Editing Christopher Plummer (section)

==Early life and education==
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer<ref name="TVGuide">{{Cite web |title=Christopher Plummer |url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christopher-plummer/3000029379/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131214431/https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/christopher-plummer/3000029379/ |archive-date=January 31, 2022 |access-date=January 31, 2022 |website=[[TV Guide]] }}</ref> was born on December 13, 1929,<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 13, 2021 |title=Famous birthdays for Dec. 13: Steve Buscemi, Jamie Foxx |url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2021/12/13/Famous-birthdays-for-Dec-13-Steve-Buscemi-Jamie-Foxx/7841639324644/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131040239/https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2021/12/13/Famous-birthdays-for-Dec-13-Steve-Buscemi-Jamie-Foxx/7841639324644/ |archive-date=January 31, 2022 |access-date=January 31, 2022 |website=[[United Press International]] }}</ref> in [[Toronto, Ontario]].<ref name="TVGuide"/> He was the only child of John Orme Plummer (1894–1977), who sold stocks and other securities,<ref name="beachmtr1">{{cite news| url=http://www.beachmetro.com/2015/05/19/famous-son-forgotten-father/| title=A famous son, a forgotten father| newspaper=Beach Metro Community News| first=Bernie| last=Fletcher| date=May 19, 2015| access-date=October 28, 2015| archive-date=November 16, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116082432/http://www.beachmetro.com/2015/05/19/famous-son-forgotten-father/| url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Isabella Mary Abbott]], who worked as secretary to the Dean of Sciences at [[McGill University]], and was the granddaughter of Canadian prime minister Sir [[John Abbott]].<ref name="life">{{cite episode| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sILs0PQRoc4| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228080717/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sILs0PQRoc4| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 28, 2020| series=[[Life and Times (TV series)|Life and Times]]| title=A Man for All Stages: The Life and Times of Christopher Plummer| date=November 12, 2002| access-date=August 15, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Plummer|2008|p=27}}</ref> On his father's side, Plummer's great-uncle was patent lawyer and agent [[F. B. Fetherstonhaugh]].<ref name=beachmtr1/> Plummer was also a cousin of a Canadian classical pianist [[Janina Fialkowska]]<ref>Christopher Plummer, ''In Spite of Myself'', New York (Knopf), 2008, p. 590ff</ref> and a second cousin of British actor [[Nigel Bruce]], known for portraying Doctor Watson to [[Basil Rathbone]]'s [[Sherlock Holmes]].<ref>{{harvnb|Plummer|2008|p=63}}</ref> 

Plummer's parents separated shortly after his birth, and he was brought up mainly by his mother in the Abbott family home in [[Senneville, Quebec]], on the western tip of the [[Island of Montreal]]. Aside from English, he spoke French fluently.<ref name="ref122">{{cite news| last=Witchel| first=Alex| title=Christopher Plummer's legendary life, wonderfully retold| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| date=November 19, 2008| url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/books/review/Witchel-t.html| access-date=April 22, 2021| archive-date=November 13, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113021842/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/books/review/Witchel-t.html| url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ref1212">{{cite news| last=Hartigan| first=Patti| title=Starring as the Star-Crossed Actor Who was Also a Rake and Rebel, Christopher Plummer does Barrymore by the Book| work=The Boston Globe| date=January 19, 1997| url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADDC8B6EB6EACF&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D| access-date=December 16, 2009| archive-date=February 28, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228080723/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADDC8B6EB6EACF&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D| url-status=live}}</ref> As a schoolboy, he began studying to be a concert pianist, but developed a love for theatre at an early age, and began acting while he was attending the [[High School of Montreal]].<ref name="ctv">{{cite news| title=Montrealer Christopher Plummer triumphs at Academy Awards| url=http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montrealer-christopher-plummer-triumphs-at-academy-awards-1.774200| work=CTV News| date=February 27, 2012| access-date=July 25, 2012| archive-date=November 18, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118142640/https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montrealer-christopher-plummer-triumphs-at-academy-awards-1.774200| url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="schooldays">{{cite news| title=Back to his school days| url=http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=c4899e18-9107-4bb5-857f-d85f178b7383| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118234828/http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=c4899e18-9107-4bb5-857f-d85f178b7383&sponsor=|url-status=dead| archive-date=January 18, 2013| newspaper=Montreal Gazette| agency=Postmedia News| date=June 3, 2006| access-date=July 25, 2012}}</ref> He took up acting after watching [[Laurence Olivier]]'s film ''[[Henry V (1944 film)|Henry V]]'' (1944).<ref>{{cite news| date=April 28, 1983| title=Stars gather to Honour Olivier's Career| url=https://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=6MgPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1owDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5187,7955556| newspaper=[[Boca Raton News]]| agency=[[Associated Press]]| page=4B| access-date=August 15, 2018| archive-date=February 28, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228080726/https://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=6MgPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1owDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5187,7955556| url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Christopher Plummer |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/christopher-plummer|access-date=December 14, 2020|website=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> He learned the basics of acting as an apprentice with the Montreal Repertory Theatre, where fellow Montrealer [[William Shatner]] also played.<ref name=":0"/>

Plummer never attended university, something he regretted all his life.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 9, 2009|title=Renowned actor Christopher Plummer receives honorary degree (Includes first-hand account)|url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/273876|access-date=December 14, 2020|website=digitaljournal.com|archive-date=February 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219225948/http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/273876|url-status=live}}</ref> Although his mother and his father's family had ties with McGill University, he was never a McGill student.<ref>{{Cite news|title=McGill gives honorary degrees to Plummer, Huston|language=en-US|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/mcgill-gives-honorary-degrees-to-plummer-huston-1.589482|access-date=December 14, 2020|archive-date=April 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401022803/https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/mcgill-gives-honorary-degrees-to-plummer-huston-1.589482|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1946, he caught the attention of ''[[Montreal Gazette]]''{{'}}s theatre critic Herbert Whittaker with his performance as Mr. Darcy in a Montreal High School production of ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]''. Whittaker was also amateur stage director of the Montreal [[Repertory theatre]], and he cast Plummer at age 18 as [[Oedipus]] in [[Jean Cocteau]]'s ''La Machine infernale''.<ref name="post">{{cite news| newspaper=[[National Post]]| title=Helping Canada overcome stage fright| url=https://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=3c4a7e4a-1c87-443e-8010-bb50fe1bf0f5| first=Robert| last=Fulford| author-link=Robert Fulford (journalist)| year=2006| url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129160205/http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=3c4a7e4a-1c87-443e-8010-bb50fe1bf0f5| archive-date=January 29, 2013| df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="mcgill">{{cite web| newspaper=McGill News| title=The Festive Season| first=Diana| last=Ayton| url=http://publications.mcgill.ca/mcgillnews/2006/08/07/the-festive-season| date=Summer 2006| publisher=McGill University| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827161608/http://publications.mcgill.ca/mcgillnews/2006/08/07/the-festive-season/| archive-date=August 27, 2011| df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="CTE">{{cite encyclopedia| first1=Gaetan| last1=Charlebois| first2=Anne| last2=Nothof| title=Plummer, Christopher| url=http://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?| encyclopedia=Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia| date=June 28, 2012| publisher=[[Athabasca University]]| access-date=July 25, 2012| archive-date=August 7, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807211008/http://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl| url-status=live}}</ref>