Christopher Lee

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning over 60 years, he became known as an actor with tremendous screen presence and a deep and commanding voice, who often portrayed villains in horror and franchise films. Lee was knighted for services to drama and charity in June 2009, and received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011 and the BFI Fellowship in 2013.

After playing smaller roles in films like Corridor of Mirrors (1948), Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), Bitter Victory (1957), and A Tale of Two Cities (1958), Lee gained fame for portraying Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, beginning with Dracula (1958). A fixture of Hammer films, he starred in Taste of Fear (1961), Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966), The Devil Rides Out (1968), To the Devil a Daughter (1976), and opposite his friend Peter Cushing in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), The Mummy (1959), and The Gorgon (1964). He also starred in other horror films, such as The City of the Dead (1960), The Whip and the Body (1963), Castle of the Living Dead (1964), Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965), Eugenie (1969), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), Horror Express (1972), and Death Line (1972).

In April 1960, Picturegoer London magazine, profiled Lee as one of the most eligible bachelors in town, living alone in a flat kept by daily domestic help and hosting only two large parties a year. Lee told the magazine he intended to change his bachelor status, saying "I enjoy my life now, but I have no wish to look after myself permanently", and that any wife would have to be someone he could admire.

Lee received praise for his performances as Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man (1973) and Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). He returned to prominence with a new generation of audiences for his roles as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003), which he reprised in The Hobbit film trilogy (2012–2014), and as Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). Around this time, he became a frequent collaborator of Tim Burton, appearing in his films Sleepy Hollow (1999), Corpse Bride (2005), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Alice in Wonderland (2010), and Dark Shadows (2012). Other notable film credits include The Three Musketeers (1973), Airport '77 (1977), The Last Unicorn (1982), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Jinnah (1998), and Hugo (2011).

Lee was also a classically trained singer with a passion for heavy metal. He recorded several albums, including the symphonic-metal concept albums Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross (2010) and Charlemagne: The Omens of Death (2013), portraying the title character of Charlemagne. These projects featured Lee providing spoken word, singing, and dramatic narration.