Christopher Lee

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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Christopher Lee

English actor

Also known as: Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee

Written by Richard Pallardy

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Nov 19, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

In full:: Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee

Born:: May 27, 1922, Belgravia, London, England

Died:: June 7, 2015, London

Also Known As:: Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee

Married To:: Gitte Lee (married 1961)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Angels in Notting Hill" (2015); "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" (2014); "The Girl from Nagasaki" (2013); "Extraordinary Tales" (2013); "Night Train to Lisbon" (2013); "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012); "Dark Shadows" (2012); "Hugo" (2011); "The Wicker Tree" (2011); "The Resident" (2011); "Season of the Witch" (2011); "Burke and Hare" (2010); "Alice in Wonderland" (2010); "Glorious 39" (2009); "Triage" (2009); "The Heavy" (2009); "Boogie Woogie" (2009); "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (2008); "The Colour of Magic" (2008); "The Golden Compass" (2007); "Pope John Paul II" (2005); "Corpse Bride" (2005); "The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby" (2005); "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005); "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" (2005); "Les rivières pourpres 2 - Les anges de l'apocalypse" (2004); "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003); "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002); "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" (2002); "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001); "Les redoutables" (2001); "Ghost Stories for Christmas" (2000); "In the Beginning" (2000); "Gormenghast" (2000); "Sleepy Hollow" (1999); "The New Adventures of Robin Hood" (1997–1998); "Jinnah" (1998); "Tale of the Mummy" (1998); "Wyrd Sisters" (1997); "Soul Music" (1997); "The Odyssey" (1997); "Ivanhoe" (1997); "The Stupids" (1996); "Sorellina e il principe del sogno" (1996); "Moses" (1995); "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" (1995); "Street Gear" (1995); "The Tomorrow People" (1995); "A Feast at Midnight" (1994); "Police Academy: Mission to Moscow" (1994); "Funny Man" (1994); "Jackpot" (1992); "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" (1992); "Curse III: Blood Sacrifice" (1991); "Kabuto" (1991); "The Rainbow Thief" (1990); "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" (1990); "L'avaro" (1990); "Murder Story" (1989); "La chute des aigles" (1989); "La révolution française" (1989); "The Return of the Musketeers" (1989); "Around the World in 80 Days" (1989); "Olympus Force: The Key" (1988); "Mask of Murder" (1988); "Dark Mission: Flowers of Evil" (1988); "The Girl" (1987); "Mio in the Land of Faraway" (1987); "Shaka Zulu" (1986); "Jocks" (1986); "Howling II: ... Your Sister Is a Werewolf" (1985); "The Bengal Lancers!" (1984); "The Rosebud Beach Hotel" (1984); "Faerie Tale Theatre" (1984); "Desperate Moves" (1984); "The Far Pavilions" (1984); "The Return of Captain Invincible" (1983); "House of the Long Shadows" (1983); "The Last Unicorn" (1982); "Safari 3000" (1982); "The Salamander" (1981); "An Eye for an Eye" (1981); "Charlie's Angels" (1980); "Serial" (1980); "1941" (1979); "Bear Island" (1979); "Jaguar Lives!" (1979); "Arabian Adventure" (1979); "Nutcracker Fantasy" (1979); "The Passage" (1979); "Caravans" (1978); "Circle of Iron" (1978); "Return from Witch Mountain" (1978); "How the West Was Won" (1978); "Starship Invasions" (1977); "End of the World" (1977); "Meatcleaver Massacre" (1977); "Airport '77" (1977); "The Keeper" (1976); "Dracula père et fils" (1976); "Albino" (1976); "To the Devil a Daughter" (1976); "Killer Force" (1976); "Space: 1999" (1975); "Le boucher, la star et l'orpheline" (1975); "Diagnosis: Murder" (1974); "The Man with the Golden Gun" (1974); "The Four Musketeers" (1974); "Dark Places" (1974); "The Three Musketeers" (1973); "The Wicker Man" (1973); "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" (1973); "Orson Welles' Great Mysteries" (1973); "The Creeping Flesh" (1973); "Nothing But the Night" (1973); "Death Line" (1972); "Pánico en el Transiberiano" (1972); "Dracula A.D. 1972" (1972); "Umbracle" (1972); "Hannie Caulder" (1971); "I, Monster" (1971); "The House That Dripped Blood" (1971); "Scars of Dracula" (1970); "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" (1970); "Taste the Blood of Dracula" (1970); "Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht" (1970); "Julius Caesar" (1970); "Il trono di fuoco" (1970); "De Sade 70" (1970); "Scream and Scream Again" (1970); "The Magic Christian" (1969); "The Oblong Box" (1969); "The Castle of Fu Manchu" (1969); "The Avengers" (1967–1969); "Curse of the Crimson Altar" (1968); "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" (1968); "The Blood of Fu Manchu" (1968); "The Devil Rides Out" (1968); "The Face of Eve" (1968); "Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel" (1967); "Theatre of Death" (1967); "Night of the Big Heat" (1967); "The Vengeance of Fu Manchu" (1967); "Five Golden Dragons" (1967); "The Brides of Fu Manchu" (1966); "Circus of Fear" (1966); "Rasputin: The Mad Monk" (1966); "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" (1966); "The Skull" (1965); "The Face of Fu Manchu" (1965); "She" (1965); "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" (1965); "The Gorgon" (1964); "Il castello dei morti vivi" (1964); "The Devil-Ship Pirates" (1964); "La cripta e l'incubo" (1964); "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (1964); "La frusta e il corpo" (1963); "La vergine di Norimberga" (1963); "Katarsis" (1963); "Stranglehold" (1963); "Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes" (1962); "The Devil's Agent" (1962); "The Pirates of Blood River" (1962); "Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee" (1962); "Ercole al centro della Terra" (1961); "Das Geheimnis der gelben Narzissen" (1961); "One Step Beyond" (1961); "Taste of Fear" (1961); "The Terror of the Tongs" (1961); "The Hands of Orlac" (1960); "The City of the Dead" (1960); "Beat Girl" (1960); "The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll" (1960); "Too Hot to Handle" (1960); "Tempi duri per i vampiri" (1959); "Tales of the Vikings" (1959); "The Mummy" (1959); "The Treasure of San Teresa" (1959); "The Man Who Could Cheat Death" (1959); "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1959); "William Tell" (1959); "Corridors of Blood" (1958); "Battle of the V-1" (1958); "Dracula" (1958); "White Hunter" (1958); "Ivanhoe" (1958); "A Tale of Two Cities" (1958); "O.S.S." (1958); "The Errol Flynn Theatre" (1956–1957); "The Truth About Women" (1957); "Bitter Victory" (1957); "The Gay Cavalier" (1957); "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957); "The Traitor" (1957); "Fortune Is a Woman" (1957); "Assignment Foreign Legion" (1956–1957); "Ill Met by Moonlight" (1957); "Chevron Hall of Stars" (1956); "Sailor of Fortune" (1956); "The Adventures of Aggie" (1956); "Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents" (1953–1956); "Beyond Mombasa" (1956); "The Battle of the River Plate" (1956); "Port Afrique" (1956); "Storm Over the Nile" (1955); "Alias John Preston" (1955); "The Cockleshell Heroes" (1955); "Tales of Hans Anderson" (1953–1955); "The Vise" (1955); "Police Dog" (1955); "That Lady" (1955); "Destination Milan" (1954); "Colonel March of Scotland Yard" (1954); "Babes in Bagdad" (1952); "Paul Temple Returns" (1952); "The Crimson Pirate" (1952); "Valley of Eagles" (1951); "Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N." (1951); "Prelude to Fame" (1950); "They Were Not Divided" (1950); "Trottie True" (1949); "Scott of the Antarctic" (1948); "Penny and the Pownall Case" (1948); "A Song for Tomorrow" (1948); "One Night with You" (1948); "Corridor of Mirrors" (1948); "Kaleidoscope" (1946–1947)

