Until the 2009 Academy Awards were announced, it could be said about Christopher Plummer that he was arguably the finest actor of the post-World War II period to fail to get an Oscar nod. In that, he was following in the footsteps of the late great John Barrymore, whom Plummer so memorably portrayed on Broadway in a one-man show that brought him a Tony Award.Aside from the youngest member of the Barrymore siblings (which counted Ethel Barrymore and 'Lionel Barrymore' in their number), Christopher Plummer is the premier Shakespearean actor to come out of North America in the 20th century. He was particularly memorable as Hamlet, Iago and Lear, though his Macbeth opposite Glenda Jackson was -- and this was no surprise to him due to the famous curse attached to the "Scottish Play" -- a failure.Plummer also has given many fine portrayals on film, particularly as he got older and settled down into a comfortable marriage with his third wife. Like another great stage actor, Richard Burton, the younger Plummer failed to connect with the screen. Dynamic on stage, the charisma failed to transfer through the lens onto celluloid. Burton's early film career, when he was a contract player at 20th Century-Fox, failed to ignite, despite his garnering two Oscar nominations early on. He did not become a star until the mid-1960s, after hooking up with Elizabeth Taylor on the set of Cleopatra (1963). It was Liz who he credited with teaching him how to act on film, Burton said.Christopher Plummer never made it as a leading man in films. He did not become a star, lacking that je ne sais quoi that someone like a Gary Cooper or a Paul Newman had naturally. Perhaps if he had been born earlier (he made his debut in Toronto in 1929) into the studio system of Hollywood's golden age, he could have been carefully groomed for stardom. As it was, he shared the English stage actors' disdain -- and he was equally at home in London as he was on the boards of Broadway or on-stage in his native Canada -- for the movies, which did not help him in that medium, as he has confessed. As he aged, Plummer excelled at character parts. He was always a good villain, this man who garnered kudos playing Lucifer on Broadway in Archibald Macleish's Pulitzer Prize-winning "J.B."Though he likely always be remembered as "Captain Von Trapp" in the atomic bomb-strength blockbuster The Sound of Music (1965) (a film he publicly despised until softening his stance in his 2008 autobiography "In Spite of Me"), his later film work includes such outstanding performances as the best cinema Sherlock Holmes--other than Basil Rathbone -- in Murder by Decree (1979), the chilling villain in The Silent Partner (1978), his iconoclastic Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999), the empathetic psychiatrist in A Beautiful Mind (2001), and as Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009). It was this last role that finally brought him recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, when he was nominated as Best Actor in a supporting role.Plummer remains one of the most respected and honored actors performing in the English language. He's won two Emmy Awards out of six nominations stretching 46 years from 1959 and 2005, and one Genie Award in five nominations from 1980 to 2004. For his stage work, Plummer has racked up two Tony Awards on six nominations, the first in 1974 as Best Actor (Musical) for the title role in "Cyrano" and the second in 1997, as Best Actor (Play), in "Barrymore".Surprisingly, he did not win (though he was nominated) for his masterful 2004 performance of "King Lear", which he originated at the Stratford Festival in Ontario and brought down to Broadway for a sold-out run. His other Tony nominations show the wide range of his talent, from a 1959 nod for the Elia Kazan-directed production of Macleish's "J.B." to recognition in 1994 for Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land", with a 1982 Best Actor (Play) nomination for his "Iago" in William Shakespeare's "Othello".He continues to be a very in-demand character actor in prestigious motion pictures. If he were English rather than Canadian (he is the great-grandson of Sir John Abbott, the third Prime Minister of Canada) he'd have been knighted long ago. (In 1968, he was a made a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honor and one which requires the approval of the sovereign). If he were an American, he might have been honored by the Kennedy Center. If he lived in the company town of Los Angeles, he likely would have several more Oscar nominations to go with the one for "The Last Station."As it is, as attested to in his witty and well-written autobiography, Christopher Plummer has been amply rewarded in life. In 1970, Plummer - a self-confessed 43-year-old "bottle baby" - married his third wife, dancer Elaine Taylor, who helped wean him off his dependency on alcohol. They live happily with their dogs on a 30-acre estate in Weston, Connecticut and, although he spends the majority of his time in the United States, he remains a Canadian citizen.

