Curiosidades

At age 82, he was the oldest person to receive an Academy Award. At age 88, he became the oldest person ever to be nominated for an acting Academy Award for Todo el dinero del mundo (2017).

Trained to become a concert pianist before turning his attention to acting.

Had turned down the role of Gandalf in Sir Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and admits to regretting that decision. The role went to Sir Ian McKellen.

Was the only actor from Robert Wise's Sonrisas y lágrimas (1965) to meet the real Maria von Trapp in Vermont as a child.

His first paying role was in "Machina Infernale" (The Infernal Machine) by Jean Cocteau, in which he worked with another young Montreal actor, William Shatner. The two were reunited many years later when they both appeared in Aquel país desconocido (1991).

His great-grandfather was The Honourable Sir John Abbott (1821-1893), a lawyer and senator who served as the third prime minister of Canada from 1891 - 1892. He also served two one-year terms as the 19th mayor of Montreal from 1887 - 1889.

Was one of nine actors to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy and Tony); the others in chronological order are Thomas Mitchell, Melvyn Douglas, Paul Scofield, Jack Albertson, Jason Robards, Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino and Geoffrey Rush.

Was only 13 years older than Charmian Carr, who played his daughter in Sonrisas y lágrimas (1965).

Was actually born on 12/13/29, although most publications usually state his birthday as 12/13/27.

Grew up partly in the village of Senneville, Québec, Canada, where he spent the summers in his great-grandfather's palatial estate.

Had played the title role in Hamlet at Elsinore (1964), appearing with Sir Michael Caine, who played Hamlet's closest friend Horatio. Caine later said he had never truly understood Hamlet until he saw Plummer performing the role.

He and daughter Amanda Plummer have both appeared in adaptation of Stephen King novels. Amanda appeared in La tienda (1993), while Christopher appeared in Eclipse total (Dolores Claiborne) (1995). They also both received Emmy Award nominations (2005); she won and he did not.

On 5/22/02, he was awarded the Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre by the Roundabout Theatre Company. His Sonrisas y lágrimas (1965) co-star Dame Julie Andrews was among those in attendance.

In 2012, he became the 21st performer to have received the Triple Crown of Acting: the 1974 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical ("Cyrano") and the 1997 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play ("Barrymore"), the 1977 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series (Traficantes de dinero (1976)) and the 1994 Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance (Madeline (1989)), and the 2012 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Beginners (Principiantes) (2010)).

Became a father for the first time at age 27 when his first wife, Tammy Grimes, gave birth to their daughter, Amanda Plummer (Amanda Michael Plummer), on March 23, 1957.

Had played Christian in a television production of "Cyrano de Bergerac", opposite José Ferrer, and later played Cyrano himself. In the former role, he performed the translation by Brian Hooker. In the latter, he performed the translation by Anthony Burgess, which he personally selected Burgess to write.

Received an honorary degree (Doctor of Fine Arts) from New York City's Julliard School and received honorary degrees from the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, McGill University, the University of Western Ontario (UWO), the University of Ottawa, and most recently the University of Guelph.

Was one of 115 people invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2007.

Had worked with both Obi-Wan Kenobis on film. Sir Alec Guinness played his father in La caída del Imperio romano (1964), while Plummer later played father to Ewan McGregor in Beginners (Principiantes) (2010).

Schoolmates with jazz piano master Oscar Peterson.

He was awarded a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario in 1998 (charter member).

Attended and graduated from the High School of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Both he and his daughter, Amanda Plummer, have played in Jean Anouilh's "The Lark", he appeared on Broadway (1955) and she appeared in Stratford (2005).

Had worked with two Spider-Mans. First he worked with Nicholas Hammond in Sonrisas y lágrimas (1965), and later with Andrew Garfield in El imaginario del Doctor Parnassus (2009).

Following his sudden death, Plummer was cremated and his ashes were given to his widow and former actress Elaine Taylor. He never retired from acting until his death.

Was one of four consecutive Oscar winners in the Best Supporting Actor category whose name begins with Chris, the other actors being Christian Bale and Christoph Waltz (who won twice).

As of 2018, had appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Sonrisas y lágrimas (1965), El dilema (The Insider) (1999), Una mente maravillosa (2001) and Up (2009). Sonrisas y lágrimas (1965) and Una mente maravillosa (2001) are winners in the category.

He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant": Sonrisas y lágrimas (1965) and Malcolm X (1992).

He gave up smoking cigarettes in 1970.

Had appeared with Trevor Howard in four films: Triple Cross - La verdadera historia de Eddie Chapman (1966), La batalla de Inglaterra (1969), Culpable sin rostro (1975) and Ases del cielo (1976).

