Early life

Plummer was born on December 13, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, the only child of Isabella Mary (née Abbott), who was secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University, and John Orme Plummer, who sold stocks and securities. Through his mother, Plummer is a great-grandson of Canadian Prime Minister and former McGill law dean Sir John Abbott, and a great-great-grandson of Anglican clergyman and McGill president John Bethune. Plummer's parents were divorced shortly after his birth, and he was brought up at the Abbott family home in Senneville, Quebec, outside Montreal. He is bilingual, speaking English and French fluently. Plummer is a second cousin of actor Nigel Bruce, the British actor, best known as Doctor Watson to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes, and of Bruce's brother, Sir Michael Bruce, baronet and journalist.

He had studied to be a concert pianist, but developed a love for the theatre at an early age. He began acting while he was living on Pine Avenue in Montreal and attending Montreal High. He attended McGill, at which time he also took up acting, after watching Laurence Olivier's film Henry V (1944).

In 1946, his performance as Mr. Darcy in the production of Pride and Prejudice at Montreal High brought Christopher Plummer to the attention of Herbert Whittaker, the theatre critic of the Montreal Gazette. Whittaker, who was also amateur stage director the Montreal Repertory Theatre, cast Plummer, aged 18, as Oedipus in Cocteau's La Machine infernale.

Theatre

Plummer did his apprenticeship with the Canadian Repertory Company (Ottawa, Ontario) from 1948-50, appearing in 75 roles, including Cymbeline in 1948 and The Rivals in 1950. He acted with the Bermuda Repertory Theatre in 1952, appearing in many plays, including The Playboy of the Western World, The Royal Family, The Little Foxes, The Petrified Forest and The Constant Wife.

Broadway

Plummer made his Broadway debut in January 1953 in The Starcross Story, a show that closed on opening night. His next Broadway appearance, Home is the Hero, lasted 30 performances in September-October 1954. He appeared in support of Broadway legend Katharine Cornell and film legend Tyrone Power in The Dark is Light Enough, which lasted 69 performances in February-April 1955. The play toured several cities, with Plummer serving as Power's understudy. (In his autobiography, Plummer stated that Cornell was his "sponsor" ). Later that same year, he appeared in his first Broadway hit, opposite Julie Harris (who won a Tony Award) in Jean Anouilh's The Lark. After appearing in Night of the Auk, which was not a success, Plummer appeared in Elia Kazan's successful Broadway production of Archibald MacLeish's Pulitzer Prize-winning play J.B.; Plummer was nominated for his first Tony as Best Actor in Play. (J.B. also won Tonys as Best Play and for Kazan's direction.)

Plummer appeared less frequently on Broadway in the 1960s as he moved from New York to London. He appeared in the title role in a 1963 production of Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, which did not succeed, but he had a great success in Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun, playing conquistador Francisco Pizarro to David Carradine's Tony Award-nominated Atahuallpa. (In the 1969 film adaptation, Plummer would take the title role.) From May to June 1973, he appeared on Broadway as the title character in Cyrano, a musical adaptation of Edmond Rostand's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac by Anthony Burgess and Michael J. Lewis. For that performance, Plummer won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance. Later that year, he played Anton Chekhov in Neil Simon's adaptation of several Chekhov short stories, The Good Doctor.

In the 1980s, he appeared on Broadway in two Shakespearean tragedies, Othello, playing Iago to James Earl Jones' Moor, and the title role in Macbeth with Glenda Jackson playing his lady. His Iago brought him another Tony nomination. He appeared with Jason Robards in the 1994 revival of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land and had great success in 1997 in Barrymore, which he also toured with after a successful Broadway run. His turn as John Barrymore brought him his second Tony Award (this time as Best Actor in Play) and a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Actor in a Play. He was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his 2004 King Lear and for a Tony playing Henry Drummond in the 2007 revival of Inherit the Wind.

