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Born: December 13, 1929 – Died: February 5, 2021
Christopher Plummer, a titan of stage and screen, was born Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer on December 13, 1929, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The son of Isabella Mary (Abbott), a secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University, and John Orme Plummer, a stockbroker, Christopher had an ancestry that was a blend of Scottish, English, Anglo-Irish, and Cornish. Notably, he was a great-grandson of John Abbott, Canada's third Prime Minister. Raised in Senneville, Quebec, near Montreal, Plummer would rise to become one of North America's most revered Shakespearean actors and a legendary figure in the entertainment industry.
Early Life and Career
Christopher Plummer's early life was steeped in an environment that nurtured his later pursuits in acting. His early education and specific schooling details are not widely known, but his career trajectory indicates a strong foundation in the arts. Plummer began his acting career on stage and quickly established himself as a prominent Shakespearean actor, notably excelling in roles like Hamlet, Iago, and Lear.
His first significant screen role came as Sherlock Holmes in "Murder by Decree" (1979), but it was his portrayal of Captain Von Trapp in the beloved film The Sound of Music (1965) that catapulted him to international stardom. Despite his initial reservations about the film, this role remains one of his most memorable.
Throughout his career, Plummer received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, and two Tony Awards, showcasing his versatility across different mediums. His role as Hal in "Beginners" (2010) not only won him an Oscar but also made him the oldest actor at the time to receive one. His portrayals in "The Insider" (1999), "A Beautiful Mind" (2001), and "Knives Out" (2019) are other notable highlights of his illustrious career.
Off-screen, Plummer was known for his rich, smooth voice and charming personality. He was married to Elaine Taylor, and they shared a life filled with love, dogs, and tranquility in Connecticut. Plummer's contribution to the arts extended beyond his roles; he was a true icon whose legacy in Hollywood and the entertainment industry at large is marked by his unique ability to bring depth, charisma, and gravitas to every character he portrayed.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Heroes of the Golden Masks | Rizzo (voice) |
| 2019–2021 | Departure (TV Series) | Howard Lawson |
| 2019 | The Last Full Measure | Frank Pitsenbarger |
| 2019 | Knives Out | Harlan Thrombey |
| 2019 | Cliffs of Freedom | Thanasi |
| 2018 | Howard Lovecraft and the Kingdom of Madness (Video) | Dr. Jeffrey West (voice) |
| 2018 | Boundaries | Jack |
| 2017 | All the Money in the World | J. Paul Getty |
| 2017 | The Star | Herod (voice) |
| 2017 | The Man Who Invented Christmas | Scrooge |
| 2017 | Howard Lovecraft & the Undersea Kingdom | Dr. West (voice) |
| 2017 | Elegy (Short) | Unknown |
| 2016 | The Exception | Kaiser Wilhelm II |
| 2016 | Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom | Dr. West (voice) |
| 2015 | Remember | Zev Guttman |
| 2015 | Pixies | Pixie King (voice) |
| 2015 | Danny Collins | Frank Grubman |
| 2014 | The Forger | Joseph Cutter |
| 2014 | Hector and the Search for Happiness | Professor Coreman |
| 2014 | Elsa & Fred | Fred |
| 2014 | Great Performances (TV Series) | John Barrymore |
| 2013 | Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight | John Harlan |
