A Passing Thought...

Jay
Jun 11, 2015
2 min read

Today, the Jays pay tribute to one who is quite possibly the most interesting man in the world; Sir Christopher Lee, who has passed away at the age of 93.

For those of you who may not know the name, he was best known (recently) for his portrayal of Saruman the White in the Lord of the Ring trilogy, as well as The Hobbit trilogy. Not to mention, Count Dooku in Star Wars episodes II and III. And for the older crowd – he was best known for his portrayal of Dracula in the classic Hammer Horror films of the late 50’s, the 60’s and into the 70’s.

“Why was he the most interesting man in the world, Jay?” you may ask? Aside from his incredible listing of film credits on IMDB (281 to be exact), or the fact that he is one of very few actors to have portrayed three different Sherlock Holmes characters, or that he and Vincent Price were born on the same day?

For starters, he was a classically trained singer and very recently released his own Death Metal Christmas album… you know, when he was 92! He was also step-cousin to Sir Ian Fleming and was the author’s personal pick to play Dr. No in the very first 007 film in 1962 (though the role ended up going to another actor). Not enough?

How about this… he was such a bad ass that he actually turned down the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars, which later went to his best-buddy (another point on the cool meter) Peter Cushing. Want to know why his hand looks a little funky? Errol Flynn was a little drunk during the filming of a swordfight for The Dark Avenger, and injured him. He was also in the Guinness Book of World Records for Tallest Leading Actor – he was 6’5”. Want more?

Alright… he not only played Dracula opposite Peter Cushing, but also played Frankenstein’s

Monster opposite Peter Cushing. It seems a running theme for all these old school Star Wars guys… David Prowse also played the monster opposite Peter Cushing in 1974’s Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. Do the math… he was a villain in nearly 85% of his films. That’s nearly 200 times he was the bad guy.

Did I mention he served in the RAF in World War II, and in British Intelligence? Oh, and at the age of 83, he shot all of his scenes for Star Wars Episode III in one day. Last one… he is the only actor in the Lord of the Rings movies to have actually met J.R.R. Tolkien!

If that doesn’t equal up to the most interesting man in the world, I don’t know what else would. Perhaps the other amazing things he’s done. Go check out his IMDB Bio page for more interesting facts about the life of one of the most prolific actors of our time – Sir Christopher Lee. Rest in Peace

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