Legendary Actor Christopher Lee Dies at Age 93
Legendary actor Sir Christopher Lee has passed away at the age of 93. According to reports, his death occurred on Sunday morning.
Lee was apparently hospitalized at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for respiratory problems and heart failure before his death. The delay in reporting the news to the public was out of respect for the wishes of Lee’s wife of 50 years to inform his family first.
Lee has appeared in over 280 films in his acting career, which is incredibly impressive. He definitely left his mark on the world. His career took off in 1947 after appearing in a gothic romance film called Corridor of Mirrors. Then it really exploded in the 1950s when he started getting work in the horror films that were being produced by Hammer.
The first movie he did for them was The Curse of Frankenstein, and shortly after took on the iconic role of Dracula in the 1958 film. He reprised the role in the 1965 sequel Dracula: Prince of Darkness and five more films after that! The guy made a badass Dracula. Lee also starred in Hammer’s The Mummy and Rasputin, the Mad Monk.
I could go on and name a ton of other films that he been in over the years including The Wicker Man and The Man with the Golden Gun, and his run as Sherlock Holmes in which he starred in Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace and The Hound of the Baskervilles, and as Mycroft Holmes in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.
His popularity resurged in 2001 with a whole new younger fan base grew when he was cast as the wizard Saruman in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, a role he reprised in the most recent Hobbit trilogy. George Lucas cast hum as the villainous Count Dooku in 2002’s Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
He also found work with director Tim Burton, who is a long-time fan of the actor, and he appeared in films such as Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland, and Dark Shadows. Burton even presented Lee with a BAFTA Academy Fellowship in 2011.
On top of all that, the guy was doing heavy metal Christmas music! Lee’s final film was the fantasy Angels in Notting Hill, and it has not been released yet.
I was introduced to Lee's work as at a young age. The first movie I ever saw him in was in Hammer's Dracula. The guy scarred the hell out of me. Lee was an incredible actor, who made some awesome films and entertained audiences around the world. It is sad to hear that he has passed on, but he left behind an amazing legacy.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.