Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was an English actor known for his film portrayals of villains ranging from Dracula to J.R.R. Tolkien’s wizard Saruman. In 2009, he was knighted for services to drama and charity.
Background
Lee was born in 1922 in London, England, where he and his older sister Xandra were raised by their parents, Contessa Estelle Marie (Carandini di Sarzano) and Geoffrey Trollope Lee, a professional soldier, until their divorce in 1926. Later, while Lee was still a child, his mother married (and later divorced) Harcourt George St.-Croix (nicknamed Ingle), who was a banker.
Education
Christopher Lee Lee attended Wagner's private school in Queen's Gate. When Lee was nine, he was sent to Summer Fields School, a preparatory school in Oxford whose pupils often later attended Eton. Lee applied for a scholarship to Eton, where his interview was in the presence of the ghost story author M. R. James. His poor maths skills meant that he placed eleventh, and thus missed out on being a King's Scholar by one place. His step-father was not prepared to pay the higher fees that being an Oppidan Scholar meant, and so he did not attend. Instead, Lee attended Wellington College, where he won scholarships in the classics, studying Ancient Greek and Latin.
Career
Christopher Lee worked as an office clerk in a couple of London shipping companies until 1941 when he enlisted in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Lee left the army in 1946. After what he had experienced over the previous few years, he could no longer bring himself to working in an office. He had the opportunity to teach classics at University but didn’t fancy that prospect either. Soon after, he decided to become an actor.
Towards the end of 1946, he joined the Rank Company of Youth. For the next few years he busied himself learning the craft of acting. He swept the theater stage, held prompt cards for the actors on stage and eventually got tiny parts himself. Then came small roles in films. His height did, indeed work against him, with casting directors struggling to find a place for him.
In 1957, Lee was hired by Hammer Film Productions for his biggest part yet. He was to play the monster created by Baron von Frankenstein, who was to be played by his good friend Peter Cushing. The movie, called The Curse of Frankenstein, found an immediate audience among lovers of horror, who clamored for more. Hammer decided to satisfy the demand with a cinematic take on the Bram Stoker classic Dracula, with Lee in the lead role. The movie, released in 1958, was a huge hit, with Lee’s sinister yet charming take on the fanged count forever embedding itself in the public consciousness.
Dracula was the movie that turned the struggling 36-year-old journeyman actor into a star. He later recalled, ‘It brought me a name, a fan club, and a second-hand car, for all of which I was grateful.’
The Dracula role was both a blessing and a curse for Lee. It inevitably type cast him – and it tied him to appear in a succession of sequels, each one worse than the last. When he tried to bring the series to an end he was, in his own words, ‘blackmailed’ by Hammer executives, who would remind him how many people he would put out on the street if the next movie was not made.
Lee played the part of Dracula ten times, and increasingly grew tired of the shadow that it cast over his career. It took eight years for the second Dracula to be released, by which time the first movie had made a tremendous impact all over the world. Yet, when Lee was handed the script for the sequel, he was horrified, not by the murderous things that his character was asked to do, but by the terrible dialogue that he had been given. As a result, he refused to do the lines, which is why Dracula does not say a word in 1965’s Dracula: Prince of Darkness. Lee was also concerned that the character of Dracula was getting further and further away from what Bram Stoker had in mind when he wrote the book.
According to the man himself, Lee’s real career as a serious actor started when he was cast as the Marquis de Sade in A Tale of Two Cities in 1958. This was, in fact, his 43rd movie. Other serious roles followed, but he was unable to escape the horror genre for over a decade, appearing in a slew of largely forgettable blood and guts flicks, both for Hammer Studios and other production companies.
In 1962, Lee auditioned for a role in the World War Two classic The Longest Day. It is ironic that, despite his distinguished service for his country during the actual war, he was turned down because it was felt that audiences wouldn’t accept him as a military type.
From 1965 until 1969, Lee, despite his obvious English bearing, starred in a series of movies in which he played the villainous oriental Fu Manchu. His skill as an actor, along with long hours in the makeup chair, allowed him to breathe life into the role of the criminal mastermind.
In 1970, Lee picked up a single day’s work as the narrator in a film about the Marquis De Sade entitled Eugenie. It was only when the movie was released that he realized that he was appearing in a soft porn film, loaded with sex scenes that were shot when he wasn’t around. He was embarrassed and angry, but he could do nothing about it.
Lee credits his role as Sherlock Holmes’ smarter older brother, Mycroft, in 1970’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes as the role that allowed him to finally break free from being typecast as the ‘horror’ guy. Three years later he played Lord Summerisle in what he considered the best movie he ever made, The Wicker Man. Lee was so taken with the book Ritual upon which the movie is based that he offered his services free of charge. The film has become a cult classic and is considered one of the best British movies ever made.
