Christopher Lee

Turned down Donald Pleasence s role as Dr. Sam Loomis in Halloween (He later remarked that this was his biggest mistake).

Classically trained singer.

One of the few actors who has portrayed three different Sherlock Holmes characters: Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes and Sir Henry Baskerville.

A distant cousin and frequent golfing partner of Bond creator Ian Fleming , Lee was the authors personal pick for the role of Dr. No in the first 007 film. The role, of course, went to actor Joseph Wiseman , who was brilliant. However, fans of the literary Bond might want to check out Lees portrayal of Chinese master criminal Fu Manchu, for an idea of how Ian Fleming himself envisioned Dr. No.

Uncle of Harriet Walter.

Vincent Price and Christopher Lee were born on the same day (27th May) and Peter Cushing was born on the 26th.

Was one of the judges for the 1995 Miss World beauty pageant.

The blooddripping fangs worn by Lee in many of his vampire films were created by Irish dental technician Sean Mulhall.

Is listed as the Center of the Hollywood Universe by the Oracle of Kevin Bacon website at the University of Virginia, because he can be linked to any one in Hollywood on average in 2.59 steps. That is less than either Charlton Heston or Kevin Bacon himself.

In a radio interview in South Africa, Lee claimed that he held the record for number of film roles by an actor.

He was awarded the CBE in the 2001 Queens Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.

Appears on the cover of Paul McCartney s 1973 album "Band on the Run".

Served in the British Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve from 1941 to 1946. During that time, he was an active member of the Special Forces.

Has appeared in a scene from The Curse of Frankenstein on screen during the drive-in sequence in Stanley Kubrick s Lolita .

The white coffin used in one of his Dracula films was later used in Bananarama s music video "Venus".

One of Lees maternal great-grandfathers was Italian. Through him, Lee is of noble Italian ancestry (from the Carandini family).

From an acting dynasty, his great-grandparents founded the first Australian opera company.

He made his stage debut in school as the demonic lead in "Rumpelstiltskin", a sign of things to come.

A stunt double performed the stunts and lightsaber fights in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones . Lees face was imposed on the doubles body. Lee mentioned that in the last 40 years, he has done more swordfights than any other actor, but "not anymore".

Speaks very good French, good enough to understand questions and give long replies in a press conference.

Is an honorary member of three stuntmens unions.

His stepfather (his mothers second husband) was the maternal uncle of writer Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame). Lee and Fleming are therefore stepcousins.

Was voted No. 31 on the recent British televised poll "The Greatest Movie Stars of All Time" above the likes of John Wayne , Michael Caine and Humphrey Bogart.

Sustained an injury to his right hand while filming a sword-fight with a slightly drunk Errol Flynn for The Dark Avenger . The permanently crooked little finger he was left with can be seen in many of his films.

Both he and his fellow Star Wars Sith Lord, David Prowse , have played Frankensteins Monster opposite Peter Cushing : Lee in The Curse of Frankenstein , and Prowse in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell .

Was originally offered the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars , which he turned down. The role eventually went to his good friend Peter Cushing.

Since his feature film debut in Corridor of Mirrors , he has had at least one film role every year except for 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2006.

At 6 feet 5 inches, he is entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as "The Tallest Leading Actor".

He struggled to get work early in his career as a supporting actor because almost all the male stars were shorter than he.

Was upset about the deletion of his death scene in the theatrical version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King . However, the scene was put back into the Extended Edition which is seen as the definitive version.

One of the most prolific actors of all time, he has acted in nearly 230 films, although he later admitted that his film work was not always chosen on quality but often on whether they could support his family. His peak years of productivity were 1955 and 1970, as Lee starred in nine films in both years.

As Darth Tyranus, he plays the first Sith apprentice to act in both body and voice.

Although he has been in well over 200 films, he has very rarely played a hero, having been a villain in perhaps about 85% of his films (even his bit parts lean towards the unsympathetic).

He was awarded Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by French culture minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon on December 11, 2002.

One of his favorite bands is the Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody, and he has also appeared on one of their album (listen to the speech in the intro on the song "Unholy Warcry" on the album "The Dark Secret"). Lee also appears on the Rhapsody single "The Magic of the Wizards Dream", where he does a duet with Rhapsody vocalist Fabio Leoni in English, German, Italian and French versions of the song.

