Christopher Plummer

from Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Artwork for UpImage of 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".

Timeline

2023Aged 94

  • Poster for Heroes of the Golden Mask

    Rizzo (voice)

2021Aged 92

  • Poster for Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster

    Self

  • Poster for Bondarchuk. Battle

    self

  • Poster for Kalahari: The Flooded Desert

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Mooseltoe

    Mooseking

2020Aged 91

  • Poster for The Last Full Measure

    Frank Pitsenbarger

2019Aged 90

  • Poster for Cliffs of Freedom

    Thanasi

  • Poster for Alan Pakula: Going for Truth

    Self

  • Poster for Knives Out

    Harlan Thrombey

2018Aged 89

  • Poster for Boundaries

    Jack Jaconi

  • Poster for Howard Lovecraft & The Kingdom Of Madness

    Dr. Jeffrey West (voice)

2017Aged 88

  • Poster for The River of My Dreams

    Himself

  • Poster for The Exception

    Kaiser Wilhelm II

  • Poster for Howard Lovecraft & the Undersea Kingdom

    Dr. West (voice)

  • Poster for The Man Who Invented Christmas

    Scrooge

  • Poster for The Star

    King Herod (voice)

  • Poster for All the Money in the World

    Jean Paul Getty

2016Aged 87

  • Poster for Howard Lovecraft & the Frozen Kingdom

    Dr. West (voice)

2015Aged 86

2014Aged 85

  • Poster for Elsa & Fred

    Fred

  • Poster for Hector and the Search for Happiness

    Professor Coreman

  • Poster for The Forger

    Joseph Cutter

2013Aged 84

  • Poster for The Captains: Still Kicking

    Himself

  • Poster for Titans of the Ice Age

    Narrator

  • Poster for The Legend of Sarila

    Croolik (voice)

  • Poster for Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight

    John Marshall Harlan

2012Aged 83

2011Aged 82

  • Poster for Priest

    Monsignor Orelas

  • Poster for Beginners

    Hal Fields

  • Poster for Discovering Hamlet

    Self

  • Poster for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

    Henrik Vanger

2010Aged 81

  • Poster for My Dog Tulip

    J.R. Ackerley (voice)

  • Poster for Madeline's Christmas

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for The Tempest

    Prospero

2009Aged 80

  • Poster for Caesar and Cleopatra

    Caesar

  • Poster for Up

    Charles F. Muntz (voice)

  • Poster for 9

    #1 (voice)

  • Poster for The Last Station

    Leo Tolstoy

  • Poster for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

    Doctor Parnassus

2008Aged 79

  • Poster for Emotional Arithmetic

    David Winters

2007Aged 78

  • Poster for Man in the Chair

    Flash Madden

  • Poster for Hamlet {Solo}

    Self

  • Poster for Closing the Ring

    Jack

  • Poster for Already Dead

    Dr. Heller

2006Aged 77

  • Poster for Inside Man

    Arthur Case

  • Poster for Eugene O’Neill: A Documentary Film

    Self

  • Poster for The Lake House

    Simon Wyler

  • Poster for Nuremberg: The Nazis Facing their Crimes

    Self - Narrator

2005Aged 76

  • Poster for Our Fathers

    Cardinal Bernard Law

  • Poster for Must Love Dogs

    Bill

  • Poster for Four Minutes

    Archie Mason

  • Poster for Syriana

    Dean Whiting

  • Poster for The New World

    Captain Newport

2004Aged 75

  • Poster for National Treasure

    John Adams Gates

  • Poster for Alexander

    Aristotle

2003Aged 74

2002Aged 73

  • Poster for Night Flight

    'Flash' Harry Peters

  • Poster for Ararat

    David

  • Poster for Agent of Influence

    John Watkins

  • Poster for Christopher Plummer: A Man For All Stages

    Self

  • Poster for Nicholas Nickleby

    Ralph Nickleby

2001Aged 72

  • Poster for On Golden Pond

    Norman Thayer

  • Poster for Full Disclosure

    Robert Lecker

  • Poster for Lucky Break

    Graham Mortimer

  • Poster for A Beautiful Mind

    Dr. Rosen

2000Aged 71

  • Poster for The Dinosaur Hunter

    Hump Hinton

  • Poster for Possessed

    Archbishop Hume

  • Poster for Back To

    Self

  • Poster for American Tragedy

    F. Lee Bailey

  • Poster for Dracula 2000

    Matthew Van Helsing

1999Aged 70

  • Poster for Madeline: Lost in Paris

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for The Insider

    Mike Wallace

  • Poster for Hidden Agenda

    Ulrich Steiner

1998Aged 69

  • Poster for Blackheart

    Holmes

  • Poster for The Clown at Midnight

    Mr. Caruthers

  • Poster for The First Christmas

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Winchell

    Franklin D. Roosevelt

1997Aged 68

  • Poster for The Arrow

    George Hees

  • Poster for Skeletons

    Reverend Carlyle

  • Poster for Babes in Toyland

    Barnaby Crookedman (voice)

1996Aged 67

  • Poster for The Conspiracy of Fear

    Wakeman

  • Poster for The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of 'Twelve Monkeys'

    Self

1995Aged 66

  • Poster for Dolores Claiborne

    John Mackey

  • Poster for Harrison Bergeron

    John Klaxon

  • Poster for Twelve Monkeys

    Dr. Goines

1994Aged 65

  • Poster for Michael Caine: Breaking the Mold

    Self (archive footage)

