Lee's life of Hammer and horror
The career of Christopher Lee, the veteran screen actor who has received a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, has lasted 60 years and includes roles in more than 250 films.
It is for his long line of memorable villains that he is best known - a distinguished lineage that includes Bond bad guy Scaramanga and evil wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings.
The Rings trilogy, coupled with the Star Wars prequels in which he played the nefarious Count Dooku, were the most successful films of his career from a commercial standpoint.
For all that, the 87-year-old will always be associated with Count Dracula, a malevolent hero he invested with a demonic charisma and a dash of sex appeal.
Born into affluence, the imposing actor can trace his lineage to Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor.
After public school he served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War, where he was mentioned in dispatches.
Ghoulish
His screen career began when he joined the Rank Organisation in 1947, training as an actor in their so-called "charm school".
Yet it was his association with British studio Hammer that made him a household name, playing such iconic characters as Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy and, of course, Dracula.
Christopher Lee in Dracula: Prince of Darkness
Dracula: Prince of Darkness saw Lee's Count come to a predictably sticky end
Critics said Hammer's movies were films to disgust the mind and repel the senses, but audiences lapped up their ghoulish, blood-soaked excesses.
Lee would go on to reprise his trademark role in a number of sequels before finally laying him to rest in the 1970s.
A move to Hollywood offered a wider range of characters to sink his teeth into - among them a gay Hell's Angel in 1980 film Serial.
A measure of his popularity came when he hosted Saturday Night Live, a comedy show watched by 35 million Americans.
Among hundreds of films, Lee's personal favourite is cult thriller The Wicker Man. He also cites Jinnah, a biopic of Pakistan's founder, as his most important work.
"It had the best reviews I've ever had in my entire career - as a film and as a performance," he told the BBC News website in 2004.
A distant cousin and golfing partner of James Bond creator Ian Fleming, Lee was in the frame to play Doctor No in the first Bond movie.
Authoritative
Joseph Wiseman won the part, but Christopher Lee would later appear opposite Roger Moore's 007 in 1974's The Man With The Golden Gun.
In 2000 he was seen as Flay, the loyal yet verbally challenged manservant in the BBC adaptation of Gormenghast.
In recent years he has also been seen in a number of Tim Burton movies, among them Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
In the flesh, the tall and authoritative actor is nothing like the larger-than-life grotesques who chilled generations of moviegoers.
His knighthood for services to drama and charity reflects the esteem with which he is held and his unique ability to make screen villainy devilishly attractive.
Sir Christopher Lee - he is Knighted!
- carl stromberg
- Ministry of Defence
- Posts: 4447
- Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 7:15 pm
- Favorite Bond Movie: The Spy Who Loved Me
- Favorite Movies: Amicus compendium horror films
It's a Gift
A Night At The Opera
The Return of the Pink Panther
Sons of the Desert - Location: The Duck Inn
Sir Christopher Lee - he is Knighted!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8097274.stm
Bring back Bond!
Re: Sir Christopher Lee - he is Knighted!
About bloody time.
"He's the one that doesn't smile" - Queen Elizabeth II on Daniel Craig
- James
- OO Moderator
- Posts: 1593
- Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 5:14 pm
- Favorite Bond Movie: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
- Favorite Movies: George A Romero's Dawn Of The Dead
Silent Running
Harold and Maude - Location: Europe and Outer Space
Re: Sir Christopher Lee - he is Knighted!
Well deserved for the great man.
"I can't do that superhero stuff" Daniel Craig
- FormerBondFan
- 008
- Posts: 6325
- Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:24 am
- Favorite Bond Movie: The Dark Knight Trilogy, Mission: Impossible, Kingsman: The Secret Service and The November Man or any upcoming actioners starring Pierce Brosnan (no, it's not James Bond which is good since it will help him expand his reputation as an actor especially in the action realm)
- Favorite Movies: Star Wars
Indiana Jones
Star Trek
The Dark Knight Trilogy
Harry Potter
Middle-Earth
The Matrix
Mission: Impossible
The Mummy
Jurassic Park
Godzilla - Location: Southern CA
Re: Sir Christopher Lee - he is Knighted!
When is he going to get an Oscar?
-
- Agent
- Posts: 500
- Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 3:16 pm
- Location: America
Re: Sir Christopher Lee - he is Knighted!
Why does he need an oscar?He is a knight!
- Blowfeld
- Ministry of Defence
- Posts: 3195
- Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:03 pm
- Favorite Bond Movie: Goldfinger
For Your Eyes only
The Living Daylights - Location: the world
Re: Sir Christopher Lee - he is Knighted!
I thought Christopher deserved an Oscar for his LOTR work. At the very least he should get life time achievement award. For too long he has been ignored as an underrated actor.
"Those were the days when we still associated Bond with suave, old school actors such as Sean Connery and Roger Moore,"
"Daniel didn't have a hint of suave about him," - Patsy Palmer
Re: Sir Christopher Lee - he is Knighted!
When he plays a disabled person or a Holocaust survivor. Or, given his age, possibly a Lovable Old Dude With A Twinkle In His Eye™.FormerBondFan wrote:When is he going to get an Oscar?
"He's the one that doesn't smile" - Queen Elizabeth II on Daniel Craig