Christopher Lee
Encyclopedia
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE
, CStJ
(born 27 May 1922) is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula
in a string of Hammer Horror
films. Other notable roles include Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man (1973), Francisco Scaramanga
in The Man with the Golden Gun
(1974), Saruman
in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
(2001–2003), and Count Dooku
in the final two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002, 2005). Lee considers his most important role to have been his portrayal of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah
in the biopic Jinnah
(1998). He is well known for his deep, strong voice and imposing height.
Lee has performed roles in 275 films since 1947 making him the Guinness book world record holder for most film acting roles ever. He was knighted
in 2009 and received the BAFTA Fellowship
in 2011.
, Westminster
, as the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Trollope Lee, of the 60th King's Royal Rifle Corps
, and his wife, Contessa
Estelle Marie (née Carandini di Sarzano). Lee's mother was a famous Edwardian beauty who was painted by Sir John Lavery
as well as by Oswald Birley
and Olive Snell, and sculpted by Clare F. Sheridan
. Lee's maternal great-grandfather was an Italian
political refugee, and his great-grandmother was English-born Australian
singer Marie Carandini
.
His parents separated when he was very young, and his mother took him and his sister to Switzerland
. After enrolling in Miss Fisher's Academy in Wengen
, he played his first villainous role as Rumpelstiltskin
. The family returned to London, where Lee attended Wagner's private school. His mother then married Harcourt "Ingle" Rose, a banker and stepcousin of Ian Fleming
, author of the James Bond
novels. Lee spent some time at Summer Fields School
, a preparatory school in Oxford (notable for sending many alumni to Eton). Lee applied unsuccessfully for a scholarship to Eton
although the interview was to prove portentous because of the presence of the noted ghost story
author M. R. James
. Lee later claimed in his autobiography that James had cut a very impressive figure; sixty years later Lee played the part of M.R. James for the BBC
.
Instead, Lee attended Wellington College, where he won scholarships in classics
.
forces during the Winter War
against the Soviet Union
in 1939; however, he along with other British volunteers were kept away from actual fighting, although he was issued winter gear and was posted on guard duty a safe distance from the frontlines. He went on to serve in the Royal Air Force
and intelligence services during World War II
, including serving as an Intelligence officer with the Long Range Desert Group
. He trained in South Africa
as a pilot, but eyesight problems forced him to drop out. He eventually ended up in North Africa
as Cipher Officer for No. 260 Squadron RAF
and was with it through Sicily
and Italy
. Additionally, he has mentioned (including in his audio commentary on the Lord of the Rings DVD) serving in Special Operations Executive
. Lee retired from the RAF after the end of the war with the rank of Flight Lieutenant
.
after discussing his interest in acting with his mother's second cousin
Nicolò Carandini
, the Italian Ambassador. Carandini related to Lee that performance was in his blood, as his great-grandmother Marie Carandini
had been a successful opera singer, a fact of which Lee was unaware. He made his film debut in Terence Young's Gothic romance
Corridor of Mirrors in 1947.
Also in 1947, Lee made an uncredited appearance in Laurence Olivier
's film version of Hamlet
as a spear carrier (marking his first film with frequent co-star and close friend Peter Cushing
, who played Osric). Throughout the next decade, he made nearly 30 films, playing mostly stock action characters.
Lee's first film for Hammer
was The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), in which he played Frankenstein's monster
, with Cushing as the Baron. A little later, Lee co-starred with Boris Karloff
in the film Corridors of Blood
(1958), but Lee's own appearance as Frankenstein's monster led to his first appearance as the Transylvania
n vampire in the 1958 film Dracula
(known as Horror of Dracula in the US).
Stories vary as to why Lee did not feature in the 1960 sequel The Brides of Dracula. Some state that Hammer was unwilling to pay Lee his current fee, but most tend to believe that he simply did not wish to be typecast. Lee did, however, return to the role in Hammer's Dracula: Prince of Darkness
in 1965. Lee's performance is notable in that he has no lines, merely hissing his way through the film. Again, stories vary as to the reason for this: Lee states he refused to speak the poor dialogue he was given, but screenwriter Jimmy Sangster
claims that the script did not contain any lines for the character. This film set the standard for most of the Dracula sequels in the sense that half the film's running time was spent on telling the story of Dracula's resurrection and the character's appearances were brief. Lee has gone on record to state that he was virtually "blackmailed" by Hammer into starring in the subsequent films; unable or unwilling to pay him his going rate, they would resort to reminding him of how many people he would put out of work if he did not take part.
His roles in the films Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
(1968), Taste the Blood of Dracula
(1969), and Scars of Dracula
(1970) all gave the Count very little to do, but were all commercially successful. Although Lee may not have liked what Hammer was doing with the character, worldwide audiences embraced the films, which are now considered classics of the genre. Lee starred in two further Dracula films for Hammer in the early 1970s, both of which attempted to bring the character into the modern-day era. These were not commercially successful.
Lee's other work for Hammer included The Mummy
(1959). Lee portrayed Rasputin in Rasputin, the Mad Monk
(Lee apparently met Rasputin's assassin Felix Yussupov when he was a child) and Sir Henry Baskerville (to Cushing's Sherlock Holmes
) in The Hound of the Baskervilles
(1959). Lee later played Holmes himself in 1962's Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
, and returned to Holmes films with Billy Wilder's British-made The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
(1970), in which he plays Sherlock's smarter brother, Mycroft
. Lee played a leading role in the German film The Puzzle of the Red Orchid
(1962), speaking German, which he had learned during his education in Switzerland.
He was responsible for bringing acclaimed occult author Dennis Wheatley
to Hammer. The company made two films from Wheatley's novels, both starring Lee. The first, The Devil Rides Out
(1967), is generally considered to be one of Hammer's crowning achievements. According to Lee, Wheatley was so pleased with it that he offered the actor the film rights to his remaining black magic novels free of charge. However, the second film, To the Devil a Daughter
(1976), was fraught with production difficulties and was disowned by its author. Although financially successful, it was Hammer's last horror film and marked the end of Lee's long association with the studio that brought him fame.
Like Cushing, Lee also appeared in horror films for other companies during the 20-year period from 1957 to 1977. Other films in which Lee performed include the series of Fu Manchu
films made between 1965 and 1969, in which he starred as the villain in heavy oriental make-up; I, Monster
(1971), in which he played Jekyll and Hyde; The Creeping Flesh
(1972); and his personal favourite, The Wicker Man (1973), in which he played Lord Summerisle. Lee was attracted to the latter role by screenwriter Anthony Shaffer and apparently gave his services for free, as the budget was so small. Lee appeared in Eugenie (1970), unaware that it was softcore
pornography, as the sex scenes were shot separately. In addition to doing films in the UK, Lee did movies in Mainland Europe: he appeared in two German films, Count Dracula, where he again played the vampire count, and The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism. Other films in Europe he made include Castle of the Living Dead and Horror Express
.
, author of the James Bond
spy novels and Lee's stepcousin, had offered him the role of the titular antagonist in the first official Bond film Dr. No
. Lee enthusiastically accepted, but the producers had already chosen Joseph Wiseman
for the part. In 1974, Lee finally got to play a James Bond
villain when he was cast as the deadly assassin Francisco Scaramanga
in The Man with the Golden Gun
.
Because of his filming schedule in Bangkok, film director Ken Russell
was unable to sign Lee to play The Specialist in Tommy
(1975). That role was eventually given to Jack Nicholson
. In an AMC documentary on Halloween
, John Carpenter
states that he offered the role of Samuel Loomis
to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee before Donald Pleasence
took the role. Years later, Lee met Carpenter and told him that the biggest regret of his career was not taking the role of Dr. Loomis.
Lee appeared on the cover of the 1973 Wings
album Band on the Run
, along with others including chat show host Michael Parkinson
, film actor James Coburn
, world boxing champion John Conteh
and broadcaster Clement Freud
.
In 1978, Lee surprised many people with his willingness to go along with a joke by appearing as guest host on NBC's Saturday Night Live
.
In 1982, Lee appeared in The Return of Captain Invincible. In this film, Lee plays a fascist who plans to rid America (and afterwards, the world) of all non-whites. Lee sings on two tracks in the film ("Name Your Poison" and "Mister Midnight"), written by Richard O'Brien (who had written The Rocky Horror Picture Show seven years previously) and Richard Hartley.
In 1985 he appeared alongside Reb Brown
and Sybil Danning
in Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch. The movie rates a 2.8 on the Internet Movie Database
and has been reviewed by The Spoony Experiment
.
