Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
December 13, 1929
Place of Birth:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Social Media
Christopher Plummer
Biography
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer CC (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1958's Stage Struck, and notable film performances include The Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, The Man Who Would Be King, and The Insider. In a career that spans seven decades and includes substantial roles in each of the dramatic arts, Plummer is probably best known to film audiences as the autocratic widower Captain Georg Johannes von Trapp in the hit 1965 musical film The Sound of Music alongside Julie Andrews. Plummer has also ventured into various television projects, including the legendary miniseries The Thorn Birds.
In the 21st century, his film roles include The Insider as Mike Wallace, Inside Man with Denzel Washington, the Disney–Pixar 2009 film Up as Charles Muntz, the Shane Acker production 9 as '1', The Last Station as Leo Tolstoy, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus as Doctor Parnassus, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Henrik Vanger, and Beginners as Hal.
Plummer has won numerous awards and accolades for his work, including an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a SAG Award, and a BAFTA Award. With his win at the age of 82 in 2012 for Beginners, Plummer is the oldest actor and person ever to win an Academy Award.
On February 5, 2021, Plummer died at his home in Weston, Connecticut, aged 91, after suffering complications from a fall. His family released a statement announcing that Plummer had "died peacefully at his home in Connecticut with his wife Elaine Taylor at his side".
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Heroes of the Golden Mask | Rizzo (voice) |
| 2022 | Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story | Self |
| 2021 | Kalahari: The Flooded Desert | Narrator (voice) |
| 2021 | Mooseltoe | Mooseking |
| 2021 | Bondarchuk. Battle | self |
| 2021 | Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster | Self |
| 2020 | The Last Full Measure | Frank Pitsenbarger |
| 2019 | Knives Out | Harlan Thrombey |
| 2019 | Cliffs of Freedom | Thanasi |
| 2019 | Alan Pakula: Going for Truth | Self |
| 2018 | Boundaries | Jack Jaconi |
| 2018 | Howard Lovecraft & The Kingdom Of Madness | Dr. Jeffrey West (voice) |
| 2017 | The Exception | Kaiser Wilhelm II |
| 2017 | The River of My Dreams | Himself |
| 2017 | The Star | King Herod (voice) |
| 2017 | The Man Who Invented Christmas | Scrooge |
| 2017 | All the Money in the World | Jean Paul Getty |
| 2017 | Howard Lovecraft & the Undersea Kingdom | Dr. West (voice) |
| 2016 | Howard Lovecraft & the Frozen Kingdom | Dr. West (voice) |
| 2015 | Remember | Zev Guttman |
| 2015 | Danny Collins | Frank Grubman |
| 2015 | Pixies | Pixie King (voice) |
| 2015 | The Untold Story of The Sound of Music: A Diane Sawyer Special | Self |
| 2014 | The Forger | Joseph Cutter |
| 2014 | Hector and the Search for Happiness | Professor Coreman |
| 2014 | Elsa & Fred | Fred |
| 2013 | Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight | John Marshall Harlan |
| 2013 | The Legend of Sarila | Croolik (voice) |
| 2013 | Titans of the Ice Age | Narrator |
| 2013 | The Captains: Still Kicking | Himself |
| 2012 | Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen | (archive footage) |
| 2012 | Behind the Wall: The Making of Skyrim | Self |
| 2012 | Barrymore | John Barrymore |
| 2012 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Hard Copy | |
| 2012 | Kali, the Little Vampire | Narrator (english version) |
| 2011 | Priest | Monsignor Orelas |
| 2011 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Henrik Vanger |
| 2011 | Beginners | Hal Fields |
| 2011 | Discovering Hamlet | Self |
| 2010 | My Dog Tulip | J.R. Ackerley (voice) |
| 2010 | The Tempest | Prospero |
| 2010 | Madeline's Christmas | Narrator (voice) |
| 2009 | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus | Doctor Parnassus |
| 2009 | 9 | #1 (voice) |
| 2009 | Up | Charles F. Muntz (voice) |
| 2009 | The Last Station | Leo Tolstoy |
| 2009 | Caesar and Cleopatra | Caesar |
| 2008 | Emotional Arithmetic | David Winters |
