Iconic actor Christopher Lee made over 200 films in his career that lasted eight decades. (Photo property of “The Guardian”)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
Multiple media outlets such as ABC News, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter & TIME have reported that actor Sir Christopher Lee has passed away, due to respiratory problems and heart failure.
The celebrated cinema actor’s career surpassed eight decades and entertained multiple generations of fans.
While Lee’s contemporaries such as the late Gregory Peck, Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable played legendary heroes such as Atticus Finch, Rick Blaine and Rhett Butler, the British actor often portrayed characters that were attracted to the powers of darkness.
After playing Frankenstein’s Monster for the Hammer Films in The Curse of Frankenstein, the British production company turned to him to play one of the most menacing horror villains of all-time: Count Dracula.
For eight (seven with Hammer Films and one with Jesus Franco) films, Lee stalked audiences as the Prince of Darkness as he clashed with his archrival Van Helsing (Peter Cushing and Herbert Lom). After playing the diabolical count for 12 years, Lee was cast to play another iconic villain for another film franchise.
Lee’s Francisco Scaramanga encountered Roger Moore’s 007 as the titular character in the ninth James Bond film: The Man with the Golden Gun.
The villainous Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) made a huge impact on the “Star Wars” universe when he was introduced in “Attack of the Clones.” (Photo property of Disney, 20th Century FOX & Lucasfilm)
Millennials came to know Mr. Lee through his films for the late 90s, the 2000s and the 2010s as Saurman the White in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and two films of The Hobbit franchise; the Sith Lord known as Count Dooku for the final Star Wars prequels and provided the voice of the Jabberwocky in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and DiZ/Ansem the Wise in the Kingdom Hearts video game series.
Outside of acting, Mr. Lee recorded four musical albums that ranged from covers to heavy metal operas. He also collaborated with Italian-based rock group Rhapsody of Fire on several of the quintet’s albums.
Jake’s Take wants to extend its condolences, thoughts and prayers to Mr. Lee’s family, friends, colleagues and fans in this difficult time.
The following clips belong to:
“Count Dracula” (1970): Fenix Films & Filmar
“The Man with the Golden Gun” (1974): Eon Productions & United Artists
“Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones” (2002): Lucasfilm & 20th Century FOX