Lee made his latest appearances to date as Sherlock Holmes
in 1991's Incident at Victoria Falls
and 1992's Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady
.
In addition to more than a dozen feature films together for Hammer Films
, Amicus Productions
and other companies, Lee and Peter Cushing
both appeared in Hamlet
(1948) and Moulin Rouge
(1952) albeit in separate scenes; and in separate installments of the Star Wars
films, Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin
in the original film, Lee years later as Count Dooku
. The last project which united them in person was a documentary, Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (1994), which they jointly narrated. It was the last time they saw each other as Cushing died two months later. While they frequently played off each other as mortal enemies onscreen—Lee's Count Dracula to Cushing's Professor Van Helsing—they were close friends in real life.
In 1994, Lee played the character of the Russian commandant in Police Academy: Mission to Moscow
.
In 1998, Lee starred in the role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah
, founder of modern Pakistan, in the film Jinnah
. While talking about his favourite role in film at a press conference at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, he declared that his role in Jinnah was by far his best performance.
Lee was at one point considered for the role of comic book
villain/hero Magneto
in the screen adaptation of the popular comic book series X-Men
, but he lost the role to Ian McKellen
.
television miniseries
, based on Mervyn Peake
's novels, Gormenghast (2000), and Stefan Wyszyński in the CBS
film John Paul the Second (2005). He played Lucas de Beaumanoir, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar
, in the BBC
/A&E
co-production of Sir Walter Scott
's Ivanhoe
(1997). He played a role in the made-for-TV series La Révolution française (1989) in part 2, "Les Années Terribles", as the executioner, Sanson
, who beheaded Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette
, Robespierre and others.
Lee played Saruman
in the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
. In the commentary he states he had a decades-long dream to play Gandalf
but that he was now too old and his physical limitations prevented his being considered. The role of Saruman, by contrast, required no horseback riding and much less fighting. Gandalf
was given to Ian McKellen
and Lee played Saruman
. Lee had met Tolkien
once (making him the only person in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy to have done so) and makes a habit of reading the novels at least once a year. In addition, he performed for the album The Lord of the Rings: Songs and Poems by J. R. R. Tolkien in 2003. Lee's appearance in the third film was cut from the theatrical release. However, the scene was reinstated in the extended edition.
The Lord of the Rings marked the beginning of a major career revival that continued in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
(2002) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
(2005), in which he played Count Dooku
, a name allegedly chosen to reflect his fame playing Count Dracula. His autobiography states that he did much of the swordplay himself, though a double was required for the more vigorous footwork. His good friend and frequent co-star, Peter Cushing
, portrayed the equally icy Grand Moff Tarkin
in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
.
Lee is one of the favourite actors of Tim Burton
and has become a regular in many of Burton's films, having now worked for the director four times since 1999. He had a small role as the Burgomaster in the film Sleepy Hollow
. In 2005, Lee then went on to voice the character of Pastor Galswells in Corpse Bride
co-directed by Burton and Mike Johnson
and play a small role in the Burton's reimagining of the classic Roald Dahl
tale Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
as Willy Wonka
's strict dentist father Dr Wilbur Wonka.
In 2007, Lee collaborated with Burton on The Demon Barber of Fleet Street playing the spirit of Sweeney Todd's victims called The Gentleman Ghost alongside Anthony Head
, with both singing "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", its reprises and the Epilogue. These songs were recorded, but eventually cut since director Tim Burton felt that the songs were too theatrical for the film. Lee's appearance was completely cut from the film, but Head still has an uncredited one-line cameo.
Lee narrated in late November 2009 the Science+Fiction Festival in Trieste
, Italy. Also in 2009, Lee starred in Stephen Poliakoff
's British period drama Glorious 39 with Julie Christie
, Bill Nighy
, Romola Garai
and David Tennant
, Academy Award-nominated director Danis Tanović
's war film Triage
with Colin Farrell
and Paz Vega
, and Duncan Ward's comedy Boogie Woogie alongside Amanda Seyfried
, Gillian Anderson
, Stellan Skarsgård
and Joanna Lumley
.
in Burton's adaptation of Lewis Carroll
's classic book Alice in Wonderland
alongside Johnny Depp
, Helena Bonham Carter
and Anne Hathaway
. While he only had a couple of lines, Burton said that he felt Lee to be a good match for the iconic character because he is "an iconic guy".
Lee won the "Spirit of Hammer" award in the Metal Hammer
Golden Gods 2010. The award was presented by Tony Iommi
.
In 2010, Lee received the Steiger Award
(Germany) and, in February 2011, Lee was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship
.
In 2011, Lee appeared in The Resident alongside Hilary Swank
and Hugo
, directed by Martin Scorsese
.
In 2012, Lee marked his fifth collaboration with Tim Burton by Dark Shadows
.
On 11 January 2011, Lee announced on his website that he would be reprising the role of Saruman
for the prequel film The Hobbit. Lee had originally said he would have liked to have shown Saruman's corruption by Sauron
, but would not be comfortable flying to New Zealand
at his age. A July 2011 behind-the-scenes featurette showed Jackson at the Pinewood Studios
in London and Lee in make-up and costume as Saruman, so it would seem that production has been adjusted to accommodate Lee's travel concerns and allow him to participate in the film.
voice, Lee sings on the The Wicker Man soundtrack, performing Paul Giovanni
's psych folk
composition, "The Tinker of Rye". He sings the closing credits song of the 1994 horror film Funny Man
. His most notable musical work on film, however, appears in the strange superhero comedy/rock musical The Return of Captain Invincible
(1983) in which Lee performs with a song and dance number called "Name Your Poison", written by Richard O'Brien
.
In the 1980s, during the height of Italo Disco
, Lee provided vocals to Kathy Joe Daylor's "Little Witch".
Lee reprised his role as Saruman in the video game The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth along with the other actors of the films.
Lee provided the off-camera voice of "U. N. Owen", the mysterious host who brings disparate characters together in Agatha Christie
's Ten Little Indians
(1965). The film was produced by Harry Alan Towers
, for whom Lee had worked repeatedly in the 1960s. Even though he is not credited on the film, the voice is unmistakable.
Lee appears on Peter Knight and Bob Johnson
's (of Steeleye Span
) 1970s concept album The King of Elfland's Daughter
. Lee provided the voices for the roles of DiZ (Ansem the Wise) in the video games Kingdom Hearts II
and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
, but was replaced by veteran voice actor Corey Burton
for Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
.
He contributed his voice as Death
in the animated versions of Terry Pratchett
's Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters
and reprised the role in the Sky1 live action adaptation The Colour of Magic
, taking over the role from the late Ian Richardson
.
He is fluent in English, Italian, French, Spanish and German, and moderately proficient in Swedish, Russian and Greek. He was the original voice of Thor in the German dubs in the Danish 1986 animated film Valhalla
, and of King Haggard in both the English and German dubs of the 1982 animated adaptation of The Last Unicorn
.
Lee bridged two disparate genres of music by performing a heavy metal variation of the Toreador Song
from the opera Carmen
with the band Inner Terrestrials. Lee narrated and sang for the Danish musical group The Tolkien Ensemble, taking the role of Treebeard
, King Théoden and others in the readings or singing of their respective poems or songs. Lee appeared as a narrator for Italian symphonic fantasy power metal band Rhapsody of Fire
, playing the Wizard King in the latest four albums: Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret
, Triumph or Agony
, The Frozen Tears of Angels
and From Chaos to Eternity
as well as the EP The Cold Embrace Of Fear - A Dark Romantic Symphony which is also a part of the saga in which he performs. He narrates several tracks on the albums, as well as singing a duet with lead vocalist Fabio Lione
in the single "The Magic of the Wizard's Dream
" from the Symphony of Enchanted Lands II album. Lee was the voice of Lucan D'Lere in the trailers for Everquest II
.
Some thirty years after playing Francisco Scaramanga
in The Man with the Golden Gun
, Lee provided the voice of Scaramanga in the video game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
.
In 2005, Lee provided the voice of the Pastor Galswells in The Corpse Bride co-directed by Tim Burton
and Mike Johnson
. He served as the narrator on The Nightmare Before Christmas
s poem written by Tim Burton as well.
In 2007, Lee voiced the transcript of The Children of Húrin
, by J. R. R. Tolkien
for the audiobook version of the novel.
Lee reprised his role of Count Dooku
in the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars
but did not appear in the TV series
. Corey Burton
takes his place for Count Dooku
.
