R.I.P Christopher Lee

On June 7, 2015 America lost one of its most prolific Horror/Fantasy actors of all time.  Christophe Lee had just celebrated his 93rd birthday with family in London, England.  This post is in memory of his life and his many movies through his lifetime.

First, lets start with a little of his biography.  Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was born in 1922 in London, England, where he was raised by his parents, Contess Estelle Marie (Carandini di Sarzano) and Geoffrey Trollope Lee, with his older sister Xandra.

After attending Wellington College from the ages of 14-17, he worked as an office clerk in a couple of London shipping companies until 1941, when he enlisted into the Royal Air Force during World War II.  After being released from the military, he joined the Rank Organisation in 1947 to train as an actor in their "Charm School".  This is where his acting career got his start getting bit parts in such films as "Corridor of Mirrors"(1948), "Laurence Olivier's Hamlet" (1948), "Moulin Rouge" (1952).

Lee landed numerous parts in film and television throughout the 50s, but he struggled because he was discriminated as being taller than any of the other leading male actors during his time, at 6'5", as well as being too foreign-looking.  Luckily for him though, this foreign-looking downfall became a blessing in disguise by playing the monster in the Hammer film "The Curse of Frankenstein"(1957), which was successful and led him to being signed for future roles in Hammer Film Productions.  This followed with Lee being in contact with Peter Cushing in "Horror of Dracula"(1958) and "The Mummy"(1959).  These two became real good friends and often played contrasting roles to each other in Hammer films.

Lee continued his role as "Dracula" throughout the 60s and into the early 70s.  During this time, he co-starred in "The Hound of the Baskervilles"(1959), and made numerous appearances as Fu Manchu, most notably in the first of the series "The Face of Fu Manchu"(1965).  With his own production company, Lee made "Nothing But the Night"(1973) and "To the Devil a Daughter"(1976).  By this point, Lee was tiring of his horror image and tried to widen his appeal by participating in several mainstream films, such as "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes"(1970), "The Three Musketeers"(1973), "The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge"(1974), and the James Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun"(1974).

After these successful films, it prompted him to move to Hollywood, where he remained busy, only made unremarkable film and television appearances.  The beginning of the new millennium relaunched his career, when he was cast as Count Dooku in "Star Wars:  Episode II - Attack of the Clones"(2002) and as Saruman the White in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  He was then cast again as Count Dooku in the third installment of the Star Wars Prequel and as Johnny Depp's father in the Tim Burton film, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".

When the Hobbit Trilogy was announced, he would reprise his role as Saruman the White for the first and the third installments.  One quick fact linking Christopher to the Hobbit franchise, he was the only member of the entire movie staff that had actually met J.R.R. Tolkien, himself.

Unfortunately on June 6, 2015 Sir Christopher Lee passed away in London, England from heart failure at the ripe old age of 93.

Some interesting facts about Christopher Lee that I found are as follows:

-Classically trained singer.

-Is listed as the Center of the Hollywood Universe by the Oracle of Kevin Bacon website at the University of Virginia, because he can be linked to any one in Hollywood on average in 2.59 steps. That is less than either Charlton Heston or Kevin Bacon himself.

-One of Lee's maternal great-grandfathers was Italian. Through him, Lee is of noble Italian ancestry (from the Carandini family).

-A stunt double performed the stunts and lightsaber fights in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). Lee's face was imposed on the double's body. Lee mentioned that in the last 40 years, he has done more swordfights than any other actor, but "not anymore".

-Both he and his fellow "Star Wars" Sith Lord, David Prowse, have played Frankenstein's Monster opposite Peter Cushing:  Lee in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Prowse in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974).

-Was originally offered the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). He turned down the role which eventually went to his good friend Peter Cushing.  

-Was upset about the deletion of his death scene in the theatrical version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). However, the scene was put back into the Extended Edition which is seen as the definitive version.

-As Darth Tyranus, he plays the first Sith apprentice to act in both body and voice.

-His films have made more money than any other actor's in history. As of May 2006, five of his films (the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the two Star Wars films in which he played Count Dooku) had total grosses in excess of $4.4 billion. Even without considering Lee's other appearances dating back to 1948, his totals considerably surpass the figures of #3 billion and #3.8 billion claimed by Harrison Ford and Samuel L. Jackson, respectively.

-As a veritable J.R.R. Tolkien expert and the only member of the cast who had met Tolkien himself, he often visited the Production department on the sets of the various Lord of the Rings movies to give advice and tips on the various attributes of the films.

-Has said that his favorite director is Tim Burton, whom he frequently collaborated with on several of Burton's films.

-Has also done a few small roles that only require his voice, such as the priest in Corpse Bride (2005), and the Jabberwocky in Alice in Wonderland (2010).

-His mother was a contessa of the Italian Cardini family related through marriage across the centuries to the Borgias.

-In his autobiography, he relates his first meeting with Peter Cushing during production of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), in which he played the monster. Lee stormed into a dressing room where Cushing was sitting and angrily yelled "I haven't got any lines!" Cushing replied, "You're lucky; I've read the script.".