Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer CC (December 13, 1929 - February 5, 2021) was a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1958's Stage Struck, and notable film performances include The Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, The Man Who Would Be King, and The Insider. In a career that spans seven decades and includes substantial roles in each of the dramatic arts, Plummer is probably best known to film audiences as the autocratic widower Captain Georg Johannes von Trapp in the hit 1965 musical film The Sound of Music alongside Julie Andrews. Plummer has also ventured into various television projects, including the legendary miniseries The Thorn Birds.
In the 21st century, his film roles include The Insider as Mike Wallace, Inside Man with Denzel Washington, the Disney–Pixar 2009 film Up as Charles Muntz, the Shane Acker production 9 as '1', The Last Station as Leo Tolstoy, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus as Doctor Parnassus, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Henrik Vanger, and Beginners as Hal.
Plummer has won numerous awards and accolades for his work, including an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a SAG Award, and a BAFTA Award. With his win at the age of 82 in 2012 for Beginners, Plummer is the oldest actor and person ever to win an Academy Award.
On February 5, 2021, Plummer died at his home in Weston, Connecticut, aged 91, after suffering complications from a fall. His family released a statement announcing that Plummer had "died peacefully at his home in Connecticut with his wife Elaine Taylor at his side".
Academy Awards
Best Supporting Actor
Known For
Up
(2009)
Charles F. Muntz (voice)
Knives Out
(2019)
Harlan Thrombey
A Beautiful Mind
(2001)
Dr. Rosen
Twelve Monkeys
(1995)
Dr. Goines
Inside Man
(2006)
Arthur Case
9
(2009)
1 (voice)
Alexander
(2004)
Aristotle
Malcolm X
(1992)
Chaplain Gill
National Treasure
(2004)
John Adams Gates
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
(2011)
Henrik Vanger
The Sound of Music
(1965)
Captain Georg von Trapp
Dolores Claiborne
(1995)
John Mackey
Priest
(2011)
Monsignor Orelas
The Insider
(1999)
Mike Wallace
Wolf
(1994)
Raymond Alden
Dracula 2000
(2000)
Matthew Van Helsing
Full Filmography
Acting
Wind Across the Everglades
(1958)
Walt Murdock
Stage Struck
(1958)
Joe Sheridan
Little Moon of Alban
(1958)
Kenneth Boyd
Johnny Belinda
(1958)
Dr. Jack Pelletier
A Doll's House
(1959)
Torvald
Captain Brassbound's Conversation
(1960)
Captain Brassbound
30 Minutes, Mister Plummer
(1963)
Himself
Trans-Canada Journey
(1963)
Narrator (voice)
The Fall of the Roman Empire
(1964)
Commodus
Hamlet at Elsinore
(1964)
Hamlet
The Sound of Music
(1965)
Captain Georg von Trapp
Inside Daisy Clover
(1965)
Raymond Swan
Salzburg Sight and Sound
(1965)
Self
Triple Cross
(1966)
Freddie Chapman
The Night of the Generals
(1967)
Field Marshal Rommel
Nobody Runs Forever
(1968)
Sir James Quentin
Oedipus the King
(1968)
Oedipus
Battle of Britain
(1969)
Squadron Leader Colin Harvey
The Royal Hunt of the Sun
(1969)
Atahualpa
Lock Up Your Daughters
(1969)
Lord Foppington
Waterloo
(1970)
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
The Pyx
(1973)
Dt. Sgt. Jim Henderson
The Happy Prince
(1974)
The Happy Prince (voice)
After the Fall
(1974)
Quentin
The Man Who Would Be King
(1975)
Rudyard Kipling
The Return of the Pink Panther