Stratford Festival

Plummer made his debut at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1956, playing the title role in Henry V, which subsequently was performed that year at the Edinburgh Festival. He played the title role in Hamlet and Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night at Stratford in 1957. The following year, he played Leontes in The Winter's Tale, Bardolph, in Henry IV, Part 1, and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. In 1960, he played Philip the Bastard in King John and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. In 1962, he played the title roles in both Cyrano de Bergerac and Macbeth, returning in 1967 to play Mark Antony in Antony and Cleopatra.

In 2002, he appeared in a lauded production of King Lear, directed by Jonathan Miller. The production successfully transferred to New York City's Lincoln Center in 2004. He returned to the stage at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in August 2008 in a critically acclaimed performance as Julius Caesar in George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra directed by Tony winner Des McAnuff; this production was videotaped and shown in high-definition in Canadian cinemas on January 31, 2009 (with an encore presentation on February 23, 2009) and broadcast on April 4, 2009 on Bravo! in Canada. Plummer returned to the Stratford Festival in the summer of 2010 in The Tempest as the lead character, Prospero (also videotaped and shown in high-def in cinemas), and again in the summer of 2012 in the one-man show, A Word or Two, an autobiographical exploration of his love of literature. In 2014 Plummer presented A Word or Two again, at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

United Kingdom

In April 1961, he appeared as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He also appeared with the RSC in May 1961 in the lead role of Richard III. He made his London debut on June 11, 1961, playing King Henry II in Jean Anouilh's Becket with the RSC at the Aldwych Theatre, directed by Peter Hall. The production later transferred to the Globe for a December 1961 to April 1962 run. For his performance, Plummer won the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor.

From June 1971 to January 1972, he appeared at the National Theatre, acting in repertory for the season. The plays he appeared in where Jean Giraudoux's Amphitryon 38 directed by Laurence Olivier; Georg Büchner's Danton's Death (director Jonathan Miller); Adrian Mitchell's Tyger; Luigi Pirandello's The Rules of the Game; and Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night at the New Theatre in London.

Other venues

Edward Everett Horton hired Plummer to appear as Gerard in the 1953 road show production of André Roussin's Nina, a role originated on Broadway by David Niven in 1951. He appeared as Jason opposite Dame Judith Anderson in Robinson Jeffers' adaptation of Medea at the Theatre Sara Bernhardt in Paris in 1955. The American National Theatre and Academy production, directed by Guthrie McClintic, was part of Le Festival International.

Also in 1955, he played Mark Antony in Julius Caesar and Ferdinand in The Tempest at the American Shakespeare Festival (Stratford, Connecticut). He returned to the American Shakespeare Festival in 1981 to play the title role in Henry V.

Plummer appeared in Lovers and Madmen at the Opera House, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. in 1973 and in Love and Master Will at the same venue in 1975. Love and Master Will consisted of selections from the works of William Shakespeare on the subject of love, arranged by Plummer. His co-stars were Zoe Caldwell, Bibi Andersson, and Leonard Nimoy. Plummer played "Edgar" in E.L. Doctorow's Drinks before Dinner with the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Public/Newman Theatre in New York City in 1978.

Film

Plummer's film career began in 1958 when Sidney Lumet cast him as a young writer in Stage Struck. That same year, he also appeared in Nicholas Ray's film of Budd Schulberg's Wind Across the Everglades. He did not appear on screen again for six years, until he played the Emperor Commodus in Anthony Mann's epic The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964). His next film, the Oscar-winning The Sound of Music, made cinematic history, becoming the all-time top-grossing film, eclipsing Gone With the Wind.

