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Sir Christopher Lee, CStJ was an Actor, Singer and Author.
He is best known for playing villains and first came to public attention as Frankenstein’s monster in Hammer Horrors Curse of Frankenstein (1957). It was also the first film he made with Peter Cushing and the pair would go on to make over twenty films together.
I’ve always acknowledged my debt to Hammer. They gave me this great opportunity, made me a well-known face all over the world for which I am profoundly grateful.
Lee’s portrayal as Count Dracula in the 1958 film adaptation of Bram Stokers novel was critically acclaimed and although he had few speaking lines in this first outing his screen presence was undeniable. In total, he would go on to play Count Dracula ten times. Whilst working with Hammer, Lee made a number of other iconic films including The Mummy and The Hound of the Baskervilles.
I think acting is a mixture of instinct, imagination and inventiveness. All you can learn as an actor is basic technique.
During the 1960s and 1970s he appeared in dozens of films including Fu Manchu, the Wicker Man, The Four Musketeers, Horror Express and the classic Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun.
He would go on to star in two of the largest movie franchises ever committed to film, playing Saruman in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II and III.
I haven’t spent my entire career playing the guy in the bad hat, although I have to say that the bad guy is frequently much more interesting than the good guy.
He had an instantly memorable voice and recorded a multitude of audiobooks. But it was not just Lee’s speaking voice that was in demand, he was also an accomplished operatic bass singer and recorded a diverse body of choral work including a number of Heavy Metal albums.
In 1997, Lee was appointed a Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John and in 2009 he was knighted for services to drama and charity.
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