In the mid-70’s, Lee appeared as Comte de Rochefort in The Three Musketeers, and its sequel The Four Musketeers. During a fight scene he received a knee injury, which would plague him for the rest of his life.
By 1977, Lee had established a reputation as a fine actor who could take on any role and make it his own. Still, he was concerned that, if he remained in England, he would eventually be lured back into the dark tunnel of horror movies. Avoiding that fate was the prime motivation for his move to the United States in 1977. His first American role was a departure from anything that had gone before – the modern-day disaster Airport ’77.
The following year he went even further beyond his comfort zone by appearing as the guest host on the NBC live comedy Saturday Night Live. He remembered the experience as the most terrifying hour and a half of his life. That night he impressed many people, including budding director Steven Spielberg, who promptly signed him up for his next project, the period comedy 1941.
Lee had the chance to follow up with another comedy, a spoof of Airport ’77 called Airplane! But he turned the role down and it went to Leslie Nielsen, who made it his own. Lee would refer to this decision as ‘a big mistake.’
Through the 80’s and ‘90’s, Lee appeared in a broad spectrum of movie genres from dramas to comedies and even musicals. He also made regular appearances on the small screen, for both British and American TV audiences.
In 1998, Lee was controversially cast as Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan in the movie Jinnah. It was to be his most demanding role, and the one that carried the most responsibility. For ten weeks, he acted the part of the father of the Pakistani nation on location, as thousands of locals scrutinized his every move. The vast majority of them were won over by the consummate actor, amazed and delighted with his ability to ‘become’ Jinnah. The movie was hugely important to Lee but it did not achieve widespread commercial success.
Lee had been a lifelong fan of the J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings series of books, reading them annually. He had once actually met Tolkien and for decades he had harbored the desire to play the role of Gandalf. What he was offered, and immediately accepted, was the part of Saruman in a trilogy to be directed by New Zealand director Peter Jackson. The role brought him to a new generation of fans, who were enthralled with his commanding performance.
The success of the Lord of Rings movies led to Lee’s insertion into the Star Wars franchise, where he played the evil Count Dooku. Throughout the 2000’s he also appeared in a string of Tim Burton movies, including Sleepy Hollow.
In 2011, Lee embraced his roots by appearing in his first Hammer film in 35 years, The Resident, alongside Hilary Swank. While filming in Mexico, he suffered a back injury and had to undergo surgery. As a result, he was unable to play a leading role in the long-awaited sequel to The Wicker Man, entitled The Wicker Tree. However, he was determined to appear in the film and was given a small role as the mentor of the character he was meant to play.
Although in his late 80’s, Lee was insistent that he had no intentions of retiring from acting. He often said that making movies had never been a job to him – it was his life, it gave him meaning and purpose.
With respiratory problems and a dodgy heart he couldn’t accept as many roles as in earlier times. Still he kept busy with voice-over and narration work and at least one major production each year. His final movie was an independent production called Angels of Notting Hill.
Christopher also made a career as a musician. With his operatic bass voice, Lee sang on The Wicker Man soundtrack, performing Paul Giovanni's composition, "The Tinker of Rye". He sang the closing credits song of the 1994 horror film Funny Man. His most notable musical work on film, however, appears in the superhero comedy/rock musical The Return of Captain Invincible (1983), in which Lee performs a song and dance number called "Name Your Poison", written by Richard O'Brien. In 1977 he appeared on Peter Knight and Bob Johnson's (from Steeleye Span) concept album The King of Elfland's Daughter. In the 1980s, during the height of Italo disco, he provided vocals to Kathy Joe Daylor's song "Little Witch".
Lee's first contact with heavy metal music came by singing a duet with Fabio Lione, lead vocalist of the Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody of Fire on the single "The Magic of the Wizard's Dream" from their album Symphony of Enchanted Lands II – The Dark Secret (he only performs backing vocals on the album version). Later he appeared as a narrator and backing vocalist on the band's 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 on the EP The Cold Embrace of Fear – A Dark Romantic Symphony, portraying the Wizard King. He also worked with Manowar while they were recording a new version of their first album, Battle Hymns. The original voice was done by Orson Welles (who was long dead at the time of the re-recording). The new album, Battle Hymns MMXI, was released on 26 November 2010.
At the age of 88, Christopher Lee released his first full heavy metal album. Titled Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross, which won the “Spirit of Metal” award from the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden Gods ceremony. He made a metal Christmas album in 2012. He was the oldest metal performer, and the oldest musician to ever hit the Billboard music charts.