Since then, he has appeared in a vast number of notable films, including Inside Daisy Clover (1965), The Night of the Generals (as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel) (1967), Oedipus the King (1968), The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969), Battle of Britain (1969), Waterloo (1970), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), The Silent Partner (1978), International Velvet (1978), Murder by Decree (1979), Somewhere in Time (1980), Eyewitness (1981), Dragnet (1987), Shadow Dancing (1988), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Malcolm X (1992), Wolf (1994), Dolores Claiborne (1995), 12 Monkeys (1995), Syriana (2005), The New World (2005), The Lake House (2006) and in Remember (2015). In addition, Plummer was cast to replace Rex Harrison for the film adaptation of Doctor Dolittle. This decision was later reversed, but Plummer was nonetheless paid $87,500 for signing the contract. At the same time, Plummer was performing in the stage play The Royal Hunt of the Sun and his whole Dolittle participation was so brief that Plummer never missed a performance. In 2004, during the filming of The New World, director Terrence Malick forced Plummer to climb a tall oak tree. The task was very difficult for Plummer, who was 74 at the time, and took three unsuccessful attempts before Malick was satisfied with his performance. This footage was not used in the final film.

One of Plummer's most critically acclaimed roles was that of television journalist Mike Wallace in Michael Mann's biographical film The Insider (1999), for which he was honoured with several critics' awards for Best Supporting Actor, though a corresponding Academy Award nomination did not materialize.

In January 2010, Plummer received his first Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of author Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009). Speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in an interview that aired on March 7, 2010, Plummer added, tongue-in-cheek, "Well, I said it's about time! I mean, I'm 80 years old, for God's sake. Have mercy." On Oscar night, March 7, 2010, however, he lost to Christoph Waltz.

Plummer received his second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Beginners (2011), and was announced as the winner at the 84th Academy Awards. Plummer's win made him, at age 82, the oldest actor to win an Academy Award. When he accepted the award, he quipped "You're only two years older than me, darling. Where have you been all my life?".

Other recent successes include his roles as Dr. Rosen in Ron Howard's Academy Award-winning A Beautiful Mind (2001), Arthur Case in Spike Lee's 2006 film Inside Man, and the philosopher Aristotle in Alexander, alongside Colin Farrell. In 2004, Plummer played John Adams Gates in National Treasure.

Plummer has also done some voice work, such as his role of Henri the pigeon in An American Tail, the villainous Grand Duke of Owls in Rock-a-Doodle, the antagonistic Charles Muntz in Up and the elder leader 1 in the Tim Burton-produced action/science fiction film 9. He also served as the narrator in Philip Saville's 2003 film The Gospel of John.

Documentaries

In 1963, he was the subject of a short National Film Board of Canada documentary, 30 Minutes, Mister Plummer, directed by Anne Claire Poirier.

In 2011, he appeared in the feature-length documentary The Captains. The film, written and directed by William Shatner, sees Shatner interview Plummer at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theatre where they talk about their young careers, long lasting friendship, and Plummer's role as Chang in Star Trek VI. The film references that Shatner, two years Plummer's junior, was the other's understudy in a production of Henry V at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. When Plummer had fallen ill, Shatner took the stage, earning his first big break.

The Sound of Music

Owing to the box office success and continued popularity of The Sound of Music (1965), Plummer remains widely known for his portrayal of Captain Von Trapp, a role he later described as "so awful and sentimental and gooey". He found all aspects of making the film, except working with Andrews, unpleasant and avoids using its name, instead calling it "that movie", "S&M", or "The Sound of Mucus". He declined to attend the 40th Anniversary cast reunion, but did provide commentary on the 2005 DVD release. Plummer relented in 2010 for the 45th anniversary, and appeared with the full cast on The Oprah Winfrey Show on October 28, 2010.

In 2009, Plummer said of the film and his role that he was "...a bit bored with the character. Although we worked hard enough to make him interesting, it was a bit like flogging a dead horse. And the subject matter is not mine. I mean, it can't appeal to every person in the world." However, Plummer admits the film itself was well made and, despite his reservations, is proud to be associated with a film with such mass appeal. "The world has seen so many times. And there's a whole new generation every year—poor kids—that have to sit through it . But it was a very well-made movie, and it's a family movie and we haven't seen a family movie, I don't think, on that scale for ages. I don't mind that. It just happened to be not my particular cup of tea." His singing voice was mostly dubbed by Bill Lee.