Had appeared with Susannah York in four films: La batalla de Inglaterra (1969), Lock Up Your Daughters! (1969), Culpable sin rostro (1975) and Testigo silencioso (1978).

Had played the role of King Herod in two adaptations made forty years apart: Herod Antipas in the miniseries Jesús de Nazaret (1977) and Herod the Great in the animated comedy Se armó el belén (2017).

He has two roles in common with Peter Cushing: (1) Cushing played with Sherlock Holmes in El perro de Baskerville (1959), Sherlock Holmes (1964) and Sherlock Holmes y la máscara de la muerte (1984) while Plummer played him in Silver Blaze (1977) and Asesinato por decreto (1979) and (2) Cushing played Professor Van Helsing in Drácula (1958), Las novias de Drácula (1960), Drácula 73 (1972), Los ritos satánicos de Drácula (1973) and Kung Fu contra los siete vampiros de oro (1974) while Plummer played him in Drácula 2001 (2000).

Was one of 14 actors to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance. The others in chronological order are Geoffrey Rush for Shine (1996), Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004), Philip Seymour Hoffman for Truman Capote (2005), Forest Whitaker for El último rey de Escocia (2006), Javier Bardem for No es país para viejos (2007), Daniel Day-Lewis for Pozos de ambición (2007) and Lincoln (2012), Heath Ledger for El caballero oscuro (2008), Christoph Waltz for Malditos bastardos (2009), Colin Firth for El discurso del rey (2010), J.K. Simmons for Whiplash (2014), Leonardo DiCaprio for El renacido (The Revenant) (2015), Sam Rockwell for Tres anuncios en las afueras (2017), and Gary Oldman for El instante más oscuro (2017).

Pictured on a Canadian permanent-rate commemorative postage stamp issued on 10/13/21. He was consulted on every phase of production, including the approval of the stamp's design. The stamp was issued in booklets and panes of six. The price on the day of issue for a single stamp was CAN 95p.

In 1956, David O. Selznick arranged a meeting with Plummer to discuss a three-movie-deal, in which Plummer would co-star with Selznick's wife Jennifer Jones. The three films mentioned were Fiesta (1957), Adiós a las armas (1957) and Suave es la noche (1962). Although flattered by Selznick's interest, he had several serious reservations, including his age, the age dissimilarity between himself and Jones; and most importantly, his suitability for the roles in question. The discussions dwindled; and while all three properties were eventually filmed, none of them starred Plummer.

He was awarded the CC (Companion of the Order of Canada) in the 1968 Queen's Honours List for his services to the performing arts; Canada's highest civilian honor.

Spoke English and French fluently, from his bilingual upbringing in Senneville, Quebec where he passed his summers, and in downtown Montreal where he resided for the rest of the year.

The longest he has gone without an Academy Award nomination is the seven years between the comedy drama Beginners (Principiantes) (2010) and Todo el dinero del mundo (2017).

He cited Jean Renoir's La gran ilusión (1937) as the film that moved him into tears more often than any other film during his lifetime.

He counted fellow actor Jason Robards as one of his greatest drinking buddies.

Had appeared with Donald Sutherland in four films: Oedipus the King (1968), La desaparición (1977), Asesinato por decreto (1979) and Culpable de inocencia (1984).

His great-uncle (paternal grandmother's brother) was Frederick Barnard Fetherstonhaugh (1863-1945), a patent lawyer and agent who founded the patent agency Fetherstonhaugh & Company. He was also the owner of one of the first electric cars in Canada.

In 1956, Plummer played Henry V at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. He was sick one night and his understudy took over. His understudy was William Shatner. He later joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960.

He was awarded the Edwin Booth Lifetime Achievement Award by the Players, a private social club in New York City (1997). He was awarded the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honor in the performing arts (2001).

He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal for Canada in 1977; the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in 1993; the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for Canada in 2002; and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for Canada in 2012.

Had English, Cornish, Scottish, Northern Irish, and distant French-Canadian and Swiss-French, ancestry.

Was a second cousin of British character actor Nigel Bruce. Bruce was best known for playing surgeon Dr. John H. Watson, while Plummer went onto play Sherlock Holmes.

Although he played Sir Alec Guinness' son in Anthony Mann's La caída del Imperio romano (1964), Plummer was only 15 years his junior in real life and his performance was widely condemned.

He admitted in an interview that he took the role of the Emperor of the Galaxy in the space opera Star Crash, choque de galaxias (1978) so he could visit Rome for free. He said "Give me Rome any day. I'll do porno in Rome, as long as I can get to Rome. Getting to Rome was the greatest thing that happened in that for me.".