Lee has been signed by Falcon Picture Group to host the syndicated radio series "Mystery Theater", a nightly two-hour program featuring classic radio mystery shows. The program is distributed by Syndication Networks Corporation with a launch date of 2 March 2009.
In 2010, Lee collaborated again with Tim Burton
, this time by voicing the Jabberwocky
in Burton's adaptation of Lewis Carroll
's classic book Alice in Wonderland
.
Lee has provided the vocals for a symphonic metal concept album called Charlemagne
. It was released on 15 March 2010.
Lee is working with Manowar while they are recording a new version of their first album, Battle Hymns
. The original voice was done by Orson Welles
. The new album, Battle Hymns MMXI
was released on 26 November 2010.
by Queen Elizabeth II
and was knighted
in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2009 by Prince Charles. Lee was named 2005's 'most marketable star in the world' in a USA Today
newspaper poll, after three of the films he appeared in grossed US$640 million. In 2011, Lee was awarded the BAFTA
Academy Fellowship
by Tim Burton.
In 2011, accompanied by his wife Brigit and on the 164th anniversary of the birth of Bram Stoker
, Lee was honoured with a tribute by University College Dublin
, and described his honorary life membership of the UCD Law Society as "in some ways as special as the Oscars". He was awarded the Bram Stoker Gold Medal by the Trinity College Philosophical Society, of which Stoker was President, and a copy of Collected Ghost Stories of MR James by Trinity College's School of English.
The Carandinis, Lee's maternal ancestors, were given the right to bear the coat of arms
of the Holy Roman Empire
by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
. Cinemareview cites: "Cardinal Consalvi was Papal Secretary of State at the time of Napoleon and is buried at the Pantheon
in Rome next to the painter Raphael
. His painting, by Lawrence, hangs in Windsor Castle
".
Lee is a step-cousin of Ian Fleming
, author of the James Bond
spy novels.
He has been married to the Danish model Birgit "Gitte" Kroencke Lee since 1961. They have a daughter named Christina Erika Carandini Lee. He is the uncle of the British actress Dame Harriet Walter
.
Contrary to popular belief, Lee does not have a vast library of occult books, something which he commented on at his speech in University College Dublin on November 8th 2011.
Lee is a supporter of the British Conservative Party
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, CStJ
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
(born 27 May 1922) is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
in a string of Hammer Horror
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
films. Other notable roles include Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man (1973), Francisco Scaramanga
Francisco Scaramanga
Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film and novel The Man with the Golden Gun. The film was so named because it described Scaramanga's possession of a golden gun....
in The Man with the Golden Gun
The Man with the Golden Gun (film)
The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
(1974), Saruman
Saruman
Saruman the White is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the tale, but later on aims at gaining...
in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
(2001–2003), and Count Dooku
Count Dooku
Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role...
in the final two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002, 2005). Lee considers his most important role to have been his portrayal of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
in the biopic Jinnah
Jinnah (film)
- Awards :Jinnah received the Silver Remi Award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival in 1999.- Reviews :* * * * * - External links :* *...
(1998). He is well known for his deep, strong voice and imposing height.
Lee has performed roles in 275 films since 1947 making him the Guinness book world record holder for most film acting roles ever. He was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 2009 and received the BAFTA Fellowship
BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award
The BAFTA Fellowship is lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts since 1971 "in recognition of outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image", and is the highest honour the Academy can bestow...
in 2011.
Early life
Lee was born in BelgraviaBelgravia
Belgravia is a district of central London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Noted for its immensely expensive residential properties, it is one of the wealthiest districts in the world...
, Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, as the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Trollope Lee, of the 60th King's Royal Rifle Corps
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
, and his wife, Contessa
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Estelle Marie (née Carandini di Sarzano). Lee's mother was a famous Edwardian beauty who was painted by Sir John Lavery
John Lavery
Sir John Lavery was an Irish painter best known for his portraits.Belfast-born John Lavery attended the Haldane Academy, in Glasgow, in the 1870s and the Académie Julian in Paris in the early 1880s. He returned to Glasgow and was associated with the Glasgow School...
as well as by Oswald Birley
Oswald Birley
Sir Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley, MC, RA was an English portrait painter in the early part of the 20th century.-Biography:...
and Olive Snell, and sculpted by Clare F. Sheridan
Clare Frewen Sheridan
Clare Sheridan , was an English sculptress and writer who is known primarily for creating busts for famous sitters, and writing diaries recounting her worldly travels...
. Lee's maternal great-grandfather was an Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
political refugee, and his great-grandmother was English-born Australian
Australian people
Australian people, or simply Australians, are the citizens of Australia. Australia is a multi-ethnic nation, and therefore the term "Australian" is not a racial identifier. Aside from the Indigenous Australian population, nearly all Australians or their ancestors immigrated within the past 230 years...
singer Marie Carandini
Marie Carandini
Marie Carandini, née Burgess, was an English-born Australian opera singer.-Early life:Carandini was born in Brixton, London, the daughter of James and Martha Medwin Burgess and was brought by her parents to Van Diemen's Land in 1833...
.
His parents separated when he was very young, and his mother took him and his sister to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. After enrolling in Miss Fisher's Academy in Wengen
Wengen, Switzerland
Wengen is a village in the Bernese Oberland in the canton of Bern, located in central Switzerland at an elevation of 1274 m above sea level, and is part of the Jungfrauregion. Wengen has approximately 1,300 year-round residents...
, he played his first villainous role as Rumpelstiltskin
Rumpelstiltskin
Rumpelstiltskin is the eponymous character and protagonist of a fairy tale which originated in Germany . The tale was collected by the Brothers Grimm, who first published it in the 1812 edition of Children's and Household Tales...
. The family returned to London, where Lee attended Wagner's private school. His mother then married Harcourt "Ingle" Rose, a banker and stepcousin of Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
, author of the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novels. Lee spent some time at Summer Fields School
Summer Fields School
Summer Fields is a boys' independent preparatory school based in Summertown, Oxford, England.-History:Originally called Summerfield, it became a Boys' Preparatory School in 1864 with seven pupils. Its owner, Archibald Maclaren, was a fencing teacher who ran a gymnasium in Oxford; he himself was...
, a preparatory school in Oxford (notable for sending many alumni to Eton). Lee applied unsuccessfully for a scholarship to Eton
Eton
Eton commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.Eton may also refer to:-Places:*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England*Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States...
although the interview was to prove portentous because of the presence of the noted ghost story
Ghost story
A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, or an account of an experience, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them. Colloquially, the term can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has...
author M. R. James
M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James, OM, MA, , who used the publication name M. R. James, was an English mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge and of Eton College . He is best remembered for his ghost stories, which are regarded as among the best in the genre...
. Lee later claimed in his autobiography that James had cut a very impressive figure; sixty years later Lee played the part of M.R. James for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
Instead, Lee attended Wellington College, where he won scholarships in classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
.
Involvement in World War II
Lee volunteered to fight for the FinnishFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
forces during the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
against the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1939; however, he along with other British volunteers were kept away from actual fighting, although he was issued winter gear and was posted on guard duty a safe distance from the frontlines. He went on to serve in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and intelligence services during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, including serving as an Intelligence officer with the Long Range Desert Group
Long Range Desert Group
The Long Range Desert Group was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The commander of the German Afrika Corps, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, admitted that the LRDG "caused us more damage than any other British unit of equal strength".Originally called...
. He trained in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
as a pilot, but eyesight problems forced him to drop out. He eventually ended up in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
as Cipher Officer for No. 260 Squadron RAF
No. 260 Squadron RAF
No. 260 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed as a reconnaissance and anti–submarine unit in World War I and a fighter unit in World War II.-Formation and World War I:No...
and was with it through Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Additionally, he has mentioned (including in his audio commentary on the Lord of the Rings DVD) serving in Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
. Lee retired from the RAF after the end of the war with the rank of Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
.
Early career
In 1946, Lee gained a seven-year contract with the Rank OrganisationRank Organisation
The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment company formed during 1937 and absorbed in 1996 by The Rank Group Plc. It was the largest and most vertically-integrated film company in Britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities....
after discussing his interest in acting with his mother's second cousin
Cousin chart
In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...
Nicolò Carandini
Nicolò Carandini
Count Nicolò Carandini was the first Italian ambassador to Britain after World War II.-Biography:Carandini was born at Como....