| 2013 | The Legend of Sarila | Croolik (English version, voice) |
| 2012 | Kali, the Little Vampire (Short) | Narrator (English version, voice) |
| 2012 | Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure (Video Game) | Charles F. Muntz (voice) |
| 2011 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Henrik Vanger |
| 2011 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Video Game) | Arngeir (voice) |
| 2011 | Barrymore | John Barrymore |
| 2011 | Priest | Monsignor Orelas |
| 2010 | The Tempest | Prospero |
| 2010 | Beginners | Hal |
| 2009 | The Last Station | Leo Tolstoy |
| 2009 | 9 | #1 (voice) |
| 2009 | My Dog Tulip | J.R. Ackerley (voice) |
| 2009 | Up (Video Game) | Charles Muntz (voice) |
| 2009 | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus | Doctor Parnassus |
| 2009 | Up | Charles Muntz (voice) |
| 2009 | Caesar and Cleopatra | Caesar |
| 2008 | The Summit (TV Mini Series) | P.J. Aimes |
| 2007 | Already Dead | Dr. Heller |
| 2007 | Emotional Arithmetic | David Winters |
| 2007 | Closing the Ring | Jack |
| 2007 | Man in the Chair | Flash Madden |
| 2006 | The Lake House | Simon Wyler |
| 2006 | American Experience (TV Series) | Narrator | James Tyrone |
| 2006 | *Inside Man* | Arthur Case |
| 2005 | The New World | Captain Newport |
| 2005 | Heidi | Grandfather (voice) |
| 2005 | Syriana | Dean Whiting |
| 2005 | Four Minutes (TV Movie) | Archie Mason |
| 2005 | Must Love Dogs | Bill |
| 2005 | Our Fathers (TV Movie) | Cardinal Bernard Law |
| 2004 | Alexander | Aristotle |
| 2004 | National Treasure | John Adams Gates |
| 2003 | Cold Creek Manor | Mr. Massie |
| 2003 | The Gospel of John | Narrator (voice) |
| 2003 | Blizzard | Santa Claus |
| 2003 | Odd Job Jack (TV Series) | Magnus the Maker |
| 2002 | Nicholas Nickleby | Ralph Nickleby |
| 2002 | Agent of Influence (TV Movie) | John Watkins |
| 2002 | Ararat | David |
| 2002 | Night Flight (TV Movie) | 'Flash' Harry Peters |
| 2001 | A Beautiful Mind | Dr. Rosen |
| 2001 | Lucky Break | Graham Mortimer |
| 2001 | Full Disclosure (Video) | Robert Lecker |
| 2001 | On Golden Pond (TV Movie) | Norman Thayer |
| 2000 | Star Trek: Klingon Academy (Video Game) | General Chang |
| 2000 | Dracula 2000 | Abraham Van Helsing |
| 2000 | American Tragedy (TV Movie) | F. Lee Bailey |
| 2000 | Possessed (TV Movie) | Archbishop Hume |
| 2000 | The Dinosaur Hunter (TV Movie) | Hump Hinton |
| 2000 | Nuremberg (TV Mini Series) | Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe |
| 1999 | The Insider | Mike Wallace |
| 1999 | Madeline: Lost in Paris | Narrator (voice) |
| 1999 | Hidden Agenda | Ulrich Steiner |
| 1998 | The First Christmas (Short) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1998 | Blackheart | Holmes |
| 1998 | The Clown at Midnight | Mr. Caruthers |
| 1998 | Winchell (TV Movie) | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| 1997 | Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (Video Game) | Chang |
| 1997 | Babes in Toyland | Barnaby Crookedman (voice) |
| 1997 | Skeletons (TV Movie) | Reverend Carlyle |
| 1997 | The Arrow (TV Mini Series) | George Hees |
| 1996 | Madeline's European Adventure (Video Game) | Narrator |
| 1996 | We the Jury (TV Movie) | Wilfred Fransiscus |
| 1995 | The New Adventures of Madeline (TV Series) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1995 | *12 Monkeys* | Dr. Goines |
| 1995 | The Conspiracy of Fear (Video) | Wakeman |
| 1995 | Harrison Bergeron (TV Movie) | John Klaxon |
| 1995 | Dolores Claiborne | Detective John Mackey |
| 1994 | Madeline and the Magnificent Puppet Show (Video Game) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1994 | Felidae | Joker (English version, voice) |