Television

Plummer made his television debut in the February 1953 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation production of Othello, starring Lorne Greene as the Moor. He appeared regularly on American television throughout the 1950s, appearing on both dramatic showcase programs like The Alcoa Hour, G.E. True Theater, Kraft Theatre and Omnibus and episodic series. In 1956, he appeared with Jason Robards and Constance Ford in an episode entitled "A Thief There Was" of CBS's anthology series Appointment with Adventure.

In 1958, he appeared in the live television drama Little Moon of Alban with Julie Harris, for which he received his first Emmy Award nomination. He also appeared with Harris in the 1958 TV adaptation of Johnny Belinda and played Torvald Helmer to Harris' Nora in a 1959 television version of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House.

He also starred in the TV adaptations of Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story (1959), George Bernard Shaw's Captain Brassbound's Conversion (1960), Jean Anouilh's Time Remembered (playing the role of Prince Albert originated by Richard Burton on Broadway), and Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac (1962). In 1964, his performance of the Gloomy Dane in the BBC production Hamlet at Elsinore garnered his second Emmy nomination. Another notable play in which he appeared was the 1974 adaptation of Arthur Miller's After the Fall, in which he played Quentin (a part originated on Broadway by Jason Robards) opposite Faye Dunaway's Maggie.

He has appeared in almost 100 TV roles in all, including appearances as Herod Antipas in Jesus of Nazareth, the five-time Emmy Award-winning The Thorn Birds, the Emmy-winning Nuremberg, the Emmy-winning Little Moon of Alban and the Emmy-winning Moneychangers (for which he won his first Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series).

He co-starred in American Tragedy as F. Lee Bailey (for which he received a Golden Globe Nomination), and appeared in Four Minute Mile, Miracle Planet, and a documentary by Ric Burns about Eugene O'Neill. He received an Emmy nomination for his performance in Our Fathers and reunited with Julie Andrews for a television production of On Golden Pond. He was the narrator for The Gospel of John. He also co-starred with Gregory Peck in The Scarlet and The Black.

He narrated the animated television series Madeline, for which he received an Emmy, as well as the animated television series David the Gnome.

Other works

Plummer has also written for the stage, television and the concert-hall. He and Sir Neville Marriner rearranged Shakespeare's Henry V with Sir William Walton's music as a concert piece. They recorded the work with Marriner's chamber orchestra the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. He performed it and other works with the New York Philharmonic and symphony orchestras of London, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax. With Marriner he made his Carnegie Hall debut in his own arrangements of Mendelssohn's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In 2000 he reprised his role from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in the video game Star Trek: Klingon Academy. In 2011, he provided the voice of Arngeir, leader of the Greybeards, in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Honours and awards

Plummer has won many honours in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Austria. He was the first winner of Canada's Genie Award, for Best Actor in Murder by Decree (1980) and has received three other Genie nominations. Plummer has won two Tony Awards (from seven nominations), and two Emmy Awards (six nominations) in the United States, and Great Britain's Evening Standard Awards.

In 1968, he was invested as Companion of the Order of Canada, at the time among Canada's highest civilian honours. In 2001, he received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts. He was made an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at New York's Juilliard School and has received honorary doctorates from the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, McGill University, the University of Western Ontario, the University of Ottawa, and most recently the University of Guelph. Plummer was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1986 and into Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto in 1998.

