Christopher Frank Carandini Lee CBE, CStj (1922 - 2015)

Born 27 May 1922 in Belgravia, London, England

Ancestors

Died 7 Jun 2015 at age 93 in Westminster Hospital, London, England

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Biography

Christopher Lee CBE, CStj is Notable.

Esteemed actor, author and musician notable for such iconic characters as Dracula, Scaramanga, Saruman, and Count Dooku and for being the oldest singer in the heavy metal industry.

Christopher Lee was born in Belgravia, Westminster, London on 27 May 1922. He is the son of Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Trollope Lee (1879–1941) and Contessa Estelle Marie (née Carandini di Sarzano). His mother was a famous Edwardian beauty who was painted by Sir John Lavery as well as by Oswald Birley and Olive Snell, and sculpted by Clare Frewen Sheridan. Lee's great-grandmother, was English-born opera singer Marie Carandini (née Burgess). His sister, Xandra Carandini Lee, was born in 1917.

When World War II broke out, Lee volunteered to fight for the Finnish forces during the Winter War in 1939. He and other British volunteers were kept away from actual fighting, but they were issued winter gear and were posted on guard duty a safe distance from the front lines (they went home in two weeks). In 1941, Lee decided to join up while he still had some choice of service, and volunteered for the Royal Air Force.

Following the war he made his film début in 1947. His "apprenticeship" lasted ten years as he mostly played supporting and background characters. In 1957 he made his first film for Hammer, The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), in which he played Frankenstein's monster, with Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein. It was the first film he and Cushing were credited with together. They went on to appear in over twenty films together and became close friends.

Beginning in 1958 Lee went on to make the first of many Dracula movies in which he starred as Dracula. Lee also was the titular villain in the James Bond film The Man with The Golden Gun, Francisco Scaramanga, considered by some to be the best bad guy during the Roger Moore era.^[1] In 1977, Lee left England for America, concerned at being typecast in horror films, as had happened to his close friends Peter Cushing and Vincent Price. He said in an interview in 2011:

“Peter and Vincent made some wonderful serious movies but are only known for horror. That was why I went to America. I couldn't see anything happening here except a continuation of what had gone before. A couple of friends, Dick Widmark and Billy Wilder, told me I had to get away from London otherwise I would always be typecast."

Lee remained active in the industry into the 2000's and 2010's, having filmed Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy as Lord Saruman, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones as Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus, and other films. Lee was also a heavy metal singer, receiving a Spirit of Hammer award at the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards for his album Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross. With the release of his second album Charlemagne: The Omens of Death, at age 90, he was declared the oldest heavy metal singer in the industry.

Christopher Lee passed away on 7 June 2015 at age 93 in Westminster Hospital in London. Early reports indicate he had respiratory issues and heart failure at the time he was admitted.

Lee was a step-cousin of Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond spy novels, and a distant relative of Robert E. Lee and the astronomer John Lee.

Sources

1. ↑ Nashawaty, Chris (December 12, 2008). "Moore...And Sometimes Less: A look at the most – and least – memorable bad guys, babes, and Bonds in Roger Moore's 007 oeuvre". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1025. New York City: Meredith Corporation. p. 37.

See also:

• IMDb: Christopher Lee (Biography)
• Christopher Lee on Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
• ChristopherLeeWeb.com
• Bad Ass of the Week: Christopher Lee
• "Christopher Lee, Legendary Movie Villain and Horror Icon Dies at 93" on MSN
• "2015 Tributes" People (Special Edition), Time Life Books: New York, New York. 2015, p83.