Christopher Lee - actor and singer: biography, family, filmography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Christopher Lee is a British actor, musician and producer. He became famous for his role as Count Dracula, after which he took part in the cult horror film The Wicker Man and the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. He is also famous for his roles in the popular franchises The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. In total, he took part in two hundred and eighty projects throughout his career.

Childhood and youth

Christopher Lee was born on May 27, 1922 in London. The actor's father is a military man, lieutenant-colonel of the British army, a participant in the Anglo-Boer and First World Wars. Mother - Countess, descendant of King Charles II.

When Christopher was four years old, his parents separated. He and his sister Xandra moved to Switzerland with their mother, two years later the parents' divorce was officially finalized. It was there that Lee began his acting career, appearing in several school productions. His first role in the theater was the image of the famous fairy-tale villainRumplestiltskin.

A few years later the family returned to England. The actor's mother remarried the uncle of the famous writer Ian Fleming, the author of a series of novels about James Bond. Christopher studied at one of the preparatory schools in Oxford, where he also actively participated in theatrical productions. He failed to get into Eton College and ended up graduating from Wellington College where he studied the dead languages and cultures of antiquity.

At seventeen, Christopher Lee dropped out of school and was forced to find a job as his stepfather went bankrupt. As a result, the future actor worked for some time as a clerk and courier in the post office.

Military service

In 1939, a young man left his job and volunteered for the Soviet-Finnish war. Like all British soldiers, he did not take part in the fighting, but carried a guard at a distance from the front line. Spent only two weeks in Finland before returning to London and working as a clerk again.

After the outbreak of World War II, Christopher Lee enlisted in the Royal Air Force, but during training flights he was diagnosed with an optic nerve disorder. After that, he traveled the world and eventually joined the Air Force Intelligence Agency and became a warden in an African prison.

After, Lee provided intelligence gathering and processing during the military campaign in North Africa and received two promotions in a year. Later he participated in the invasion of Italy, and after the end of hostilities, he participated in the search and capture of war criminals. Retired in 1946.

Career start

After returning home, Christopher Lee could not decide what to do for a long time. As a result, one of the family friends suggested that he try himself as an actor. However, at first, representatives of the studios rejected the young man, in their opinion, he was too tall for an actor.

However, soon Lee signed a seven-year contract with one of the studios. In his own words, for ten years he simply studied and comprehended all the wisdom of filmmaking. At this time, he mainly played bit parts in not too noticeable projects.

Also, the actor appeared in large-scale projects "Hamlet" and "Come to come", but his roles were so small that he was not even mentioned in the final credits. In 1957, he finally got his first notable role in the Hammer horror film The Curse of Frankenstein, playing a monster.

The arrival of popularity

A truly breakthrough project was for Christopher Lee "Dracula" in 1958. He played the role of a legendary character in many more sequels from the Hammer studio, but he constantly clashed with the creators of the pictures due to an insufficiently original script and bad dialogues, as a result, in some parts of the series he does not utter a word and just hisses. In other films about Dracula, Lee appears for just a few minutes and does not participate in the main storyline.

Christopher Lee played Count Dracula for fifteen years. The last films of the series with his participation were not so successful,and soon Hammer Studios decided to replace the leading man.

Also, among other films by Christopher Lee for the "Hammer" studio, one can single out the horror "The Mummy", "Rasputin: The Mad Monk" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles". He also played the title role in the 1968 mystical horror film The Devil's Out. The sequel to the film, released twelve years later, was the last joint project of the actor and the studio.

Most notable roles

In parallel with his work at Hammer Studios, the actor also starred in films about the villain Fu Manchu. This role for Christopher Lee has become a kind of calling card for many years, despite the fact that he appeared in the frame in makeup in order to look like an Asian.

The actor called his work in the low-budget horror film "The Wicker Man" his favorite role. The project was originally positioned as the antithesis of the Hammer horror films, and Lee was on fire with the idea to play the main role, as he dreamed of appearing in a new image and expanding his acting range. He even agreed to star in the film for free. As a result, the film became a cult film, and today it is considered one of the best British films in history.

Christopher Lee also appeared as Count Rochefort in three films based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas "The Three Musketeers". In the mid-seventies, the actor decided not to play in horror films anymore, as he was only offered the role of villains in films of this genre. Then his half-cousin, Ian Fleming, invited Christopher to play the role of the main antagonist in the next chapter of the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. The film is considered Roger Moore's best work as 007, and Francisco Scaramanga is recognized as one of the best villains in the history of the series.

American director John Carpenter offered Lee one of the main roles in the horror film "Halloween", but he refused and the role went to Donald Pleasence. Later, the actor called the refusal of the project the main mistake in his career.

Hollywood projects

In 1977, Christopher Lee decided to leave England and move to the USA, where he could start his career from scratch and receive new creative proposals. The following year, he appeared in Airport 77, and two years later played a very unusual role in Steven Spielberg's satirical comedy 1941.

The actor continued to work, appearing in projects that were unusual for him, such as the family film "Return from Witch Mountain" and the musical comedy "Return of Captain Invincible". In 1998, he starred in the historical drama Jinnah, playing the founding father of Pakistan. Later he called this film the best in his creative biography. Christopher Lee also claimed the role of the supervillain Magneto in the X-Men movie, but lost out to fellow Briton Ian McKellen. Later, the actors worked together on the Lord of the Rings trilogies and"The Hobbit".

New wave of popularity

In the early 2000s, it was announced that Christopher Lee would play the role of Saruman in the adaptation of the Lord of the Rings book trilogy. The actor was originally considered for the role of Gandalf, but, according to his own words, he was already too old to ride and act in battle scenes.

Lee was the only actor in the film trilogy who personally knew the author of the books: he met John R. R. Tolkien once in his youth. His work in adapting the novel brought Christopher a new wave of popularity, especially among the younger generation. His appearance was cut from the third film, but scenes with the actor can be found on the media.

Lee also appeared in another famous film series, playing the Sith Count Dooku in the second and third episodes of Star Wars. In addition, since 1999, the actor has collaborated with director Tim Burton, appearing in six of his films. Christopher Lee was completely cut from the theatrical version of Sweeney Todd.

Recent years

The actor returned to the role of Saruman in the film adaptation of the book "The Hobbit", but due to his advanced age, Lee had to shoot in London and they took only four days. Christopher also appeared in the horror film The Trap, the first Hammer project in his filmography in thirty-five years.

Also played a small role in the sequel to The Wicker Man. Actively worked until the last days,signed a contract to shoot a Danish film a month before his death.

The actor passed away in June 2015. Christopher Lee's cause of death was heart and respiratory problems.

Music career

Christopher was a good singer, he performed songs for the soundtracks of several films with his participation. At a relatively old age, the actor got acquainted with the musical direction of metal and later worked with several bands working in this genre.

In 2010 he released his debut album. He stated that he intends to continue his musical career. New song Christopher Lee presented on the day of his ninetieth birthday. Later, he recorded four mini-albums with cover versions of famous songs.

Private life

In his youth, the actor was engaged to Countess Henriette von Rosen. For a long time, the girl's father did not give permission for the marriage, and when he nevertheless allowed Lee to marry his daughter, he broke off the engagement shortly before the ceremony due to his unstable financial situation and uncertainty about the future.

Christopher Lee was married to Danish artist Birgit Krenke from 1961 until his death. The couple have one child, daughter Christina Erika.