In Spite of Myself

A collection of delicious anecdotes of a life spent on stages and film sets across the world—from Peter Hall’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre to The Sound of Music—from one of our greatest actors.

Christopher Plummer’s magnificent book recounts the wild adventure that was his life, stretching from a privileged childhood in Canada to the glorious, star-studded New York of the fifties to a sensational career in film appearing in some of our most beloved classics. Here are his late nights out with Carson McCullers, Tennessee Williams, Paddy Chayefsky, and Arthur Miller; his affairs and marriages; his collaborations with famed producers; and his memorable roles alongside fellow young and talented actors, each also destined for stardom: Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Peter O’Toole, Natalie Wood, and countless others.

Christopher Plummer was born in Toronto, Ontario. He acted in more than 100 feature films, including The Man Who Would Be King, The Sound of Music, Stage Struck, and The Insider, and he starred in three of the world's most important theatre companies: Great Britain's National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Stratford Festival of Canada. He received two Tony Awards for Best Actor (Barrymore; Cyrano), and he was nominated for the award seven other times. He also received a London Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for Becket. He received Emmys, the John Gielgud Quill Award, the Edwin Booth Award (Barrymore), The Jason Robards Award for Excellence, and was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Beginners. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role in All the Money in the World. He died in 2021.