His awards include the following:

• London Evening Standard Award as Best Actor (1961), for his portrayal of King Henry II in the stage play, Becket
• Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical (1974), for his lead role in Cyrano
• Emmy Award (1976), as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers
• Genie Award (1980), for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in Murder by Decree
• Emmy Award (1994), for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his work on the Family Channel's Madeline children's series
• Edwin Booth Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)
• Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play (1997), for his lead role in Barrymore
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award (1999) for The Insider
• Boston Society of Film Critics Award (1999) for The Insider
• Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre (2002)
• Golden Globe Award (2012) Best Supporting Actor for Beginners
• Academy Award (2012) Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Beginners

Personal life

Plummer has been married three times. Plummer was married to the actress Tammy Grimes for four years from 1956. The couple had a daughter, Amanda (born 1957), an acclaimed actress in her own right, but (as he mentions in his autobiography) he had no contact with her during her early and teenage years. They now maintain a friendly relationship. Plummer was married to journalist Patricia Lewis from May 4, 1962 until their divorce in 1967. He and his third wife, British dancer and actress Elaine Taylor, have been married since 1968 and live in a 100-year-old converted farm house in Connecticut.

Plummer's memoir, In Spite of Myself, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in November 2008. Plummer is a patron of Theatre Museum Canada.

Performances

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Stage Struck	Joe Sheridan
1958	Wind Across the Everglades	Walt Murdock
1964	Fall of the Roman Empire, TheThe Fall of the Roman Empire	Commodus
1965	Sound of Music, TheThe Sound of Music	Captain von Trapp
1966	Inside Daisy Clover	Raymond Swan
1966	Triple Cross	Eddie Chapman
1967	Night of the Generals, TheThe Night of the Generals	Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
1967	Oedipus the King	Oedipus
1968	Nobody Runs Forever	Sir James Quentin
1969	Battle of Britain	Squadron Leader Colin Harvey
1969	The Royal Hunt of the Sun	Atahualpa
1969	Lock Up Your Daughters!	Lord Foppington
1970	Waterloo	Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
1973	Pyx, TheThe Pyx	Dt. Sgt. Jim Henderson
1974	After the Fall	Quentin
1974	The Happy Prince	The Happy Prince	Animated short film
1975	Spiral Staircase, TheThe Spiral Staircase	Dr. Joe Sherman
1975	Return of the Pink Panther, TheThe Return of the Pink Panther	Sir Charles Litton
1975	Conduct Unbecoming	Maj. Alastair Wimbourne
1975	Man Who Would Be King, TheThe Man Who Would Be King	Rudyard Kipling
1975	Day That Shook the World, TheThe Day That Shook the World	Archduke Ferdinand of Austria
1976	Aces High	Capt. 'Uncle' Sinclair
1977	Assignment, TheThe Assignment	Captain Behounek
1977	Disappearance, TheThe Disappearance	Deverell
1977	Silver Blaze	Sherlock Holmes
1978	Silent Partner, TheThe Silent Partner	Harry Reikle
1978	International Velvet	John Seaton
1979	Starcrash	Emperor
1979	Murder by Decree	Sherlock Holmes	Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1979	Hanover Street	Paul Sellinger
1980	Somewhere in Time	William Fawcett Robinson
1981	Eyewitness	Joseph
1981	Amateur, TheThe Amateur	Professor Lakos	Nominated—Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1984	Lily in Love	Fitzroy Wynn / Roberto Terranova	Alternative English title: Playing for Keeps, Hungarian title: Játszani kell, directed by Károly Makk
1984	Dreamscape	Bob Blair
1984	Highpoint	James Hatcher
1984	Terror in the Aisles	Archival appearance	Documentary
1984	Ordeal by Innocence	Leo Argyle
1986	Boy in Blue, TheThe Boy in Blue	Knox
1986	Boss' Wife, TheThe Boss' Wife	Mr. Roalvang
1986	American Tail, AnAn American Tail	Henri	Voice talent