On his 90th birthday (27 May 2012), he announced the release of his new single "Let Legend Mark Me as the King" from his upcoming album Charlemagne: The Omens of Death, signifying his move onto "full-on" heavy metal, which makes him the oldest performer in the history of the genre. The music was arranged by Richie Faulkner from the band Judas Priest, and featured World Guitar Idol Champion, Hedras Ramos.
In December 2012, he released an EP of heavy metal covers of Christmas songs called A Heavy Metal Christmas. He released a second in December 2013, entitled A Heavy Metal Christmas Too. With the song Jingle Hell, Lee entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #22, thus becoming the oldest living performer to ever enter the music charts, at 91 years and 6 months. The record was previously held (among living artists) by Tony Bennett, who was 85 when he recorded "Body and Soul" with Amy Winehouse in March 2011 (Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" charted when Armstrong would have been 86 years old in 1987, but Armstrong had recorded the song 20 years prior, and was already dead by the time the song became a hit). After media attention, the song rose to #18.
Lee released a third EP of covers in May 2014, to celebrate his 92nd birthday, called Metal Knight, in addition to a cover of "My Way", it contains "The Toreador March", inspired by the opera Carmen, and the songs "The Impossible Dream" and "I Don Quixote" from the Don Quixote musical Man of La Mancha.
On the self-titled debut album by Hollywood Vampires, a supergroup consisting of Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, and Joe Perry, Lee is featured as a narrator in the track "The Last Vampire". Being recorded shortly before his death, this marks Lee's final appearance on a musical record. In 2019, Rhapsody of Fire included a posthumous narration on their new album, The Eight Mountain, in which Lee narrated the concept story of the band's Nephilim Empire Saga.
Christopher Lee died on June 27th, 2015, at the age of 93. The official cause of death was heart failure. In the tributes that flowed, he was recognized as appearing in 208 films, more than anyone else in history. Those myriad roles allow him to live on, enabling his millions of fans, both old and new to experience the presence of a true giant of the cinema.
Views
Quotations:
“To be a legend, you’ve either got to be dead or excessively old!”
"The thing I have always tried to do is surprise people, to present them with something they didn't expect. As an actor, I have always tried to be unconventional. Even Scaramanga in The Man With The Golden Gun could be charming - he would be dull if I had just played him as a thug. I'll be 80 next year, if it pleases God. How many actors of my age are playing leading roles in major films?"
"I never thought of him as a vampire, ever. I mean, the blood is the life. That's one thing you have to bear in mind. And it is for all of us, isn't it? Here's a man who is immortal. Here is a man who, through being immortal, is a lost soul. Here is a man who experiences the loneliness of evil, something he can't control, who wants to die but there is a force in him, a malefic force, which drives him to do these terrible things. I said earlier the character is heroic, based on the real man - a war leader and a national hero, I may say, in Romania to this day - Vlad the Impaler. Certainly a bloodthirsty character, without a doubt. I also told you that the character is romantic - so he is, as far as women are concerned, and erotic. And there's, of course, the obvious association with the bite in a sexual sense, if you like. So I tried to put all those particular characteristics into the character. It appears that I succeeded."
Personality
Lee was a major Tolkien fan, reading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy once a year for the majority of his life. He was the only member of the movie cast to have met Tolkien personally - apparently, he ran into him randomly in a pub - and fanboyed out. Tolkien actually gave him his blessing to play Gandalf in any future Lord of the Rings movie.
Lee was quite interested in the history of public executions, and reportedly knew “the names of every official public executioner employed by England, dating all the way back to the mid-15th century.”
Because of his appearances as evil characters in different films, a range of legends appeared about him. One of them claimed the actor had a huge collection of occultism-related literature that amounted to 20,000 books. “If I had such a collection, I’d be living in a bathroom,” he answered, during a Q&A session at University College in Dublin. But his answer went further on:
“I have met people who claim to be Satanists, who claim to be involved with black magic, who claimed that they not only knew a lot about it. But as I said, I certainly have not been involved and I warn all of you: never, never, never. You will not only lose your mind: you lose your soul.”
Lee spoke no less than five languages fluently. He could speak English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, while also claiming to be reasonably familiar with Greek, Russian, and Swedish.
Physical Characteristics:
Christopher Lee was most recognized for towering height and slender physique. Christopher Lee’s imposing figure, combined with his deep, basso voice allowed him to portray menacing villains and many monsters in numerous horror films.
Christopher Lee’s height was an impressive 6 ft 5 inches (196 cm). Christopher Lee’s weight was around 80 kg (176 lbs).
Quotes from others about the person
"Сhristopher Lee is a titan of the golden age of cinema." - David Cameron
"Being half the man Christopher Lee is, is more than I could ever hope for. He was a true gentleman, in an era that no longer values gentlemen." - Peter Jackson