The Underworld Mourns a Favorite

How horrible to recently find out that one of our favorite actors (and a member of our ever-diminishing Disaster Movie Club) had passed away. Sir Christopher Lee, veteran of 197 (!) films and many television appearances, died of heart failure on June 7th, 2015 at the age of ninety-three. His acting career came close to lasting seven full, busy decades. We pay tribute to him today with a brief photo essay.

Mr. Lee's career in the movies could have been an even longer one had it not been for his service during WWII (and after, helping to locate war criminals.) Upon his discharge in 1946, he opted to give acting a try, though he was immediately told by one prominent producer that he was "much too tall to be an actor!" Thankfully, the 6'5" twenty-five year-old used that as a driving factor in pursuing a career.

Christopher Lee toiled away in roles, large or small, with varying degrees of success when, in 1958, he assumed the role of the famed vampire Count Dracula in The Horror of Dracula, a role he would repeat many times over the span of many years and which became heavily identified with him. He always worked on a variety of roles, but villainy suited his tall, dark looks. 

One memorable role of his came with 1973's The Wicker Man, in which he was the mysterious leader of a society inhabiting an island where a murder may have occurred. On this occasion, he added singing to his resume.

As a member of the ensemble cast The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974), Lee was one of the very first movie stars whose name I knew and recognized, thanks to the tie-in book that listed the cast along with their photos on the cover. His work as the charismatic baddie Rochefort, while limited in size, was perfectly tuned, with he and Faye Dunaway forming a deliciously nasty couple. This set of films (meant to be one, but split in two) is at the top of my all-time favorites.

Though we rarely post about it, we also love James Bond movies and in 1974, Lee portrayed the title character in The Man with the Golden Gun.

Another major-league favorite film of mine is Airport '77 (1977), in which Lee played against type as a soft-spoken, cuckolded oceanographer married to the booze-drenched harpy Lee Grant. They never married in real life or her name might have wound up Lee Lee! Ha! (As it was, Christopher Lee wed once, in 1961, to a woman who was his wife up until his death fifty-four years later.) Lee proceeded to work right up until the end, finding new life in a variety of in both the recent Star Wars and Lord of the Rings series, as well as many other projects. He'll continue to be seen onscreen through next year!

A true gentleman and, in many ways, a hero. We mourn the loss of Sir Christopher Lee and are especially saddened by the fact that he never got his due from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (We don't even want to think about some of the people who DO have an Oscar at home while he didn't...) He did, however, receive a BAFTA Fellowship in 2011 and a plethora of other international awards for his incredible body of work over the years. Farewell, friend!