On July 21, 2004, he was given the honorary citizenship of the Italian city of Casina (Province of Reggio Emilia) where Sarzano, the castle of his ancestors is situated. He gave his speech of thanks in Italian.

Was the Center of the Hollywood Universe, according to data at the Movie Oracle, http://www.cs.virginia.edu/oracle/center.html, but is now second to Rod Steiger.

Two of his roles have been as leaders of a separatist movement. The first was Jinnah , about Mohammad Ali Jinnah , founder of Pakistan. The second was in the Star Wars series as Count Dooku, the former mentor of Qui-Gon Jinn.

In a bonding of two generations of Frankensteins monsters, Lee and his wife were good friends with Boris Karloff and his wife. This friendship was not as a result of them working together (they made two films together: Corridors of Blood and Curse of the Crimson Altar ) but by the coincidence that they lived next door to each other in England.

Has one child, Christina Erika Lee (b. November 23, 1963) with his wife Birgit Kroencke Lee (Gitte Lee ).

During World War II, he served in the Royal Air Force and in British Intelligence.

In 1972, he founded Charlemagne Productions Ltd.

He studied at Summerfield Preparatory School and attended Wellington College.

His daughter, Christina Erika Lee , was born with her legs severely deformed. They were bent at such a severe angle that they were almost backwards. She spent her first two years in splints. She eventually learned how to walk after the age of three and no longer needed splints.

According to his official website: He speaks French, German, Italian and Spanish and can "get along" in Greek, Russian and Swedish.

When he arrived in the recording studio to do the voice-over for King Haggard in the original animated version of The Last Unicorn , he came armed with his own copy of the book with certain excerpts marked pertaining to parts of the book that he felt should not have been omitted.

Like his Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson , he has appeared in films with three generations of Astins.

Wanted to attend the Heavy Metal Festival Earthshaker Fest in 2005 to support his favorite bands, the Italian band Rhapsody and the American band Manowar , but had to cancel at the last moment because of an important filming appointment. He recorded a message to the fans in advance, which was shown right before Rhapsody appeared on-stage.

According to his friend Norman Lloyd , he has a somewhat eccentric hobby: he is fascinated by public executioners and knows the names of every official executioner England has had since the middle of the 15th century.

In his role as the title character, The Mummy , in which he co-starred with Peter Cushing , Lee got severely injured in the course of the filming. All that smashing through real glass windows and doors had dislocated his shoulder and pulled his neck muscles, especially when he had to carry an actress with arms fully extended across a swamp, walking as much as 87 yards, which damaged his shoulders considerably.

In Dracula , Lee in the title role had to drop a woman into a grave, but when he carried her, she was unexpectedly heavy and in trying to drop her into the grave, Lee also fell in with her.

Has appeared in three different films in which he had either known or met the (late) author of the original work: "Gormenghast" (Mervyn Peake ), The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien ) and The Man with the Golden Gun (Ian Fleming , his cousin).

Shot all his scenes for Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith in one day.

He was the tallest of the many actors who have played Count Dracula.

He was one of the few people to volunteer to fight on the Finnish side in the Russo-Finnish winter war in 1939-1940, though he and his fellow British volunteers were in Finland only for about two weeks and were kept well away from direct combat.

Although he and Peter Cushing were often mortal enemies on-screen, off-screen they were inseparable friends.

His films have made more money than any other actors in history. As of May 2006, five of his films (the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the two Star Wars films in which he played Count Dooku) had total grosses in excess of $4.4 billion. Even without considering Lees other appearances dating back to 1948, his totals considerably surpass the figures of #3 billion and #3.8 billion claimed by Harrison Ford and Samuel L. Jackson , respectively.

As a veritable J.R.R. Tolkien expert and the only member of the cast who had met Tolkien himself, he often visited the Production department on the sets of the various Lord of the Rings movies to give advice and tips on the various attributes of the films.

Released the music album "Christopher Lee: Revelation" in the United Kingdom in October 2006. It includes songs like "The Toreador March", "O Sole Mio", "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin" and "My Way".

Has worked with three different Gollums. The first Gollum, Brother Theodore , provided a voice in The Last Unicorn . The second, Peter Woodthorpe , appeared with him in "The Odyssey" . The last, Andy Serkis , appeared with him in the Lord of the Rings films.