1986	Vampire in Venice	Professor Paris Catalano
1987	Dragnet	Reverend Jonathan Whirley
1987	I Love N.Y.	John Robertson Yeats
1987	Man Who Planted Trees, TheThe Man Who Planted Trees	Narrator
1987	Gnomes' Great Adventure, TheThe Gnomes' Great Adventure	Narrator
1988	Light Years	Metamorphis
1988	Shadow Dancing	Edmund Beaumont
1988	Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind, TheThe Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind	Narrator	Documentary
1989	Souvenir	Ernst Kestner
1989	Mindfield	Doctor Satorius
1989	Kingsgate
1990	Where the Heart Is	Jerry
1990	Red Blooded American Girl	Dr. John Alcore
1990	Money	Martin Yahl
1991	Firehead	Col. Garland Vaughn
1991	Rock-a-Doodle	Grand Duke	Voice talent
1991	Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country	General Chang
1992	Impolite	Naples O'Rorke	Nominated—Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
1992	Malcolm X	Chaplain Gill
1992	Liar's Edge	Harry Weldon
1994	Wolf	Raymond Alden
1994	Crackerjack	Ivan Getz
1995	Dolores Claiborne	Det. John Mackey
1995	12 Monkeys	Dr. Goines
1996	Conspiracy of Fear, TheThe Conspiracy of Fear	Joseph Wakeman	Video
1997	Babes in Toyland	Barnaby Crookedman	Voice talent
1998	Hidden Agenda	Ulrich Steiner
1998	First Christmas, TheThe First Christmas	Narrator	Voice role
1998	Blackheart	Holmes
1998	Clown at Midnight, TheThe Clown at Midnight	Mr. Caruthers
1999	Madeline: Lost in Paris	Narrator	Video Voice role
1999	Insider, TheThe Insider	Mike Wallace	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
2000	Dracula 2000	Abraham Van Helsing
2001	Lucky Break	Graham Mortimer
2001	Beautiful Mind, AA Beautiful Mind	Dr. Rosen	Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2001	Full Disclosure	Robert Lecker
2002	Ararat	David	Nominated—Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
2002	Nicholas Nickleby	Ralph Nickleby	National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
2003	Blizzard	Santa Claus	Nominated—Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
2003	Gospel of John, TheThe Gospel of John	Narrator
2003	Cold Creek Manor	Mr. Massie
2004	National Treasure	John Adams Gates
2004	Alexander	Aristotle
2005	Must Love Dogs	Bill Nolan
2005	Syriana	Dean Whiting
2005	New World, TheThe New World	Captain Newport
2006	Inside Man	Arthur Case
2006	Lake House, TheThe Lake House	Simon Wyler
2006	American Experience	Narrator/James Tyrone	Eugene O'Neill: A Documentary Film directed by Ric Burns
2007	Man in the Chair	Flash Madden
2007	Closing the Ring	Jack
2007	Emotional Arithmetic	David Winters	Nominated—Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
2007	Already Dead	Dr. Heller
2009	Caesar and Cleopatra	Julius Caesar	Also executive producer
2009	Up	Charles Muntz	Voice talent
2009	My Dog Tulip	J. R. Ackerley	Voice talent
2009	9	1	Voice talent
2009	Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, TheThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus	Doctor Parnassus
2009	Last Station, TheThe Last Station	Leo Tolstoy	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
2010	Beginners	Hal	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Detroit Film Critics Society for Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Hollywood Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actor Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Indiana Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Houston Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Nominated—Utah Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
2011	Priest	Monsignor Orelas
2011	Barrymore	John Barrymore
2011	Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, TheThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	Henrik Vanger
2013	The Legend of Sarila	Croolik	Voice talent
2014	Elsa & Fred	Fred Barcroft
2014	Hector and the Search for Happiness	Professor Coreman
2014	The Forger	Joseph Cutter
2015	Danny Collins	Frank Grubman
2015	Remember	Zev
2016	The Kaiser's Last Kiss	Kaiser Wilhelm	Post-production
2017	Boundaries	Jack	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Little Moon of Alban	Kenneth Boyd	Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1959	A Doll's House	Torvald Helmer	Live TV drama
