Christopher Plummer
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Christopher Plummer (full name Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer, CC) (born Friday, December 13, 19291) is a Canadian theatrical, film and television actor. He is one of his country's most prominent and respected actors and viewed by most as one of the world's finest stage performers, particularly in roles from the pen of William Shakespeare. His international popularity began with his role as Captain von Trapp in the 1965 film The Sound of Music, costarring Julie Andrews.
Plummer was born in Toronto, Ontario. The great-grandson of former Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Abbott, following his parents' divorce he moved with his mother to live in Senneville, Quebec, near Montreal. He studied to be a concert pianist but developed a love of the theater at an early age and began acting in High School. He went on to train for the theater with the Canadian Repertory Company in Ottawa.
Christopher Plummer began his professional career in Canadian theater, radio in the late 1940s, performing in both the English and French languages. He made his Broadway debut in 1954 and has performed numerous roles at the Stratford Festival of Canada and London's West End.
From his marriage to Tony Award winning actress Tammy Grimes he has a daughter, Amanda Plummer, who is an actress in her own right.
Plummer was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1968. He was given an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from New York's Juilliard School and is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award by the Governor-General of Canada. In 1986, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame and into Canada's Walk of Fame in 1997. In an article written about his portrayal of King Lear at the Stratford Festival, the New York Times called him "the most accomplished classical actor in North America."
In 2001, he reunited with Julie Andrews in the television adaptation of On Golden Pond. The telecast was presented live, a rarity in television today, and was highly publicized in the weeks before the event. In 2002, he starred with Julie Andrews and Charlotte Church in A Royal Christmas, one of the largest holiday extravaganzas ever produced for the stage. Plummer is still a sought-after performer in his late 70's, and age has not diminished his workload or his energy.
Christopher Plummer also performed the voice of Pedestrian voice #40 in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
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Note
Some sources give Plummer's year of birth as 1927.
Partial list of Awards
- Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre (2002)
- Edwin Booth Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)
- Emmy Award (1994), for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his work on the Family Channel's Madeline children's series
- Emmy Award (1976), as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers
- Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play (1997), for his lead role in Barrymore
- Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical (1974), for his lead role in Cyrano
- Genie Award (1980), for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in Murder by Decree
- London Evening Standard Award as Best Actor (1961), for his portrayal of King Henry II in the stage play, Becket
Filmography
- National Treasure (2004)
- Cold Creek Manor (2003)
- Gospel of John (2003) (voice)
- Blizzard (2003)
- Tma (2002)
- Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
- Agent of Influence (2002) (TV)
- Ararat (2002)
- Night Flight (2002) (TV)
- Full Disclosure (2001) (V)
- A Beautiful Mind (2001)
- Blackheart (2001)
- Lucky Break (2001)
- On Golden Pond (2001) (TV)
- Leo's Journey (2001) (TV)
- Star Trek: Klingon Academy (2000) (VG)
- Dracula 2000 (2000)
- American Tragedy (2000) (TV)
- Possessed (2000) (TV)
- The Dinosaur Hunter (2000)
- Nuremberg (2000) TV mini series
- The Insider (1999)
- Madeline: Lost in Paris (1999) (voice)
- Celebrate the Century (1999) TV mini series
- The Clown at Midnight (1998)
- The First Christmas (1998)
- Hidden Agenda (1998)
- Winchell (1998) (TV)
- Babes in Toyland (1997) (voice)
- The Arrow (1997) (TV)
- The Conspiracy of Fear (1996) (TV)
- Skeletons (1996)
- We the Jury (1996) (TV)
- Twelve Monkeys (1995)
- Harrison Bergeron (1995) (TV)
- Dolores Claiborne (1995)
- Crackerjack (1994)
- Wolf (1994)
- The Little Crooked Christmas Tree (1993) (TV) (voice)
- Sidney Sheldon's A Stranger in the Mirror (1993) (TV)
- Liar's Edge (1992) (TV)
- Malcolm X (1992)
- Impolite (1992)
- Secrets (1992I) (TV)
- The First Circle (1991) (TV)
- Berlin Lady (1991) TV mini series
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
- Rock-A-Doodle (1991) (voice)
- A Marriage: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz (1991) (TV)
- Young Catherine (1991) (TV)
- Firehead (1991)
- Counterstrike (1990) TV series
- Madeline (1990) TV series (voice)
- Money (1990)
- Red Blooded American Girl (1990)
- A Ghost in Monte Carlo (1990) (TV)
- Where the Heart Is (1990)
- Kingsgate (1989)
- Mindfield (1989)
- Nabokov on Kafka (1989) (TV)
- Souvenir (1989)
- I Love N.Y. (1988)
- Shadow Dancing (1988)
- Gandahar (1988) (voice)
- The Gnomes' Great Adventure (1987)
- The Man Who Planted Trees (1987)
- A Hazard of Hearts (1987) (TV)
- Dragnet (1987)
- Nosferatu a Venezia (1986)
- Spearfield's Daughter (1986) TV mini series
- An American Tail (1986) (voice)
- The Boss' Wife (1986)
- Crossings (1986) TV mini series
- The Boy in Blue (1986)
- David the Gnome (1985) TV Series
- Játszani kell (1985)
- Ordeal by Innocence (1984)
- Terror in the Aisles (1984)
- Highpoint (1984)
- Dreamscape (1984)
- Prototype (1983) (TV)
- The Thorn Birds (1983) TV mini series
- The Scarlet and the Black (1983) (TV)
- Little Gloria... Happy at Last (1982) (TV)
- The Amateur (1981)
- Eyewitness (1981)
- Dial M for Murder (TV) (1981)
- When the Circus Came to Town (1981) (TV)
- Somewhere in Time (1980)
- The Shadow Box (1980) (TV)
- Desperate Voyage (1980) (TV)
- Hanover Street (1979)
- Riel (1979) (TV)
- Murder by Decree (1979)
- Starcrash (1979)
- International Velvet (1978)
- The Silent Partner (1978)
- Silver Blaze (1977) (TV)
- The Disappearance (1977)
- Uppdraget (1977)
- Jesus of Nazareth (1977) TV mini series
- Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers (1976) TV mini series
- Aces High (1976)
- Sarajevski atentat (1975)
- The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
- Conduct Unbecoming (1975)
- The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
- The Spiral Staircase (1975)
- The Happy Prince (1974)
- After the Fall (1974) (TV)
- The Pyx (1973)
- Don Juan in Hell (1971) (TV)
- Waterloo (1970)
- Lock Up Your Daughters! (1969)
- The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969)
- Battle of Britain (1969)
- Nobody Runs Forever (1968)
- Oedipus the King (1967)
- La Fantastique histoire vraie d'Eddie Chapman (1967)
- The Night of the Generals (1967)
- Inside Daisy Clover (1966)
- The Sound of Music (1965)
- Hamlet (1964/III) (TV)
- The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
- Cyrano de Bergerac (1962) (TV)
- Playdate (1961) TV Series
- A Doll's House (1959) (TV)
- Wind Across the Everglades (1958)
- Stage Struck (1958)