Rorke | Nominated – Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best supporting Canadian actor.-1st Genie Awards:* Gordon Pinsent, Jack London's Klondike Fever... |
|
| 1992 | Malcolm X Malcolm X (film) Malcolm X is a 1992 biographical motion picture about the Muslim-American figure Malcolm X . It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington as the titular character. It co-stars Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman, Jr., and Delroy Lindo... |
Chaplain Gill | ||
| 1992 | Liar's Edge | Harry Weldon | ||
| 1993 | Sidney Sheldon's A Stranger in the Mirror | Clifton Lawrence | ||
| 1993 | ||||
| 1993 | Madeline Madeline Madeline is a children's book series written by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series and a live action feature film... |
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a creative arts Emmy Award given out by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in a series or a special." Prior to 1992, voice-actors... |
||
| 1994 | Wolf Wolf (film) Wolf is a 1994 American horror film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Jim Harrison, Wesley Strick, and an uncredited Elaine May, with music by Ennio Morricone and cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno.... |
Raymond Alden | ||
| 1994 | Crackerjack Crackerjack (1994 film) Crackerjack is a 1994 adventure film directed by Michael Mazo and starring Thomas Ian Griffith, Nastassja Kinski and Christopher Plummer.-Plot:... |
Ivan Getz | ||
| 1995 | Dolores Claiborne Dolores Claiborne (film) Dolores Claiborne is a 1995 film based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, starring Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It was directed by Taylor Hackford.-Plot:... |
Det. John Mackey | ||
| 1995 | Harrison Bergeron Harrison Bergeron (film) Harrison Bergeron is a 1995 cable television movie film loosely adapted from Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 short story of the same name. It was produced for Showtime, and first screened on August 13, 1995.-Premise:... |
John Klaxon | ||
| 1995 | 12 Monkeys | Dr. Goines | ||
| 1996 | We the Jury | Wilfred Fransiscus | ||
| 1996 | Skeletons | R. Carlyle | ||
| 1996 | Joseph Wakeman | |||
| 1997 | George Hees | |||
| 1997 | Babes in Toyland Babes in Toyland (1997 film) Babes in Toyland is a 1997 American animated musical film based on the original story. The animated feature stars Joseph Ashton, Lacey Chabert, Raphael Sbarge, Cathy Cavadini, Christopher Plummer, and Charles Nelson Reilly.-Plot:... |
Barnaby Crookedman | Voice talent | |
| 1998 | Winchell Winchell -People:*April Winchell, actress, writer, host and commentator*Barry Winchell, infantryman in the U.S. Army linked to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy*Lynn Winchell, former Playboy playmate of the month*Newton Horace Winchell, geologist... |
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war... |
||
| 1998 | Hidden Agenda | Ulrich Steiner | ||
| 1998 | Narrator | |||
| 1998 | Mr. Caruthers | |||
| 1999 | Celebrate the Century Celebrate the Century Celebrate the Century is the name of a series of postage stamps made by the United States Postal Service featuring images recalling various important events in the 20th century in the United States.... |
|||
| 1999 | Madeline: Lost in Paris Madeline: Lost in Paris Madeline: Lost in Paris is an animated Madeline television film, produced by DIC Entertainment and released on Direct-to-video on 3 August 1999. It was released to VHS by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment... |
Narrator | ||
| 1999 | Mike Wallace Mike Wallace (journalist) Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers.... |
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor -1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the annual awards given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.This award has been awarded since 1977.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual film award given by the National Society of Film Critics.The awards was given for the first time in 1968 .-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:... Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:... Nominated – Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor The Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Supporting Actor is an award given by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society to honor the best supporting actor of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best supporting actor of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture The Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy.-Drama :2000: Bruce Greenwood – Thirteen Days*Jeff Bridges – The Contender as Jackson Evans... |
||