Has played a staggering amount of Victorian characters. He played Count Dracula ten times, Dr. Fu Manchu five times, Sherlock Holmes three times, Mycroft Holmes (Sherlocks brother) once and Sir Henry Baskerville (a friend of Holmes) once. He also appeared in The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll and I, Monster , adaptations of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", among others.

Is possibly the only actor in cinematic history to have achieved a unique trifecta. He has played a Star Wars villain (Count Dooku), a James Bond villain (Francisco Scaramanga), and a classic horror movie monster (Dracula, the Mummy and Frankensteins Monster).

Has worked with three James Bonds: Roger Moore in The Man with the Golden Gun , Pierce Brosnan in "Around the World in 80 Days" (1989/I) , and Daniel Craig in The Golden Compass .

He was cast as a ballad soloist called The Gentleman Ghost in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street , but his role was cut when the ballad numbers were omitted. However, he never filmed the scenes and was present for the recording session.

In 2008, he received a lifetime achievement award at Pula Film Festival (Croatia).

In various interviews over the years has referred to all three actors to play James Bond that he has worked with - Roger Moore , Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig - as the best and most close to Ian Fleming s intentions. However, he has also criticized Flemings weak characters when discussing his own Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun and described the screen adaptation as considerably better written.

He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 Queens Birthday Honours List for his services to drama and charity. The ceremony took place at Buckingham Palace on October 30, 2009, and was carried out by HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales.

He was awarded Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John in 1997.

At age 77, he confirmed that he had lost an inch of height and was now 64".

Was offered the role of King Balor in Hellboy II: The Golden Army , but had to turn it down due to other commitments.

Once declared himself an unconditional fan of Gene Hackman.

He learned how to speak German by listening to Richard Wagner records.

Had dubbed King Haggard in the German version of The Last Unicorn for no fee, out of love for the film.

Has said that his favorite director is Tim Burton , whom he frequently collaborated with on several of Burtons films.

Was very good friends with Josip Broz Tito , a partisan leader and a president of a former country of Yugoslavia.

Lees friend, Jean Paul Getty , lent him and wife Gitte his Sutton Place home for their honeymoon in 1961.

He was awarded Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand in 2011.

Read the Lord of the Rings trilogy once a year for decades, long before the film series ever got started.

Wore an eyepatch to play the role of Rochefort in The Three Musketeers , The Four Musketeers and The Return of the Musketeers , one of few films, if not the only film, to be based on "Twenty Years After". His interpretation of the character was so popular that many subsequent adaptations of the story; such as Disneys The Three Musketeers and The Three Musketeers , have continued to portray Rochefort as wearing an eyepatch, despite the fact that Alexandre Dumas never described the character as wearing one.

Early in his career, Lee dubbed foreign films into English and other languages including Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot . Sometimes he dubbed all the voices including womens parts. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. , recalled that Lee could do any kind of accent: "foreign, domestic, North, South, Middle, young, old, everything. Hes a great character actor".

Has also done a few small roles that only require his voice, such as the priest in Corpse Bride , and the Jabberwocky in Alice in Wonderland .

Around 1988, Lee agreed to play a vampire once more in an unproduced Dutch/Belgian comedy that was to be called "Blooper". The script, written by Frank van Laecke, was commissioned because of the physical resemblance between Lee and Dutch opera singer Marco Bakker , as noted by Bakkers wife, actress Willeke van Ammelrooy. Lee, a great lover of opera, got along well with both of them. The story concerned an opera singer called Billy Blooper (Bakker) who learns his father (Lee) is a vampire whos teeth had gone rotten after eating too many sweets. Now whenever he bites anyone, instead of turning into a vampire, they became half-human, half-chicken.

His mother was a contessa of the Italian Carandini family related through marriage across the centuries to the Borgias.

He got started in films when his cousin Count Nicol Carandini, Italys first post war ambassador to Britain introduced him to Filipo Del Guidice of Two Cities Film.

His godfather was Prince Alexander of Battenberg, a grandson of Queen Victoria, who later adopted the title of Lord Carisbrooke.

After preparatory school, he passed the entrance exam for Eton but his parents could not afford the fees. He went to Wellington, but had to be taken out when their financial situation worsened. He took a job as an office boy in a shipping company in the City at 1 a week.

