Profile: CHRISTOPHER LEE

The legendary British actor Christopher Lee (born 1922) has in his career played everything, from villains to heroic characters, to dramatic characters and even crazy characters like Lord Summerisle in THE WICKER MAN (1973) and Count Dooku in the STAR WARS films.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Mr. Lee played the Vampire Lord DRACULA in a number of Hammer horror films as well as in a few other films. Not pleased with they way that Hammer developed the Dracula films, he moved on to other characters and films and in 1974, he played the villain Francisco Scaramanga in the Roger Moore James Bond film THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. (Interesting link to the world of James Bond is that Christopher Lee was a full cousin to author Ian Fleming.)

After this he moved around quite a lot in different roles until George Lucas got him involved as Count Dooku in the STAR WARS films and Peter Jackson cast him as Saruman in THE LORD OF THE RINGS films.

Even to this day, while Mr. Lee is into his 90s, he keeps active in films and also sings. His autobiography is a fascinating read and his presence is a gift to directors and actors alike.