Keywords Actors, Film & TV Born in 1929

In 1961 he appeared at Stratford-upon-Avon, UK, as Richard III while alternating in London as Henry II in Becket (winning the Evening Standard Award). He continued his British career at the National Theatre in revivals of Amphitryon 38 and Danton's Death in 1971 and The Scarlet Pimpernel at Chichester in 1985. His first King Lear was directed by Sir Peter Hall in 2001.

Between 1956 and 1967 he starred at Canada's STRATFORD FESTIVAL playing Henry V, Hamlet, Andrew Aguecheek, Mercutio, Leontes, Macbeth, Cyrano de Bergerac and Marc Antony, as well as other roles. He returned 26 years later on 13 July 1993 to help the festival celebrate its exact 40th anniversary day with a gala one-man show entitled A Word or Two, Before You Go. Barrymore made its 1996 Canadian debut at Stratford and his King Lear was seen in 2002.

Among his more than 100 feature films are Stage Struck (1958), The Sound of Music (1965), Inside Daisy Clover (1966), Oedipus the King (1967), Lock Up Your Daughters! (1968), Waterloo (1970), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), The Silent Partner (1978), Murder by Decree (GENIE Award, 1979), Dreamscape (1984), The Boy in Blue (1986), Stage Fright (1988), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Wolf (1994), Dolores Claiborne (1995), Monkeys (1996), Clown at Midnight, Hidden Agenda and Blackheart (all 1998), and the part of TV personality Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999), for which he won the Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas and National Critics awards. He appeared in Ron Howard's award-winning A Beautiful Mind (2001), Atom EGOYAN's ARARAT (2002), and Oliver Stone's Alexander (2004), in which he played Aristotle. Other film appearances include Must Love Dogs with Diane Lane, Syriana with George Clooney, and New World, all in 2005; Inside Man and The Lake House in 2006; and Man in the Chair, Closing the Ring, and Already Dead in 2007.

His work on television is equally extensive. Highlights include Little Moon of Alban (1958) and Hamlet at Elsinore (BBC 1965), both nominated for Emmy Awards, The Money Changers (Emmy Award 1977), Sir John A. Macdonald in Riel (CBC 1979), Spearfield's Daughter (1986), The Young Catherine (Primedia 1991), the made-in-Canada series Counterstrike (1991-93) and Nuremberg (2000), filmed in Montréal. In 2005 he was seen in Four Minutes, the story of Roger Banister's breaking of the mile-run record, and as Cardinal Law in Our Fathers, an indictment of the Catholic church's sexual scandals.

Plummer is also a skilled narrator, heard on everything from cartoons to the soundtrack for the 1994 Barnes Art Exhibit in Toronto. He has recorded several books for young people, such as Alice in Wonderland and Mordecai RICHLER's Jacob Two-Two. An accomplished pianist, he has branched out musically to narrate concert versions of Henry V (with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1992-93), Peer Gynt (1995) and Prokofiev's Ivan the Terrible (1996). Other platform presentations have included a solo evening with Stephen Leacock and Love and Master Will, Shakespeare's verse in tandem with actress Zoe CALDWELL.

Christopher Plummer, who became a Companion of the ORDER OF CANADA in 1968, has received many honours and awards for his work. In 1986 he was inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame and in 1997 into Canada's Walk of Fame. The National Arts Club of America awarded Plummer its gold medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts (1999). In 2001 he was made an honorary doctor of fine arts at New York's Juilliard School and received the Canadian Governor-General's Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2002 he was the first performer to be presented with the Jason Robards Award for Excellence in the Theatre. The New York Times has hailed Christopher Plummer as "the finest classical actor in America."

His daughter, Amanda Plummer (b 23 March 1957), has also had a successful acting career with roles in the films The Fisher King (1991) and Pulp Fiction (1994), and in The Lark (2005) at Canada's Stratford Festival.

Plummer, Christopher
Raised and educated in Montréal, Plummer apprenticed with the Montréal Repertory Theatre and made his professional debut in 1948 with Ottawa's Stage Society, performing over 100 roles with its successor, the Canadian Repertory Theatre.

Author DAVID GARDNER

Suggested Reading
Christopher Plummer, In Spite of Myself (2008).

Links to Other Sites
Stratford's Caesar and Cleopatra coming to big screen
A CBC article about the showing of Stratford's production of Caesar and Cleopatra in movie theatres.

Screen Legends: Musical
Click on their images on the right side of the page to see a video vignette devoted to each of these legends of the musical theatre. Part of the Screen Legends series from Historica.

A Man for All Stages: The Life and Times of Christopher Plummer
A CBC feature devoted to acclaimed Canadian actor Christopher Plummer.

Christopher Plummer
A profile of actor Christopher Plummer from the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia.

Companions of the Order of Canada: Christopher Plummer
A photograph of Christopher Plummer. From the "Harry Palmer Gallery" website.

Christopher Plummer a modern emperor as Caesar
Christopher Plummer discusses his acting career in this article from The Star newspaper.

Christopher Plummer: scenes from a life
An excerpt from "In Spite of Myself: A Memoir," by Christopher Plummer. From the Globe and Mail website.

Christopher Plummer time capsule
A Maclean's blog item about the stage-to-film transcription of Shaw’s comedy "Caesar and Cleopatra," staring Christopher Plummer and Nikki M. James (recorded at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 2008.)

Caesar and Cleopatra: Play even better on big screen
A Toronto Star review of the stage-to-screen adaptation of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival production of Caesar and Cleopatra. Starring Christopher Plummer, Nikki M. James, Peter Donaldson and Diane D'Aquila. Directed for the stage by Des McAnuff. Directed for television by Shelagh O'Brien.

Stratford festival secures Christopher Plummer for 2010
A news article about Stratford Shakespeare Festival productions featuring accomplished actors Christopher Plummer and Brent Carver. From thestar.com.

Plum roles for Plummer as decade begins
An article that highlights to top shows, including new productions featuring stage and screen star Christopher Plummer and other performers. From thestar.com.