1961	Playdate	Host
1962	Cyrano de Bergerac	Cyrano de Bergerac	Television film
1964	Hamlet at Elsinore	Hamlet	Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1971	Don Juan in Hell	Don Juan
1976	Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers	Roscoe Heyward	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1977	Jesus of Nazareth	Herod Antipas	TV miniseries
1979	Riel	John A. Macdonald	Television film
1980	Desperate Voyage	Burrifous	Television film
1980	Shadow Box, TheThe Shadow Box	Brian	Television film
1981	When the Circus Came to Town	Duke Royal	Television film
1982	Little Gloria... Happy at Last	Reggie Vanderbilt	TV miniseries
1983	Scarlet and the Black, TheThe Scarlet and the Black	Col. Herbert Kappler	Television film
1983	Thorn Birds, TheThe Thorn Birds	Archbishop Vittorio Contini-Verchese	TV miniseries Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1983	Prototype	Dr. Carl Forrester
1985	World of David the Gnome, TheThe World of David the Gnome	Narrator	Animated TV series
1985	Rumpelstiltskin	Narrator	Animated short film
1986	Crossings	Armand DeVilliers	TV miniseries
1986	Spearfield's Daughter	Lord Jack Cruze	Television film
1987	Hazard of Hearts, AA Hazard of Hearts	Sir Giles Staverley	Television film
1988-1991	Madeline	Narrator	Animated TV specials 6 specials
1989	Nabokov on Kafka	Vladimir Nabokov	TV short
1990	Ghost in Monte Carlo, AA Ghost in Monte Carlo	The Grand Duke Ivan	Television film
1990	Little Crooked Christmas Tree, TheThe Little Crooked Christmas Tree		TV short
1990-1993	Counterstrike	Alexander Addington	TV series 65 episodes
1991	Young Catherine	Sir Charles	TV miniseries
1991	Marriage: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, AA Marriage: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz	Alfred Stieglitz	Television film
1991	Berlin Lady	Wilhem Speer	TV miniseries
1991	First Circle, TheThe First Circle	Victor Abakumov	Television film
1992	Secrets	Mel Wexler	Television film
1993-1995	Madeline	Narrator	Animated TV series Seasons 1 and 2 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
1993	A Stranger in the Mirror	Clifton Lawrence	Television film
1995	Harrison Bergeron	John Klaxon	Television film
1996	We the Jury	Wilfred Fransiscus	Television film
1996	Skeletons	R. Carlyle	Television film
1997	Arrow, TheThe Arrow	George Hees	TV miniseries
1998	Winchell	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Television film
1999	Celebrate the Century	Himself	TV documentary
2000	Nuremberg	Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe	TV miniseries
2000	Dinosaur Hunter, TheThe Dinosaur Hunter	Hump Hinton	Television film
2000	Possessed	Archbishop Hume	Television film
2000	American Tragedy	F. Lee Bailey	TV miniseries Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2001	Leo's Journey	Narrator	Television film
2001	On Golden Pond	Norman Thayer	Television film
2002	Night Flight	'Flash' Harry Peters	TV series
2002	Agent of Influence	John Watkins	Television film
2005	Our Fathers	Cardinal Bernard Law	Television film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2005	Miracle Planet	Narrator	TV documentary 6 episodes
2008	The Summit	P.J. Aimes	TV Miniseries: 2 Episodes
2013	Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight	John Marshall Harlan II	TV film

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	J.B.	Nickles	Nominated- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
1974	Cyrano	Cyrano de Bergerac	Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical
1982	Othello	Iago	Nominated- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
1994	No Man's Land	Spooner	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
1997	Barrymore	John Barrymore	Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
2004	King Lear	King Lear	Nominated - Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
2007	Inherit the Wind	Henry Drummond	Nominated - Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role
2000	Star Trek: Klingon Academy	General Chang
2009	Up	Charles Muntz
2011	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Arngeir

[ Source: Wikipedia ]