Trivia

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 Tout l'argent du monde (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 La Mélodie du bonheur (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 Star Trek VI : Terre inconnue (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 La Mélodie du bonheur (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 Le Bazaar de l'épouvante (1993), while Christopher appeared in 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 La Mélodie du bonheur (1965) co-star Dame Julie Andrews was among those in attendance.

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.

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 (Les hommes d'argent (1976)) and the 1994 Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance (Madeline (1989)), and the 2012 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Beginners (2010)).

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

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

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.

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.

Had worked with both Obi-Wan Kenobis on film. Sir Alec Guinness played his father in La chute de l'Empire romain (1964), while Plummer later played father to Ewan McGregor in Beginners (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).

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 La Mélodie du bonheur (1965), and later with Andrew Garfield in L'Imaginarium du docteur Parnassus (2009).

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).

Had appeared with John Gielgud in three films: Le tigre du ciel (1976), Meurtre par décret (1979) and La pourpre et le noir (1983); and James Mason in three films: La chute de l'Empire romain (1964), Jésus de Nazareth (1977) and Meurtre par décret (1979).

Had appeared with Anthony Quayle in three films: La chute de l'Empire romain (1964), Meurtre par décret (1979) and La clé de l'énigme (1981); and Donald Pleasence in three films: La nuit des généraux (1967), Jésus de Nazareth (1977) and Nosferatu à Venise (1988).

Had appeared with character actor Trevor Howard in four films: Triple Cross: La fantastique histoire vraie d'Eddie Chapman (1966), La Bataille d'Angleterre (1969), Conduct Unbecoming (1975) and Le tigre du ciel (1976).

As of 2018, had appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: La Mélodie du bonheur (1965), Révélations (1999), Un homme d'exception (2001) and Là-haut (2009). La Mélodie du bonheur (1965) and Un homme d'exception (2001) are winners in the category.

Had appeared with Donald Sutherland in four films: Le roi Oedipe (1968), La disparition (1977), Meurtre par décret (1979) and Témoin indésirable (1984).

Had appeared with Susannah York in four films: La Bataille d'Angleterre (1969), Lock Up Your Daughters! (1969), Conduct Unbecoming (1975) and L'argent de la banque (1978).

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": La Mélodie du bonheur (1965) and Malcolm X (1992).

Had played the role of King Herod in two adaptations made forty years apart: Herod Antipas in the miniseries Jésus de Nazareth (1977) and Herod the Great in the animated comedy L'étoile de Noël (2017).

He has two roles in common with Peter Cushing: (1) Cushing played with Sherlock Holmes in Le Chien des Baskerville (1959), Sherlock Holmes (1964) and Les Masques de la mort (1984) while Plummer played him in Silver Blaze (1977) and Meurtre par décret (1979) and (2) Cushing played Professor Van Helsing in Le Cauchemar de Dracula (1958), Les Maîtresses de Dracula (1960), Dracula 73 (1972), Dracula vit toujours à Londres (1973) and Les 7 Vampires d'or (1974) while Plummer played him in Dracula 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 Le Dernier Roi d'Écosse (2006), Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men (2007), Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012), Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight : Le Chevalier noir (2008), Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009), Colin Firth for Le Discours d'un roi (2010), J.K. Simmons for Whiplash (2014), Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant (2015), Sam Rockwell for 3 Billboards : Les Panneaux de la vengeance (2017), and Gary Oldman for Les Heures sombres (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.

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.

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, 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 Le soleil se lève aussi (1957), L'adieu aux armes (1957) and Tendre est la nuit (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.

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.

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.

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 chute de l'Empire romain (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 Starcrash : Le Choc des étoiles (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.".

The longest he has gone without an Academy Award nomination is the seven years between the comedy drama Beginners (2010) and Tout l'argent du monde (2017).

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.

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