Arguably the greatest survivor of the two-fisted drinkers school of acting that included the likes of Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole and Albert Finney, the classically-trained, Canadian-born Christopher Plummer established himself on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the finest stage performers of his generation, particularly in the roles of Shakespeare. He has headlined for three of the world's most noted theater companies, Great Britain's National Theater, The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Stratford Festival of his native Canada. Plummer also has worked in a host of movies to supplement his theatrical earnings, most memorably as Baron Georg Von Trapp in the smash hit "The Sound of Music" (1965), starring Julie Andrews.
Plummer began his career in Canadian theater, radio and television in the late 1940s and made his Broadway debut in 1954 as George Phillips in "The Starcross Story,” starring Katherine Cornell. At Stratford, Ontario, he became established playing the title roles in "Henry V" (1956) and "Hamlet" (1957), yet demonstrated equal facility with comic parts like Sir Andrew Aguecheek ("Twelfth Night" 1957), Benedick ("Much Ado About Nothing" 1958) and Mercutio ("Romeo and Juliet" 1960). His London debut as King Henry II in "Becket" (1961) earned him the London Evening Standard Award as Best Actor, and his performance in the title role of "Cyrano" on Broadway earned him a 1974 Tony Award (Leading Actor in a Musical).
Plummer made his film debut in Sidney Lumet's "Stage Struck" (1958) and, with the exception of his role in "The Sound of Music", is probably best known for portraying Rudyard Kipling in John Huston's "The Man Who Would Be King" (1975). He played leading roles in many films (i.e., "Oedipus the King" 1968; "Murder by Decree" 1979, as Sherlock Holmes) but never quite became a film star. Though his credits from the 70s through the 90s included many obscure efforts, he occasionally appeared in enjoyably hammy roles in mainstream fare ranging from "Dragnet" (1987) to "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991) to Terry Gilliam's "12 Monkeys" (1995). Largely shunned by the critics, "International Velvet" (1978) offered a superb performance by Plummer as did the gripping "Dolores Claiborne" (1994), and he also provided narration for movies and character voices for animated films.
Plummer's television debut came in a CBC production of "Othello,” and he worked extensively during the 50s' "Golden Age" of live television (e.g., NBC's "Kraft Television Theatre" and "Producers' Showcase", among others). He also appeared numerous times on "Hallmark Hall of Fame", "DuPont Show of the Month" (both NBC) and CBS' "Omnibus". Plummer earned an Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for "Arthur Hailey's 'The Moneychangers'" (NBC, 1976) and picked up another (Outstanding Voice-Over Performance) for his work on the Family Channel's "Madeline" children's series. For three seasons (1990-93), he portrayed Alexander Addington in "Counterstrike" for both the CTV and USA Network, and he acted frequently during the 90s in cable movies like Showtime's "Kurt Vonnegut's 'Harrison Bergeron'" (1995), USA Network's "We the Jury" (1996) and HBO's "Skeletons" (1997).
In 1999, Plummer gave a dead-on performance as journalist Mike Wallace in the controversial tobacco feature "The Insider," which starred Russell Crowe. He then reunited with Crowe for the Oscar winning drama "A Beautiful Mind" (2001). In 2002, Plummer was cast as David in the historical drama feature "Ararat," and was Uncle Ralph to the title character in "Nicholas Nickleby," and in 2003 he starred opposite Sharon Stone and Dennis Quaid in the supernatural thriller "Cold Creek Manor." In 2004 he remained an in-demand supporting player, appearing as Aristotle in Oliver Stone's disappointing historical epic "Alexander" and as Nicolas Cage's grandfather, one of a long line of American treasure hunters, in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced blockbuster "National Treasure."
The year 2005 was a busy year for the actor, he followed an Emmy nominated performance at a Catholic cardinal in the HBO telepic "Our Fathers," about sexual misconduct within the priesthood, with a turn as Diane Lane's father in the romantic comedy "Must Love Dogs", then he played an influential, seemingly untouchable oil magnate in the complex political potboiler "Syriana.” He next appeared in Terrance Malick’s “The New World” (2005), a lyrical, but ultimately meandering take on the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 and the ensuing love affair between Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell) and a young Native American girl, Pocahontas (Q’Orianka Kilcher). Plummer was then in “The Lake House” (lensed 2005), a romantic drama about a woman doctor (Sandra Bullock) and an architecture school dropout (Keanu Reeves) who live in the same house two years apart and fall in love via letters exchanged through a mysterious mailbox that bridges time.
Despite a strong presence onscreen, Plummer's reputation rests on his outstanding stage work. Walter Kerr called his Iago opposite James Earl Jones's "Othello" (1982) "quite possibly the best Shakespearean performance to have originated on this continent in our time." He starred opposite Jason Robards Jr. in a Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land" (1994) and then hauled in his second Tony (Leading Actor in a Play) for "Barrymore" (1997). As legendary actor and sot John Barrymore, Plummer overcame the weaknesses of William Luce's script in a tour de force of character that kept audiences riveted. Another Tony nomination came in for his awe-inspiring "King Lear" at the Lincoln Centre in 2004. He and Tony-winning Tammy Grimes are the parents of accomplished actor Amanda Plummer, herself a Tony-winner for "Agnes of God.”
Back in the feature world, Plummer costarred in Spike Lee’s impressive genre piece, “Inside Man” (2006), playing the founder of a bank who calls in a well-connected fixer (Jodie Foster) for the rich and powerful to keep quiet a secret buried inside a safe deposit box while his employees are held hostage by a master thief (Clive Owen) who’s constantly one step ahead of a smooth-talking hostage negotiator (Denzel Washington) in an effort to pull off the perfect heist. After a supporting role in the low-budget teen comedy, “Man in the Chair” (lensed 2005), Plummer went to Belfast, Ireland to begin shooting “Closing the Ring” (lensed 2006), a romantic drama about a young man who delivers a ring to an older woman meant to receive it fifty years ago from her love—a rear gunner on a B-17 bomber in World War II whose dying wish was that she be given the ring. He was next seen in “The Lake House” (2006), a sappy romantic drama remade from the South Korean film “Il Mare” (2000) about two would-be lovers (Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock) who trade letters while living in the same lake house—only one exists two years into the future. Plummer essayed a fine performance as a famous and aloof architect—and father to a frustrated son (Reeves) following in his footsteps—who designed the mysterious, but idyllic lake house.