| 2007 | Already Dead | Dr. Heller |
| 2007 | Closing the Ring | Jack |
| 2007 | Man in the Chair | Flash Madden |
| 2007 | Hamlet {Solo} | Self |
| 2006 | Inside Man | Arthur Case |
| 2006 | The Lake House | Simon Wyler |
| 2006 | Eugene O’Neill: A Documentary Film | Self |
| 2006 | Nuremberg: The Nazis Facing their Crimes | Self - Narrator |
| 2005 | Syriana | Dean Whiting |
| 2005 | The New World | Captain Newport |
| 2005 | Must Love Dogs | Bill |
| 2005 | Our Fathers | Cardinal Bernard Law |
| 2005 | Four Minutes | Archie Mason |
| 2004 | National Treasure | John Adams Gates |
| 2004 | Alexander | Aristotle |
| 2003 | The Gospel of John | Narrator (voice) |
| 2003 | Cold Creek Manor | Mr. Massie |
| 2003 | The Life Of Jesus | Narrator |
| 2003 | Blizzard | Santa Claus |
| 2002 | Nicholas Nickleby | Ralph Nickleby |
| 2002 | Ararat | David |
| 2002 | Agent of Influence | John Watkins |
| 2002 | Night Flight | 'Flash' Harry Peters |
| 2002 | Christopher Plummer: A Man For All Stages | Self |
| 2001 | A Beautiful Mind | Dr. Rosen |
| 2001 | Lucky Break | Graham Mortimer |
| 2001 | Full Disclosure | Robert Lecker |
| 2001 | On Golden Pond | Norman Thayer |
| 2000 | Dracula 2000 | Matthew Van Helsing |
| 2000 | The Dinosaur Hunter | Hump Hinton |
| 2000 | Possessed | Archbishop Hume |
| 2000 | American Tragedy | F. Lee Bailey |
| 2000 | Back To "Somewhere In Time" | Self |
| 1999 | The Insider | Mike Wallace |
| 1999 | Madeline: Lost in Paris | Narrator (voice) |
| 1999 | Hidden Agenda | Ulrich Steiner |
| 1998 | Winchell | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| 1998 | The Clown at Midnight | Mr. Caruthers |
| 1998 | Blackheart | Holmes |
| 1998 | The First Christmas | Narrator (voice) |
| 1997 | The Arrow | George Hees |
| 1997 | Skeletons | Reverend Carlyle |
| 1997 | Babes in Toyland | Barnaby Crookedman (voice) |
| 1996 | The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of 'Twelve Monkeys' | Self |
| 1996 | The Conspiracy of Fear | Wakeman |
| 1995 | Twelve Monkeys | Dr. Goines |
| 1995 | Dolores Claiborne | John Mackey |
| 1995 | Harrison Bergeron | John Klaxon |
| 1994 | Wolf | Raymond Alden |
| 1994 | Crackerjack | Ivan Getz |
| 1994 | Michael Caine: Breaking the Mold | Self (archive footage) |
| 1993 | Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic | Narrator |
| 1993 | A Stranger in the Mirror | Clifton Lawrence |
| 1992 | Malcolm X | Chaplain Gill |
| 1992 | Liar's Edge | Harry Weldon |
| 1992 | Secrets | Mel Wexler |
| 1992 | Impolite | Naples O'Rorke |
| 1991 | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country | General Chang |
| 1991 | Firehead | Col. Garland Vaughn |
| 1991 | Madeline and the Gypsies | Narrator (voice) |
| 1991 | Madeline and the Bad Hat | Narrator (voice) |
| 1991 | Madeline in London | Narrator (voice) |
| 1991 | Money | Martin Yahl |
| 1991 | Rock-A-Doodle | Grand Duke (voice) |
| 1990 | Where the Heart Is | Shitty |
| 1990 | A Ghost in Monte Carlo | The Grand Duke Ivan |
| 1990 | Red Blooded American Girl | Dr. John Alcore |
| 1990 | The Little Crooked Christmas Tree | Narrator |
| 1989 | Mindfield | Doctor Satorius |
| 1989 | Nabokov on Kafka | Vladimir Nabokov |
| 1989 | Souvenir | Ernst Kestner |
| 1989 | The First Emperor of China | Narrator |
| 1988 | Nosferatu in Venice | Professor Paris Catalano |
| 1988 | Madeline | Narrator (voice) |
| 1988 | The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind | Narrator (voice) |
| 1988 | Shadow Dancing | Edmund Beaumont |
| 1987 | Dragnet | Reverend Jonathan Whirley |
| 1987 | A Hazard of Hearts | Sir Giles Staverley |
| 1987 | The Nightingale | Narrator (voice) |
| 1987 | I Love N.Y. | John Robertson Yeats |
| 1986 | An American Tail | Henri (voice) |
| 1986 | The Boss' Wife | Mr. Roalvang |
| 1986 | The Boy in Blue | Knox |
| 1986 | Spearfield's Daughter | Lord Jack Cruze |
| 1986 | The Tin Soldier | Narrator (voice) |
| 1985 | The Velveteen Rabbit | Narrator (voice) |
| 1985 | Rumpelstiltskin | Narrator |
| 1984 | Dreamscape | Bob Blair |
| 1984 | Ordeal by Innocence | Leo Argyle |
| 1984 | Lily in Love | Fitzroy Wynn / Roberto Terranova |
| 1983 | The Scarlet and the Black | Col. Herbert Kappler |
| 1983 | Prototype | Dr. Carl Forrester |
| 1982 | Highpoint | James Hatcher |
| 1982 | Night of 100 Stars | Self |