, the Italian Ambassador. Carandini related to Lee that performance was in his blood, as his great-grandmother Marie Carandini
Marie Carandini
Marie Carandini, née Burgess, was an English-born Australian opera singer.-Early life:Carandini was born in Brixton, London, the daughter of James and Martha Medwin Burgess and was brought by her parents to Van Diemen's Land in 1833...
had been a successful opera singer, a fact of which Lee was unaware. He made his film debut in Terence Young's Gothic romance
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...
Corridor of Mirrors in 1947.
Also in 1947, Lee made an uncredited appearance in Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
's film version of Hamlet
Hamlet (1948 film)
Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, adapted and directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. Hamlet was Olivier's second film as director, and also the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed...
as a spear carrier (marking his first film with frequent co-star and close friend Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
, who played Osric). Throughout the next decade, he made nearly 30 films, playing mostly stock action characters.
Lee's first film for Hammer
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
was The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), in which he played Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...
, with Cushing as the Baron. A little later, Lee co-starred with Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
in the film Corridors of Blood
Corridors of Blood
Corridors of Blood is a 1958 horror film directed by Robert Day. The original music score was composed by Buxton Orr. The film was marketed with the tagline "Tops in terror!" in the US where MGM released it as a double feature with Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory.-Plot:An 1840s British surgeon, Dr...
(1958), but Lee's own appearance as Frankenstein's monster led to his first appearance as the Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
n vampire in the 1958 film Dracula
Dracula (1958 film)
Dracula, also known as Horror of Dracula in the United States, is a 1958 British horror film. It is the first in the series of Hammer Horror films inspired by the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Carol Marsh, Melissa Stribling and...
(known as Horror of Dracula in the US).
Stories vary as to why Lee did not feature in the 1960 sequel The Brides of Dracula. Some state that Hammer was unwilling to pay Lee his current fee, but most tend to believe that he simply did not wish to be typecast. Lee did, however, return to the role in Hammer's Dracula: Prince of Darkness
Dracula: Prince of Darkness
Dracula: Prince of Darkness is a 1966 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher for Hammer Studios. The film was photographed in Techniscope by Michael Reed, designed by Bernard Robinson and scored by James Bernard.-Plot:...
in 1965. Lee's performance is notable in that he has no lines, merely hissing his way through the film. Again, stories vary as to the reason for this: Lee states he refused to speak the poor dialogue he was given, but screenwriter Jimmy Sangster
Jimmy Sangster
James Henry Kinmel Sangster was an English screenwriter and director, known for his work for horror film producers Hammer Film Productions, including scripts for The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula .Sangster originally worked as a production assistant at...
claims that the script did not contain any lines for the character. This film set the standard for most of the Dracula sequels in the sense that half the film's running time was spent on telling the story of Dracula's resurrection and the character's appearances were brief. Lee has gone on record to state that he was virtually "blackmailed" by Hammer into starring in the subsequent films; unable or unwilling to pay him his going rate, they would resort to reminding him of how many people he would put out of work if he did not take part.
His roles in the films Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave is a 1968 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis for Hammer Films. It stars Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, with support from Rupert Davies, Veronica Carlson, Barry Andrews, Barbara Ewing, Ewan Hooper and Michael Ripper.- Plot :The film opens in a...
(1968), Taste the Blood of Dracula
Taste the Blood of Dracula
Taste the Blood of Dracula is a British horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions and released in 1970. It stars Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, and was directed by Peter Sasdy...
(1969), and Scars of Dracula
Scars of Dracula
Scars of Dracula is a 1970 British horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker for Hammer Studios.It stars Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, alongside Dennis Waterman, Jenny Hanley, Patrick Troughton, and Michael Gwynn...
(1970) all gave the Count very little to do, but were all commercially successful. Although Lee may not have liked what Hammer was doing with the character, worldwide audiences embraced the films, which are now considered classics of the genre. Lee starred in two further Dracula films for Hammer in the early 1970s, both of which attempted to bring the character into the modern-day era. These were not commercially successful.
Lee's other work for Hammer included The Mummy
The Mummy (1959 film)
The Mummy is a 1959 Technicolor British Hammer Horror film starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.Though the title suggests Universal Pictures' 1932 film of the same name, the film actually derives its plot and characters entirely from two later Universal films, The Mummy's Hand and The Mummy's...
(1959). Lee portrayed Rasputin in Rasputin, the Mad Monk
Rasputin, the Mad Monk
Rasputin, the Mad Monk is a 1966 Hammer film directed by Don Sharp.It stars Christopher Lee as Grigori Rasputin, the Russian peasant-mystic notable for gaining great influence with the Tsars prior to the Russian Revolution. It also stars Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer, Richard...
(Lee apparently met Rasputin's assassin Felix Yussupov when he was a child) and Sir Henry Baskerville (to Cushing's Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
) in The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959 film)
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1959 British detective film produced by Hammer Films and directed by Terence Fisher.The film is the first adaptation from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel of the same name to be filmed in colour and stars Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, Sir Christopher Lee as...
(1959). Lee later played Holmes himself in 1962's Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace is a 1962 black-and-white film directed by Terence Fisher and Frank Winterstein. It was a German-French-Italian co-production. It stars Christopher Lee as Sherlock Holmes and Thorley Walters as Dr. Watson...
, and returned to Holmes films with Billy Wilder's British-made The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a 1970 film directed and produced by Billy Wilder; he also shared writing credit with his longtime collaborator I. A. L. Diamond. It starred Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes and Colin Blakely as Dr. Watson...
(1970), in which he plays Sherlock's smarter brother, Mycroft
Mycroft Holmes
Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. He is the elder brother of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.- Profile :...
. Lee played a leading role in the German film The Puzzle of the Red Orchid
The Puzzle of the Red Orchid
The Puzzle of the Red Orchid is a 1962 German crime film directed by Helmut Ashley and starring Christopher Lee.-Cast:* Christopher Lee as Captain Allerman* Adrian Hoven as Inspector Weston* Marisa Mell as Lilian Ranger* Pinkas Braun as Edwin...
(1962), speaking German, which he had learned during his education in Switzerland.
Dennis Wheatley
Dennis Yates Wheatley was an English author. His prolific output of stylish thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through the 1960s.-Early life:...
to Hammer. The company made two films from Wheatley's novels, both starring Lee. The first, The Devil Rides Out
The Devil Rides Out (film)
The Devil Rides Out is a 1968 British film based on the 1934 novel The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley...
(1967), is generally considered to be one of Hammer's crowning achievements. According to Lee, Wheatley was so pleased with it that he offered the actor the film rights to his remaining black magic novels free of charge. However, the second film, To the Devil a Daughter
To the Devil a Daughter
To the Devil... A Daughter is a 1976 horror film made by Hammer Film Productions, taken from the novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley, directed by Peter Sykes. It stars Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Honor Blackman, Nastassja Kinski and Denholm Elliott...
(1976), was fraught with production difficulties and was disowned by its author. Although financially successful, it was Hammer's last horror film and marked the end of Lee's long association with the studio that brought him fame.
Like Cushing, Lee also appeared in horror films for other companies during the 20-year period from 1957 to 1977. Other films in which Lee performed include the series of Fu Manchu
Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character introduced in a series of novels by British author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century...
films made between 1965 and 1969, in which he starred as the villain in heavy oriental make-up; I, Monster
I, Monster
I, Monster is a 1971 British horror film directed by Stephen Weeks for Amicus Productions. It is an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with the main characters' names changed to Dr. Charles Marlowe and Mr...
(1971), in which he played Jekyll and Hyde; The Creeping Flesh
The Creeping Flesh
The Creeping Flesh is a 1973 British horror film. The film was directed by Freddie Francis, and stars Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Lorna Heilbron.-Plot:...
(1972); and his personal favourite, The Wicker Man (1973), in which he played Lord Summerisle. Lee was attracted to the latter role by screenwriter Anthony Shaffer and apparently gave his services for free, as the budget was so small. Lee appeared in Eugenie (1970), unaware that it was softcore
Softcore
Softcore pornography is a form of filmic or photographic pornography or erotica that is less sexually explicit than hardcore pornography. It is intended to tickle and arouse men and women. Softcore pornography depicts nude and semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic...
pornography, as the sex scenes were shot separately. In addition to doing films in the UK, Lee did movies in Mainland Europe: he appeared in two German films, Count Dracula, where he again played the vampire count, and The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism. Other films in Europe he made include Castle of the Living Dead and Horror Express
Horror Express
Horror Express, also known as Pánico en el Transiberiano/Panic on the Trans-Siberian Express, is a 1972 Spanish horror film directed by Eugenio Martin, produced by Bernard Gordon written by Arnaud d'Usseau and Julian Zimet , and starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas.The film is...
