A blog around an actor who played in many major movies and TV shows from the 1950’s and 1960’s to more recent major roles.
“I had a most unhappy childhood,” recalls Christopher Lee, “but I became fascinated by acting and the theatre at about the age of eight.” He was born on May 27th 1922 at Belgrave Nursing Home in Belgravia, Central London. His father, Geoffrey Trollope Lee, was a Colonel in the 60th King’s Royal Rifle Corps, while his mother was Contessa Estelle Marie Carandini di Sarzano (1901-2002), born at Bellagio, Italy. The family spent their summers at La Fattoria del Gaggio in Somma Lombardo, near Varese in Italy.
This blog is about the actor Christopher Lee, who is famous for playing in many horror movies, such as Dracula and Frankenstein. But he had many other roles as well, from minor parts in 1950’s and 1960’s TV shows to major roles in more recent movies. He played alongside Sean Connery in The Man With The Golden Gun, for example; with Peter Cushing in The Mummy; and even appeared briefly in a Lord of the Rings movie.
On a personal note, I met him once at a party when I was still at school and he was very charming.
The Curious Case of Christopher Lee
Thursday, September 4, 2014
We were told that “you can’t judge a book by its cover”. But we all do it, even if subconsciously. It is the same with movies. We see the name of an actor or actress on the movie poster and we can already have a rough idea what to expect from the movie itself. Now, try to picture this:
In the early 1950’s there was this English actor who made a living in minor parts in mostly sword and sandal movies. At one time he was considered to be one of the most versatile actors around and then suddenly he started acting in horror films. While his career had some ups and downs he eventually found himself playing in several low budget horror films where he got more and more prominent roles as time went by. In 1959 he appeared in one of the most influential horror films ever made called “Horror of Dracula” which made him famous worldwide for his portrayal of Count Dracula – a character for which he would become famous for decades to come. He acted in many more horror films and at
Christopher Lee is one of the most recognizable and prolific actors in the world. With over 275 acting credits to his name, he has appeared in more movies than any other actor except John Carradine. It’s hard to find a genre that Christopher Lee hasn’t starred in: horror, drama, comedy, westerns, adventure, fantasy, science fiction and war epics are all represented. If you’ve seen a movie made after the 1950s, there’s a good chance that Christopher Lee was in it.
In addition to his many film appearances, he has also been featured in over 60 television shows and specials. From the classic The Scarlet Pimpernel to the obscure Weird Science (and many things in between), Christopher Lee has done it all. He even played himself on an episode of The Muppet Show!
Not only is he an amazing actor with a long list of accomplishments behind him already: he’s still going strong. Even at age 88, he remains as active as ever. Most recently, he provided voice work for the video game Empire: Total War (2009) and appeared in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (2011). His IMDB page lists several future projects including appearances in The Hobbit (2012) and The Wicker Tree (2012).
I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen an actor who has been in so many movies and TV shows over such a long period of time. He’s really only eclipsed by John Carradine in terms of sheer volume of work. But Lee also has the distinction of having been in some pretty big movies and being directed by some of the best directors out there.
He was born Christopher Frank Carandini Lee on May 27 1922 (he died on June 7 2015) in Belgravia, London to Contessa Estelle Marie and Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Trollope Lee, who was a soldier and diplomat stationed at various places around the world. His father was a descendant of Robert E. Lee (the famous general), but his mother was Italian-born, so Christopher had an English mother and an English father but he spoke four languages fluently: English, German, French and Italian.
As a child, he loved watching horror movies – but only if they were really scary which is ironic given that he was to become one of the most well known horror actors ever.
Christopher Lee, you may have noticed, is one of those actors who’s been in everything. In fact, his career has spanned just about every genre and time period, from 1950’s British comedies to 1960’s Hammer Horror to the present day.
You may also have noticed that Christopher Lee is the only actor who was actually in all three Lord of the Rings films; he played Saruman the White. He also appeared in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug as Saruman.
Just narrating roles for a second, Lee has also done voiceover work for a number of documentaries, including two about Dracula and one about Sherlock Holmes (he played Holmes on radio once).
I suppose I’ll start at the beginning, with a few notable movies from Christopher Lee’s earliest film roles.
CHARLIE BUCKET
The main character in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
He was chosen as one of five golden ticket winners, and along with his Grandpa Joe, visited the chocolate factory owned by Willy Wonka. Charlie is portrayed as a good-natured boy who comes from a poor family. He eventually wins the grand prize at the end of the film, receiving the entire chocolate factory. A young Peter Ostrum played Charlie.