| 1994 | Crackerjack | Ivan Getz |
| 1994 | Wolf | Raymond Alden |
| 1990–1994 | Madeline (TV Series) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1990–1993 | Counterstrike (TV Series) | Alexander Addington |
| 1993 | A Stranger in the Mirror (TV Movie) | Clifton Lawrence |
| 1992 | *Malcolm X* | Chaplain Gill |
| 1992 | Impolite | Naples O'Rorke (uncredited) |
| 1992 | Secrets (TV Movie) | Mel Wexler |
| 1992 | Liar's Edge | Harry Weldon |
| 1991 | Berlin Lady (TV Mini Series) | Wilhem Speer |
| 1991 | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country | Chang |
| 1991 | Madeline in London (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1991 | The First Circle (TV Movie) | Viktor Abakumov |
| 1991 | Madeline and the Gypsies (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1991 | Rock-A-Doodle | The Duke (voice) |
| 1991 | A Marriage: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz (TV Movie) | Alfred Stieglitz |
| 1991 | Money | Martin Yahl |
| 1991 | Madeline and the Bad Hat (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1991 | Young Catherine (TV Movie) | Sir Charles |
| 1991 | Firehead | Vaughn |
| 1990 | The Little Crooked Christmas Tree (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1990 | Madeline's Rescue (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1990 | Madeline's Christmas (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1990 | Red Blooded American Girl | Dr. John Alcore |
| 1990 | A Ghost in Monte Carlo (TV Movie) | The Grand Duke Ivan |
| 1990 | Where the Heart Is | Shitty |
| 1989 | Mindfield | Doctor Satorius |
| 1989 | Kingsgate | Unknown |
| 1989 | Nabokov on Kafka (TV Movie) | Vladimir Nabokov |
| 1988 | Madeline (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1988 | Souvenir | Ernst Kestner |
| 1988 | Shadow Dancing | Edmund Beaumont |
| 1988 | Vampire in Venice | Professor Paris Catalano |
| 1987 | The Nightingale (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1987 | A Hazard of Hearts (TV Movie) | Sir Giles Staverley |
| 1987 | Gandahar | Metamorphis (English version, voice) |
| 1987 | The Cosby Show (TV Series) | Jonathan Lawrence |
| 1987 | The Gnomes' Great Adventure (TV Movie) | Narrator |
| 1987 | Dragnet | Whirley |
| 1987 | I Love N.Y. | John Robertson Yeats |
| 1987 | The Man Who Planted Trees (Short) | Narrator (English version, voice) |
| 1986 | Spearfield's Daughter (TV Mini Series) | Lord Jack Cruze |
| 1986 | The Tin Soldier (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1986 | An American Tail | Henri (voice) |
| 1986 | The Boss' Wife | Mr. Roalvang |
| 1986 | Crossings (TV Mini Series) | Armand DeVilliers |
| 1986 | The Boy in Blue | Knox |
| 1985 | Rumpelstiltskin (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1985 | David the Gnome (TV Series) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1985 | The Velveteen Rabbit (TV Movie) | Narrator (voice) |
| 1984 | Lily in Love | Fitzroy Wynn | Roberto Terranova |
| 1984 | Dreamscape | Bob Blair |
| 1984 | Ordeal by Innocence | Leo Argyle |
| 1983 | Prototype (TV Movie) | Dr. Carl Forrester |
| 1983 | The Thorn Birds (TV Mini Series) | Archbishop Vittorio Contini-Verchese |
| 1983 | The Scarlet and the Black (TV Movie) | Col. Herbert Kappler |
| 1982 | Little Gloria... Happy at Last (TV Mini Series) | Reggie Vanderbilt |
| 1982 | Highpoint | James Hatcher |
| 1981 | The Amateur | Professor Lakos |
| 1981 | Dial 'M' for Murder (TV Movie) | Tony Wendice |
| 1981 | Eyewitness | Joseph |
| 1981 | When the Circus Came to Town (TV Movie) | Duke Royal |