(1975)
Sir Charles Litton
Conduct Unbecoming
(1975)
Maggiore Alastair Wimbourne
The Spiral Staircase
(1975)
Dr. Sherman
The Day That Shook the World
(1975)
Archduke Ferdinand
Aces High
(1976)
Capt. 'Uncle' Sinclair
The Disappearance
(1977)
Deverell
Silver Blaze
(1977)
Sherlock Holmes
The Assignment
(1977)
Kaptain Behounek
Starcrash
(1978)
The Emperor
The Silent Partner
(1978)
Reikle
International Velvet
(1978)
John Seaton
Hanover Street
(1979)
Paul Sellinger
Murder by Decree
(1979)
Sherlock Holmes
Somewhere in Time
(1980)
William Fawcett Robinson
Desperate Voyage
(1980)
Jacques Burrifous
The Shadow Box
(1980)
Brian
The Amateur
(1981)
Professor Lakos
Eyewitness
(1981)
Joseph
Dial M for Murder
(1981)
Tony Wendice
Being Different
(1981)
Self (Narrator) (voice)
When the Circus Came to Town
(1981)
Duke Royal
Highpoint
(1982)
James Hatcher
Night of 100 Stars
(1982)
Self
The Scarlet and the Black
(1983)
Col. Herbert Kappler
Prototype
(1983)
Dr. Carl Forrester
Dreamscape
(1984)
Bob Blair
Ordeal by Innocence
(1984)
Leo Argyle
Lily in Love
(1984)
Fitzroy Wynn / Roberto Terranova
The Velveteen Rabbit
(1985)
Narrator (voice)
Rumpelstiltskin
(1985)
Narrator
An American Tail
(1986)
Henri (voice)
The Boss' Wife
(1986)
Mr. Roalvang
The Boy in Blue
(1986)
Knox
The Tin Soldier
(1986)
Narrator (voice)
Spearfield's Daughter
(1986)
Lord Jack Cruze
Dragnet
(1987)
Reverend Jonathan Whirley
A Hazard of Hearts
(1987)
Sir Giles Staverley
I Love N.Y.
(1987)
John Robertson Yeats
The Nightingale
(1987)
Narrator (voice)
Nosferatu in Venice
(1988)
Professor Paris Catalano
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
(1988)
Narrator (voice)
Shadow Dancing
(1988)
Edmund Beaumont
Madeline
(1988)
Narrator (voice)
Mindfield
(1989)
Doctor Satorius
Nabokov on Kafka
(1989)
Vladimir Nabokov
Souvenir
(1989)
Ernst Kestner
The First Emperor of China
(1989)
Narrator
Where the Heart Is
(1990)
Shitty
A Ghost in Monte Carlo
(1990)
The Grand Duke Ivan
Red Blooded American Girl
(1990)
Dr. John Alcore
The Little Crooked Christmas Tree
(1990)
Narrator
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
(1991)
General Chang
Firehead
(1991)
Col. Garland Vaughn
Money
(1991)
Martin Yahl
Rock-A-Doodle
(1991)
Grand Duke (voice)
Madeline and the Bad Hat
(1991)
Narrator (voice)
Madeline and the Gypsies
(1991)
Narrator (voice)
Madeline in London
(1991)
Narrator (voice)
Malcolm X
(1992)
Chaplain Gill
Liar's Edge
(1992)
Harry Weldon
Secrets
(1992)
Mel Wexler
Impolite
(1992)
Naples O'Rorke
Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic
(1993)
Narrator
A Stranger in the Mirror
(1993)
Clifton Lawrence
Madeline at the Ballet
(1993)
Narrator (voice)
Madeline at Cooking School
(1993)
Narrator
Wolf
(1994)
Raymond Alden
Crackerjack
(1994)
Ivan Getz
Michael Caine: Breaking the Mold
(1994)
Self (archive footage)
Twelve Monkeys
(1995)
Dr. Goines
Dolores Claiborne
(1995)
John Mackey
Harrison Bergeron
(1995)
John Klaxon
The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of 'Twelve Monkeys'
(1996)
Self
The Conspiracy of Fear
(1996)
Wakeman
The Arrow
(1997)
George Hees
Skeletons
(1997)
Reverend Carlyle
Babes in Toyland
(1997)
Barnaby Crookedman (voice)
Winchell
(1998)
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The Clown at Midnight
(1998)
Mr. Caruthers
Blackheart
(1998)
Holmes
The First Christmas
(1998)
Narrator (voice)
The Insider
(1999)
Mike Wallace
Madeline: Lost in Paris
(1999)
