Actor Christopher Lee Dies at 93

Prolific actor experienced late-life resurgence.

Story by Matt Cummings

Depending on who you talk to, Actor Christopher Lee was either that scary guy from 60/70s horror cinema or that scary guy in the Star Wars prequels and Lord of the Rings. Either way, Lee's death on Sunday of heart failure reminds us of the incredible late-career resurgence which the Son of Dracula experienced, a fact that doesn't happen too often in the grind that is Hollywood.

Born Christopher Frank Carandini Lee in Belgravia, Westminster, England on May 27, 1922, Lee was a military brat whose father and mother divorced when he was young. Before he became an actor, Lee had volunteered to fight against the Soviet Union in 1939, later serving the RAF and British intelligence during WWII. That period seems to have been an important turning point for Lee, who later remarked that his willingness to do so many horror films was nothing compared to what he had seen as a spy for the British government.

Aided by a gaunt 6'5" frame and a deep, resonant voice, Lee soon began to work in theater, but it wasn't until 1957's The Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula (1958) that he started to make a name for himself. In fact, the first part of his career was spent playing the Prince of Darkness 10 times, becoming the second-greatest actor to play that role, only to Boris Karloff. He also played the titular role in 1959's The Mummy and starred in The Hound of the Baskervilles alongside his buddy Peter Cushing (A New Hope's Grand Moff Tarkin). But Lee scoffed at the notion that he was a “horror legend,” eventually embarking on a career that took him from fairly far from it.

Originally desiring to play the lead villain in Dr. No, Lee - whose cousin was none other than Ian Flemming - later appeared as the assassin Francisco Scaramanga in 1974's The Man With the Golden Gun. Playing the suave enemy against Roger Moore's Bond proved that the genre didn't need filthy-rich megalomaniacs to offer the British spy a compelling bad guy. It also proved Lee could play dark roles outside of horror.

But after Gun, movie work outside horror proved difficult to land, especially since Lee wanted to expand his resume into other genres. He did some US television work, played a German officer in Steven Spielberg's 1941, and even guest-hosted Saturday Night Live in 1978. For the next 20 years, Lee appeared in smaller projects, but it appeared he would remain firmly planted in the horror genre, whether he liked it or not.

But then, Lee experienced something that few in Hollywood ever do: a late-career resurgence. It happened in 1999, when he starred in a small role for Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, appearing in just one scene. But it was that deep, resonant voice and creepy portrayal of Burgomaster which led to a series of roles with Burton, including 2010’s Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Soon, he was landing the kind of roles he had desired 20 years before, blending his horror persona into two iconic characters.

There was Count Dooku in 2002's Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, 2005's Revenge of the Sith, and a voiceover in The Clone Wars (2008). In it, he effortlessly played the dark Jedi, performing all of his own stunts and using his background as an expert fencer as he battled a CGI Yoda and a real-life Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). And although he had suddenly re-appeared as a household name, Lee wasn't done yet. Perhaps his best-known role came in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit follow-up The Battle of Five Armies (2014), playing the evil Saruman against Ian McKellan's Gandalf the Grey. Star Wars. The Golden Compass. Lord of the Rings. Hugo. All after the age of 80.

Lee sang opera, appeared on the cover of Paul McCartney & Wings’ 1973 album Band on the Run, and even recorded two heavy metal symphonic albums in 2010 and 2013, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi playing guitar. But it will be his portrayal of over 270 mostly evil roles that audiences will remember the most, making him perhaps the most prolific actor in cinema history. When asked how he was able to channel his work into so many dark roles, Lee replied, “As Boris Karloff told me, you have to make your mark in something other actors cannot, or will not, do. And if it’s a success, you’ll not be forgotten.”

Christopher Lee is survived by his wife Kroencke and their daughter Christina.

Photo credit: Lia Toby/WENN