Lee got along well with Eddie Powell , his longtime stunt double at Hammer Film Productions. Powell married Hammer wardrobe mistress Rosemary Burrows , who jokingly referred to Lee as "Nasty" and sometimes "Green Mould".

Did not start acting until he was 25 years old.

He was married to his wife Gitte just before production on Das Geheimnis der gelben Narzissen began. They had no time for a full honeymoon as they only had a weekend before filming began on Mondy. They spent it in Brighton and resolved to have a serial honeymoon spread out over the next year between picture commitments. Unfortunately, it rained most of the weekend.

He considers Billy Wilder to be the greatest director he worked for.

In his autobiography, he relates his first meeting with Peter Cushing during production of The Curse of Frankenstein , in which he played the monster. Lee stormed into a dressing room where Cushing was sitting and angrily shouted "I havent got any lines!". Cushing replied, "Youre lucky; Ive read the script.".

He worked with Bernard Lee in The Battle of the River Plate , Dr. Terrors House of Horrors and The Man with the Golden Gun and his grandson Jonny Lee Miller in Dark Shadows .

He had no lines in Hamlet , The Curse of Frankenstein or Dracula: Prince of Darkness .

His character seduced Barbara Shelley in both Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Rasputin: The Mad Monk .

He made nine films with Michael Ripper : The Mummy , The Man Who Could Cheat Death , The Pirates of Blood River , The Devil-Ship Pirates , Rasputin: The Mad Monk , Dracula Has Risen from the Grave , Taste the Blood of Dracula , Scars of Dracula and The Creeping Flesh .

He appeared in 12 films directed by Terence Fisher : A Song for Tomorrow , The Curse of Frankenstein , Dracula , The Hound of the Baskervilles , The Mummy , The Man Who Could Cheat Death , The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll , Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes , The Gorgon , Dracula: Prince of Darkness , Night of the Big Heat and The Devil Rides Out .

He made seven films with Oliver Reed : The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll , Beat Girl , The Pirates of Blood River , The Three Musketeers , The Four Musketeers , The Return of the Musketeers and Treasure Island .

He made seven films with Francis De Wolff : Trottie True , Moulin Rouge (1952) , Corridors of Blood , The Hound of the Baskervilles , The Man Who Could Cheat Death , The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll and The Three Musketeers .

He made five films with Miles Malleson : One Night with You , Saraband for Dead Lovers , Privates Progress , Dracula and The Hound of the Baskervilles .

He starred in two adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson s 1886 novella "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde": The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll and I, Monster .

He was the last surviving cast member of Scott of the Antarctic .

He appeared in three films with Suzan Farmer : The Devil-Ship Pirates , Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Rasputin: The Mad Monk .

In both The Pirates of Blood River and The Devil-Ship Pirates , he played the captain of a pirate crew which included Michael Ripper and Michael Peake.

He has four roles in common with his Corridors of Blood and Curse of the Crimson Altar co-star Boris Karloff : (1) Karloff played Frankensteins Monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein while Lee played him in The Curse of Frankenstein , Karloff played the Mummy in The Mummy (1932) while Lee played him in The Mummy , Karloff played Dr. Fu Manchu in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) while Lee played him in The Face of Fu Manchu , The Brides of Fu Manchu , The Vengeance of Fu Manchu , The Blood of Fu Manchu and The Castle of Fu Manchu and (4) Karloff played Grigori Rasputin in "Suspense" {The Black Prophet (#5.22)} while Lee played him in Rasputin: The Mad Monk .

He has two roles in common with Marc Warren : (1) Lee played Count Dracula in ten films from Dracula to Dracula pre et fils while Warren played him in Dracula and Lee played the Comte de Rochfort in The Three Musketeers , The Four Musketeers and The Return of the Musketeers while Warren played him in "The Musketeers" .

He appeared in a total of 24 films with his close friend Peter Cushing : Hamlet , Moulin Rouge (1952) , Alexander the Great , The Curse of Frankenstein , Dracula , The Hound of the Baskervilles , The Mummy , The Devils Agent , The Gorgon , Dr. Terrors House of Horrors , She (1965/I) , The Skull , Night of the Big Heat , Scream and Scream Again , One More Time , The House That Dripped Blood , I, Monster , Dracula A.D. 1972 , Horror Express , Nothing But the Night , The Creeping Flesh , The Satanic Rites of Dracula , Arabian Adventure and House of the Long Shadows .

