Career: Plummer made his Broadway debut in 1953 in The Starcross Story - a play that lasted just one night. He had better luck with his next show, Home is the Hero, which lasted for 30 performances. He has since appeared successfully on stages around the world, including London. Plummer's film career began in 1958 when he was cast in Stage Struck, but it was The Sound of Music in 1965 that made him an international star. Since then, he has been a heavily in-demand character actor and appeared in a number of notable films, including The Night of the Generals (1967), The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Malcolm X (1992), The Insider (1999), A Beautiful Mind (2001) and The Lake House (2006). He received his first Academy Award nomination in 2009 for The Last Station, but lost out to Christoph Waltz. He had better luck in 2012 when he won an Oscar for his performance in Beginners (2010). His recent credits include Priest (2011) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).

Career: Mason remained in the theatre until he began securing minor roles in films. He became popular in the 1940s for playing brooding anti-heroes in a number of Gainsborough melodramas, including The Man in Grey (1943) and The Wicked Lady (1945). His big break came when he landed the lead role in box-office smash The Seventh Veil (1945). This opened the door to Hollywood and he went on to star in a number of popular films, including Julius Caesar (1953), The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951), A Star is Born (1954), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), North by Northwest (1959), Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959), Lolita (1962), and Georgy Girl (1966). His role in The Verdict (1982) earned him his third and final Academy Award nomination - the other two were for Georgy Girl and A Star is Born. He died on July 27, 1984, in Switzerland, a country he had called home since 1963.

Career: A late starter, Finlay didn't appear in the West End until he was 31. After making a series of acclaimed performances in various plays, he was invited to join Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company. He starred opposite the legendary actor in Othello, and then reprised the role on the big screen in 1965, bagging an Oscar nomination in the process. Other major projects included Dennis Potter's version of Casanova, The Three Musketeers, and controversial TV drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire. He also featured in Common as Muck, Longitude, The Sins, Station Jim, Johnny and the Bomb, The Pianist and Life Begins. He died on January 30, 2016, from heart failure after a long illness. He was 89.

Career: Sutherland appeared in several British TV dramas before making his film debut in 1964's Crypt of Horror. He named his eldest son after its director, Warren Kiefer. More small-screen and low-budget movie projects followed until 1967's The Dirty Dozen. That led to bigger roles in acclaimed films, including 1970's MASH, which made him a star. Impressive yet occasionally offbeat performances followed in films such as Kelly's Heroes, Klute, Don't Look Now, The Eagle Has Landed, Animal House, Ordinary People and JFK. More recently he's featured in Dirty Sexy Money, Astro Boy (as the voice of President Stone), The Hunger Games and The Pillars of the Earth.