  • Poster for Wolf

    Raymond Alden

  • Poster for Crackerjack

    Ivan Getz

1993Aged 64

  • Poster for Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic

    Narrator

  • Poster for A Stranger in the Mirror

    Clifton Lawrence

1992Aged 63

  • Poster for Liar's Edge

    Harry Weldon

  • Poster for Secrets

    Mel Wexler

  • Poster for Impolite

    Naples O'Rorke

  • Poster for Malcolm X

    Chaplain Gill

1991Aged 62

  • Poster for Firehead

    Col. Garland Vaughn

  • Poster for Madeline and the Bad Hat

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Money

    Martin Yahl

  • Poster for Rock-A-Doodle

    Grand Duke (voice)

  • Poster for Madeline and the Gypsies

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Madeline in London

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

    General Chang

1990Aged 61

  • Poster for Where the Heart Is

    Shitty

  • Poster for A Ghost in Monte Carlo

    The Grand Duke Ivan

  • Poster for Red Blooded American Girl

    Dr. John Alcore

  • Poster for The Little Crooked Christmas Tree

    Narrator

1989Aged 60

  • Poster for The First Emperor of China

    Narrator

  • Poster for Souvenir

    Ernst Kestner

  • Poster for Nabokov on Kafka

    Vladimir Nabokov

  • Poster for Mindfield

    Doctor Satorius

1988Aged 59

  • Poster for Nosferatu in Venice

    Professor Paris Catalano

  • Poster for The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Madeline

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Shadow Dancing

    Edmund Beaumont

1987Aged 58

  • Poster for The Nightingale

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for I Love N.Y.

    John Robertson Yeats

  • Poster for Dragnet

    Reverend Jonathan Whirley

  • Poster for A Hazard of Hearts

    Sir Giles Staverley

1986Aged 57

  • Poster for The Tin Soldier

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for The Boss' Wife

    Mr. Roalvang

  • Poster for The Boy in Blue

    Knox

  • Poster for Spearfield's Daughter

    Lord Jack Cruze

  • Poster for An American Tail

    Henri (voice)

1985Aged 56

  • Poster for The Velveteen Rabbit

    Narrator (voice)

  • Poster for Rumpelstiltskin

    Narrator

1984Aged 55

  • Poster for Ordeal by Innocence

    Leo Argyle

  • Poster for Dreamscape

    Bob Blair

  • Poster for Lily in Love

    Fitzroy Wynn / Roberto Terranova

1983Aged 54

  • Poster for The Scarlet and the Black

    Col. Herbert Kappler

  • Poster for Prototype

    Dr. Carl Forrester

1982Aged 53

  • Poster for Night of 100 Stars

    Self

  • Poster for Highpoint

    James Hatcher

1981Aged 52

  • Poster for When the Circus Came to Town

    Duke Royal

  • Poster for Eyewitness

    Joseph

  • Poster for Dial M for Murder

    Tony Wendice

  • Poster for Being Different

    Self (Narrator) (voice)

  • Poster for The Amateur

    Professor Lakos

1980Aged 51

  • Poster for The Shadow Box

    Brian

  • Poster for Somewhere in Time

    William Fawcett Robinson

  • Poster for Desperate Voyage

    Jacques Burrifous

1979Aged 50

  • Poster for Murder by Decree

    Sherlock Holmes

  • Poster for Hanover Street

    Paul Sellinger

1978Aged 49

  • Poster for International Velvet

    John Seaton

  • Poster for The Silent Partner

    Reikle

  • Poster for Starcrash

    The Emperor

1977Aged 48

  • Poster for Silver Blaze

    Sherlock Holmes

  • Poster for The Assignment

    Kaptain Behounek

  • Poster for The Disappearance

    Deverell

1976Aged 47

  • Poster for Aces High

    Capt. 'Uncle' Sinclair

1975Aged 46

  • Poster for The Spiral Staircase

    Dr. Sherman

  • Poster for The Return of the Pink Panther

    Sir Charles Litton

  • Poster for Conduct Unbecoming

    Maggiore Alastair Wimbourne

  • Poster for The Day That Shook the World

    Archduke Ferdinand

  • Poster for The Man Who Would Be King

    Rudyard Kipling

1974Aged 45

  • Poster for After the Fall

    Quentin

  • Poster for The Happy Prince

    The Happy Prince (voice)

1973Aged 44

  • Poster for The Pyx

    Dt. Sgt. Jim Henderson

1970Aged 41

  • Poster for Waterloo

    Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

1969Aged 40

  • Poster for Lock Up Your Daughters

    Lord Foppington

  • Poster for Battle of Britain

    Squadron Leader Colin Harvey

  • Poster for The Royal Hunt of the Sun

    Atahualpa

1968Aged 39

1967Aged 38

  • Poster for The Night of the Generals

    Field Marshal Rommel

1966Aged 37

  • Poster for Triple Cross

    Freddie Chapman

1965Aged 36

1964Aged 35

  • Poster for The Fall of the Roman Empire

    Commodus

  • Poster for Hamlet at Elsinore

    Hamlet

1963Aged 34

1960Aged 31

1959Aged 30

  • Poster for A Doll's House

    Torvald

1958Aged 29