He made six films with Johnny Depp : Sleepy Hollow , Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , Corpse Bride , Alice in Wonderland , Hugo and Dark Shadows .

He made four films with Marton Csokas : The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones , The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Alice in Wonderland .

He made four films with Helena Bonham Carter : Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , Corpse Bride , Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows .

He made four films with Patrick Troughton : Hamlet , The Gorgon , Scars of Dracula , and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell . Coincidentally, Peter Cushing appeared in all of them except Scars of Dracula .

He played Count Dracula in ten films: Dracula , Dracula: Prince of Darkness , Dracula Has Risen from the Grave , Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht , One More Time , Taste the Blood of Dracula , Scars of Dracula , Dracula A.D. 1972 , The Satanic Rites of Dracula and Dracula pre et fils .

He worked with Klaus Kinski in Das Geheimnis der gelben Narzissen , Das Rtsel der roten Orchidee , Circus of Fear , Five Golden Dragons and Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht and his daughter Nastassja Kinski in To the Devil a Daughter .

He starred in two Hammer adaptations of novels by Dennis Wheatley : The Devil Rides Out and To the Devil a Daughter .

He has two roles in common with Bela Lugosi : (1) Lugosi played Count Dracula in Dracula and Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein while Lee played him in ten films from Dracula to Dracula pre et fils and Lugosi played Frankensteins Monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man while Lee played him in The Curse of Frankenstein .

He has three roles in common with Lon Chaney Jr. : (1) Chaney played Frankensteins Monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein while Lee played him in The Curse of Frankenstein , Chaney played Kharis the Mummy in The Mummys Tomb , The Mummys Ghost and The Mummys Curse while Lee played him in The Mummy and Chaney played Count Dracula in Son of Dracula while Lee played him in ten films from Dracula to Dracula pre et fils .

He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Hamlet and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King . He is the only actor to appear in two films which were released more than 50 years apart and both won Best Picture.

He has appeared in three films with Lee Pace : The Resident , The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies .

He has two roles in common with Frank Langella , Richard Roxburgh and Anthony D.P. Mann : (1) Lee played Count Dracula in ten films from Dracula to Dracula pre et fils , Langella played him in Dracula , Roxburgh played him in Van Helsing and Mann played him in Canucula! (Dracula in Canada) and Terror of Dracula and Lee played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes , Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady and Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls , Langella played him in "Standing Room Only" {Sherlock Holmes} , Roxburgh played him in The Hound of the Baskervilles and Mann played him in Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow Watchers .

Before he was persuaded to return as Count Dracula in Scars of Dracula , John Forbes-Robertson was considered for the role. Forbes-Robertson later played the character in The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires , making him the only actor other than Lee to play Dracula in the Hammer "Dracula" film series.

He made four films with Charlton Heston : Julius Caesar , The Three Musketeers , The Four Musketeers and Treasure Island .

He made six films with Michael Goodliffe : Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. , The Battle of the River Plate , Fortune Is a Woman , The Gorgon , The Man with the Golden Gun and To the Devil a Daughter .

He has two roles in common with Tom Baker : (1) Lee played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes , Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady and Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls while Baker played him in "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and Lee played Grigory Rasputin in Rasputin: The Mad Monk while Baker played him in Nicholas and Alexandra .

He made six films with Desmond Llewelyn : Hamlet , They Were Not Divided , Corridors of Blood , The Pirates of Blood River and The Man with the Golden Gun .

He made cameo appearances in the final instalments of two prequel trilogies: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies .

His voice in the Italian versions of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers , The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith was dubbed by Omero Antonutti.

He was killed by Francis Matthews in both Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Rasputin: The Mad Monk .

He was offered the role of Justinian in The Viking Queen , which he turned down. Don Murray was eventually cast.

He made ten films with Michael Gough : Saraband for Dead Lovers , Ill Met by Moonlight , Dracula , Dr. Terrors House of Horrors , The Skull , Curse of the Crimson Altar , Julius Caesar , Sleepy Hollow , Corpse Bride and Alice in Wonderland .

