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Sir Christopher Lee
CBE CStJ
Lee at the Berlin International Film Festival, February 2013
Born
Christopher Frank Carandini Lee

(1922-05-27) 27 May 1922 (age 102)
Belgravia, London, England, United Kingdom
Alma materWellington College
Occupation(s)Actor, singer, author
Years active1946–present
SpouseBirgit Krøncke (1961–present)
Children1
Military career
Allegiance Finland
 United Kingdom
Service / branchFinnish Army (December 1939)
British Home Guard (1940)
 Royal Air Force (1941–1946)
Years of service1939–1946
RankFlight Lieutenant
Battles / warsWinter War
World War II (North African Campaign, Allied invasion of Italy, Battle of Monte Cassino)
Websitechristopherleeweb.com

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ, (born 27 May 1922) is an English actor, singer and author. Lee initially portrayed villains and became best known for his role as Count Dracula in a string of popular Hammer Horror films. His other notable roles include Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Saruman in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and The Hobbit film trilogy (2012–2014), and Count Dooku in the final two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002 and 2005).

He was knighted for services to drama and charity in 2009, received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011 and received the BFI Fellowship in 2013.[1][2][3] Lee considers his best performance to be that of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the biopic Jinnah (1998), and his best film to be the British horror film The Wicker Man (1973).[4]

Always noted as an actor for his deep, strong voice, he has, more recently, also been known for using his singing ability, recording various opera and musical pieces between 1986 and 1998 and the symphonic metal album Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross in 2010 after having worked with several metal bands since 2005. The heavy metal follow-up titled Charlemagne: The Omens of Death was released on 27 May 2013.[5][6] He was honoured with the "Spirit of Metal" award in the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden God awards ceremony.

Christopher Lee is one of the highest grossing actors of all time, having grossed $8,321,486,066 worldwide.

2010s

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Lee at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012

In 2010, Lee marked his fourth collaboration with Tim Burton by voicing the Jabberwocky 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 two lines, Burton said that he felt Lee to be a good match for the iconic character because he is "an iconic guy".[7]

Lee won the "Spirit of Metal" 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, he appeared in a Hammer film for the first time in thirty-five years, the last being 1976's To the Devil a Daughter. The film was called The Resident and he gave a "superbly sinister" performance[8] alongside Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.[9] Whilst filming scenes for the film in New Mexico in early 2009, Lee injured his back when he tripped over power cables on set.[10] He had to undergo surgery and as a result was unable to play the role of Sir Lachlan Morrison in The Wicker Tree, the sequel to The Wicker Man. Very disappointed, director Robin Hardy recast the role but Lee was determined to appear in the film, so Hardy wrote a small scene specially for him.[11] Lee appears as the unnamed "Old Gentleman" who acts as Lachlan's mentor in a flashback. Hardy has stated that fans of The Wicker Man will recognise this character as Lord Summerisle,[12] but Lee himself has contradicted this, stating that they are two unrelated characters.[13] Also in 2011, Lee appeared in the critically acclaimed Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese.

On 11 January 2011, Lee announced on his website that he would be reprising the role of Saruman for the prequel film The Hobbit.[14] Lee had originally said he would have liked to have shown Saruman's corruption by Sauron,[15] but would not be comfortable flying to New Zealand at his age.[16] Lee went on to say that if a film were made, he would love to voice Smaug, as it would mean he could record his part in England and not have to travel.[17] A July 2011 behind-the-scenes featurette showed Jackson at the Pinewood Studios in London and Lee in make-up and costume as Saruman,[18] so it would seem that production has been adjusted to accommodate Lee's travel concerns and allow him to participate in the film. Lee has stated that he worked on his role for the films over the course of four days[19] and that he is portraying Saruman as a kind and noble wizard, before his subsequent fall into darkness, which audiences have seen in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

In 2012, Lee marked his fifth collaboration with Tim Burton by appearing in his film adaptation of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, in the small role of a New England fishing captain.

In an interview in August 2013, Lee said that he was "saddened" to hear that his friend Johnny Depp might retire from acting and said that he has no intention of retiring.