| 1980 | Desperate Voyage (TV Movie) | Burrifous |
| 1980 | Somewhere in Time | W. F. Robinson |
| 1980 | The Shadow Box (TV Movie) | Brian |
| 1979 | Hanover Street | Paul Sellinger |
| 1979 | Riel (TV Movie) | Prime Minister John A. Macdonald |
| 1979 | Murder by Decree | Sherlock Holmes |
| 1978 | Starcrash | The Emperor |
| 1978 | The Silent Partner | Reikle |
| 1978 | International Velvet | John Seaton |
| 1977 | The Disappearance | Deverell |
| 1977 | The Assignment | Kaptain Behounek |
| 1977 | The Sunday Drama (TV Series) | Sherlock Holmes |
| 1977 | Jesus of Nazareth (TV Mini Series) | Herod Antipas |
| 1976 | Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers (TV Mini Series) | Roscoe Heyward |
| 1976 | Aces High | Sinclair |
| 1975 | The Man Who Would Be King | Rudyard Kipling |
| 1975 | The Day That Shook the World | Archduke Ferdinand |
| 1975 | Conduct Unbecoming | Maj. Alastair Wimbourne |
| 1975 | The Return of the Pink Panther | Sir Charles Litton |
| 1975 | The Spiral Staircase | Dr. Sherman |
| 1974 | After the Fall (TV Movie) | Quentin |
| 1974 | The Happy Prince (Short) | The Happy Prince (voice) |
| 1974 | Witness to Yesterday (TV Series) | Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington |
| 1973 | The Pyx | Dt. Sgt. Jim Henderson |
| 1971 | BBC Play of the Month (TV Series) | Don Juan |
| 1970 | Waterloo | Arthur Wellesley - Duke of Wellington |
| 1969 | The Royal Hunt of the Sun | Atahuallpa |
| 1969 | The Battle of Britain | Squadron Leader Colin Harvey |
| 1969 | Lock Up Your Daughters! | Lord Foppington |
| 1968 | The Secret of Michelangelo (TV Movie) | Narrator |
| 1968 | The High Commissioner | Sir James Quentin |
| 1968 | Oedipus the King | Oedipus |
| 1967 | The Night of the Generals | Field Marshal Rommel |
| 1966 | Triple Cross | Eddie Chapman |
| 1965 | Inside Daisy Clover | Raymond Swan |
| 1965 | *The Sound of Music* | Captain Georg von Trapp |
| 1964 | Hamlet at Elsinore (TV Movie) | Hamlet |
| 1964 | The Fall of the Roman Empire | Commodus |
| 1962 | Cyrano De Bergerac (TV Movie) | Cyrano de Bergerac |
| 1961 | Time Remembered (TV Movie) | Prince Albert |
| 1957–1961 | The DuPont Show of the Month (TV Series) | Rudolf Rassendyll | King Rudolf | Sir Miles Hendon |
| 1960 | Our American Heritage (TV Series) | Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. |
| 1960 | Sunday Showcase (TV Series) | Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. |
| 1960 | Captain Brassbound's Conversion (TV Movie) | Captain Brassbound |
| 1959 | The Philadelphia Story (TV Movie) | Mike Connor |
| 1959 | A Doll's House (TV Movie) | Torvald Helmer |
| 1957–1959 | Omnibus (TV Series) | (segment) | Thomas Mendip | (segment "The Trial of Lizzie Borden") ... |
| 1958 | Johnny Belinda (TV Movie) | Dr. Jack Pelletier |
| 1958 | Wind Across the Everglades | Walt Murdock |
| 1958 | Stage Struck | Joe Sheridan |
| 1958 | Little Moon of Alban (TV Movie) | Kenneth Boyd |
| 1956 | Eye on New York (TV Series) | Lewis Rohnen |
| 1956 | The Alcoa Hour (TV Series) | Bruce Quealy |
| 1956 | Appointment with Adventure (TV Series) | Roger Manning |
| 1956 | General Electric Theater (TV Series) | Walter Shelley |
| 1955 | Producers' Showcase (TV Series) | Christian de Neuvillette |
| 1955 | Kraft Theatre (TV Series) | Robert Carr |
| 1954 | Ponds Theater (TV Series) | Unknown |
| 1954 | The Web (TV Series) | Unknown |
| 1953 | Broadway Television Theatre (TV Series) | Michael O'Leary |
| 1953 | Suspense (TV Series) | Unknown |
| 1953 | Studio One (TV Series) | Dick |
| 1953 | Encounter (TV Series) | Unknown |