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Christopher Lee (born May 27, 1922, Belgravia, London, England—died June 7, 2015, London) was an English actor known for his film portrayals of villains ranging from Dracula to J.R.R. Tolkien’s wizard Saruman.

Lee was born to an Italian contessa and a British army officer. After a stint at Wellington College (1936–39), he joined the Royal Air Force (1941–46), attaining the rank of flight lieutenant during his World War II service. Lee then pursued an acting career. Though initially dismissed by casting directors because of his imposing 6-foot 5-inch (1.96-metre) stature, he was eventually cast in Corridor of Mirrors (1948).

Numerous supporting roles followed, but it was not until starring as the title character’s monstrous creation in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) that Lee began to garner attention. That role inaugurated an extended relationship with Hammer Films, a production company that—with the help of Lee and his frequent costar Peter Cushing—was credited with revolutionizing horror film making. Though his lanky frame and cadaverous features were found unsuitable for romantic roles, Lee perfectly embodied such iconic horror characters as Count Dracula, whom he first played in Horror of Dracula (1958) and later reprised in a number of sequels. However, Lee’s turn as Sir Henry Baskerville in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), an adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes mystery, indicated a dramatic range extending beyond the mimicry of reanimated corpses.

USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood

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While cementing his place in the pantheon of cinematic Draculas, Lee became the catalyst of another film franchise with the release of The Face of Fu Manchu (1965). In that film and its sequels, he exuded menace as the devious title character. Lee’s distinctive demeanour continued to secure him roles in such films as The Wicker Man (1973), in which he played a pagan priest; The Three Musketeers (1973) and its 1974 sequel, in which he took the part of Count Rochefort; and the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), in which he starred as Bond’s nemesis Scaramanga. Appearances in a steady series of unremarkable films were punctuated by a well-received turn as Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, in Jinnah (1998).

Lee later appeared in Peter Jackson’s lucrative adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, playing the wizard Saruman in The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Two Towers (2002). He reprised the role in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), both based on an earlier Tolkien work. His looming presence caught the attention of director George Lucas, who cast him as Count Dooku in the Star Wars movies Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). In addition, Lee was cast in several Tim Burton films, including Alice in Wonderland (2010), and in Martin Scorsese’s historical fantasy Hugo (2011).

Lee penned a number of books, including an autobiography, Tall, Dark, and Gruesome (1977; rereleased in 2003 as Lord of Misrule). He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2001, and he was knighted in 2009.

Richard Pallardy