.
1970s to 1999
Since the mid 1970s, Lee has eschewed horror roles almost entirely. Ian FlemingIan Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
, author of the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
spy novels and Lee's stepcousin, had offered him the role of the titular antagonist in the first official Bond film Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
. Lee enthusiastically accepted, but the producers had already chosen Joseph Wiseman
Joseph Wiseman
Joseph Wiseman was a Canadian theater and film actor, best known for starring as the titular antagonist of the first James Bond film, Dr. No, his role as Manny Weisbord on Crime Story, and his career on Broadway...
for the part. In 1974, Lee finally got to play a James Bond
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
villain when he was cast as the deadly assassin Francisco Scaramanga
Francisco Scaramanga
Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film and novel The Man with the Golden Gun. The film was so named because it described Scaramanga's possession of a golden gun....
in The Man with the Golden Gun
The Man with the Golden Gun (film)
The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
.
Because of his filming schedule in Bangkok, film director Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
was unable to sign Lee to play The Specialist in Tommy
Tommy (film)
Tommy is a 1975 British musical film based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album musical Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves...
(1975). That role was eventually given to Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
. In an AMC documentary on Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...
, John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
states that he offered the role of Samuel Loomis
Samuel Loomis
Samuel Loomis was a Connecticut furniture maker and the most celebrated maker of Colchester/Norwich style furniture.-External links:* ]]* ]]...
to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee before Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
took the role. Years later, Lee met Carpenter and told him that the biggest regret of his career was not taking the role of Dr. Loomis.
Lee appeared on the cover of the 1973 Wings
Wings (band)
Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....
album Band on the Run
Band on the Run
Band on the Run is an album by Paul McCartney & Wings, released in 1973. It was Wings' third album. It became Wings' most successful album and remains the most celebrated of McCartney's post-Beatles albums...
, along with others including chat show host Michael Parkinson
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...
, film actor James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
, world boxing champion John Conteh
John Conteh
John Conteh is a British former boxer who was world light-heavyweight boxing champion.Conteh is one of Britain's most successful boxing champions. At his peak in the mid to late 1970s he was considered good enough that he was touted as a possible opponent of Muhammad Ali...
and broadcaster Clement Freud
Clement Freud
Sir Clement Raphael Freud was an English broadcaster, writer, politician and chef.-Early life:Freud was born in Berlin, the son of Jewish parents Ernst Ludwig Freud and Lucie née Brasch. He was the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and the brother of artist Lucian Freud...
.
In 1978, Lee surprised many people with his willingness to go along with a joke by appearing as guest host on NBC's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
.
In 1982, Lee appeared in The Return of Captain Invincible. In this film, Lee plays a fascist who plans to rid America (and afterwards, the world) of all non-whites. Lee sings on two tracks in the film ("Name Your Poison" and "Mister Midnight"), written by Richard O'Brien (who had written The Rocky Horror Picture Show seven years previously) and Richard Hartley.
In 1985 he appeared alongside Reb Brown
Reb Brown
Reb Brown is an American actor.Known as superhero Captain America in the TV pilot/movies, he's also known for the 1983 cult classic, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, as well as the scifi film, Space Mutiny, and for the collaborations with director Bruno Mattei in films Strike Commando and Robowar ...
and Sybil Danning
Sybil Danning
Sybil Danning is an Austrian actress known for her many roles in B movies, science fiction films, and action films.-Early life:Danning was born in Ried im Innkreis, Austria as Sybille Johanna Danninger...
in Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch. The movie rates a 2.8 on the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
and has been reviewed by The Spoony Experiment
The Spoony Experiment
The Spoony Experiment is a website run by Noah Antwiler aka "The Spoony One" or just "Spoony"....
.
Lee made his latest appearances to date as Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
in 1991's Incident at Victoria Falls
Incident at Victoria Falls (1991 TV film)
Incident at Victoria Falls was the second and final film in the proposed series of television films Sherlock Holmes the Golden Years written by Bob Shayne. It starred Christopher Lee and Patrick Macnee as Holmes and Watson in old age...
and 1992's Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady
Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1992 TV film)
Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady was the first of two TV films made in late-1990 under the banner Sherlock Holmes the Golden Years. Harry Alan Towers was executive producer...
.
In addition to more than a dozen feature films together for Hammer Films
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
, Amicus Productions
Amicus Productions
Amicus Productions is a British film production company, based at Shepperton Studios, England. It was founded by American producer and screenwriter Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg.-Horror:...
and other companies, Lee and Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
both appeared in Hamlet
Hamlet (1948 film)
Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, adapted and directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. Hamlet was Olivier's second film as director, and also the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed...
(1948) and Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge (1952 film)
Moulin Rouge is a 1952 film directed by John Huston, produced by Sir John Woolf and James Woolf of Romulus Films and released by United Artists. The film is set in Paris in the late 19th century, following artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the city's bohemian sub-culture in and around the...
(1952) albeit in separate scenes; and in separate installments of the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
films, Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin
Grand Moff Tarkin
Governor Wilhuff Tarkin or Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing as the main antagonist of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, played by British actor Peter Cushing. A younger version of the character makes a brief cameo in the prequel film Star Wars...
in the original film, Lee years later as Count Dooku
Count Dooku
Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role...
. The last project which united them in person was a documentary, Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (1994), which they jointly narrated. It was the last time they saw each other as Cushing died two months later. While they frequently played off each other as mortal enemies onscreen—Lee's Count Dracula to Cushing's Professor Van Helsing—they were close friends in real life.
In 1994, Lee played the character of the Russian commandant in Police Academy: Mission to Moscow
Police Academy: Mission to Moscow
Police Academy: Mission to Moscow is a 1994 comedy crime film starring George Gaynes, Michael Winslow, David Graf, and Claire Forlani . It is the seventh and final film in the Police Academy series. It was directed by Alan Metter and written by Randolph Davis and Michele S...
.
In 1998, Lee starred in the role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
, founder of modern Pakistan, in the film Jinnah
Jinnah (film)
- Awards :Jinnah received the Silver Remi Award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival in 1999.- Reviews :* * * * * - External links :* *...
. While talking about his favourite role in film at a press conference at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, he declared that his role in Jinnah was by far his best performance.
Lee was at one point considered for the role of comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
villain/hero Magneto
Magneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
in the screen adaptation of the popular comic book series X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
, but he lost the role to Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
.
2000 to 2009
He has had many television roles, including that of Flay in the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
, based on Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Laurence Peake was an English writer, artist, poet and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the Gormenghast books. They are sometimes compared to the work of his older contemporary J. R. R...
's novels, Gormenghast (2000), and Stefan Wyszyński in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
film John Paul the Second (2005). He played Lucas de Beaumanoir, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
/A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
co-production of Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
's Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe is a historical fiction novel by Sir Walter Scott in 1819, and set in 12th-century England. Ivanhoe is sometimes credited for increasing interest in Romanticism and Medievalism; John Henry Newman claimed Scott "had first turned men's minds in the direction of the middle ages," while...
(1997). He played a role in the made-for-TV series La Révolution française (1989) in part 2, "Les Années Terribles", as the executioner, Sanson
Charles Henri Sanson
Charles Henri Sanson, full title Chevalier Charles-Henri Sanson de Longval was the Royal Executioner of France in the court of King Louis XVI and High Executioner of the First French Republic...
, who beheaded Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
, Robespierre and others.
Saruman
Saruman the White is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the tale, but later on aims at gaining...
in the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
. In the commentary he states he had a decades-long dream to play Gandalf
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
but that he was now too old and his physical limitations prevented his being considered. The role of Saruman, by contrast, required no horseback riding and much less fighting. Gandalf
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
was given to Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
and Lee played Saruman
Saruman
Saruman the White is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the tale, but later on aims at gaining...
. Lee had met Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
once (making him the only person in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy to have done so) and makes a habit of reading the novels at least once a year. In addition, he performed for the album The Lord of the Rings: Songs and Poems by J. R. R. Tolkien in 2003. Lee's appearance in the third film was cut from the theatrical release. However, the scene was reinstated in the extended edition.
The Lord of the Rings marked the beginning of a major career revival that continued in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology...
(2002) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....
(2005), in which he played Count Dooku
Count Dooku
Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role...