He has two roles in common with his Corpse Bride co-star Richard E. Grant : (1) Lee played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes , Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady and Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls while Grant played him in The Other Side and Lee played Holmes brother Mycroft Holmes in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes while Grant played him in Sherlock .

He played Frankensteins Monster in The Curse of Frankenstein while his niece Harriet Walter played Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of "Frankenstein" author Mary Shelley , in Frankenstein: Birth of a Monster .

He has two roles in common with his Evil Stalks This House co-star Jack Palance : (1) Lee played Count Dracula in ten films from Dracula to Dracula pre et fils while Palance played him in Dracula and Palance played Dr. Edward Hyde / Mr. Henry Jekyll in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while Lee played renamed versions of the character(s), Dr. Charles Marlowe and Mr. Edward Blake, in I, Monster .

He appeared in six films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Hamlet , Moulin Rouge (1952) , The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers , The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Hugo . Of those, Hamlet and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King are winners in the category.

According to the Multimedia Encyclopedia "Cinemania 95", he died on March 31, 1993. But he was alive in that time.

As he played a Bond villain, he has worked with the most fellow Bond villain actors in films: Robert Shaw , Donald Pleasence , Telly Savalas , Charles Gray , Curd Jrgens , Michael Lonsdale , Julian Glover , Sean Bean , Christopher Walken , etc.

With his death on June 7, 2015, Patrick Macnee became the last surviving cast member of Hamlet . Macnee himself died only 18 days later. They also went to school together.

His date of death, June 7, is also the birthday of Liam Neeson , who played his apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn in the Star Wars films.

He died only one day after his Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. , Julius Caesar and Treasure Island co-star Richard Johnson.

He played three characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories: Sherlock himself, his brother Mycroft, and Sir Henry Baskerville. He subsequently worked with several actors who appeared in more recent Holmes stories. In Dark Shadows , he appeared with Jonny Lee Miller , who played Sherlock on "Elementary" . He also worked with Millers grandfather, Bernard Lee , in The Man with the Golden Gun . In Hugo , he worked with Ben Kingsley and Jude Law , who have both played Doctor Watson. In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies , he appeared - though never at the same time - with Stephen Fry , who played Mycroft in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows ; Ian McKellen , who plays Sherlock in Mr. Holmes ; and Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman , who play Holmes and Watson on "Sherlock" . Also appearing in Lees five Fu Manchu movies was Howard Marion-Crawford, who was televisions first Dr. Watson on "Sherlock Holmes" . Lee also provided the introduction for that series 2005 DVD release.

Both he and his niece Harriet Walter appeared in "Star Wars" films: Lee played Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones , Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Walter played Dr. Kalonia in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens .

His roles were cut from the films My Brothers Keeper and Saraband for Dead Lovers .

Coincidently, the veteran horror actor appeared in the only two Best Picture winners to feature ghosts, Hamlet and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King .

As a 17 year old, he was a spectator in the crowd attending the last public guillotining in France - that of Eugen Weidmann in 1939. At 65" tall, hed have had a good view. (Because of the behavior of the spectators at the execution, all subsequent executions in France were done behind closed doors).

He was considered to play The High Priest of Kali in The Stranglers of Bombay .

He was considered to play Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit .

He was seriously considered to star as the title role in The Phantom of the Opera .

He turned down the role of The Specialist in Tommy , as he was in Thailand filming The Man with the Golden Gun .

He was so ashamed of Howling II: Stirba - Werewolf Bitch that when he met Joe Dante on Gremlins 2: The New Batch , he apologised for being in such a bad sequel to his film.

Of the nine Dracula films that Hammer made, he doesnt appear in two of them. Dracula is absent from The Brides of Dracula as Hammer worried that his salary would increase. He refused to appear in The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires after reading the script.

He turned down the role of The Man in Black in The Vampire Lovers .

He was considered for the role of Dr. Hans Fallanda in Lifeforce .

He was originally going to play The Inquisitor in The Lost Continent .

He was seriously considered to play Mr. Dark in Something Wicked This Way Comes .

He was regarded The Devil Rides Out as the best film he ever made for Hammer.

He was considered for the guest role of De Flores in the "Doctor Who" serial "Silver Nemesis". He was also considered for the Master and Borusa (before the character was dropped) in Doctor Who .

He turned down Leslie Nielsen s role in Airplane! as he had trouble understanding the script.