| 2000 | Nuremberg Nuremberg (2000 film) Nuremberg is a 2000 Canadian/United States television docudrama, based on the book Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial by Joseph E. Persico, that tells the story of the Nuremberg Trials.-Part one:... |
Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe | ||
| 2000 | Hump Hinton | |||
| 2000 | Possessed Possessed (2000 film) Possessed is the name of a 2000 Showtime original movie starring Timothy Dalton, based on events appearing in the book Possessed by Thomas B. Allen, which is inspired by the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim;... |
Archbishop Hume | ||
| 2000 | American Tragedy American Tragedy (film) American Tragedy is a 2000 biographical television movie based on the true story of O.J. Simpson's trial for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman in 1994... |
F. Lee Bailey | Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | |
| 2000 | Dracula 2000 Dracula 2000 Dracula 2000, also known internationally as Dracula 2001, is a 2000 horror film written and directed by Patrick Lussier. The film stars Gerard Butler, Christopher Plummer, Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Omar Epps, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Jeri Ryan, and Jennifer Esposito.Dracula 2000, the... |
Abraham Van Helsing Abraham Van Helsing Professor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a... |
||
| 2000 | Star Trek: Klingon Academy Star Trek: Klingon Academy Star Trek: Klingon Academy, also known as Klingon Academy, is a starship combat Space flight simulator computer game developed by 14 Degrees East, an internal development house of publisher Interplay Entertainment... |
General Chang Chang (Star Trek) General Chang is a fictional character from the Star Trek fictional universe who was portrayed by Christopher Plummer in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.... |
Video game voiceover | |
| 2001 | Leo's Journey | Narrator | ||
| 2001 | On Golden Pond On Golden Pond (2001 film) On Golden Pond is a 2001 television adaptation of the play starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The movie originally aired on April 29, 2001 and was promoted as a live television event... |
Norman Thayer | ||
| 2001 | Lucky Break Lucky Break Lucky Break is a 2001 British comedy film starring James Nesbitt and directed by Peter Cattaneo.-Synopsis:Feelgood prison-escape movie that sees a group of prison inmates , put on a theatrical show of Nelson: The Musical to cover their daring break-out attempt... |
|||
| 2001 | Blackheart | Holmes | ||
| 2001 | Dr. Rosen | Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | ||
| 2001 | Full Disclosure Full Disclosure (film) Full Disclosure is a 2001 thriller film starring Fred Ward, Christopher Plummer, Rachel Ticotin and Penelope Ann Miller. It was directed by John Bradshaw.- Background :The film was shot in 1999... |
Robert Lecker | ||
| 2002 | Night Flight Night Flight (TV series) Night Flight is a variety show that originated on the USA Network. An eclectic mix of short films, cartoons, B movies, stand up comedy, documentaries, music videos and more, Night Flight was broadcast, in various incarnations, from 1981 to 1996.... |
'Flash' Harry Peters | ||
| 2002 | Ararat Ararat (film) Ararat is a 2002 film directed, written, and co-produced by Atom Egoyan based loosely on the Siege of Van during the Armenian Genocide, an event that is disputed by the government of Turkey. In addition to exploring the human impact of that specific historical event, the film also examines the... |
David | Nominated – Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian actor.-1st Genie Awards:* Christopher Plummer, Murder by Decree... |
|
| 2002 | Agent of Influence | John Watkins | ||
| 2002 | Nicholas Nickleby Nicholas Nickleby (2002 film) Nicholas Nickleby is a 2002 comedy-drama film written and directed by Douglas McGrath. The screenplay is based on The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, which originally was published in serial form between March 1838 and September 1839.-Plot:In a prologue we are... |
Ralph Nickleby | National Board of Review Award for Best Cast National Board of Review Award for Best Cast The National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble is an annual film award given by the National Board of Review.-1990s:... |
|
| 2002 | Tma | |||
| 2003 | Blizzard Blizzard (film) Blizzard is a 2003 Christmas family film directed by LeVar Burton, and stars Brenda Blethyn, Christopher Plummer, Kevin Pollack, and Whoopi Goldberg.-Plot:When ten-year-old Jess's very best friend Bobby moves away, she is inconsolable in her grief... |
Santa Claus Santa Claus Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus... |
Nominated – Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best supporting Canadian actor.-1st Genie Awards:* Gordon Pinsent, Jack London's Klondike Fever... |
