Christopher Plummer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Christopher Plummer
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Plummer in 1964
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Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer
December 13, 1929 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Died | February 5, 2021 (aged 91) Weston, Connecticut, U.S.
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| Education | High School of Montreal |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1946–2021 |
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Works
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Filmography |
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| Children | Amanda Plummer |
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| Awards | Full list |
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a famous Canadian actor. He acted for over 70 years in movies, plays, and TV shows. He won many awards, including an Academy Award (Oscar), two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. This made him the only Canadian to win the "Triple Crown of Acting". This special title means he won awards for movies (Oscar), plays (Tony), and TV (Emmy). He also won a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He was even nominated for a Grammy Award.
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Early Life and Education
Christopher Plummer was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 13, 1929. His father, John Orme Plummer, sold stocks. His mother, Isabella Mary Abbott, worked at McGill University. She was also the granddaughter of a former Canadian Prime Minister, Sir John Abbott. Christopher Plummer was also a distant cousin of the British actor Nigel Bruce, who played Doctor Watson in the Sherlock Holmes movies.
Christopher's parents separated when he was very young. He grew up mostly with his mother in Senneville, Quebec, near Montreal. He could speak both English and French very well. When he was a boy, he first wanted to be a concert pianist. But he soon fell in love with acting. He started acting while attending the High School of Montreal. He decided to become an actor after watching the movie Henry V (1944). He learned acting basics at the Montreal Repertory Theatre. Another famous actor, William Shatner, also acted there.
Christopher Plummer never went to university, which he later said he wished he had done. Even though his family had connections to McGill University, he was not a student there.
In 1946, when he was 16, a theatre critic named Herbert Whittaker noticed him. This was after Christopher played Mr. Darcy in a high school play of Pride and Prejudice. Whittaker was also a director at the Montreal Repertory theatre. He cast Christopher, at age 18, as Oedipus in a play called La Machine infernale.
Acting Career
Christopher Plummer first acted on Broadway (a famous theatre district in New York City) in 1954. He won two Tony Awards for his stage work. One was for playing Cyrano de Bergerac in the musical Cyrano (1974). The other was for playing John Barrymore in the play Barrymore (1997). He was also nominated for Tony Awards for other plays like Othello (1982) and King Lear (2004).
After acting on stage, Christopher Plummer started making movies. His first film was Stage Struck (1958). He got his first main role that same year in Wind Across the Everglades. He is most famous for playing Captain Von Trapp in the very popular movie The Sound of Music (1965). In this movie, he acted with Julie Andrews. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It became one of the highest-earning movies ever. Plummer also starred in other big films like The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975).
One of his highly praised roles was playing TV journalist Mike Wallace in the movie The Insider (1999). He won several awards from critics for this role. He also played Dr. Rosen in the movie A Beautiful Mind (2001) and the philosopher Aristotle in Alexander (2004). In 2004, he was in the Disney adventure movie National Treasure. He also lent his voice to animated films. He played the villain Charles Muntz in Pixar's Up (2009). That same year, he voiced the elder leader 1 in the movie 9.
In 2011, Christopher Plummer was in the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This movie was very successful.
Plummer won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Beginners (2011). He was 82 years old, making him the oldest actor to win an Oscar at that time. When he accepted his award, he made a joke, saying to the Oscar statue, "You're only two years older than me, darling. Where have you been all my life?". He was also nominated for Oscars for his roles in The Last Station (2009) and All the Money in the World (2017).
Some of his other well-known movies include Somewhere in Time (1980), Malcolm X (1992), and Knives Out (2019).
Other Works
Christopher Plummer also wrote for the stage, television, and concert halls. He worked with Sir Neville Marriner to create a concert piece from William Shakespeare's Henry V with music. He performed this and other works with famous orchestras like the New York Philharmonic. He also performed his own musical arrangements at Carnegie Hall.
Personal Life
Christopher Plummer was married three times. His first wife was actress Tammy Grimes. They married in 1956 and had a daughter, the actress Amanda Plummer. Their marriage lasted four years. He then married Patricia Lewis, a journalist, in 1962. They divorced in 1967. Three years later, in 1970, Plummer married actress Elaine Taylor. They lived in Weston, Connecticut. He did not have any more children with his second or third wives.
Plummer wrote a book about his life called In Spite of Myself. It was published in 2008. He was also a supporter of Theatre Museum Canada.
Death and Legacy
Christopher Plummer passed away at his home in Weston, Connecticut, on February 5, 2021. He was 91 years old. His wife said he died about two and a half weeks after falling and hitting his head.
To honor him, a postage stamp featuring Christopher Plummer was released on October 13, 2021.
Awards and Honours
Christopher Plummer is one of the few actors to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting". This means he won an Academy Award (for movies), two Primetime Emmy Awards (for TV), and two Tony Awards (for theatre). He is the only Canadian actor to have done this. He also won a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, an Independent Spirit Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
In 2012, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the movie Beginners (2011). At 82 years old, he became the oldest person to win an acting Oscar. He held this record until 2021. He was also nominated for an Oscar at age 88 for All the Money in the World, making him the oldest person ever nominated in any acting category at the Academy Awards.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (which gives out the Oscars) recognized him for these roles:
- 82nd Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for The Last Station (2009)
- 84th Academy Awards: Won Best Supporting Actor for Beginners (2011)
- 90th Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for All the Money in the World (2017)
In 2016, Christopher Plummer received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Canadian Screen Awards. He received many other honors from Canada throughout his career. In 1968, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. This is one of Canada's highest civilian honors. In 2001, he received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award. This is Canada's top honor for performing artists. He also received honorary degrees from several universities, including the Juilliard School in New York and McGill University in Canada. He was added to the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1986 and Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998.
Images for kids
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Plummer with President Ronald Reagan at the White House, 1985
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Plummer in 2007
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Plummer at the premiere for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, 2009
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Plummer in 1987
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Plummer at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2009
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See also
In Spanish: Christopher Plummer para niños
- List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees
- List of people from Toronto
- Triple Crown of Acting
- List of EGOT nominees
