The veteran actor was best known for roles including Dracula and Saruman in The Lord of the Rings franchise

Sir Christopher Lee has died at the age of 93 after being hospitalized for respiratory problems and heart failure.

The veteran actor, best known for a variety of films from Dracula to The Wicker Man through to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, passed away on Sunday morning at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, according to sources.

The decision to release the news days after was based on his wife’s desire to inform family members first. The couple had been married for over 50 years.

As well as his career in film, Lee also released a series of heavy metal albums, including Charlemagne: The Omens of Death. He was knighted in 2009 for services to drama and charity and was awarded the Bafta fellowship in 2011.

His film career started in 1947 with a role in gothic romance Corridor of Mirrors but it wasn’t until the late 50s, when Lee worked with Hammer, that he started gaining fame. His first role with the studio was The Curse of Frankenstein and it was the first of 20 films that he made with Peter Cushing.

Lee’s most famous role for Hammer was playing Dracula, a role which became one of his most widely recognised although the actor wasn’t pleased with how the character was treated. “They gave me nothing to do!” he told Total Film in 2005. “I pleaded with Hammer to let me use some of the lines that Bram Stoker had written. Occasionally, I sneaked one in. Eventually I told them that I wasn’t going to play Dracula any more. All hell broke loose.”

Lee still has one film yet to be released, the fantasy film Angels in Notting Hill. He was also set to star in 9/11 drama The 11th opposite Uma Thurman but it’s believed that the film hadn’t yet started production.

prof800:
I thought this baba was British shá?


RIP to him. He was an iconic actor.
[img]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT0B5WVyowjC73wVEtf5z55BFz16jJ9JoFB6qM2SgmtWWWAchyZiXKU7dKH[/img]

Briareos:
Gandalf, yet again, has the last laugh.
But he was quite old. 93?

Dragonking:


That's saruman not gandalf.

RIP SA-RU-MAN

Kaycee7:
The death of this icon didn't make front page but silly "who wore it better" or "hit or miss" celeb posts make fp steady. What's up wit these mods?

Dragonking:

That's saruman not gandalf.
RIP SA-RU-MAN

cao:

You can't exactly blame mods, they're not supermods, they can't post directly to FP, they can only make suggestions to TPTB. If TPTB don't choose to move it, then the mods are clearly not at fault.

Kaycee7:
Then TPTB owes me an explanation on why Sir Lee's death shouldn't make front page.