Narrator (voice)
Hidden Agenda
(1999)
Ulrich Steiner
Dracula 2000
(2000)
Matthew Van Helsing
The Dinosaur Hunter
(2000)
Hump Hinton
Possessed
(2000)
Archbishop Hume
American Tragedy
(2000)
F. Lee Bailey
Nuremberg
(2000)
Sir David Maxwell Fyfe
A Beautiful Mind
(2001)
Dr. Rosen
Lucky Break
(2001)
Graham Mortimer
Full Disclosure
(2001)
Robert Lecker
On Golden Pond
(2001)
Norman Thayer
Nicholas Nickleby
(2002)
Ralph Nickleby
Ararat
(2002)
David
Agent of Influence
(2002)
John Watkins
Night Flight
(2002)
'Flash' Harry Peters
Christopher Plummer: A Man For All Stages
(2002)
Self
The Gospel of John
(2003)
Narrator (voice)
Cold Creek Manor
(2003)
Mr. Massie
Blizzard
(2003)
Santa Claus
The Life Of Jesus
(2003)
Narrator
Alexander
(2004)
Aristotle
National Treasure
(2004)
John Adams Gates
Syriana
(2005)
Dean Whiting
The New World
(2005)
Captain Newport
Must Love Dogs
(2005)
Bill
Our Fathers
(2005)
Cardinal Bernard Law
Four Minutes
(2005)
Archie Mason
Inside Man
(2006)
Arthur Case
The Lake House
(2006)
Simon Wyler
Nuremberg: The Nazis Facing their Crimes
(2006)
Kommentator
Eugene O’Neill: A Documentary Film
(2006)
Self
Closing the Ring
(2007)
Jack
Already Dead
(2007)
Dr. Heller
Man in the Chair
(2007)
Flash Madden
Emotional arithmetic
(2008)
David Winters
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
(2009)
Doctor Parnassus
9
(2009)
1 (voice)
Up
(2009)
Charles F. Muntz (voice)
The Last Station
(2009)
Leo Tolstoy
Caesar and Cleopatra
(2009)
Caesar
My Dog Tulip
(2010)
J.R. Ackerley (voice)
The Tempest
(2010)
Prospero
Madeline's Christmas
(2010)
Narrator
Priest
(2011)
Monsignor Orelas
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
(2011)
Henrik Vanger
Beginners
(2011)
Hal Fields
Discovering Hamlet
(2011)
Self
Barrymore
(2012)
John Barrymore
Kali, the Little Vampire
(2012)
Narrator (english version)
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(2012)
(archive footage)
Behind the Wall: The Making of Skyrim
(2012)
Self
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Hard Copy
(2012)
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight
(2013)
John Marshall Harlan
The Legend of Sarila
(2013)
Croolik (voice)
Titans of the Ice Age
(2013)
Narrator
Still Kicking
(2013)
Himself
Hector and the Search for Happiness
(2014)
Professor Coreman
Elsa & Fred
(2014)
Fred
The Forger
(2014)
Joseph Cutter
Danny Collins
(2015)
Frank Grubman
Pixies
(2015)
Pixie King (voice)
The Untold Story of The Sound of Music: A Diane Sawyer Special
(2015)
Himself
Remember
(2015)
Zev Guttman
Howard Lovecraft & the Frozen Kingdom
(2016)
Dr. West (voice)
The Exception
(2017)
Kaiser Wilhelm II
The River of My Dreams
(2017)
Himself
The Star
(2017)
King Herod (voice)
The Man Who Invented Christmas
(2017)
Scrooge
All the Money in the World
(2017)
Jean Paul Getty
Howard Lovecraft & the Undersea Kingdom
(2017)
Dr. West (voice)
Boundaries
(2018)
Jack Jaconi
Howard Lovecraft and the Kingdom of Madness
(2018)
Dr. Jeffrey West (voice)
Knives Out
(2019)
Harlan Thrombey
Cliffs of Freedom
(2019)
Thanasi
Alan Pakula: Going for Truth
(2019)
Self
The Last Full Measure
(2020)
Frank Pitsenbarger
Bondarchuk. Battle
(2021)
self
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
(2021)
Self
The Kalahari: The Flooded Desert
(2021)
Narrator (voice)
Mooseltoe
(2021)
Mooseking
Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story
(2022)
Self
Heroes of the Golden Masks
(2023)
Rizzo (voice)
Production