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Fata cu un dragon tatuat) (2011) - Henrik Vanger 2. Priest (Priest: Răzbunătorul) (2011) - Monsignor Orelas

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3. The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010) - Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role 4. The Tempest (2010) - Prospero 5. Beginners (2010) - Hal

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6. My Dog Tulip (2009) - J.R. Ackerley (voice)

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7. Up (2009) - Charles Muntz (voice)

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8. 9 (9) (2009) - 1 (voice) 9. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) - Doctor Parnassus

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10. Man in the Chair (2007) - Flash Madden

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11. Inside Man (2006) - Arthur Case 12. The Lake House (2006) - Simon Wyler

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13. Syriana (2005) - Dean Whiting 14. Must Love Dogs (2005) - Bill 15. The New World (2005) - Captain Newport 16. Alexander (2004) - Aristotle 17. National Treasure (2004) - John Adams Gates 18. Cold Creek Manor (2003) - Mr. Massie 19. Nicholas Nickleby (Nicholas Nickleby) (2002) - Ralph Nickleby 20. Full Disclosure (2001) - Robert Lecker 21. A Beautiful Mind (2001) - Dr. Rosen 22. Dracula 2000 (2000) - Abraham Van Helsing 23. "Nuremberg" (2000) - Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe (unknown episodes) 24. The Insider (1999) - Mike Wallace 25. The American Film Institute Salute to Robert Wise (1998) - Himself 26. Dolores Claiborne (1995) - Det. John Mackey 27. Twelve Monkeys (1995) - Dr. Goines 28. Malcolm X (1992) - Chaplain Gill 29. Secrets (1992) - Mel Wexler 30. Michael Caine: Breaking the Mold (1991) - Hamlet (archive footage) (uncredited) 31. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) - General Chang 32. A Ghost in Monte Carlo (1990) - The Grand Duke Ivan 33. The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988) - Narrator (voice) 34. Nosferatu a Venezia (1988) - Professor Paris Catalano 35. A Hazard of Hearts (1987) - Sir Giles Staverley 36. Dragnet (1987) - Reverend Jonathan Whirley 37. Ordeal by Innocence (1985) - Leo Argyle 38. "David el gnomo" (1985) - Narrator (unknown episodes, 1985) 39. Lily in Love (1984) - Fitzroy Wynn / Roberto Terranova 40. The Thorn Birds (1983) - Archbishop Vittorio Contini-Verchese (4 episodes, 1983) 41. Eyewitness (1981) - Joseph 42. The Man Who Would Be King (1975) - Rudyard Kipling 43. The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) - Sir Charles Litton 44. 30 Minutes, Mister Plummer (1963) - Himself 45. Omnibus (1961) - Oedipus / ... (2 episodes, 1957-1958) 46. Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) - Captain Brassbound / ... (6 episodes, 1958-1962)

1. Father, with Tammy Grimes, of actress Amanda Plummer.

2. Awarded The Edwin Booth Lifetime Achievement Award by The Players, 1997.

3. He was awarded the C.C. (Companion of the Order of Canada) in the 1968 Queen's Honours List for his services to drama.

4. Grew up in the village of Senneville, Québec, Canada.

5. Is the great grandson of former Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Abbott.

6. On April 22 he was awarded the first Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre by the Roundabout Theatre. His The Sound of Music (1965) co-star Julie Andrews was among those in attendance. [April 2002]

7. His first paying part 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 years later when they both appeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).

8. He received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario on June 8, 2004.

9. Schoolmate of jazz piano master Oscar Peterson.

10. Has won two Tony Awards: in 1974, as Best Actor (Musical), playing the title role in "Cyrano," and in 1997, as Best Actor (Play), playing the title role of John Barrymore in "Barrymore." He has also been nominated for the Tony four other times: as Best Actor (Dramatic), in 1959 for "J.B.," and as Best Actor (Play), in 1982 for Shakespeare's "Othello," in 1994 for "No Man's Land," and in 2004 for Shakespeare's "King Lear."

11. He and his daughter Amanda Plummer both received Emmy nominations in 2005. She won, he didn't.

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

13. Was actually born on December 13, 1929, although most publications usually state his birthday as December 13, 1927.

14. Is only 13 years older than Charmian Carr who played his daughter in The Sound of Music (1965).

15. Invited to join to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences [2007].

16. One of 115 people invited to join AMPAS in 2007.

17. Turned down the role of Gandalf in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and admits to regretting that decision.

18. Has worked with both Obi-Wan Kenobis on film. Alec Guinness played his father in The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), while Plummer later played father to Ewan McGregor in Beginners (2010).

19. Has worked with two Spider-Mans. First he worked with Nicholas Hammond in The Sound of Music (1965), and later with Andrew Garfield in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009).

20. He and daughter Amanda Plummer have both appeared in adaptation of Stephen King novels. Amanda appeared in Needful Things (1993), while Christopher appeared in Dolores Claiborne (1995).

21. 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.

22. Is the only The Sound of Music actor to meet to real Maria Von Trapp in Vermont as a child.