There are frustrations – people who lie to you, people who don't know what they are doing, films that don't turn out the way you had wanted them to – so, yes, I do understand [why Depp would consider retiring]. I always ask myself "well, what else could I do?". Making films has never just been a job to me, it is my life. I have some interests outside of acting – I sing and I've written books, for instance – but acting is what keeps me going, it's what I do, it gives life purpose... I'm realistic about the amount of work I can get at my age, but I take what I can, even voice-overs and narration.[20]

Lee narrated the feature-length documentary Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics, which was released on 25 October 2013.[21] In 2014, he appeared in an episode of the BBC documentary series Timeshift called How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective. Lee and others who have played Sherlock Holmes discussed the character and the various interpretations of him.[22] He also appeared in a web exclusive, reading an excerpt from the short story The Final Problem.[23] He currently narrates an advertising campaign for Age UK, reading a poem by Roger McGough.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Hammer Horror star Lee knighted". BBC. Retrieved 7 May 2012
  2. ^ "Christopher Lee to receive Bafta Fellowship". BBC. Retrieved 7 May 2012
  3. ^ "Depp surprises Sir Christopher Lee with film award". BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2013
  4. ^ "The Total Film Interview – Christopher Lee". Total Film. 1 May 2005. Archived from the original on 12 June 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  5. ^ Sir Christopher Lee releases second heavy metal album
  6. ^ Farrell, John (28 May 2012). "Christopher Lee Celebrates 90th Birthday By Recording Heavy Metal". Forbes. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  7. ^ Salisbury, Mark; Burton, Tim (2010). Alice in Wonderland: A Visual Companion. Disney Editions. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-4231-2887-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "The Resident – review". The Guardian. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  9. ^ "Hi-Res Look at Hilary Swank in Hammer Films' 'The Resident'". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  10. ^ "Christopher Lee: a giant among actors". The Times. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  11. ^ "Robin Hardy – director and novelist – Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee". Geek Chocolate. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  12. ^ Hardy, Robin. "RM-051.mp3 (audio/mpeg Object)". Rue Morgue Radio. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  13. ^ Lee, Christopher (27 December 2011). "Christopher Lee 2011 Christmas Message Part 1". Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  14. ^ "Sir Christopher Returns in The Hobbit". Christopher Lee Official Website. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  15. ^ Ferris, Glen (4 June 2008). "Christopher Lee on The Hobbit". Empire Online. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  16. ^ Rappe, Elisabeth (13 July 2008). "Looks Like Christopher Lee Might Not Return to Middle-Earth". Cinematical. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  17. ^ "Christopher Lee about possibly returning to Middle Earth". You tube. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  18. ^ The Hobbit Team (21 July 2011). "Production Video #3". The Hobbit Blog. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  19. ^ "Christopher Lee Talks Saruman in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey". Movie Web. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  20. ^ "Johnny Depp Retirement Saddens Christopher Lee". Movie Web. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  21. ^ "New clip from the DC comics villains documentary Necessary Evil, narrated by Christopher Lee!". JoBlo.com. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  22. ^ "How to be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective". The BBC. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  23. ^ "Web exclusive: Christopher Lee reads The Final Problem". The BBC. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  24. ^ Shah, Yagana (19 March 2014). "PSA Reminds Us To Love Later Life And Embrace Aging". JoBlo.com. Retrieved 21 March 2014.

Bibliography

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  • Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror, edited by Russ Jones, illustrated by Mort Drucker & others, Pyramid Books, 1966
  • Christopher Lee's New Chamber of Horrors, Souvenir Press, 1974
  • Christopher Lee's Archives of Terror, Warner Books, Volume I, 1975; Volume 2, 1976
  • Tall, Dark and Gruesome (autobiography), W.H. Allen, 1977 and 1999
  • The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films, by Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes, Titan Books, 1997 and 2007 – Foreword by Christopher Lee
  • Christopher Lee: The Authorised Screen History by Jonathan Rigby, Reynolds & Hearn, 2001 and 2003
  • The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare by Chris Smith, HarperCollins, 2003 – Foreword by Christopher Lee
  • Lee, Christopher (2003) [1977]. Lord of Misrule: The Autobiography of Christopher Lee. London: Orion Publishing Group. ISBN 0-75285-770-3.
  • 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.
  • Monsters in the Movies: 100 Years of Cinematic Nightmares, by John Landis, DK Publishing, 2011 – Interview with Christopher Lee
  • Le Seigneur du désordre (autobiography, a French version of Lord of Misrule), Christopher Lee, Camion Blanc (Coll. "Camion Noir"), 2013.
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