It's officially Christopher Plummer Day here at Daydream Vaccination

Christopher Plummer is arguably the finest actor of the post-World War II period never to be nominated for an Academy Award--That's the first line of his IMDB biography.

He's a born leading man who almost never plays the lead. They mention his aristocratic Canadian lineage and European tendencies as possible reasons he's been overlooked for so long. I think if you asked Mr. Plummer if he's upset about never getting the Oscar-nod he'd say, "Pfff, what-evuh."

The guy's a slugger, a work horse, a laborer--the best kind of artist. At 77 years old, with film, stage and tv credits (at least two every year since 1975) going back to the 50's, he's only getting better.
While Deniro is doing Meet the Parents II (sucked balls) and Pacino can't seem to find a decent vehicle, Chris Plummer is taking supporting roles in killer movies like A Beautiful Mind, Syriana, and Terrance Mallick's latest The New World, and knocking them out of the park. Did you see him as Mike Wallace in The Insider? Dope. And by the way, no living American actor does Shakespeare or O'Neil better--he makes Kevin Spacey look like Hasselhoff.

I was saddenend to learn that he "despises" The Sound of Music. (Is the Sound of Music considered light weight material?) It's a classic amongst classics and he should be proud. But maybe that's what has kept him so hungry. Captain Von Trapp is, no doubt, Mr. Plummer's Kramer, Captain Kirk, Norm Peterson...etc. There's no role he can possibly play that would eclipse it in the public consciousness. So, maybe he's going a different route? Can the sum of all character roles outshine the whole of one legendary lead?