Birth name:Christopher Frank Carandini Lee Birth:27 May 1922 Died:7 June 2015 Nationality:
Career / Biography
Christopher Lee was a versatile and prolific British actor, who is particularly known for his roles in horror films, notably in the British Hammer horror films of the 1960's and in his films with Peter Cushing. He came from Italian aristocracy on his mother's side. During World War 2 he severed with the RAF, though he possibly exagerated his role. He spoake French, German and Italian an may have been invovlved with British Intelligence. Through a family freind he was signed up to Rank and joined their charm school and learnt his acting in rep. His first film role was in Corridors Of Mirrors in which he had one line. His first leading role was in Penny And The Pownall Case. He then had a supporting role in the bigger budget Scott Of The Antarctic. During the early 1950's had had various other smaller roles in some bigger films. His big break and the role that set his career came with hie role as the creature in Hammer Films The Curse of Frankenstein.Thiswas followed by the historical drama A Tale Of Two Cities. He then had his first Dracula role in which he had a total of 8 minutes screen time, but changed his career. His success let o him bein a tax exile and in the early 1960's he made films in Germany, French and Italian thanks to his language skills, like The Castle of the Living Dead and films with director Mario Bava. He returned to England made the firat in the Fu Manchu series of films. this franchise ran alongside the Dracula franchise.
Finally Hollywood called and he worked with director Billy Wilder in The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes. He said tht the Wicker Man was his favourite film in an ambiguous role. This was followed by a different role in the James Bond film The Man With The Golden Gun. His last film for Hammer was To The Devil A Daughter an adaptation of Dennis Wheatley novel, To The Devil A Daughter. After this he moved to America and Hollywood. His first role ther was in Airport 77. In the last 1970's and early 1980's he appeared in curious mix of American films of which many are forgetable and in which he played relatively small roles rather than leading roles. In 1986 he returned to London after a heart problem and here he met JRR Tolkein. House Of The Long Shadows was a reuniting with Peter Cusing and Vincent Price. Jinnah was a leading role although not a commercial success. This did lead to a revival inhis fortunes with Sleepy Hollow in the firat of four films with irector Tim Buton. Actoing in Star wars was a different experince as it was mainly computer graphics and green screens rather than sets and actors. He then worked with some of the great directors of the 2000's including Peter Jackson in The Lord Of The Rings. He claimed he has had more sword fights than any other actor. He had a long interest in music and at the age of 91 he was the oldest performer to appear on the Billboard chart as a heavy metal artist. He was married to Birgit Krøncke from 1961 till his death.
