Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer was born on Dec. 13, 1929 in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada to John and Isabella Mary Plummer. Christopher attended Jennings Private School in his youth, and was brought up primarily by his mother in
Montreal. (His parents dirvorced when he was one year old.) He was born into a fairly well-known family; some of his relatives include playwright
Guy Du Maurier, acotr
Nigel Bruce, and his great-grandfather was John Abbott who served as primir minister of
Canada. Christopher was introduced to the arts very early, with his mother taking him to plays, ballets, operas and such. He began studying at an early age to become a
concert pianist, but fell in love with acting after working as a lighting designer for a high school production of “
A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
By his late teens, Christopher was working in productions with the Canadian Reporatoy Company in Ottawa. He could act using both French and English, and while there ended up performing over 75 roles. He came to the United States in 1953 to star in a Broadway production of “The Star Cross Story,” and stayed in the states to continue his acting. When he was still in his early 20s, a critic for The New York Times called Christopher “a Shakespearean actor of the first rank,” after he performed in a variety of the playwright’s works, including “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Hamlet,” “The Winter’s Tale,” “Othello” and “Henry V.”
Christopher married Tammy Lee Grimes in 1956 and they had one child (actress Amanda Plummer), then they divorced in 1960. He soon married Patricia Lewis, which also ended in divorce within a few years, and then married Elaine Regina Taylor in 1970, who is currently still his wife.
His first movie was “Stage Struck” in 1957, and soon after that came his psychotically great performance as Commodus in “Fall of the Roman Empire” in 1964. (Hear his crazy laughing scene in that film coming from the television in the living room at 2 a.m.- eek!) One year after that, his most well-known film role came as Baron Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music.” Other roles on screen after this include Sherlock Holmes, General Chang in “Star Trek 6,” and Dr. Goines in the eerily captivating film “12 Monkeys.”
Christopher Plummer has garnered a treasure trove of awards over the years, some of these being two Tony nominations and two Tony Awards, two Emmy nominations and one Emmy, England’s Evening Standard, Canada’s Gremie Award, and an Outer Critics’ Circle Award. These days he resides in Weston, Connecticut with his wife.
This man has had a wonderfully prolific acting career, and his beautiful voice has been used numerous times for pieces with narration. Film credits include:
"On Golden Pond"
"Dracula 2000"
"Possessed"
"The Insider"
"Winchell"
"Dolores Claiborne"
"Wolf"
"Malcom X"
"A Ghost in Monte Carlo"
"Red-Blooded American Girl"
"Where the Heart Is"
"Mindfield"
"Shadow Dancing"
"Dragnet"
"The Thorn Birds"
"Somewhere in Time"
"Hanover Street"
"International Velvet"
"Jesus of Nazareth"
"Lock Up Your Daughters"
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