, a name allegedly chosen to reflect his fame playing Count Dracula. His autobiography states that he did much of the swordplay himself, though a double was required for the more vigorous footwork. His good friend and frequent co-star, Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
, portrayed the equally icy Grand Moff Tarkin
Grand Moff Tarkin
Governor Wilhuff Tarkin or Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing as the main antagonist of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, played by British actor Peter Cushing. A younger version of the character makes a brief cameo in the prequel film Star Wars...
in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
.
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
and has become a regular in many of Burton's films, having now worked for the director four times since 1999. He had a small role as the Burgomaster in the film Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow (film)
Sleepy Hollow is a 1999 American period horror film directed by Tim Burton. It is a film adaptation loosely inspired by the 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving and stars Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Marc Pickering, Michael Gambon, Jeffrey Jones,...
. In 2005, Lee then went on to voice the character of Pastor Galswells in Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride, often promoted as Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, is a 2005 stop-motion-animated fantasy musical film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton. It is set in a fictional Victorian era village in Europe. Johnny Depp led an all-star cast as the voice of Victor, while Helena Bonham Carter ...
co-directed by Burton and Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson (animator)
Mike Johnson is a stop motion animator who has worked on films such as James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas, short films such as an animation of The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and TV programmes such as The PJs...
and play a small role in the Burton's reimagining of the classic Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
tale Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 film adaptation of the 1964 book of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film was directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket and Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka...
as Willy Wonka
Willy Wonka
This article is about the fictional character. For the candy company, see, The Willy Wonka Candy Company.Willy Wonka is a fictional character in the 1964 Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the film adaptations that followed. The book and the 1971 film adaption both vividly...
's strict dentist father Dr Wilbur Wonka.
In 2007, Lee collaborated with Burton on The Demon Barber of Fleet Street playing the spirit of Sweeney Todd's victims called The Gentleman Ghost alongside Anthony Head
Anthony Head
Anthony Stewart Head , usually credited as Anthony Head, is an English actor and musician. He rose to fame in the UK following his role in television advertisements for Nescafé Gold Blend , and is known for his roles as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and as Uther Pendragon in...
, with both singing "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", its reprises and the Epilogue. These songs were recorded, but eventually cut since director Tim Burton felt that the songs were too theatrical for the film. Lee's appearance was completely cut from the film, but Head still has an uncredited one-line cameo.
Lee narrated in late November 2009 the Science+Fiction Festival in Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Italy. Also in 2009, Lee starred in Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.-Early life and career:...
's British period drama Glorious 39 with Julie Christie
Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie is a British actress. Born in British India to English parents, at the age of six Christie moved to England, where she attended boarding school....
, Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
, Romola Garai
Romola Garai
Romola Sadie Garai is an English actress. She is known for appearing in the movies Amazing Grace, Atonement, and Glorious 39, and for appearing in the BBC adaptation of Emma.-Early life:...
and David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
, Academy Award-nominated director Danis Tanović
Danis Tanovic
Danis Tanović is a Bosnian film director and screenwriter.Tanović is best known for having directed and written the script for the 2001 Bosnian movie No Man's Land which won an Academy Award. He was a member of the jury at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.-Biography:Danis Tanović was born in the...
's war film Triage
Triage (film)
Triage is a 2009 drama film starring Colin Farrell, Paz Vega and Christopher Lee. The film’s plot is described as a dark tale of a photojournalist who comes home after a dangerous assignment in Kurdistan during the Anfal Genocide against the Kurdish people. The film focuses on the psychological...
with Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
and Paz Vega
Paz Vega
Paz Campos Trigo , better known as Paz Vega, is a Spanish actress.- Early life :Vega was born in Seville, Andalusia, Spain to a homemaker mother and a retired bullfighter father. Vega's younger sister has performed as a flamenco dancer. Vega has described her family as "traditional" and Catholic....
, and Duncan Ward's comedy Boogie Woogie alongside Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Michelle Seyfried is an American actress, singer-songwriter and former child model. She began her career as a child model when she was 11, and at 15 began her career as an actress, starting off with uncredited roles and moving on to recurring roles on As the World Turns and All My...
, Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
, Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan John Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,...
and Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
.
2010 to present
In 2010, Lee marked his fourth collaboration with Tim Burton by voicing the JabberwockyJabberwocky
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense verse poem written by Lewis Carroll in his 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, a sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
in Burton's adaptation of Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's classic book Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
alongside Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
and Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway (actress)
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
. While he only had a couple of lines, Burton said that he felt Lee to be a good match for the iconic character because he is "an iconic guy".
Lee won the "Spirit of Hammer" award in the Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
Golden Gods 2010. The award was presented by Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
.
In 2010, Lee received the Steiger Award
Steiger Award
The Steiger Award or Der Steiger is an international award established in 2005 and presented annually by the award organization based in Bochum, Germany. The title translates as The Miner, and reflects the qualities of responsibility, honesty, openness and hard work valued in the North Rhine...
(Germany) and, in February 2011, Lee was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship
BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award
The BAFTA Fellowship is lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts since 1971 "in recognition of outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image", and is the highest honour the Academy can bestow...
.
In 2011, Lee appeared in The Resident alongside Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank
Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi...
and Hugo
Hugo
Hugo may refer to:* Hugo , a surname and a male given name -Places:* Hugo, Alabama* Hugo, Colorado* Hugo, Minnesota* Hugo, Oklahoma* Hugo, Oregon* 2106 Hugo, an asteroid named after Victor Hugo-Characters:...
, directed by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
.
In 2012, Lee marked his fifth collaboration with Tim Burton by Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
.
On 11 January 2011, Lee announced on his website that he would be reprising the role of Saruman
Saruman
Saruman the White is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the tale, but later on aims at gaining...
for the prequel film The Hobbit. Lee had originally said he would have liked to have shown Saruman's corruption by Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
, but would not be comfortable flying to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
at his age. A July 2011 behind-the-scenes featurette showed Jackson at the Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
in London and Lee in make-up and costume as Saruman, so it would seem that production has been adjusted to accommodate Lee's travel concerns and allow him to participate in the film.
Voice work
With his classically-trained bassBass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
voice, Lee sings on the The Wicker Man soundtrack, performing Paul Giovanni
Paul Giovanni
Paul Giovanni was an American playwright, actor, director, singer and musician. New Yorker Giovanni is best known for writing the music for the 1973 British horror film The Wicker Man...
's psych folk
Psych folk
Psychedelic folk or psych folk is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s through the fusion of folk music and psychedelic rock...
composition, "The Tinker of Rye". He sings the closing credits song of the 1994 horror film Funny Man
Funny Man (film)
Funny Man is a 1994 British film written and directed by Simon Sprackling.-Plot:When Max Taylor wins the ancestral home of Callum Chance in a game of poker, little does he realise that the game is far from over...
. His most notable musical work on film, however, appears in the strange superhero comedy/rock musical The Return of Captain Invincible
The Return Of Captain Invincible
The Return of Captain Invincible is a 1983 Australian musical comedy and superhero film starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee.-Plot:The plot involves the Captain America/Superman inspired super-hero called "Captain Invincible" who is active during World War II and afterwards...
(1983) in which Lee performs with a song and dance number called "Name Your Poison", written by Richard O'Brien
Richard O'Brien
Richard Timothy Smith , better known under his stage name Richard O'Brien, is an English writer, actor, television presenter and theatre performer. He is perhaps best known for writing the cult musical The Rocky Horror Show and for his role in presenting the popular TV show The Crystal Maze...
.
In the 1980s, during the height of Italo Disco
Italo disco
Italo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...
, Lee provided vocals to Kathy Joe Daylor's "Little Witch".
Lee reprised his role as Saruman in the video game The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth along with the other actors of the films.
Lee provided the off-camera voice of "U. N. Owen", the mysterious host who brings disparate characters together in Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's Ten Little Indians
Ten Little Indians (1965 film)
The 1965 version of Ten Little Indians is the second film version of Agatha Christie's detective novel And Then There Were None . Although its background story is the same as the 1945 version , this one takes place on an isolated snowy mountain...
(1965). The film was produced by Harry Alan Towers
Harry Alan Towers
Harry Alan Towers was a British-born radio and film producer and screenwriter, regularly using the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over a hundred feature films and continued to write and produce well into his eighties...
, for whom Lee had worked repeatedly in the 1960s. Even though he is not credited on the film, the voice is unmistakable.
Lee appears on Peter Knight and Bob Johnson
Bob Johnson (musician)
Robert "Bob" Johnson is a British guitarist formerly in the electric folk band Steeleye Span from 1972–77 and again from 1980-2001....
