Veteran actor Christopher Lee has died
Screen icon Sir Christopher Lee has died at the age of 93.
The veteran actor, who starred in films such as The Wicker Man through to the recent Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, passed away on Sunday morning after being hospitalised for respiratory and heart failure.
Perhaps Lee’s most iconic role was as Dracula in a series of Hammer Horror films, but he was also well known for playing a host of iconic screen villains, from Scaramanga in James Bond and evil wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings.
After starring in a host of cult films Lee also became a regular collaborator with Tim Burton, who cast him in Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Burton went on to award him with a Bafta fellowship after the actor was knighted in 2009 for services to drama and charity.
News of his death prompted an outpouring of grief from actors, musicians, and even the Prime Minister, who all paid tribute to Lee’s great talent:
PM: Saddened to hear of Sir Christopher Lee's death, a titan of Golden Age of Cinema & distinguished WW2 veteran who'll be greatly missed
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) June 11, 2015
The great, always criminally underrated Sir Christopher Lee has left us. A Titan of Cinema and a huge part of my youth. Farewell.
— Mark Gatiss 💙 (@Markgatiss) June 11, 2015
It's terribly when you lose an old friend, and Christopher Lee was one of my oldest. We first met in 1948.
— Sir Roger Moore (Legacy) (@sirrogermoore) June 11, 2015
So so sorry to hear that #christopherlee has passed away. He was a fascinating person. Threw a bic pen into a tree in front of me. #legend
— Dominic Monaghan. (@DomsWildThings) June 11, 2015
Words by JOE WILLIAMS