A true icon, not just of
horror but of film in general, Christopher Lee’s prolific career spanned half a
century and included over 200 films. Lee was born in London 1922, the son of a
military officer. He showed an interest in many things as a youth including
sports, fencing and acting.
Like most of the young men
of his era, his life was put on hold with the outbreak of World War II. He
volunteered and eventually became an
intelligence officer in the RAF. He served in Africa and Italy and was attached
to British special forces for part of his career. One of his last assignments
was tracking down Nazi war criminals!
His career in movies began a
few years later and within the next 10 years made 45 movies (prolific!!!!)
before starring in the movie that would make him a legend, Dracula (Horror of Dracula in
the States). Lee starred in so many good Hammer films it would take a separate blog
to discuss them. Suffice to say ,in addition to the Count he also played
Frankenstein’s Monster and the Mummy. His best regarded non-Hammer film is the
folk horror masterpiece The Wicker Man
(1973).
Though he continued to act,
his star fell a bit over the next 20 years as the type of classic horror that
he was famous for began to fall out of fashion. However, his career would enjoy
a revitalization with the turn of the century with two non-horror franchises.
George Lucas cast him as the fallen Jedi master Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Peter Jackson cast
him as the evil wizard Saruman in his Lord of the Rings trilogy. His appearance
in 5 of the biggest grossest movies of all time brought him to the attention of
a whole new generation of genre fans.
He died in in 2015, at the
ripe old age of 93 having lived a very full life and leaving behind an
impressive body of work.
He's best known for his portrayal of Dracula for Hammer films but his contribution to both horror and film in general was decades long. Below are links to reviews of some of his films. Check back in the future for more reviews.
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