Heartbreaking news this morning, as we learn that Sir Christopher Lee has passed away.
The Telegraph is reporting that Christopher Lee, legendary actor known for such iconic roles as Dracula, and Saruman in The Lord of the Rings, has died. He was 93.
According to the newspaper, the beloved actor passed away at 8:30 am on Sunday, at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, after suffering respiratory problems and heart failure.
His widow, Lady Lee, chose to delay the public announcement until his family had been informed. Lee is survived by a daughter, Christina.
Before he was an actor, Christopher Lee served in World War II. He first volunteered to fight for the Finnish forces in 1939, and later joined the Royal Air Force. He retired from the RAF in 1946, with the rank of flight lieutenant.
Christopher Lee’s acting career spanned decades; the knighted star was best known for his incredible performances as iconic villains.
He first rose to fame as Count Dracula in 1966, and would go on to reprise this role in several Hammer Horror films over the next 10 years.
Lee went on to play countless fantastic characters, including one of the best Bond villains of all time, Francisco Scaramanga, in The Man With the Golden Gun (1974).
The prolific actor’s career spanned almost 70 years, during which time he appeared in more than 200 movies.
Hypable visitors might know Christopher Lee best as Saruman in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Almost a decade later, he reprised his role in the follow-up trilogy The Hobbit. The final movie in the series came out only last year.
Lee was not only an incredible Saruman. He was, in fact, one of the only people involved with the movies who had personally met J.R.R. Tolkien. Anecdotally, Tolkien told him at the time that if they ever made his novels into movies, he’d want Lee to play Gandalf.
Watch Lee discuss his role as Saruman the White in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy:
Christopher Lee’s incredible career also included Star Wars: he played the villainous Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Although Lee lived a long and full life, his passing is still very upsetting, signalling the end of a wonderful career which will never be forgotten.
The actor was active until the very end: last Christmas, we reported that Lee had released a new heavy metal Christmas song, something he’d been doing for the last several years.
Read some of the most beautiful tributes to Christopher Lee from his friends and colleagues.
Rest in peace, Sir Christopher Lee.