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| Birth Name(s) : Christopher Frank Carandini Lee |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
Birgit Kroencke |
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Full Christopher Lee Biography
Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE (born May 27, 1922) is an English actor known for his professional longevity and his distinctive basso delivery.
At six feet five inches (195.6cm), Lee is listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the world's tallest leading actor, a record he shares with Vince Vaughn, just beating Stephen Fry (Wilde) by ½ an inch.
Lee was born in Belgravia, London, England in 1922, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Trollope Lee of the 60th King's Royal Rifle Corps, and the Italian Marchesina Estelle Marie Carandini di Sarzano, whose grandfather had been an Italian political refugee who had sought refuge in Australia. Lee's mother was a famous Edwardian beauty who was painted by Sir John Lavery, as well as Oswald Birley and Olive Snell, and was sculpted by Clare Sheridan, a cousin of Winston Churchill.
In 1948, Lee made an uncredited appearance in Sir Laurence Olivier's film of Hamlet as a spear carrier (marking his first film with frequent costar Peter Cushing, who played Osric). Throughout the next decade, he made nearly thirty films, playing mostly stock action characters.
The Lord of the Rings marked the beginning of a small revival of his career that continued in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in which he played Count Dooku, a name allegedly chosen to reflect his fame playing Count Dracula. His autobiography states that he did much of the swordplay himself, though a double was required for the more vigorous footwork. His good friend and frequent co-star, Peter Cushing, portrayed the equally icy Grand Moff Tarkin] in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. In the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Lee played the role of Wilbur Wonka, the strict father of the star character Willy Wonka.
In addition to more than a dozen feature films together for Hammer Films, Amicus Productions and other companies, Lee and Peter Cushing both appeared in Hamlet (1948) and Moulin Rouge (1952) albeit in separate scenes; and in separate installments of the Star Wars films, Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin in the original film, Lee years later as Count Dooku. The last project which united them in person was a documentary, Flesh and Blood, the Hammer Heritage of Horror, which they jointly narrated. It was the last time they saw each other as Cushing died two months later. While they frequently played off each other as mortal enemies onscreen — Lee's Count Dracula to Cushing's Prof. Van Helsing — they were close friends in real life.
Lee appeared on the cover of the Wings album Band on the Run along with other people, including chat show host Michael Parkinson, movie actor James Coburn, world boxing champion John Conteh and broadcaster Clement Freud.
Lee sings on the The Wicker Man soundtrack, performing Paul Giovanni's psych folk composition, "The Tinker of Rye". He also sings the closing credits song of the 1994 horror movie Funny Man. His most notable musical work on film, however, appears in the strange superhero comedy/rock musical The Return of Captain Invincible (1983) which Lee steals with a raucous song and dance number called "Name Your Poison".
He contributed his voice, as Death, in the animated versions of Terry Pratchett's Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters. He is fluent in English, Italian, Spanish and German, and moderately proficient in Swedish, Russian and Greek . He was the original voice of Thor in the German dubs in the Danish 1986 animated movie Valhalla, and of King Haggard in the 1982 animated adaptation of The Last Unicorn.
The Carandinis, Lee's maternal ancestors, were given the right to bear the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Cinemareview cites: "Cardinal Consalvi was Papal Secretary of State at the time of Napoleon and is buried at the Pantheon in Rome next to the painter Raphael. His painting, by Lawrence, hangs in Windsor Castle." Lee's great-grandparents formed Australia's first opera company, performing before miners in towns in the outback.
"Devils, Rogues & Other Villains" (1998)"Symphony of Enchanted Lands II" (2004)"Revelation" (2006) |
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