Horror Icon- Christopher Lee

When you think about the Classic Monsters of  Horror, Christopher Lee is often overshadowed by the Dracula performances of Bela Lugosi. This is understandable, because the classic Universal lineup of Karloff, Lugosi and Chaney really did set the gold standard.  But that being said, Lee should be considered, along with friends Peter Cushing and Vincent Price, as the 2nd Generation of Horror Greats.

Left to Right - Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing (seated) and Vincent Price

Unusual Achievements

Born on May 27th, 1922, Christopher Lee shares the same birthday as Vincent Price.  His good friend Peter Cushing was born the day before on the 26th.  At 17, he was a spectator in the crowd attending the last public guillotining in France - that of Eugen Weidman in 1939.  This began his fascination with death and he began an eccentric hobby of know the names of every official British executioner since the middle of the 15th Century.

The execution of Eugen Weidman (1939).  Christopher Lee is in the crow somewhere.

Sir Christopher began acting at age 25, in the TV Series Kaleidoscope (both in episodes 3&5) and over his career, he has made 282 appearances as an actor, and during that time – he accumulated an incredible list of awards, achievements.  Below is a small sampling and should not be misconstrued as an complete list. 

He was one of the few actors to portray three different Sherlock Holmes characters: Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes and Sir Henry Baskerville.  Also in his career, Sir Christopher has played Count Dracula ten times, Dr. Fu Manchu five times, Sherlock Holmes three times, Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock's brother) once and Sir Henry Baskerville (a friend of Holmes) once.

It would not be unusual for Lee to be friends with Boris Karloff, they made two films together: Corridors of Blood (1958) and The Crimson Cult (1968).  However, that was not the reason for their friendship.  Instead, the two actors friendship began when they lived next door to each other in England.

Christopher Lee (left) and Boris Karloff on the set of Curse of the Crimson Alter (1968)

 

He was the only actor in cinematic history to have achieved a unique trifecta. He has played a Star Wars villain (Count Dooku), a James Bond villain (Francisco Scaramanga), and a classic horror movie monster (Dracula, the Mummy and Frankenstein's Monster).

Star Wars

Speaking of Star Wars films, Both he and his fellow Star Wars Sith Lord, David Prowse, have played Frankenstein's Monster opposite Peter Cushing: Lee in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), and Prowse in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974).

He was originally offered the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), which he turned down. The role eventually went to his good friend Peter Cushing. 

Harriet Walter (right) in The Force Awakens

Both he and his niece Harriet Walter appeared in have a couple of bonds over cinema.  He played Frankenstein's Monster in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) while his niece Harriet Walter played Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of "Frankenstein" author Mary Shelley, in Frankenstein: Birth of a Monster (2003).  In addition, in the "Star Wars" films: Lee played Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and Walter played Dr. Kalonia in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). 

Finally, as Darth Tyranus, he plays the first Sith apprentice to act in both body and voice.

Halloween

Donald Pleasance's performance as Dr. Loomis in Halloween is the stuff of horror legend, but he wasn't John Carpenter's first choice for the role. Halloween director John Carpenter and his producing/writing partner Debra Hill originally wanted Peter Cushing to play Dr. Loomis. When he turned it down, they approached Christopher Lee, who also turned down the role due to the low salary ($25,000) but later when on to say it was one of the biggest regrets in his career.  Just think what could have been.

Rock and Roll

He appears on the cover of Paul McCartney's 1973 album "Band on the Run".

On the self-titled debut album by Hollywood Vampires, a supergroup consisting of Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, and Joe Perry, Lee is featured as a narrator in the track "The Last Vampire". Being recorded shortly before his death, this marks Lee's final appearance on a musical record.

  

Lord of the Rings

Coincidentally, the veteran horror actor appeared in the only two Best Picture winners to feature ghosts, Hamlet (1948) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

On the subject of Lord of the Rings, Lee read the Lord of the Rings trilogy once a year for decades, long before the film series ever got started.  He was considered a veritable J.R.R. Tolkien expert and was the only member of the cast who had met Tolkien himself.  He often visited the Production department on the sets of the various Lord of the Rings movies to give advice and tips on the various attributes of the films.  Obviously, this didn’t help during the production of The Return of the King, as Sir Christopher was  upset about the deletion of his death scene in the theatrical release.  However, the scene was put back into the Extended Edition which is seen as the definitive version.  Finally, e worked with three different Gollums. The first Gollum, Theodore Gottlieb, was the voice of Gollum in animated version of The Hobbit (he was also in the Burbs), provided a voice in The Last Unicorn (1982) whereas Lee provided the voice for King Haggard. The second, Peter Woodthorpe, voiced Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of The Lord of the Rings and BBC's 1981 radio serial,  appeared with Lee in The Odyssey (1997). The last, Andy Serkis, appeared with him in the Lord of the Rings films.

Christopher Lee (middle) on the set of the Lord of the Rings

Awards

•  Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement (1994)
• Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John (1997
• Commander of the Order of the British Empire  2001
• Knight Bachelor "For services to Drama and to Charity" (2009)
• Commander of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2011) 
• Knighted by Prince Charles, but because of his age he was excused the usual requirement to kneel, and thus received the knighthood while standing.

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