|
Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (born May 27, 1922 in London) is a prolific British actor known for his versatility and film longevity.
He should not be confused with Christopher Lee, historian.
Lee became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films. He is viewed by many as the quintessential film villain. Other notable films include The Wicker Man and The Man with the Golden Gun. Lee is now over 80 years old, and still appearing in films such as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
Early Life
He was educated at Wellington College, he volunteered to fight for the Finnish forces during the Winter War against the Soviet Union in 1939, then served in the Royal Air Force and intelligence during World War II.
Career as an actor
He made his film debut in Terrence Long's Gothic Romance, Corridor of Mirrors, in 1948. Throughout the next decade, Lee made nearly 30 films, playing mostly stock action characters. His first film for Hammer, made in 1957 with Peter Cushing, was Curse of Frankenstein, in which he played, "The Creature". That led to his first Dracula film, Horror of Dracula, in 1958. From then on, Lee was periodically featured in numerous horror roles for various studios.
Lee has played roles in over 220 films since 1948, and has had many notable television roles. He appeared as Flay in the BBC television miniseries Gormenghast, based on Mervyn Peake's novels.
As an indication to his profligacy and longevity, Lee has, according to the Oracle of Bacon at Virginia (http://www.cs.virginia.edu/oracle/), an average Bacon number of 2.684104 (as of December 2003), making him second on the list of most suitable centres of the Hollywood universe. This calculation uses a modification of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game.
Notes
Author Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, is his cousin and wanted Lee to play the first James Bond film villain, Dr. Julius No. Lee would eventually play another Bond villain, Francisco Scaramanga, in The Man with the Golden Gun.
Lee appeared on the cover of the Wings album Band on the Run along with other people, including Clement Freud. Also, he narrated the Dark Secret EP by Italian power metal band, Rhapsody.
Lee was a natural choice for the Lord of the Rings movies, where he plays the role of Saruman, as he makes it a habit of reading the novel at least once a year. Lee will reprise his Star Wars role as Count Dooku in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
Lee's great grandparents formed Australia's first opera company, performing before miners in towns in the outback.
Lee sings on The Wicker Man soundtrack -- in character as the modern pagan noble in the film -- performing Paul Giovanni's psych folk composition, The Tinker of Rye.
Books by Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror, Pyramid Publications, 1966
Christopher Lee's New Chamber of Horrors, Souvenir Press, 1974
Christopher Lee's Archives of Terror, Warner Books, Volume I, 1975, Volume 2, 1976
Tall, Dark and Gruesome (autobiography), W. H. Allen, 1977 and 1999
External links
|
