Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer CC was a Canadian actor and voice actor, who voiced Charles F. Muntz in the 2009 Disney/Pixar film Up, narrated the Madeline franchise, and played John Adams Gates in National Treasure, Theodore Massie in the Touchstone Pictures film Cold Creek Manor, and Abraham Van Helsing in the Miramax film Dracula 2000.
Plummer's acting career spanned seven decades, in which he made his acting debut in theatre and appeared in productions, like Othello, Barrymore, Cyrano, No Man's Land, Macbeth, King Lear, and J.B. He made his film debut in 1958 with Stage Struck and it soon led to his most recognized performance as Captain Georg von Trapp in the musical film The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews, for which Plummer received widespread acclaim for his performance. His other film credits included The Fall of the Roman Empire, Waterloo, The Return of the Pink Panther, The Man Who Would Be King, Beginners, The Insider, The Last Station, An American Tail, The Exception, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Rock-a-Doodle, Where The Heart Is, Malcolm X, A Beautiful Mind, All the Money in the World, The New World, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Knives Out, and The Last Full Measure.
He also appeared in made for television films, like Little Moon of Alban, Hamlet at Elsinore, Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers, The Thorn Birds, Our Fathers, Jesus of Nazareth, American Tragedy, On Golden Pond, and Nuremberg.
He is the father of actress Amanda Plummer and one of the few performers to have received the Triple Crown of Acting, and the only Canadian to achieved that record. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 82 for Beginners in 2010, becoming the oldest person to win an acting award (of which the record has been surpassed ever since by Sir Anthony Hopkins upon receiving his second Academy Award win for The Father in 2020, at the age of 83), and he received a nomination at the age of 88 for Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World, making him the oldest person to be nominated in an acting category in the Academy history.
Roles[]
(National Treasure)
Trivia[]
- He was once considered for many different roles for Disney during his lengthy career.
- He was originally considered for the role of Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but in the end, Kurt Russell was cast instead.[citation needed]
- The role of Bert in Mary Poppins, along with Danny Kaye, Fred Astaire, Jim Dale, Cary Grant, Richard Burton, Alec Guinness, Richard Harris, Rex Harrison, Ron Moody, Frank Sinatra, Laurence Olivier, Peter O'Toole, James Cagney, Gregory Peck, James Drury, Peter Lawford, Bing Crosby, Richard Egan, Kirk Douglas, James Garner, Elvis Presley, Ray Bolger, Dean Martin, Andy Griffith, Tim Conway, Michael Rennie, Bill Bixby, Jim Nabors, Michael Landon, Anthony Newley, Jack Lord, Dwayne Hickman, Stewart Granger, Robert Conrad, Laurence Harvey, Larry Storch, Adam West, Donald O'Connor, Burt Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Robert Reed, Alan Young, Dick York, Phil Harris, Buddy Ebsen, Sean Connery, Peter Sellers, Richard Todd, Tommy Steele, Clint Eastwood, Bob Denver, Don Knotts, Ken Berry, Peter Ustinov, David Niven, and Roddy McDowall, but ultimately, the role went to Dick Van Dyke.[citation needed]
- The role of Barnaby in Babes in Toyland. [citation needed]
- The role of Professor Emelius Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, along with Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Ron Moody, Gene Hackman, Zero Mostel, Dennis Hopper, Don Knotts, and Tim Conway, but ultimately, the role went to David Tomlinson.[citation needed]
- The role of Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug, along with Herbert Lom, George Sanders, James Mason, Terry-Thomas, Peter Ustinov, Patrick McGoohan, Jim Dale, Roddy McDowall, and David Niven.[citation needed]
- He was considered to voice Kerchak in Tarzan, alongside Harrison Ford, before Lance Henriksen landed the role.