Other notable New York City engagements have included The Dark Is Light Enough (1955), the devil in J.B. (1958), Arturo Ui (1963), Pizarro in The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1965), The Good Doctor (1971), the title roles in the musical Cyrano (1973) and the drama Barrymore (1996-98, both of which garnered him Tony Awards), Iago in Othello (1981-82) and Macbeth with Glenda Jackson (1988), and Pinter's No Man's Land (1995) with Jason Robards, Jr.

In 1961 he appeared at Stratford-upon-Avon, Eng, as Richard III while alternating in London as Henry II in Becket (winning the Evening Standard Award). He continued his British career at the National Theatre in revivals of Amphitryon 38 and Danton's Death in 1971 and The Scarlet Pimpernel at Chichester in 1985. His first King Lear was directed by Sir Peter Hall in 2001.

Between 1956 and 1967 he starred at Canada's STRATFORD FESTIVAL playing Henry V, Hamlet, Andrew Aguecheek, Mercutio, Leontes, Macbeth, Cyrano de Bergerac and Marc Antony, as well as other roles. He returned 26 years later on 13 July 1993 to help the festival celebrate its exact 40th anniversary day with a gala one-man show entitled A Word or Two, Before You Go. Barrymore made its 1996 Canadian debut at Stratford.

Among his more than 50 feature films are Stage Struck (1958), The Sound of Music (1965), Inside Daisy Clover (1966), Oedipus the King (1967), Lock Up Your Daughters! (1968), Waterloo (1970), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), The Silent Partner (1978), Murder by Decree (Genie Award, 1979), Dreamscape (1984), The Boy in Blue (1986), Stage Fright (1988), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Wolf (1994), Dolores Claiborne (1995), Monkeys (1996), Clown at Midnight, Hidden Agenda and Blackheart (all 1998), and the part of TV personality Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999).

His work on television is equally extensive. Highlights include Little Moon of Alban (1958) and Hamlet at Elsinore (BBC 1965), both nominated for Emmy Awards, The Money Changers (Emmy Award 1977), Sir John A. Macdonald in Riel (CBC 1979), Spearfield's Daughter (1986), The Young Catherine (Primedia 1991), the made-in-Canada series Counterstrike (1991-93) and Nuremberg (2000), filmed in Montréal.

Plummer is also a skilled narrator, heard on everything from cartoons to the soundtrack for the 1994 Barnes Art Exhibit in Toronto. He has recorded several books for young people, such as Alice in Wonderland and Mordecai RICHLER's Jacob Two-Two. An accomplished pianist, he has branched out musically to narrate concert versions of Henry V (with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1992-93), Peer Gynt (1995) and Prokofiev's Ivan the Terrible (1996). Other platform presentations have included a solo evening with Stephen Leacock and Love and Master Will, Shakespeare's verse in tandem with actress Zoe Caldwell.

Plummer, who became a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1968, has received many honours and awards for his work, including the National Arts Club of America gold medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts (1999). His daughter, Amanda Plummer (b 23 March 1957), has also had a successful acting career with roles in The Fisher King (1991) and Pulp Fiction (1994).