Canadian theatre, film and television actor, born December 13, 1929. In a career that spans over five decades and includes substantial roles in film, television, and theatre, Plummer is perhaps best known for his performance as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music and as Mike Wallace in The Insider. His most recent film roles include 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. Plummer was born Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer in Toronto, 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. Plummer has won many honours in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Austria. He was the first winner of Canada's Genie Award, 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.
Became a father for the first time at age 27 when his first [now ex] wife Tammy Grimes gave birth to their daughter Amanda Michael Plummer, aka Amanda Plummer , on March 23, 1957.
He was awarded the Edwin Booth Lifetime Achievement Award by The Players in 1997.
He was awarded the CC (Companion of the Order of Canada) in the 1968 Queens Honours List for his services to drama.
Grew up in the village of Senneville, Qubec, Canada.
Is the great-grandson of former Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Abbott.
On April 22, 2002, he was awarded the first Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre by the Roundabout Theatre. His The Sound of Music co-star Julie Andrews was among those in attendance.
His first paying role was in "Machina Infernale" (The Infernal Machine) by Jean Cocteau , in which he worked with another young Montreal actor, William Shatner. The two were reunited years later when they both appeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .
Received an honorary degree (Doctor of Laws) from the University of Western Ontario on June 8, 2004.
Schoolmates with jazz piano master Oscar Peterson.
Has won two Tony Awards: in 1974, as Best Actor , playing the title role in "Cyrano", and in 1997, as Best Actor (Play), playing the title role of John Barrymore in "Barrymore". He has also been nominated for the Tony four other times: as Best Actor , in 1959 for "J.B.", and as Best Actor (Play), in 1982 for Shakespeares "Othello", in 1994 for "No Mans Land", and in 2004 for Shakespeares "King Lear".
He and his daughter Amanda Plummer both received Emmy Award nominations in 2005. She won, he did not.
Trained to become a concert pianist before turning his attention to acting.
Was actually born on December 13, 1929, although most publications usually state his birthday as December 13, 1927.
Is only thirteen years older than Charmian Carr , who played his daughter in The Sound of Music .
Is one of 115 people invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2007.
Had turned down the role of Gandalf in Peter Jackson s Lord of the Rings trilogy, and admits to regretting that decision.
Has worked with both Obi-Wan Kenobis on film. Alec Guinness played his father in The Fall of the Roman Empire , while Plummer later played father to Ewan McGregor in Beginners .
Has worked with two Spider-Mans. First he worked with Nicholas Hammond in The Sound of Music , and later with Andrew Garfield in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus .
He and daughter Amanda Plummer have both appeared in adaptation of Stephen King novels. Amanda appeared in Needful Things , while Christopher appeared in Dolores Claiborne .
Has played Christian in a television production of "Cyrano de Bergerac", opposite Jos Ferrer , and later played Cyrano himself. In the former role, he performed the translation by Brian Hooker. In the latter, he performed the translation by Anthony Burgess , which he personally selected Burgess to write.
Is the only actor from The Sound of Music to meet the real Maria Von Trapp in Vermont as a child.
He was awarded a star on Canadas Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario in 1998 (charter member).
Has played the title role in Hamlet at Elsinore , appearing with Michael Caine , who played Hamlets closest friend Horatio. Caine later said that he had never truly understood Hamlet until he saw Plummer playing the role.
At age 82, he is the oldest person to receive an Academy Award.
Is one of four consecutive Oscar winners in the Best Supporting Actor category whose name begins with Chris, the other actors being Christian Bale and Christoph Waltz (who won twice).
Both he and his daughter, Amanda Plummer , have played in Jean Anouilh s "The Lark", he appeared on Broadway in 1955 and she appeared in Stratford in 2005.
Is one of nine actors to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy and Tony); the others in chronological order are Thomas Mitchell , Melvyn Douglas , Paul Scofield , Jack Albertson , Jason Robards , Jeremy Irons , Al Pacino and Geoffrey Rush.
In 2012, he became the 21st performer to have received the Triple Crown of Acting: the 1974 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical ("Cyrano") and the 1997 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play ("Barrymore"), the 1977 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series ( "Arthur Haileys the Moneychangers" ) and the 1994 Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance ( "Madeline" ), and the 2012 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ( Beginners ).
Cites Jean Renoir s La grande illusion as the film that has moved him to tears more often than any other during his lifetime.
(May 2007) Longtime resident of Fairfield Countys Weston, Connecticut.
Has appeared with Donald Sutherland in four films: Oedipus the King , The Disappearance , Murder by Decree and Ordeal by Innocence .
Has appeared with Susannah York in four films: Battle of Britain , Lock Up Your Daughters! , Conduct Unbecoming and The Silent Partner .
Has appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: The Sound of Music and A Beautiful Mind .
He has two roles in common with Peter Cushing : (1) Cushing played Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles , "Sherlock Holmes" and The Masks of Death while Plummer played him in "The Sunday Drama" {Silver Blaze } and Murder by Decree and Cushing played Professor Van Helsing in Dracula , The Brides of Dracula , Dracula A.D. 1972 , The Satanic Rites of Dracula and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires while Plummer played him in Dracula 2000 .
Is one of 11 actors to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance. The others in chronological order are Geoffrey Rush for Shine , Jamie Foxx for Ray , Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote , Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland , Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men , Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood and Lincoln , Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight , Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds , Colin Firth for The Kings Speech and J.K. Simmons for Whiplash .
Christopher Plummers mother Isabella was a secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University after her divorce from John Orme Plummer who sold stocks in Toronto and never lived in Montreal. In his memoir "In Spite of Myself" , he writes that his mother was doubly disgraced for an upper-class woman in the 1930s, being both divorced and having to go out of work. This explains why he was born in Toronto, and grew up in Montreal. He and his father did not meet until Christopher was age 17.
Is a cousin of actor Nigel Bruce. Bruce was best known for playing Dr. John Watson, and Plummer went on to play Sherlock Holmes.
Although he played Alec Guinness s son in The Fall of the Roman Empire , he was only fifteen years his junior in real life.
His great-uncle (paternal grandmothers brother) was F.B. Fetherstonhaugh (Frederick Barnard Fetherstonhaugh), a patent lawyer and agent who founded the patent agency Fetherstonhaugh and Company.
He was awarded the 1998 Back Stage Garland Award for Outstanding Performance for "Barrymore" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
He was awarded the 1999 Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Lead Actor in a Play for "Barrymore" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Has English, Scottish, Northern Irish, distant French-Canadian, and Swiss-French ancestry.
Speaks English and French fluently, from his bilingual upbringing in Senneville, Quebec.
[why he prefers playing evil characters] The devil is more interesting,than God.
It was a superb way of getting rid of the danger of self-pity, and an,astounding piece of direction because it was valuable throughout the,play.
[on working with Michael Langham] When I did "Henry V", he changed my,life. Really owe my career to Michael.
[on being asked whether he had made his peace with his most famous film,The Sound of Music (1965) ] Oh, God no.
The theatre is not for sissies. It separates the men from the boys.
Television is certainly more skilfully handled [now] than it was then.
There are certain things, like "Sherlock" (2010) , which is,enchanting and perfectly right for a younger audience. And the truly,wonderful thing about it is that it is not disloyal to the original.
But he knew it was a cruel medium and that it was an instant medium.
Working with Julie Andrews is like getting hit over the head with a valentine. .
