Plummer also lent his voice to a number of animated films, including Up (2009), My Dog Tulip (2009), Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom (2016), and The Star (2017). Plummer later took on the roles of famous figures Kaiser Wilhelm II in The Exception (2016) and the fictional Ebenezer Scrooge in The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017). In Beginners (2010) Plummer portrayed a cancer-stricken widower who reveals to his son that he is gay; the performance earned him both an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actor in 2012. Plummer’s subsequent films included the romantic comedy Must Love Dogs (2005); Syriana (2005), a drama about the oil industry that also featured George Clooney and Matt Damon; and Spike Lee’s Inside Man (2006), which centred on a well-planned bank robbery. In 1993 he won a second Emmy for his voice-over performance in the children’s television series Madeline (1993–95). In the 1980s he had starring roles in Eyewitness (1981), Lily in Love (1984), and Shadow Dancing (1988). He followed that role with performances as a squadron leader in the World War II film Battle of Britain (1969); as the author Rudyard Kipling in The Man Who Would Be King (1975); and as a bank vice president in the television miniseries Arthur Hailey’s the Moneychangers (1976), for which he won an Emmy Award.
Whittaker was also amateur stage director of the Montreal Repertory theatre, and he cast Plummer at age 18 as Oedipus in Jean Cocteau's La Machine infernale. He learned the basics of acting as an apprentice with the Montreal Repertory Theatre, where fellow Montrealer William Shatner also played. He took up acting after watching Laurence Olivier's film Henry V (1944). As a schoolboy, he began studying to be a concert pianist, but developed a love for theatre at an early age, and began acting while he was attending the High School of Montreal. Plummer received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing an elderly gay man in the comedy-drama Beginners (2011); he was nominated for the same award for his portrayals of Leo Tolstoy in the drama The Last Station (2009) and J. He received two Tony Awards, one for Best Actor in a Musical playing Cyrano de Bergerac in Cyrano (1974) and the other for Best Actor in a Play portraying John Barrymore in Barrymore (1997). His accolades included an Academy Award, two Tony Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making him the only Canadian recipient of the "Triple Crown of Acting". His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television.
Plummer’s first motion picture was Stage Struck (1956), but he is probably best known for playing Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965) opposite Julie Andrews. His performances in King Lear (2004) and Inherit the Wind (2007) were also favourably received. Plummer won Tony Awards for his roles in Cyrano (1974) and in Barrymore lmct slots (1997). Christopher Plummer (born December 13, 1929, Toronto, Ontario, Canada—died February 5, 2021, Weston, Connecticut, U.S.) was a Canadian actor known for his interpretations of classical roles on the stage as well as his starring and supporting roles in motion pictures. Eric Kohn of IndieWire wrote of his performance, "Plummer is a world-class performer who endows Getty with a smarmy obstinance that aligns with the movie’s blunt storytelling".
1997: Return To Theatre
He declined to attend the 40th Anniversary cast reunion, but he did provide commentary on the 2005 DVD release. He found all aspects of making the film unpleasant, except working with Andrews, and he avoided using its name, instead calling it "that movie", "S&M" and "The Sound of Mucus". Plummer remains widely known for his portrayal of Captain Von Trapp due to the box-office success and continued popularity of the Robert Wise-directed musical epic The Sound of Music (1965). Plummer returned to film playing the Roman emperor Commodus in Anthony Mann's epic The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964). In 1963, he was the subject of a short National Film Board of Canada documentary, 30 Minutes, Mister Plummer, directed by Anne Claire Poirier. Plummer's film career began in 1958 when Sidney Lumet cast him as a young writer in Stage Struck. Plummer appeared in the title role in a 1963 production of Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, which did not succeed, but he had a great success in Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun, playing conquistador Francisco Pizarro to David Carradine's Atahuallpa. In 1962, Plummer played the title roles in both Cyrano de Bergerac and Macbeth, returning in 1967 to play Mark Antony in Antony and Cleopatra.
Movies
His early stage work also included Medea (1955), Julius Caesar (1955), The Tempest (1955), and extensive performances at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival beginning in 1956, including Henry V (1956), Hamlet (1957), Twelfth Night (1957), Much Ado About Nothing (1958), and J.B. His movie credits from 2018 included Boundaries, in which he played an aging pot dealer on a road trip with his daughter and grandson. In the 1990s and at the beginning of the 21st century, Plummer continued to take a wide variety of movie and television roles. His nonclassical roles included those in such plays as The Dark Is Light Enough (1955), The Lark (1955), Arturo Ui (1963), The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1965), and The Good Doctor (1973). He appeared as Herod Antipas in the television miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977) alongside the ensemble cast which included Laurence Olivier, James Earl Jones and James Mason. Both performances were "stunning" by critic Caldwell Titcomb, as Plummer did wonders "of extraordinary beauty and deep pain" in playing his complex character. He made his London debut on June 11, 1961, playing King Henry II in Jean Anouilh's Becket with the RSC at the Aldwych Theatre, directed by Peter Hall. Plummer began his acting career in Ottawa and followed this with stage roles in Canada, the U.S. and Bermuda.
Paul Getty in All the Money in the World, was cast to replace Kevin Spacey in the then-already completed film. In 2015, he starred in the Atom Egoyan-directed thriller Remember, alongside Martin Landau and Bruno Ganz. The film, written and directed by William Shatner, sees Shatner interview Plummer at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theatre where they talk about their young careers, long lasting friendship, and Plummer's role as Chang in Star Trek VI. Both plays were directed for the stage by Des McAnuff and produced by Barry Avrich. He was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his 2004 King Lear and for a Tony Award playing Henry Drummond in the 2007 revival of Inherit the Wind. In 2002, he appeared in a lauded production of King Lear, directed by Jonathan Miller. Lee Bailey (for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination), and appeared in TV movie Four Minutes, Miracle Planet, and a documentary by Ric Burns about Eugene O'Neill.
He received Outstanding Actor – Play (Drama Desk Awards) for his performances in King Lear and Barrymore, as well as the Best Actor – Play (Outer Critics Circle Awards) for Barrymore. The singer, songwriter, producer, and television icon Kandi Burruss just joined the Broadway cast of & Juliet. Meet the Cast of GIANT, Now Playing on Broadway by Stephi Wild – Mar 11, 2026 Performances are now underway for the Broadway run of the Olivier Award-winning hit play Giant, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Nicholas Hytner and written by Mark Rosenblatt. Cristi – May 18, 2026 Opera North announced the cast for THE SOUND OF MUSIC, with Katie Bird as Maria and Edward Bennett as Captain von Trapp, backed by the 40-piece Orchestra of Opera North at Leeds Grand Theatre. Christopher Plummer made his professional acting debut with Ottawa’s Stage Society in The Rivals (1948). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for these two roles. On stage, Plummer's most notable roles were that of Cyrano de Bergerac in Cyrano (1974) and as John Barrymore in Barrymore.
