Legendary British actor Sir
Christopher Lee has died after
being hospitalized for respiratory
problems and heart failure. He
was 93. Lee, who played Dracula
in a series of classic Hammer
horror films and was Saruman in
the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit
movies, among many other iconic
roles, passed away on Sunday at
London’s Chelsea and
Westminster Hospital. The
Guardian reports that the decision
to release the news only today
was made so that his wife could
inform family members first. The
couple had been married for over
50 years.

Lee, born in London in 1922,
served in the Second World War
and turned to acting in 1947 soon
after his tour of duty was over.
His first notable film role was in
gothic romance Corridor Of
Mirrors , a mystery directed by
Terence Young. The next year, he
had an uncredited role in
Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet which
saw him work with Peter
Cushing. The two would later go
on to make 20 films together. In
the 1950s he began his association
with Hammer, playing The
Creature in 1957’s The Curse Of
Frankenstein . The next year he
became Dracula for the first time
in Hammer’s Horror Of Dracula .
His other films as the vampire
included Dracula: Prince Of
Darkness, Dracula Has Risen From
The Grave , Count Dracula , Dracula
A.D. 1972 and The Satanic Rites Of
Dracula .
“Sir Christopher Lee was my
friend. I think of him every day,
and I always will,” said director
Martin Scorsese, who worked
with Lee on 2011’s Hugo . “We
both wished that we’d been able
to work together more, but it was
a joy to make Hugo together. And
to just be with him, just listening
to his stories, in that beautiful
baritone voice, stories about his
time in the war, his time working
during the heyday of Hammer, on
all those wonderful pictures that
are now considered to be classics,
on eight decades in movies.

“At a certain point they realized
what a treasure they had, and
they made him Sir Christopher.
And that’s as it should be. He was
a great actor, a wonderful friend,
a real professional, and I’m really
going to miss him.”
Outside
of his
relationship with Hammer, for
whom he also starred in The
Mummy, Rasputin, The Mad Monk
and The Hound Of The
Baskervilles , Lee also played Dr Fu
Manchu in the late ’60s. He went
on to star as Lord Summerisle in
1973 classic The Wicker Man and
was Scaramanga in 1974 James
Bond movie The Man With The
Golden Gun.
Lee was introduced to a new
legion of fans when he first
played the evil Saruman in 2001’s
The Lord Of The Rings: The
Fellowship Of The Ring . He
continued in that role for each of
the trilogy’s installments and was
also Count Dooku in Star Wars
prequels Attack Of The Clones and
Revenge Of The Sith. More
recently, he reprised his role as
Saruman in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit
movies. His other recent credits
include Martin Scorsese’s Hugo ,
and voice work in Tim Burton’s
Alice In Wonderland and Corpse
Bride , among other collaborations.
Away from acting, Lee was also a
singer, releasing a series of Heavy
Metal records. The most recent
was an EP at Christmas 2014 titled
“Darkest Carols, Faithful Sing.”
The prolific actor was awarded
the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011 and
the BFI Fellowship in 2013. He
was knighted in 2009. Per The
Guardian , Lee still has fantasy
film Angels In Notting Hill to be
released. He was also due to star
in The 11th with Uma Thurman.
In an interview in 2013, Lee said
of acting, “Making films has
never just been a job to me, it is
my life. I have some interests
outside of acting — I sing and I’ve
written books, for instance — but
acting is what keeps me going, it’s
what I do, it gives life purpose.”
http://deadline.com/2015/06/christopher-lee-dies-dracula-lord-of-the-rings-1201441200/

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