Lord of the Rings and Star Wars Star Sir Christopher Lee Passes Away at 93

After 93 years of unparalleled awesomeness and creativity, Sir Christopher Lee passed away last Sunday at a hospital in london.

The star, who was beloved for roles like Saruman in Lord of the Rings, Star Wars‘ Count Dooku, Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga and his many iconic horror film characters, was said to have been treated for respiratory difficulties and heart failure over the past three weeks.

In addition to his massive body of work (Lee acted in almost 200 roles throughout his lifetime, and at 93 had just completed one film and was starting pre-production for another), Sir Christopher will also be remembered for his services to charity and his colorful early life.

At 17, Lee volunteered for the Royal Air Force and later joined RAF Intelligence after optic nerve failure prevented him from flying. After the war ended Lee was tasked with tracking down Nazi war criminals, later saying of his duties: “We were given dossiers of what they’d done and told to find them, interrogate them as much as we could and hand them over to the appropriate authority … We saw these concentration camps. Some had been cleaned up. Some had not.”

After returning to London, Lee began pursuing acting at his cousin’s suggestion, eventually starring in iconic horror films like The Curse of Frankenstein and frequently reprising his role as Dracula from Dracula: Prince of Darkness.

Horrifying. (Also, a lot to parse here.)

More recently, Lee earned a reputation as the world’s most metal nonagenarian:

We loved him as much as we feared him. He will be deeply missed and fondly remembered.

(via The Telegraph)

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Carolyn Cox