Amanda Plummer Biography

Amanda Michael Plummer (born March 23, 1957) is an actress best known for her work on stage and for her roles in films such as The Fisher King (1991), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), and Pulp Fiction (1994).

Life and career

Plummer was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of Christopher Plummer and Tammy Grimes.

Plummer received critical acclaim for her film work. Her first role was as Cattle Annie in Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1981), with Burt Lancaster and Diane Lane (Little Britches) and was followed by roles in The World According to Garp (1982), Daniel (1983), and The Hotel New Hampshire (1984). Other films of note include ; "The Fisher King" as Lydia opposite Robin Williams and directed by Terry Gilliam, for which she received a BAFTA 1992 film nomination, a Chicago Film Critics Association Award 1992 nomination, and a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award 2nd place, for best supporting actress ; "Pulp Fiction" as Honey Bunny directed by Quentin Tarrantino, for which she received an American Comedy Award nomination for funniest supporting role in a motion picture; "Girlfriend" as Celeste directed by Justin Lerner, Official Selection of the 2010 Toronto Film Festival; "Butterfly Kiss" as Eunice directed by Michael Winterbottom; "My Life Without Me" directed by Isabel Coixet; "Vampire" as Helga directed by Iwai Shunji; "Ken Park" directed by Larry Clark.

She made her Broadway debut as Jo in the 1981 revival of A Taste of Honey which ran for almost a year with Valerie French playing the mother. She received a Tony Award nomination and Theatre World Award and Drama Desk Award nomination and Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for her portrayal. She won the Tony Award for Featured Actress and a Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Boston Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of Agnes in the play Agnes of God, with Geraldine Page and Elizabeth Ashley. In 1983 she portrayed Laura Wingfield opposite Jessica Tandy's Amanda Wingfield in the Broadway revival of The Glass Menagerie. Her other Broadway performances include Dolly Clandon in You Never Can Tell with Uta Hagen (1986) and Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (1987) with Peter O'Toole and Sir John Mills, for the latter of which she received a third Tony Award nomination (1986"87) for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.. Off-Broadway plays include her portrayal as Beth in Sam Shepard's play "A Lie of the Mind" with Geraldine Page and Harvey Keitel and Will Patton and directed by Sam Shepard, and in "Killer Joe" by Tracy Letts with Michael Shannon. Plummer has done many of Tennessee Williams plays along with "The Glass Menagerie" such as "Summer and Smoke" as Alma opposite Kevin Anderson, and "Gnagdes Fraulein" as the sumptuous Polly, and "The Milktrain Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" and the world premiere of "One Exception".

In 1996 she won an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on the episode "Stitch in Time" of the Outer Limits, In 2005, she also won an Emmy for her role as Miranda Cole in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Weak", in which she played a schizophrenic. Two other well-known roles were Yolanda (a.k.a. "Honey Bunny") in Pulp Fiction and Rose in So I Married An Axe Murderer.

Plummer was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and received another Emmy Award for her performance in "Miss Rose White", a Hallmark made for television film, about surviving the Holocaust. She was later given the Anti-Defamation League Award, and for her performance in "Last LIght" 1993 for showtime directed by Keifer Sutherland, she received a Cable Ace Award nomination.

Other awards include the Hollywwod Drama Critics Award for her performance of Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" [theatre], the Saturn Award for her performance as Nettie in "Needful Things" [ film ] and a Cable Ace Award for her performance in "The Right To Remain Silent" (T.V.)

In July 2012, Plummer was cast as Wiress, a former tribute who won the Hunger Games, in the film, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, based on Catching Fire, the second novel of The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins.

Plummer currently stars alongside Brad Dourif in the critically acclaimed Off Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' The Two Character Play at New World Stages. This production marks her return to the New York stage after nearly fifteen years.

Work

Filmography

• Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1981), as Anna Emmaline McDoulet or Cattle Annie, with Diane Lane as Little Britches
• The World According to Garp (1982)
• Daniel (1983)
• The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)
• The Dollmaker (1984)
• Static (1986)
• Courtship (1987)
• Made in Heaven (1987)
• Prisoners of Inertia (1989)
• Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
• The Fisher King (1991)
• Freejack (1992)
• Miss Rose White (1992)
• So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
• Needful Things (1993)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Pax (1994)
• Butterfly Kiss (1995)
• Nostradamus (1995)
• The Final Cut (1995)
• The Prophecy (1995)
• Drunks (1995)
• Dead Girl (1996)
• Freeway (1996)
• The Right To Remain Silent (1996)
• Don't Look Back (1996)
• American Perfekt (1997)
• Hercules (1997) (voice) - (The Fates)
• A Simple Wish (1997)
• You Can Thank Me Later (1998)
• L.A. Without a Map (1998)
• Hysteria (1998)
• October 22 (1998)
• 8½ Women (1999)
• The Apartment Complex (1999)
• The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)
• Seven Days to Live (2000)
• The Gray in Between (2002)
• Triggermen (2002)
• Get a Clue (2002)
• Ken Park (2002)
• My Life Without Me (2003)
• Mimic 3: Sentinel (2003)
• Satan's Little Helper (2004)
• WordGirl (2007) (voice)
• Inconceivable (2008)
• Red (2008)
• Affinity (2008)
• 45 R.P.M. (2008)
• The Making of Plus One (2009)
• Sophomore (2009)
• Girlfriend (2010 film)
• Small Apartments (2012)
• I Have to Buy New Shoes (2012)
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Stage

• A Month in the Country (off-Broadway) (1979)
• A Taste of Honey (1981) (Tony Award nominee-Best Actress)
• Agnes of God (1982) (Tony Award winner-Best Featured Actress)
• The Glass Menagerie (revival) (1983)
• A Lie of the Mind (off-Broadway) (1985)
• You Never Can Tell (revival) (1986)
• Pygmalion (revival) (1987) (Tony Award nominee-Best Actress)
• Abundance (off-Broadway) (1990)
• Killer Joe (off-Broadway) (1998)
• The Lark (Stratford Shakespeare Festival) (2005)
• Summer and Smoke (Hartford/Paper Mill) (2006, 2007)
• The Two-Character Play (New World Stages NYC) (2013)

Television

• ABC Afterschool Special episode "The Unforgivable Secret" (1982)
• LA Law numerous episodes (1989) - Alice
• Tales from the Crypt episode "Lover Come Hack to Me" (1989) - Peggy
• Miami Vice episode, "Fruit of the Poison Tree" (1989) - Plays a Senior Associate Lawyer
• Under the Piano, television film
• The Outer Limits episodes "Stitch in Time" (1996) and "Final Appeal" (2000) - plays Dr. Theresa Givens in both episodes
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Weak" (2004)
• Battlestar Galactica episode "Exodus" (2006) - Oracle Selloi
• Phineas and Ferb episodes "Isabella and the Temple of Sap" (2009), "Excaliferb" (2012) and "Bee Story" (2013) [voice of Professor Poofenplotz]

Radio

• CBS Radio Mystery Theater May 1, 1981, episode 1192 "The Voices"
• CBS Radio Mystery Theater October 29, 1981, episode 1255 "In Touch"