's (of Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
) 1970s concept album The King of Elfland's Daughter
The King of Elfland's Daughter
The King of Elfland's Daughter is a 1924 fantasy novel written by Lord Dunsany. Written before the genre was named, it is considered to be among the pioneering works of modern fantasy. Its importance was recognized in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the second volume of the...
. Lee provided the voices for the roles of DiZ (Ansem the Wise) in the video games Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts II
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and published by Buena Vista Games and Square Enix in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console...
and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
is an action roleplaying game developed and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS with assistance from h.a.n.d. It is the fifth installment in the best-selling Kingdom Hearts series, and serves as an interquel beginning near the end of the first game, Kingdom Hearts, and covering the period...
, but was replaced by veteran voice actor Corey Burton
Corey Burton
Corey Burton is an American voice actor, perhaps best known as Count Dooku, Ziro the Hutt and Cad Bane in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Brainiac in the DC animated universe and Spike Witwicky and Shockwave in the Transformers universe...
for Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix and Disney for the PlayStation Portable, serving as the sixth installment in the Kingdom Hearts series. The game was released on UMD in Japan on January 9, 2010, in North America on September 7, 2010 and in Europe on September...
.
He contributed his voice as Death
Death (Discworld)
Death is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and a parody of several other personifications of death. Like most Grim Reapers, he is a black-robed skeleton usually carrying a scythe...
in the animated versions of Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
's Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters
Wyrd Sisters
Wyrd Sisters is Terry Pratchett's sixth Discworld novel, published in 1988, and re-introduces Granny Weatherwax of Equal Rites.- Plot :...
and reprised the role in the Sky1 live action adaptation The Colour of Magic
The Colour of Magic (TV film)
The Colour of Magic is a two-part television adaptation of the bestselling novels The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett. The fantasy film was produced for Sky One by The Mob, a small British studio, starring David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry and Christopher Lee as the...
, taking over the role from the late Ian Richardson
Ian Richardson
Ian William Richardson CBE was a Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's House of Cards trilogy. He was also a leading Shakespearean stage actor....
.
He is fluent in English, Italian, French, Spanish and German, and moderately proficient in Swedish, Russian and Greek. He was the original voice of Thor in the German dubs in the Danish 1986 animated film Valhalla
Valhalla (film)
Valhalla is a Danish animated feature film released in October 1986 by Metronome. Based on volumes one, four and five of the Interpresse/Carlsen comic book series, it was directed by Disney animator Jeffrey J. Varab and cartoonist Peter Madsen.-Production:...
, and of King Haggard in both the English and German dubs of the 1982 animated adaptation of The Last Unicorn
The Last Unicorn (film)
The Last Unicorn is a 1982 fantasy film produced by Rankin/Bass for ITC Entertainment and animated by Topcraft. The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Peter S. Beagle, who also wrote the film's screenplay...
.
Lee bridged two disparate genres of music by performing a heavy metal variation of the Toreador Song
Toreador Song
The Toreador Song is one of the most famous arias from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. Sung by the matador Escamillo, it describes various situations in the ring, the cheering of the crowds and the fame that comes with victory.-Text:-In popular culture:* The song is mocked during the "I lost my...
from the opera Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
with the band Inner Terrestrials. Lee narrated and sang for the Danish musical group The Tolkien Ensemble, taking the role of Treebeard
Treebeard
Treebeard is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. The eldest of the species of Ents, he is said to live in the ancient Forest of Fangorn and stands fourteen feet in height and is tree-like in appearance, with leafy hair and a rigid structure. Fangorn Forest...
, King Théoden and others in the readings or singing of their respective poems or songs. Lee appeared as a narrator for Italian symphonic fantasy power metal band Rhapsody of Fire
Rhapsody of Fire
Rhapsody of Fire is an Italian symphonic power metal band led by Alex Staropoli. Since forming in 1993, the band has released eight studio albums, one live album, two EPs, and a live DVD...
, playing the Wizard King in the latest four albums: Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret
Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret
Symphony of Enchanted Lands II – The Dark Secret is the sixth studio album released by Rhapsody in 2004. Many have been confused by its title, as it's not a sequel to "Symphony of Enchanted Lands" but is the first chapter of a new saga, "The Dark Secret Saga"...
, Triumph or Agony
Triumph or Agony
Triumph or Agony is the seventh album studio released by Rhapsody of Fire in Europe on 25 September 2006.It is the first album that the band released after their name change....
, The Frozen Tears of Angels
The Frozen Tears of Angels
-Concept:There is a growing fear of war on the horizon for the enchanted lands. The Disciples of the Black Order are gathering their army to unleash their long lost Black Messiah, Nekron, from his prison, to unleash pure evil and chaos upon the world. The wizards of the White Dragon's Order feel it...
and From Chaos to Eternity
From Chaos to Eternity
From Chaos to Eternity is the nineth full-length studio album by the Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody of Fire. It was released in June 17, 2011 via Nuclear Blast. This album is the first to feature the guitar playing of Tom Hess who became a full time official member of the band in 2011...
as well as the EP The Cold Embrace Of Fear - A Dark Romantic Symphony which is also a part of the saga in which he performs. He narrates several tracks on the albums, as well as singing a duet with lead vocalist Fabio Lione
Fabio Lione
Fabio Tordiglione is an Italian singer who has sung with many music bands including Rhapsody of Fire, Labyrinth, Ayreon, Vision Divine and Athena, and as a touring lead singer with American band Kamelot...
in the single "The Magic of the Wizard's Dream
The Magic of the Wizard's Dream
"The Magic of the Wizard's Dream" is the third single recorded by Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody, released in 2005.The original track was part of their 2004 album Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret and is reproposed here in basically two versions: a one with a slightly...
" from the Symphony of Enchanted Lands II album. Lee was the voice of Lucan D'Lere in the trailers for Everquest II
EverQuest II
EverQuest II is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Sony Online Entertainment , based on EverQuest, and shipped on 8 November 2004...
.
Some thirty years after playing Francisco Scaramanga
Francisco Scaramanga
Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film and novel The Man with the Golden Gun. The film was so named because it described Scaramanga's possession of a golden gun....
in The Man with the Golden Gun
The Man with the Golden Gun (film)
The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
, Lee provided the voice of Scaramanga in the video game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is a 2004 action-adventure Science-Fiction First-Person Shooter video game, developed and published by Electronic Arts. Despite it is set in an alternate timeline of James Bond universe, the player takes the role of an ex-MI6 agent who is recruited by Auric Goldfinger, a...
.
In 2005, Lee provided the voice of the Pastor Galswells in The Corpse Bride co-directed by Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
and Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson (animator)
Mike Johnson is a stop motion animator who has worked on films such as James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas, short films such as an animation of The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and TV programmes such as The PJs...
. He served as the narrator on The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas, often promoted as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, is a 1993 stop motion musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to...
s poem written by Tim Burton as well.
In 2007, Lee voiced the transcript of The Children of Húrin
The Children of Húrin
The Children of Húrin is an epic fantasy novel which forms the completion of a tale by J. R. R. Tolkien. He wrote the original version of the story in the late 1910s, revised it several times later, but did not complete it before his death in 1973...
, by J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
for the audiobook version of the novel.
Lee reprised his role of Count Dooku
Count Dooku
Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role...
in the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 2008 CGI animated science fiction/action film that takes place within the Star Wars saga, leading into the TV series of the same name. The film is set in the same time period as the 2003 Clone Wars television series...
but did not appear in the TV series
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)
-Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve...
. Corey Burton
Corey Burton
Corey Burton is an American voice actor, perhaps best known as Count Dooku, Ziro the Hutt and Cad Bane in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Brainiac in the DC animated universe and Spike Witwicky and Shockwave in the Transformers universe...
takes his place for Count Dooku
Count Dooku
Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role...
.
Lee has been signed by Falcon Picture Group to host the syndicated radio series "Mystery Theater", a nightly two-hour program featuring classic radio mystery shows. The program is distributed by Syndication Networks Corporation with a launch date of 2 March 2009.
In 2010, Lee collaborated again with Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
, this time by voicing the Jabberwocky
Jabberwocky
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense verse poem written by Lewis Carroll in his 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, a sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
in Burton's adaptation of Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's classic book Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
.
Lee has provided the vocals for a symphonic metal concept album called Charlemagne
Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross
Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross is a symphonic metal concept album released in 2010 by actor Christopher Lee. It is Christoper Lee's first full-length album released when Lee was 88 years old. The album won the 'Spirit of Hammer' award from the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden God awards ceremony...
. It was released on 15 March 2010.
