Oscar Profile #287: Christopher Plummer

Born December 13, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, (Arthur) Christopher (Orne) Plummer was the son of a secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University and a stockbroker. His great-grandfather on his mother’s side was Sir John Abbott, the third Prime Minister of Canada in the 1890s. Actor Nigel Bruce was his second cousin.

Plummer first drew attention for his acting prowess when he played Mr. Darcy in a 1946 high school production of Pride and Prejudice. On the Canadian stage from the age of 18, he made his Canadian TV debut in 1953 and his Broadway debut in 1954. Married to actress Tammy Grimes in 1956, he made his film debut in 1957 in Stage Struck playing Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.’s role in the remake of Morning Glory with Susan Strasberg and Henry Fonda in the Katharine Hepburn and Adolphe Menjou roles. Plummer and Grimes would divorce in 1960. Their daughter, Amanda Plummer, is an award-winning actress in her own right. He would later be married to actress Patricia Lewis from 1962 to 1967 and actress Elaine Taylor from 1970 to the present.

Despite his auspicious start in films, Plummer relied on starring roles on Broadway and TV to keep in the spotlight until 1964’s The Fall of the Roman Empire once again gave him an outstanding role. Nominated seven times for Broadway’s Tony Award, he won three times for the musical Cyrano in 1974, an acclaimed production of Othello in 1982 and his one-man show as John Barrymore in Barrymore in 1997.

Plummer would attain screen immortality with 1965’s The Sound of Music opposite Julie Andrews. He would give memorable performances through the 1960s and 70s in such films as Inside Daisy Clover, The Night of the Generals, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, The Man Who Would Be King and Murder by Decree (as Sherlock Holmes). Plummer’s TV work garnered him seven Emmy nominations from 1959 to 2011, winning him the award for The Moneychangers in 1977 and Madeline in 1994.

On screen in mostly minor roles through the 1980s and 90s, he ended the century winning several critics’ awards for his portrayal of CBS’ Mike Wallace in 1999’s The Insider at the age of 70. In 2001 he reunited with Julie Andrews in a TV remake of On Golden Pond in the roles that won Oscars for Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn twenty years earlier. Nearly a decade later he would receive his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Leo Tolstoy in 2009’s The Last Station at the age of 80. Two years later he became the oldest acting winner at the age of 82 for his performance in Beginners.

Plummer remains a busy actor at the age of 86. His recent films include The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Danny Collins and Remember. He has four more in the works including The Kaiser’s Last Kiss as the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm in 1940.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), directed by Robert Wise

For years Plummer referred to the film that gave him his greatest screen success as “the sound mucus” but in later years gave in to the universal love for the film, smiling now whenever the subject comes up. The actor had just the right balance of dignity and charm required for the role of the paterfamilias of the singing Von Trapp family as well as the perfect balance for Julie Andrews’ sweetly done would-be nun who becomes the stepmother of his seven children. The film would have been something less without him.

THE INSIDER (1999), directed by Michael Mann

Plummer was always a commanding presence in whatever medium he was appearing in, but for most of his career his greatest roles were either on Broadway, notably in his 1973 Tony award winning portrayal of a singing Cyrano de Bergerac in Cyrano or on TV, most notably in a standout supporting performance in 1983’s The Thorn Birds. It took him until he was 70 to find a big screen role of equal importance, but when he did his towering portrayal of 60 Minutes’ Mike Wallace won him numerous awards recognition.

THE LAST STATION (2009), directed by Michael Hoffman

In his 70s Plummer made a ferocious Boston Cardinal Law in the 2005 TV mini-series, Our Fathers from David France’s best-selling The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in the Age of Scandal. He finally had a big screen role of equal ferocity as Russian author Leo Tolstoy in his dotage a century earlier in this film from Jay Parini’s novel. In one of those odd Oscar juxtapositions, Plummer, who was the clear star, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor while Helen Mirren who played his wife was nominated for Best Actress.

BEGINNERS (2011), directed by Mike Mills

Plummer seemed to be having the time of his life as Ewan McGregor’s dying father who comes out not only as gay, but as having a handsome young lover in Goran Visnjic. Although Mill’s uneven film is not the best thing the then 82-year-old actor ever appeared in, his performance is one of his best, making him the odds-on favorite to finally win an Oscar, which he did. His competition included his long-time friend and occasional co-star, 81-year-old Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

REMEMBER (2015), directed by Atom Egoyan

Now in his mid-80s, Plummer is once again quite believable as the 90-year-old resident of a senior care facility given a mission by fellow resident Martin Landau to sneak out of the New York facility, take a train to Cleveland, buy a gun and use it to kill the Nazi who was responsible for the deaths of both his family members and Landau’s, a trip that will also take him to Utah, Canada and finally Reno. He does all this, mind you, while battling dementia. The plot may be far-fetched but Plummer keeps it real as always.