On this day in 2021, Christopher Plummer died. He is the only Canadian actor to win the Triple Crown of Acting (an Emmy, Tony and Academy Award). His career spanned decades and included many iconic roles. Let's learn more about this great actor :) 🧵1/16 - ThreadSky

cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social • 26 days ago

On this day in 2021, Christopher Plummer died.
He is the only Canadian actor to win the Triple Crown of Acting (an Emmy, Tony and Academy Award).
His career spanned decades and included many iconic roles.
Let's learn more about this great actor :)

🧵1/16

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•26 days ago

Christopher Plummer was born on Dec. 13, 1929 in Toronto. His great-grandfather was Sir John Abbott, the third Prime Minister of Canada.
He was also related to Maude Abbott, one of Canada's first female doctors, and Dr. Norman Bethune, another famous doctor.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•26 days ago

His parents separated when he was a baby and he was raised by his mother in the Abbott home in Senneville, Quebec. Fluently bilingual, he was inspired to pursue acting after seeing Laurence Olivier in Henry V in 1944.
He soon began acting in theatre in Montreal.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•26 days ago

In 1948, Plummer made his professional acting debut with Ottawa's Stage Society. Another actor with him at the time was William Shatner.
In January 1953, Plummer made his Broadway debut in The Starcross Story.
The next month, he made his CBC TV debut in Othello.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•26 days ago

In 1956, he made his debut with the Stratford Festival. He also continued to act on Broadway and earned his first Tony nomination in 1959. The year earlier, he earned his first Emmy nomination for his role in Little Moon of Alban.

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•26 days ago

In 1963, the NFB released 30 Minutes, Mister Plummer.
Two years later, he began a rapid rise to fame with his role as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. The film won five Academy Awards. Plummer disliked the movie, calling it "awful and sentimental and gooey".

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cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•26 days ago

Now a leading man in Hollywood, he began to act in a variety of films including Oedipus the King in 1968, Battle of Britain in 1969, Waterloo in 1970 and The Man Who Would Be King in 1975.
He won his first of two Tony Awards in 1974 for his role in Cyrano.

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skirri.bsky.social•26 days ago

As schmaltzy as The Sound of Music may have been, Plummer is becoming known to younger generations with the GIF of him ripping up the Naz¡ flag.

Funny thing... no matter what search terms I use, none of my GIF tools can find it anymore.

skirri.bsky.social•26 days ago

In addition to Shatner, a Stratford contemporary was Bruno Gerussi.

simon-63.bsky.social•26 days ago

You should do Bethune.

cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social•26 days ago

I have a thread on his life coming on March 4 in honour of his birthday. Until then, here is a deep dive into his life I wrote :)
https://canadaehx.com/2023/04/04/dr-norman-bethune/

simon-63.bsky.social•26 days ago

Thank you.

ickedette24.bsky.social•26 days ago

Okay ... "Norman Bethune, another famous doctor" ... ???

Oops.

I will expect a whole looooong thread about him, very soon.
A bona fide Canadian hero.

unborn-linoleum.bsky.social•26 days ago

just recently rewatched a movie i'd seen parts of on tv repeatedly as a kid: The Silent Partner. plummer is excellent as the sociopathic bank robber. quite shocking violence though, beware. it's like his anti-sound of music movie. great all round film, i'd highly rec.

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