Sir Christopher Lee (May 27, 1922 - June 7, 2015) was a British actor, who was born Christopher Frank Carandini Lee in Belgravia, London, England. With a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee cemented himself as a horror film icon, due in no small part to his portrayal of the infamous vampire Dracula in Hammer Horror's series of films from the 1950s and 1960s.
Preceding his 1958 introduction to the world of Dracula, Lee had made appearances in two other Hammer Horror film. It was his portrayal of the Frankenstein Monster in the 1957 film The Curse of Frankenstein that put Lee on the path towards Dracula. Also for Hammer, Lee played the role of the evil Egyptian Kharis in the 1959 remake of The Mummy. He remained active as an actor almost to the end of his life, becoming very famous for his role as Saruman in Lord of the Rings and Count Dooku in Star Wars.
Dracula[]
Lee as Dracula
Lee first donned the cloak and fangs of Count Dracula in the 1958 Terence Fisher film Horror of Dracula (sometimes referred to only as Dracula). Though this film established his genre career for several more sequels, Lee was absent from the following film, Brides of Dracula and did not resume the role again until the 1966 film Dracula: Prince of Darkness. This film stands out from the others, as this is the only film of Lee's Dracula set where the character has no dialogue. The following three sequels, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula, and Scars of Dracula all took place in the 19th century and found the lord of the undead pitted against his sworn enemy Van Helsing (played by Lee's longtime friend Peter Cushing in nearly every film). As the title suggests, Dracula 1972 A.D. propelled the vampire lord into the 20th century where he was now forced to combat Van Helsing's living descendants. Lee's final portrayal of Dracula for Hammer was in the critically reviled Satanic Rites of Dracula. Lee was offered to resume the part for 1974's Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (the last Hammer Dracula film), but turned it down after reading the script. [1]
1980s[]
In 1985, Lee played the role of an occult scholar Stefan Crosscoe in The Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf. According to one interview, Lee agreed to do the movie because he had never before been in a werewolf film. In 1990, Lee worked with the director Joe Dante (the director of the first Howling) in the film Gremlins II: The New Batch, at which point Lee apologized to Dante for having worked in The Howling II. [2]
1990s[]
in 1999, Lee played a small part in Tim Burton's horror film Sleepy Hollow as the Burgomaster that sends Ichabod (Johnny Depp) to investigate the murders at Sleepy Hollow.
Horror filmography[]
| Film | Character | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Horror of Dracula | Dracula | 1958 |
| Dracula: Prince of Darkness | 1966 | |
| Dracula Has Risen from the Grave | 1968 | |
| Taste the Blood of Dracula | 1970 | |
| Scars of Dracula | 1970 | |
| Dracula 1972 A.D. | 1972 | |
| Horror Express | Alexander Saxton | 1972 |
| Satanic Rites of Dracula | Dracula | 1973 |
| The Wicker Man | Lord Summerisle | |
| Dark Places | Dr. Mandeville | |
| To the Devil a Daughter | Father Michael Rayner | 1976 |
| Dracula and Son | Dracula | |
| House of Long Shadows | Corrigan | 1983 |
| Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf | Stefan Crosscoe | 1985 |
| Gremlins 2: The New Batch | Doctor Catheter | 1990 |
| Tale of the Mummy | Sir Richard Turkel | 1998 |
| Sleepy Hollow | Burgomaster | 1999 |
| Corpse Bride | Pastor Galswells (voice) | 2005 |
| Season of the Witch | Cardinal d'Ambroise | 2011 |
| The Wicker Tree | Old Gentleman | |
| Dark Shadows | Silas Clarney | 2012 |
Trivia[]
- 1960's Brides of Dracula and 1974's Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires are the only Dracula films from Hammer Film Productions that did not feature Christopher Lee.
External Links[]
Christopher Lee at the Internet Movie Database- Christopher Lee at Wikipedia
- Christopher Lee at AllMovie
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