He was considered for Tom Baker s role in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad .

The villain Tormack from the animated series "Galtar and the Golden Lance" was apparently based on him, right down to his voice actor, Brock Peters , utilizing a British accent in order to sound like Lee.

Contrary to popular belief, Lee did not have a vast library of occult books. When giving a speech at the University College Dublin on 8 November 2011, he said: "Somebody wrote I have 20,000 books. Id have to live in a bath! I have maybe four or five [occult books]." He further admonished the students against baneful occult practices, warning them that he had met "people who claimed to be Satanists. Who claimed to be involved with black magic."; however, he himself had certainly never been involved: "I warn all of you: never, never, never. You will not only lose your mind, youll lose your soul.".

His remains were cremated.

He auditioned for a part in The Longest Day , but was turned down because he did not "look like a military man", despite having fought in WWII. Some film books incorrectly credit him with a role in the film, something he had to correct for the rest of his life.

Lee was a supporter of the British Conservative Party. He described Michael Howard as "the ideal person to lead the party" in 2003, and also supported William Hague and David Cameron.

He was offered the role of King Balor in Hellboy II: The Golden Army , but had to turn it down due to prior commitments.

On the self-titled debut album by Hollywood Vampires, a supergroup consisting of Johnny Depp , Alice Cooper , and Joe Perry , Lee is featured as a narrator in the track "The Last Vampire". Being recorded shortly before his death, this marks Lees final appearance on a musical record.

He appeared in The Wicker Man for free. He named it as his favourite film of his own.

He was considered for Carl Grissom in Batman .

He was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in the 2001 Queens New Years Honours List for his services to Australian Society in writing for television.

(January 2009) Laggan, New South Wales, Australia

I stopped appearing as Dracula in 1972 because in my opinion the,presentation of the character had deteriorated to such an extent,particularly bringing him into the contemporary day and age, that it,really no longer had any meaning.

There are many vampires in the world today - you only have to think of,the film business.

In Britain, any degree of success is met with envy and resentment.

[on doing Military Intelligence in World War II] When people say to me,you know, were you in this? Were you in that? Did you work in this? Did,you work in that? I always used to say "Can you keep a secret?". And,they would say "Yes, yes" and I would say "So can I".

Appropriately, the film was called End of the World (1977) .

[on the Rhapsody DVD documentary special edition of "The Dark Secret"],One should try anything he can in his career, except folkdance and,incest.

I was once asked what I thought was the most disquieting thing you could,see on the screen and I said, "An open door".

I think acting is a mixture of instinct, imagination and inventiveness.

All you can learn as an actor is basic technique.

[on how he was cast as the monster in,The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) ] I was asked to play the,creature chiefly because of my size and height which had effectively,kept me out of many pictures I might have appeared in during the,preceding ten years. Most British stars flatly refused to have me,anywhere near them in a film, because I was easily the tallest man,around.

wonderful people, wonderful actors and I miss them very very much.

I will play no more monsters. Dracula is different; he is such an,exciting person.

A real actor has to have an awful lot of imagination, and I do have a,great deal.

You can never be a proper actor without good instincts.

I would rather have been an opera singer than anything else.

I think that - apart from the fields of science and medicine - we live,in an age of decline. Look at the world. There is decline in morals,ideals, manners, respect, truthfulness: just about everything, in fact.

"Good" people. . . being persistently noble can become rather,uninteresting. There is a dark side in all of us. And for us "bad",people, the bad side dominates. I think there is a great sadness in,villains, and I have tried to put that across. We cannot stop ourselves,doing what we are doing.

One day, I hope somebody will sum up my career thus: "He was different".

That would satisfy me.

Every actor has to make terrible films from time to time, but the trick,is never to be terrible in them.

On the Italian side, we can trace the family back 2,000 years. I have a cousin in Rome, a famous archaeologist, Count Andrea Carandini, who was in Lombardy and came across some pottery with the original name of the family, Carandinus, painted on it.

My great-grandmother was born in London, the daughter of a Brixton coachman, and became the most famous singer in Australia. Her name was Marie Carandini, Madame Carandini.

Ian Fleming was my cousin, you know. He was in naval intelligence.

There is something sad about malevolence, to be wicked. I have always tried to make that come across in the villains I have played.