Christopher Lee

Who is Christopher Lee?

Christopher Lee was an English actor, singer, and author who worked in the industry for more than 7 decades since 1946. This actor was well-known for playing the roles of villains and was popularly known for his role in the ‘Hammer Horror’ film named Count Dracula. Before joining this field, he worked in the Royal Air Force. Lee was an intelligence officer where he was a liaison officer for the Special Operations Executive. Likewise, he retired in 1946 and pursued an acting career. Apart from this, he is also a singer who has recorded various kinds of music and opera. Moreover, he has also received the Spirit of Hammer Award in 2010 at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards ceremony. Sadly, this actor took his last breath on 7 June 2015.

Bio

Christopher Lee’s full name is Christopher Frank Carandini Lee who was born on 27 May 1922 in Belgravia, London, England. His parents were Trollope Lee, British Army Officer Geoffrey, and Contessa Estelle Marie. Likewise, he stayed with his mother and sister in Switzerland as his parents divorced when he was very small. He had a Gemini star sign.

Death

Christopher Lee was 93 years old when he took his last breath in this world. He died on 7 June 2015 due to heart failure and respiratory trouble at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. His death news was public on 11 June 2015. Many of his friends, actors, fans, and even the Prime Minister of the UK gave him personal tributes.

Nationality and Physical Stats

Christopher Lee belonged to British nationality and as per his ethnicity, he was White. He had English and Italian descent. Besides this, he stood 6 feet and 4 inches (1.94m/194cm) tall and weighed around 75kg (165lbs). Moreover, he had a pair of black-colored eyes and white hair color.

Education

Christopher Lee attended Miss Fisher Academy and Sunner Field School. He then enrolled at Wellington College on a scholarship and studied Ancient Greek and Latin.

Personal Life 

Christopher Lee married a Danish model in 1961 named Birgit ‘Gitte’ Lee. This couple was blessed with a daughter named Christina Erika Carandini Lee in 1963.

Career

Movies of Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee landed his debut film role in the 1948 movie ‘Corridor of Mirrors’ as Charles.  The same year, he also played in ‘One Night with You,’ ‘Hamlet,’ ‘A Song for Tomorrow,’ ‘Penny and the Pownall Case,’ and ‘Scott of the Antarctic.’ He also had an uncredited role in different movies like ‘Quo Vadis’ in 1951, ‘The Crimson Pirate,’ ‘Top Secret,’ ‘Moulin Rouge’ in 1952, ‘Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot’ a voice role in 1953, and ‘The Dark Avenger’ in 1955. Moreover, he also voiced over in ‘Alexander the Great’ in 1956 and played and appeared in the horror film ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ as The Creature in 1957. Christoper mostly appeared in villainous roles. He then received a big break in the 1958 film ‘Dracula’ as Count Dracula. This is the first part of the Hammer Horror film series. It starred Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, and Melissa Stribling.

Likewise, he starred in five different films in 1959. Talking about the 1960s his famous films were ‘Too Hot to Handle,’ ‘The City of the Dead’ in 1960, ‘The Devil’s Daffodil’ in 1961, ‘The Pirates of Blood River’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace’ as Sherlock Holmes in 1962, ‘The Virgin of Nuremberg’ in 1963, and many more. He also starred in ‘The Devil-Ship Pirates,’ ‘Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors,’ ‘The Blood Demon,’ ‘Dracula Has Risen from the Grave,’ and ‘The Magic Christian’ in the 1960s. In the 1970s he appeared in various Hammer Horror films like ‘Count Dracula,’ ‘Scars of Dracula,’ ‘Cuadecuc, vampire,’ ‘Dracula A.D. 1972,’ ‘The Satanic Rites of Dracula,’ as Dracula.

More

Moreover, he also appeared in ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’ in 1971, ‘The Three Musketeers’ in 1973, ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ in 1974, ‘Dracula père et fils’ in 1976, and ‘Arabian Adventure’ in 1979. Talking more, during the 1980s and 1990s, he did not appear in many movies compared to the previous years. He did notable movies like ‘Mask of Murder,’ ‘The Return of the Musketeers,’ ‘Honeymoon Academy,’ ‘The Rosebud Beach Hotel,’ etc in the 1980s. Likewise, he also starred in ‘Gremlins 2: The New Batch,’ ‘Jackpot,’ ‘Curse III: Blood Sacrifice,’ ‘Police Academy: Mission to Moscow,’ ‘Welcome to the Discworld,’ ‘Jinnah,’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow’ during the 1990s.

Furthermore, in 2001 he appeared in the ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ as Saruman. This film also had a sequel where he appeared in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ in 2002 and the extended edition of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ in 2003. Meanwhile, in 2002, he also starred in the epic space opera film ‘Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones’ as Count Dooku / Darth Tyranus. Additionally, he again reprised his role of Count Dooku in ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ in 2005. The movie stars were Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Frank Oz.

This actor also had voice roles in ‘Corpse Bride,’ ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ and ‘Angels in Notting Hill.’ He starred alongside voice actors like Alan Rickman, Johny Deep, Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, Helena Bonham Carter, etc. Moreover, he also reprised his role of Saruman in ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ in 2012 and ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ in 2014. Some of his posthumous release films after his death were ‘The Hunting of the Snark’ and ‘The Time War.’

TV Shows

Talking about Lee’s series, his debut television role happened in ‘Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents’ from 1953 to 1956. He then appeared in ‘Moby Dick—Rehearsed’ in 1955, ‘Sailor of Fortune’ in 1956, ‘The Errol Flynn Theatre’ in 1957, ‘Ivanhoe’ in 1958, and ‘Tales of the Vikings’ in 1960. Moreover, he also appeared as Lucifer in ‘Poor Devil’ in 1973 and in ‘Space: 1999’ as Captain Zandor in 1976. He also starred in television films like ‘ Captain America II: Death Too Soon,’ ‘The Pirate,’ ‘Maserati and the Brain,’ ‘Goliath Awaits,’ and many more. Likewise, he is also famous for his role as Sherlock Holmes in the television film ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady’ in 1991.

He also had a voice role of Death in episodes of different series like ‘Soul Music,’ ‘Wyrd Sisters’ in 1997, and ‘The Colour of Magic’ in 2008. He also appeared in ‘The New Adventures of Robin Hood’ which ran from 1997 to 1998, ‘Ghost Stories for Christmas’ in 2000, and ‘Pope John Paul II’ in 2005.

Awards 

Christopher Lee has won the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast in 2001 for his film ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.’ He has also won the MTV Movie Award for Best Fight and Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast for the film ‘Star Wars: Episode II’ in 2002. His last won award is the Teen Choice Award for his role in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in 2010.

Net Worth of Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee had an estimated net worth of $25 million at the time of his death.