Sir Christopher Lee, known as the master of horror, has died at the age of 93 after being hospitalized for respiratory problems and heart failure.


The veteran actor, immortalized in films from Dracula to The Wicker Man, and via James Bond villainy to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, died at 8.30am on Sunday morning at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.

His wife, the former Danish model Birgit Kroencke, decided to hold back the information for four days until all family members and friends were informed. The couple had been married for more than 50 years and had one daughter, Christina.


The actor was knighted in 2009 for services to drama and charity, and was awarded the Bafta fellowship in 2011.

News of his death prompted an outpouring of grief from actors, musicians, and even the prime minister; all paid tribute to Lee’s great talent.

Tim Burton, the director who worked with Lee on five films, described him as “a true legend”.

“Christopher has been an enormous inspiration to me my entire life. I had the honour and pleasure to work with him on five films (Sleepy Hollow, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Alice In Wonderland and Dark Shadows),” he said.

“He was the last of his kind - a true legend - who I’m fortunate to have called a friend. He will continue to inspire me and I’m sure countless others for generations to come.”

Leading the tributes online were his Lord of the Rings co-stars Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood, as well as Sir Roger Moore, who played 007 opposite Lee in The Man With The Golden Gun.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/11/christopher-lee-dies-at-the-age-of-93-dracula

He was a badass in real life, too. Fought with the Allies during WWII, allegedly killed a few Nazis.

I remember watching a behind the scenes documentary on Lord of the Rings, and they were filming Saruman's death. Lee was talking to Peter Jackson about the correct way to react when being stabbed, and according to Jackson "went into detail about some very clandestine part of World War II" on the subject, that if you're stabbed you wouldn't scream, because the shock of it would draw the breath literally out of your body or something like that...such a creepy yet fascinating thing for him to know, but being that he'd been a soldier, nobody argued the point with him!

And plus yeah, Dracula, Count Dooku and over 250 films to his resume, knew a handful of languages, and was on a first name basis with people like George Lucas, Tim Burton, JRR Tolkien, Peter Jackson, Peter Cushing, Alec Guiness...the guy had a LIFE!
Very disheatening to hear of his passing. Not many like him left, which is sad in and of itself.
Rest in peace, good sir. You have more than earned it.

R.I.P.

I do believe he was in more feature length films than anyone else in the history of film...

God I can remember seeing him in so many of those creature feature kind of movies on a saturday afternoon

Played some great parts, real shame

r.i.p.

R.I.P To a fabulous career and a great life. Your contributions will be missed by fans and friends alike.

He was awesome. An amazing career and a true legend.

I got to meet him twice, once as a goofy kid dying for an autograph at a horror convention. Then later, on set.