| 1981 | The Amateur | Professor Lakos |
| 1981 | Eyewitness | Joseph |
| 1981 | Dial M for Murder | Tony Wendice |
| 1981 | Being Different | Self (Narrator) (voice) |
| 1981 | When the Circus Came to Town | Duke Royal |
| 1980 | Somewhere in Time | William Fawcett Robinson |
| 1980 | Desperate Voyage | Jacques Burrifous |
| 1980 | The Shadow Box | Brian |
| 1979 | Hanover Street | Paul Sellinger |
| 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 | Silver Blaze | Sherlock Holmes |
| 1977 | The Assignment | Kaptain Behounek |
| 1976 | Aces High | Capt. 'Uncle' Sinclair |
| 1975 | The Man Who Would Be King | Rudyard Kipling |
| 1975 | The Return of the Pink Panther | Sir Charles Litton |
| 1975 | Conduct Unbecoming | Maggiore Alastair Wimbourne |
| 1975 | The Spiral Staircase | Dr. Sherman |
| 1975 | The Day That Shook the World | Archduke Ferdinand |
| 1974 | The Happy Prince | The Happy Prince (voice) |
| 1974 | After the Fall | Quentin |
| 1973 | The Pyx | Dt. Sgt. Jim Henderson |
| 1970 | Waterloo | Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington |
| 1969 | Battle of Britain | Squadron Leader Colin Harvey |
| 1969 | The Royal Hunt of the Sun | Atahualpa |
| 1969 | Lock Up Your Daughters | Lord Foppington |
| 1968 | Nobody Runs Forever | Sir James Quentin |
| 1968 | Oedipus the King | Oedipus |
| 1967 | The Night of the Generals | Field Marshal Rommel |
| 1966 | Triple Cross | Freddie Chapman |
| 1965 | The Sound of Music | Captain Georg von Trapp |
| 1965 | Inside Daisy Clover | Raymond Swan |
| 1965 | Salzburg Sight and Sound | Self |
| 1964 | The Fall of the Roman Empire | Commodus |
| 1964 | Hamlet at Elsinore | Hamlet |
| 1963 | 30 Minutes, Mister Plummer | Himself |
| 1963 | Trans-Canada Journey | Narrator (voice) |
| 1960 | Captain Brassbound's Conversion | Captain Brassbound |
| 1959 | A Doll's House | Torvald |
| 1958 | Wind Across the Everglades | Walt Murdock |
| 1958 | Stage Struck | Joe Sheridan |
| 1958 | Johnny Belinda | Dr. Jack Pelletier |
| 1958 | Little Moon of Alban | Kenneth Boyd |
| Madeline at the Ballet | Narrator (voice) | |
| TED ALLAN: MINSTREL BOY OF THE 20TH CENTURY | Narrator |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Departure | Howard Lawson |
| 2010 | Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood | Narrator |
| 2008 | The Summit | P.J. Aimes |
| 2005 | Miracle Planet | Himself - Host |
| 2000 | Nuremberg | Sir David Maxwell Fyfe |
| 1997 | The Arrow | George Hees |
| 1991 | Berlin Lady | Wilhelm Speer |
| 1991 | Young Catherine | Sir Charles |
| 1990 | Counterstrike | Alexander Addington |
| 1988 | Madeline | Narrator (voice) |
| 1988 | American Experience | Narrator |
| 1986 | Crossings | Armand DeVilliers |
| 1984 | The Cosby Show | Jonathan Lawrence |
| 1983 | SuperTed | |
| 1983 | The Thorn Birds | Archbishop Vittorio Contini-Verchese |
| 1982 | Nature | Narrator (voice) |
| 1982 | Little Gloria... Happy at Last | Reggie Vanderbilt |
| 1977 | Jesus of Nazareth | Herod Antipas |
| 1976 | Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers | Roscoe Heyward |
| 1968 | The Dick Cavett Show | Self - Guest |
| 1967 | Omnibus | Narrator |
| 1961 | The Mike Douglas Show | Self |
| 1959 | NBC Sunday Showcase | |
| 1957 | DuPont Show of the Month | Sir Miles Hendon |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self - Nominee |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self - Presenter |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self - Winner |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self - Nominee/Presenter |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater | Walter Shelley |
| 1953 | The Oscars | Self |
| 1952 | Omnibus | |
| 1952 | Omnibus | Oedipus |
| 1952 | Omnibus | Thomas Mendip |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Dr. Jack Pelletier |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Torvald Helmer |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Prince Albert |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Captain Brassbound |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Cyrano de Bergerac |
| 1949 | Suspense | |
| 1948 | Studio One | Dick |
| 1948 | The Ed Sullivan Show | Self |
| 1944 | Golden Globe Awards | Self - Winner |
| 1944 | Golden Globe Awards | Self - Nominee |