Christopher Lee dies aged 93

Today the news of Christopher Lee’s death on June 7th reached us through various news outlets. According to reports, the actor died shortly after being hospitalised for health problems, heart failure apparently being the most severe of them.

Obituaries touch on the various milestones of Lee’s career, his fame with Hammer films alongside colleague and friend Peter Cushing, his role as the Prince of Darkness, his later appearance in The Wicker Man. And of course his part as the world’s most expensive hit man in 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun.

Later Lee went on to a part in the Star Wars prequels and afterwards to the role of Saruman in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. He also had a number of smaller roles in Tim Burton projects, from Sleepy Hollow to Dark Shadows, working with the director on a regular basis. In 2011 Burton then was the one to award Lee his BAFTA fellowship.

Lee’s talent was so varied that he also continuously dabbled on the fringes of the music business. He contributed a song to The Wicker Man’s soundtrack, worked at the recordings of a number of operas and musicals between 1986 and 1998 and finally released a couple of Heavy Metal concept albums.

Lesser known perhaps is the fact Lee spoke German so well that he did his own part in the German dub of The Last Unicorn himself, a skill he regularly used to great effect whenever his work called for publicity appearances in Germany, and which – together with his well-mannered demeanour and his charming personality – endeared him to countless journalists over the years.

Christopher Lee died aged 93. He was a cousin of Ian Fleming and to this day a favourite villain with many Bond fans. Team and members of CommanderBond.net hereby express their condolences with his wife and family.

Photography of Sir Christopher Lee courtesy Wikipedia.