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01
He became the oldest person to win an Academy Award at age 82, and at 88 became the oldest person to be nominated for an acting Oscar for All the Money in the World 2017.
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02
He trained as a concert pianist before turning to acting.
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03
He turned down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, a decision he later regretted; the role went to Ian McKellen.
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04
He was the only actor from The Sound of Music 1965 to meet the real Maria von Trapp as a child.
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05
His first paying role was in Machina Infernale by Jean Cocteau, working with William Shatner; they reunited in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 1991.
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06
His great-grandfather was the Honourable Sir John Abbott, third prime minister of Canada from 1891-1892 and mayor of Montreal.
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07
He was one of nine actors to have won the Triple Crown of Acting Oscar, Emmy, Tony, along with Thomas Mitchell, Melvyn Douglas, Paul Scofield, Jack Albertson, Jason Robards, Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, and Geoffrey Rush.
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08
He was born on December 13, 1929, though many sources mistakenly list his birth year as 1927.
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09
He was only 13 years older than Charmian Carr, who played his daughter in The Sound of Music 1965.
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10
He grew up partly in the village of Senneville, Quebec, spending summers at his great-grandfather’s palatial estate.
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11
He played Hamlet at Elsinore 1964 opposite Michael Caine as Horatio.
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12
On May 22, 2002, he was awarded the Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre by the Roundabout Theatre Company; his Sound of Music co-star Julie Andrews attended.
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13
He and his daughter Amanda Plummer both appeared in Stephen King adaptations: Amanda in Needful Things 1993 and Christopher in Dolores Claiborne 1995; they both received Emmy nominations in 2005, with Amanda winning.
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14
He achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in 2012: Tony Awards in 1974 Cyrano and 1997 Barrymore, Emmy Awards in 1977 Arthur Hailey’s the Moneychangers and 1994 Madeline voice-over, and the 2012 Oscar for Beginners.
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15
He played Christian in a TV production of Cyrano de Bergerac opposite Jose Ferrer, and later played Cyrano himself using a translation by Anthony Burgess, which he personally selected.
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16
He became a father at age 27 when his first wife Tammy Grimes gave birth to daughter Amanda Plummer on March 23, 1957.
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17
He received honorary degrees from Juilliard, University of Toronto, Ryerson University, McGill University, University of Western Ontario, University of Ottawa, and University of Guelph.
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18
He was one of 115 people invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2007.
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19
He worked with both actors who played Obi-Wan Kenobi: Alec Guinness in The Fall of the Roman Empire 1964 and Ewan McGregor in Beginners 2010.
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20
He was schoolmates with jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.
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21
He was awarded a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto in 1998 as a charter member.
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22
He attended and graduated from the High School of Montreal.
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23
Both he and his daughter Amanda played in Jean Anouilh’s The Lark: he on Broadway in 1955, she in Stratford in 2005.
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24
As of 2018, he appeared in four films nominated for Best Picture Oscar: The Sound of Music 1965, The Insider 1999, A Beautiful Mind 2001, and Up 2009; the first two won.
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25
Following his sudden death, he was cremated and his ashes given to his widow Elaine Taylor; he never retired from acting until his death.
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26
He worked with two actors who played Spider-Man: Nicholas Hammond in The Sound of Music 1965 and Andrew Garfield in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus 2009.
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27
He was one of four consecutive Oscar winners in Best Supporting Actor whose first name begins with Chris, along with Christian Bale and Christoph Waltz who won twice.
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28
He appeared in two films selected for the National Film Registry: The Sound of Music 1965 and Malcolm X 1992.
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29
He quit smoking cigarettes in 1970.
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30
He was pictured on a Canadian permanent-rate commemorative postage stamp issued on October 13, 2021, and was consulted on the stamp’s design.
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31
He was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada in the 1968 Queen’s Honours List for services to performing arts, the country’s highest civilian honor.
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32
He spoke English and French fluently from his bilingual upbringing in Senneville and Montreal.
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33
He played King Herod in two adaptations 40 years apart: Herod Antipas in Jesus of Nazareth 1977 and Herod the Great in The Star 2017.
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34
He shared two roles with Peter Cushing: Sherlock Holmes Plummer in Silver Blaze and Murder by Decree and Van Helsing Plummer in Dracula 2000.
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35
He was one of 14 actors to win the Academy Award, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globe, and SAG Award for the same performance, for Beginners.
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36
In 1956, David O. Selznick met with Plummer to discuss a three-movie deal co-starring Jennifer Jones, but the discussions fell through.
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37
He received Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal 1977, 125th Anniversary of the Confederation Medal 1993, Golden Jubilee Medal 2002, and Diamond Jubilee Medal 2012.
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38
He was a second cousin of British actor Nigel Bruce, who played Dr. Watson while Plummer later played Sherlock Holmes.
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39
The longest gap between his Oscar nominations was seven years, between Beginners 2010 and All the Money in the World 2017.
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40
He cited Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion 1937 as the film that moved him to tears more than any other.
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41
He counted Jason Robards as one of his greatest drinking buddies.
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42
He appeared with Trevor Howard in four films: Triple Cross 1966, Battle of Britain 1969, Conduct Unbecoming 1975, and Aces High 1976.
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43
He appeared with Donald Sutherland in four films: Oedipus the King 1968, The Disappearance 1977, Murder by Decree 1979, and Ordeal by Innocence 1984.
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44
He appeared with Susannah York in four films: Battle of Britain 1969, Lock Up Your Daughters! 1969, Conduct Unbecoming 1975, and The Silent Partner 1978.
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45
His great-uncle Frederick Barnard Fetherstonhaugh was a patent lawyer and owned one of the first electric cars in Canada.
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46
In 1956, he played Henry V at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival; one night, his understudy William Shatner took over.
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47
He was awarded the Edwin Booth Lifetime Achievement Award by the Players club in New York 1997 and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement 2001.
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48
His ancestry includes English, Cornish, Scottish, Northern Irish, and distant French-Canadian and Swiss-French.
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49
Although he played Alec Guinness’s son in The Fall of the Roman Empire 1964, Plummer was only 15 years younger and his performance was widely criticized.
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50
He admitted he took the role of the Emperor of the Galaxy in Starcrash 1978 so he could visit Rome for free.