Lee is working with Manowar while they are recording a new version of their first album, Battle Hymns
Battle Hymns (Manowar album)
Battle Hymns is the 1982 heavy metal debut album by Manowar.- Track listing :# "Death Tone" – 4:48# "Metal Daze" – 4:18# "Fast Taker" – 3:56# "Shell Shock" – 4:04...
. The original voice was done by Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
. The new album, Battle Hymns MMXI
Battle Hymns MMXI
Battle Hymns MMXI is a studio album released by the American heavy metal band Manowar in November 2010. It's a re-recording of their debut album Battle Hymns from 1982. It features the British actor Sir Christopher Lee as narrator and the original Manowar drummer Donnie Hamzik. The songs had...
was released on 26 November 2010.
Honours
In 2001, Lee was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
and was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2009 by Prince Charles. Lee was named 2005's 'most marketable star in the world' in a USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
newspaper poll, after three of the films he appeared in grossed US$640 million. In 2011, Lee was awarded the BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
Academy Fellowship
BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award
The BAFTA Fellowship is lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts since 1971 "in recognition of outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image", and is the highest honour the Academy can bestow...
by Tim Burton.
In 2011, accompanied by his wife Brigit and on the 164th anniversary of the birth of Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
, Lee was honoured with a tribute by University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
, and described his honorary life membership of the UCD Law Society as "in some ways as special as the Oscars". He was awarded the Bram Stoker Gold Medal by the Trinity College Philosophical Society, of which Stoker was President, and a copy of Collected Ghost Stories of MR James by Trinity College's School of English.
Personal life
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
. Cinemareview cites: "Cardinal Consalvi was Papal Secretary of State at the time of Napoleon and is buried at the Pantheon
Pantheon, Rome
The Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...
in Rome next to the painter Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
. His painting, by Lawrence, hangs in Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
".
Lee is a step-cousin of Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
, author of the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
spy novels.
He has been married to the Danish model Birgit "Gitte" Kroencke Lee since 1961. They have a daughter named Christina Erika Carandini Lee. He is the uncle of the British actress Dame Harriet Walter
Harriet Walter
Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...
.
Contrary to popular belief, Lee does not have a vast library of occult books, something which he commented on at his speech in University College Dublin on November 8th 2011.
Lee is a supporter of the British Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
.
Books
- Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror, edited by Russ JonesRuss JonesRuss Jones is a Canadian novelist, illustrator, and magazine editor, active in the publishing and entertainment industries over a half-century, best known as the creator of the magazine Creepy for Warren Publishing...
, illustrated by Mort Drucker & others, Pyramid BooksPyramid BooksJove Books, formerly Pyramid Books, is a paperback publishing company, founded in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers . The company was sold to the Walter Reade Organization in the late 1960s. It was acquired in 1974 by Harcourt Brace which renamed it to Jove in 1977 and continued the line as an...
, 1966 - Christopher Lee's New Chamber of Horrors, Souvenir PressErnest HechtErnest Hecht is a publisher, producer, and philanthropist and the founder, owner and managing director of Souvenir Press Ltd, the last remaining independently owned major publishing house in Great Britain.-Early life:...
, 1974 - Christopher Lee's Archives of Terror, Warner Books, Volume I, 1975; Volume 2, 1976
- Tall, Dark and Gruesome (autobiography), W. H. AllenW. H. AllenWilliam Herbert Allen was a notable English landscape watercolour artist whose career spanned more than 50 years from the 1880s to the 1940s. He was invariably referred to as "WH" rather than by his given name. Born 14 September 1863 in West Brompton, London, of parents from Alton, Hampshire,...
, 1977 and 1999 - Christopher Lee: The Authorised Screen History by Jonathan RigbyJonathan RigbyJonathan Rigby is an English film critic and actor who has written the following books - English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema , Christopher Lee: The Authorised Screen History , Roxy Music: Both Ends Burning , American Gothic: Sixty Years of Horror Cinema and Studies in Terror: Landmarks of...
, Reynolds & Hearn, 2001 and 2003 - Lord of Misrule (autobiography, a revised and expanded edition of Tall, Dark and Gruesome), Orion Publishing GroupOrion Publishing GroupOrion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It is owned by Hachette Livre. In 1998 Orion bought Cassell.-History:Full history of the group can be found on Orion Publishing Group is owned by -Imprints:...
Ltd., 2004 - Dans les griffes de la Hammer by Nicolas Stanzick, Le Bord de l'eau Editions, Paris, 2010.
- Sir Christopher Lee by Laurent Aknin, Nouveau Monde Éditions, Paris, 2011.
Discography
- The Wicker Man soundtrackThe Wicker Man soundtrackComposed, arranged and recorded by Paul Giovanni and Magnet, The Wicker Man soundtrack contains folk songs performed by characters in the film . For example, Lesley Mackie, who plays the character of Daisy in the film, sings the opening song, and various others in the CD Soundtrack...
(1973) - Hammer Presents "Dracula" With Christopher Lee (EMI NTS 186 UK/Capitol ST-11340 USA, 1974)
- The Soldier's Tale by Stravinsky, with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Lionel Friend (Nimbus, 1986)
- Peter and the WolfPeter and the WolfPeter and the Wolf , Op. 67, is a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story , spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra....
by Prokofiev, with the English String Orchestra conducted by Yehudi MenuhinYehudi MenuhinYehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
(Nimbus, 1989) - Annie Get Your Gun (1995) JAY Records recording of Annie Get Your Gun
- The Rocky Horror ShowThe Rocky Horror ShowThe Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
(1995) JAY Records recording of The Rocky Horror Show - Devils, Rogues & Other Villains (1998)
- The King and IThe King and IThe King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
(1998) JAY Records recording of The King and I - Musicality of Lerner and Loewe (2002) Christopher Lee sings Wandering Star on this recording Musicality of Lerner and Loewe
- Lord of the Rings: Songs and Poems by J. R. R. Tolkien (2003)
- Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark SecretSymphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark SecretSymphony of Enchanted Lands II – The Dark Secret is the sixth studio album released by Rhapsody in 2004. Many have been confused by its title, as it's not a sequel to "Symphony of Enchanted Lands" but is the first chapter of a new saga, "The Dark Secret Saga"...
(2004) - Triumph or AgonyTriumph or AgonyTriumph or Agony is the seventh album studio released by Rhapsody of Fire in Europe on 25 September 2006.It is the first album that the band released after their name change....
(2006) - RevelationRevelation (Christopher Lee album)- Track listing :#"The Impossible Dream - The Quest" #"I, Don Quixote - Man of la Mancha" #"Carmencita - Quiero y no quiero querer" #"The Toreador March - Flamenco Mix" #"O Sole Mio - It's Now or Never"#"High Noon"...
(2006) - Charlemagne: By the Sword and the CrossCharlemagne: By the Sword and the CrossCharlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross is a symphonic metal concept album released in 2010 by actor Christopher Lee. It is Christoper Lee's first full-length album released when Lee was 88 years old. The album won the 'Spirit of Hammer' award from the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden God awards ceremony...
(2010) - The Frozen Tears of AngelsThe Frozen Tears of Angels-Concept:There is a growing fear of war on the horizon for the enchanted lands. The Disciples of the Black Order are gathering their army to unleash their long lost Black Messiah, Nekron, from his prison, to unleash pure evil and chaos upon the world. The wizards of the White Dragon's Order feel it...
(2010) - The Cold Embrace of Fear - A Dark Romantic Symphony (2010)
- Battle Hymns MMXIBattle Hymns MMXIBattle Hymns MMXI is a studio album released by the American heavy metal band Manowar in November 2010. It's a re-recording of their debut album Battle Hymns from 1982. It features the British actor Sir Christopher Lee as narrator and the original Manowar drummer Donnie Hamzik. The songs had...
(2010) - Charlemagne: The Omens of Death (2011)
- From Chaos to EternityFrom Chaos to EternityFrom Chaos to Eternity is the nineth full-length studio album by the Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody of Fire. It was released in June 17, 2011 via Nuclear Blast. This album is the first to feature the guitar playing of Tom Hess who became a full time official member of the band in 2011...
(2011)
External links
- Christopher Lee at ChristopherLeeWeb.com (official website)
- 2006 article from The Spectator
- Christopher Lee on the making of legends and Jinnah
- Bizarre Magazine interview
- Concerning his role in The Lord of the Rings movies
- Guardian Unlimited Profile
- Starwars.com interview in which he mentions work with SOE
- Christopher Lee interview 2007
- Christopher Lee at FEARnet