|
| 2003 | Narrator | |||
| 2003 | Cold Creek Manor Cold Creek Manor Cold Creek Manor is a 2003 American psychological thriller film directed by Mike Figgis. The screenplay by Richard Jefferies focuses on a family terrorized by the former owner of the rural estate they bought in foreclosure... |
Mr. Massie | ||
| 2004 | National Treasure National Treasure (film) National Treasure is a 2004 mystery adventure heist film from the Walt Disney Studios under Walt Disney Pictures. It was written by Jim Kouf, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Jon Turteltaub... |
John Adams Gates | ||
| 2004 | Alexander Alexander (film) Alexander is a 2004 epic film based on the life of Alexander the Great. It is not a remake of the 1956 film which starred Richard Burton. It was directed by Oliver Stone, with Colin Farrell in the title role... |
Aristotle Aristotle Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology... |
||
| 2005 | Our Fathers Our Fathers (film) Our Fathers is a 2005 television film directed by Dan Curtis and starring Ted Danson, Christopher Plummer, Brian Dennehy and Ellen Burstyn... |
Cardinal Bernard Law | Television film Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |
|
| 2005 | Must Love Dogs Must Love Dogs Must Love Dogs is a 2005 romantic comedy film based on the book written by Claire Cook. It is the third film directed and written by Gary David Goldberg. The film, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, was produced on a budget of $30 million... |
Bill Nolan | ||
| 2005 | Syriana Syriana Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil... |
Dean Whiting | ||
| 2005 | Captain Newport | |||
| 2006 | Inside Man Inside Man Inside Man is a 2006 crime-drama film directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe and Jodie Foster. The film's screenplay was written by Russell Gewirtz and produced by Brian Grazer... |
Arthur Case | ||
| 2006 | Simon Wyler | |||
| 2007 | Man in the Chair Man in the Chair Man in the Chair is a 2007 independent film written and directed by Michael Schroeder. The film stars Christopher Plummer, Michael Angarano, M. Emmet Walsh, and Robert Wagner.-Premise:... |
Flash Madden | ||
| 2007 | Closing the Ring Closing the Ring Closing the Ring is a film directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Mischa Barton, Stephen Amell, Neve Campbell, Pete Postlethwaite, and Brenda Fricker.... |
Jack | ||
| 2007 | Emotional Arithmetic | David Winters | Nominated – Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian actor.-1st Genie Awards:* Christopher Plummer, Murder by Decree... |
|
| 2007 | Already Dead Already Dead Already Dead is a 2005 pulp-noir / horror novel by Charlie Huston and published in 2005. This is the first of the Joe Pitt Casebooks.-Plot summary:... |
Dr. Heller | ||
| 2008 | P.J. Aimes | TV Miniseries: 2 Episodes | ||
| 2009 | Caesar and Cleaopatra | Julius Caesar Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.... |
also executive producer | |
| 2009 | Up Up (2009 film) Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film... |
Charles Muntz | voice talent | |
| 2009 | My Dog Tulip My Dog Tulip My Dog Tulip is an American independent animated feature film based on the 1956 memoir of the same name by J. R. Ackerley, BBC editor, novelist and memoirist. The film tells the story of Ackerley's fifteen-year relationship with his German Shepherd Queenie, who had had been renamed Tulip for the... |
J. R. Ackerley | voice talent | |
| 2009 | 9 | 1 | voice talent | |
| 2009 | Doctor Parnassus | |||
| 2009 | Leo Tolstoy Leo Tolstoy Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist... |
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role |
||
| 2011 | Priest | Monsignor Orelas | ||
| 2011 | Beginners Beginners Beginners is a 2010 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills. It tells the story of Oliver , a man reflecting on the life and death of his father while trying to forge a new romantic relationship with a woman dealing with father issues of her own.Beginners premiered at the 2010... |
Hal | Hollywood Film Festival Hollywood Film Festival The Hollywood Film Festival is an annual Film festival which is located in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Festival was established in 1997 by Carlos de Abreu and his wife, model Janice Pennington.... Award for Best Supporting Actor |
|
| 2011 | Henrik Vanger | filming | ||
| 2011 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth installment in The Elder Scrolls action role-playing video game series, following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion... |
Arngeir | Video game voiceover |
External links
- Christopher Plummer at the Canadian Film Encyclopedia
- Confessions of Captain Von Trapp: An Interview With Christopher Plummer