Farewell, Saruman

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Christopher Lee left behind a legacy of iconic film roles and music, having passed on June 7^th, 2015 at ninety three years old.  Lee died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London after three weeks of treatment for respiratory problems and heart failures.

Born in Belgravia, London on May 27^th, 1922 to one of the oldest families in Europe, Lee was an only child. His parents separated when he was a child and his mother moved with him to Switzerland. He attended Miss Fisher’s Academy in Wegen, followed by Summer Field’s School in London. After this, he received a scholarship at Eton College and Wellington College where he studied Greek and Latin.

In 1939, Lee enlisted in the Royal Air Force during WW2. During this time, he also was assigned to tracking down Nazi war criminals and served as an Intelligence Officer with the Long Range Desert Group in Northern Africa in the Special Forces. He later retired with the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Sworn to secrecy, Lee never spoke of his war days.

Eight years later, Lee entered the film industry and obtained a seven year contract with the Rank Organization. He was enrolled in acting school that groomed young, contracted actors.  From his education, he obtained a role in “Corridor of Mirrors” – a gothic romance movie.  In the fifties and onward, Lee’s acting career blossomed from tackling classic roles such as Fu Manchu and notorious horror icons such as Dracula and The Mummy. The part of Dracula especially shaped him into a master of the macabre and led him to dabble in other horror flicks such as “Gremlin 2”, “The Creeping Flesh”, and “Circus of Fear”.

Lee went on to portray classic villain parts such as Saruman from “The Lord of the Rings”, Count Dooku from the “Star Wars” prequels, Scaramanga from “The Man With the Golden Gun”, and countless other roles. Lee even did an audio performance of Edgar Allen Poe’s works, DiZ from Kingdom Hearts 2, King Haggard from “The Last Unicorn”, and Burton’s iconic “Nightmare Before Christmas” poem . He even collaborated with Tim Burton and appeared in “Sleepy Hollow”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, “Dark Shadows”, and “Alice in Wonderland”.  Having loved to sing so much, Lee created symphonic metal albums for Christmas and tributes to Charlemagne.

Burton even had the pleasure of awarding Lee with the BAFTA Academy Fellowship award. Lee was graced with other awards throughout his life. He received the International Fantasy Film Award, Bram Stoker’s Lifetime Achievement Award, MTV Movie Award, and was even knighted by the Queen in 2009 for his services to drama and charity.

The world is a less thrilling place without someone as amazing and epic as Christopher Lee.  While we have his metal soundtracks and his countless roles, the world has once more lost a great person. We can only imagine him now up in the sky conversing with Vincent Price and jamming with other metalheads. His presence will no longer grace the Earth, but we will still have Lee in our hearts and minds.

Thank you for reading tonight’s entry. If you liked it, feel free to comment, share, and critique.

So tell me, what was your favorite role that Christopher Lee played?