- Born
- Birth nameAmanda Michael Plummer
- Height5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
- The daughter of Canadian actor Christopher Plummer and American actress Tammy Grimes, Amanda Plummer was born in New York City on March 23, 1957. Her breakthrough role came when she starred opposite Robin Williams in The Fisher King (1991). However, Plummer may be best remembered for her work in the Quentin Tarantino classic Pulp Fiction (1994). Tarantino wrote the parts of two robbers who hold up a restaurant specifically for Plummer and her partner-in-screen-crime Tim Roth. Since that stand-out role, Plummer has continued to appear in a wide variety of films, including The Prophecy (1995), Freeway (1996), and My Life Without Me (2003). Plummer has also appeared in the films Butterfly Kiss (1995) as "Eunice" by Michael Winterbottom, My Life Without Me (2003) by Isabel Coixet, Pax (1994) by Eduardo Guedes, Daniel (1983) by Sidney Lumet, Ken Park (2002) by Larry Clark and, lately, The Making of Plus One (2010) and Inconceivable (2008), both by Mary McGuckian.
She has often performed on stage. Her highly acclaimed work on Broadway has garnered her a Tony award and two Tony Award nominations as well as the Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award. She was honored with three Emmy awards, and one Emmy nomination, a Saturn Award, a DVDX nomination, a CableAce Award and a Golden Globe nomination. In 1988, she was honored with the Anti-Defamation League Award for Woman of Achievement.
On stage, Plummer appeared as Alma in Tennessee Williams's "Summer and Smoke" with Kevin Anderson, directed by Michael Wilson. At the Stratford Theater in Ontario, she was Joan of Arc in an original adaptation of "The Lark" by Jean Anouilh, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.
She appeared as Polly in "The Gnadiges Fraulein" with Elizabeth Ashley, and as Kyra in the world premiere of "One Exception", both by Tennessee Williams, at the Hartford Stage.
On Broadway, she appeared as Jo in "A Taste of Honey" (nominated for a Tony Award, and Drama Desk Award, and received the Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre World Awards); as Agnes in "Agnes of God" with Geraldine Page (Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle, and Boston Critics Awards); as Eliza in "Pygmalion" with Peter O'Toole and John Mills (Tony Award nomination); as Laura in "The Glass Menagerie" with Jessica Tandy; and as Dolly in "You Never Can Tell" by George Bernard Shaw.
Among her off-Broadway shows are "A Lie of the Mind" as Beth, directed and written by Sam Shepard with Harvey Keitel, Aidan Quinn and Geraldine Page, "Killer Joe" by Tracy Letts, "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More" by Tennessee Williams, and "A Taste of Honey" with Valerie French. In England, at the Guilford Theatre, she appeared as Eliza Doolittle in "Pygmalion," and at the Royal Court Theatre performed in "This Is a Chair," directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Carol Churchill.
Her regional work includes Juliet in "Romeo & Juliet" (Hollywood Dramalogue Award) and Sonya in "Uncle Vanya," Frankie in "A Member of the Wedding," "Two Rooms," and "The Wake of Jamey Foster" by Beth Henley.
In television, she is the recipient of three Emmy Awards, one Emmy nomination, a Cable Ace Award, and a Golden Globe nomination. She appeared as Lucky in the filmed workshop, "Core Sample - Goli Otok" with Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave, directed by Lenka Udovicki, the artistic director of The Ulysses Theater on Brijuni, Croatia, and also in Lucky McKee's film Red (2008).- IMDb mini biography by: Azure_Girl and Marina PP
- ChildrenNo Children
- Parents
- She and her father both received Emmy nominations in 2005. She won but he did not.
- Two of her first four roles were in films adapted from John Irving novels: The World According to Garp (1982) and The Hotel New Hampshire (1984).
- Daughter of Christopher Plummer and Tammy Grimes.
- When she was a girl Amanda wanted to be a jockey. When she was 14, she passed an audition at the Belmont track, riding for Alfred Vanderbilt's stables. Of that she said: "Those were the greatest years of my life."
- Amanda is the only Tony winner whose parents are also both Tony winners. Father Christopher Plummer has been nominated 7 times, winning twice: 1974 for "Cyrano"(Lead Actor in a Musical) and 1997 for "Barrymore"(Lead Actor in a Play). Mother Tammy Grimes has 2 nominations/wins: 1961 for "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"(Featured Actress in a Musical) and 1970 for "Private Lives"(Lead Actress in a Play).
- I like devilish, thorny, dirty, mean roles, muck and mire, unbelievably sad, unbelievably happy, burdened. Inner conflict - that's where drama is.
- Producers generally don't like me; directors do, generally. Convincing the producers is hard. They can't see the commercial value behind such a face, nor would they get a commercial value, necessarily - and I don't mean that in a good way or a bad way.
- I like taking a path into new country, and I always take the darker path. Not because it's dark, but because there's a secret there that you can share when you get out. That's what I liked as a kid. That's how I approach my work. With a face like mine, it's lucky I have a heart that likes that.
- I don't find anything interesting about the choices a character faces in major films or theater projects. The characters are just cut-out dolls with the American flag sewn on them.
- I don't play roles everybody likes. I'd rather have a career I'm proud of. Like everyone else, I need to eat. But I'm a very unbusinesslike person, and I keep my price low. I'm not a mass product. I'm not everyone's cup of tea.
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