Christopher Lee has passed away

[Ridcully]

Rest well Sir Christopher Lee, what a remarkable life and person.
You scared me silly when I was a small boy, while stealing a glance at the tv while my parents where watching Dracula, your voice made my spine tingle, all the movies that I saw you in....I am grateful to have experienced such talent!

 

[Random_Spock]

An absolute legend.

Definitely .

RIP Mr. Lee. You'll be missed.

Condolences to his family and friends.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Such an amazing actor and person. What saddens me the most about Sir Christopher's passing is not that he has died but the knowledge that they don't make 'em like him anymore. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Rest in peace, Mr. Lee.

 

[lurok]

Legendary acting figure seems totally apt, and with time will possibly come to seem more so: both for his iconic roles and real life. What really struck me about him was his presence and diversity. Someone might be able to correct me, but I have a vague notion Lee has probably done more 'classic genre' roles than any other recent actor? - all those Hammer roles, Bond, Holmes, Star Wars, LoTR, etc. Yes, I've seen the odd meh B-movie role (an actor has to work!), but he brought a real gravitas, especially in later life.

Personal favourite part was his Mycroft in Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Not seen bettered yet.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRuUnXjMxZ0[/yt]

 

[kirk55555]

RIP Christopher Lee. I know it makes sense given his age, but it still feels like it came out of nowhere.

 

[cooleddie74]

Few artistic talents like Christopher Lee pass our way in this world and he'll be missed, but man - what a huge and meaningful legacy.

He did it his way and we're all better off for it.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmANHj8Tn7A[/yt]

 

[Skellington]

We've lost an exceptional Heavy Metal artist, possibly the most notable of recent years. Had to be said.

https://play.spotify.com/user/digital_spy/playlist/3Apa6SrOSyYgVQyT8YPziZ

He was a true polymath and cultural icon, one of those characters who you kind of wish could be around forever.

 

[Beagleman]

I like this quote:
Every actor has to make terrible films from time to time. The trick is never to be terrible in them. -Christopher Lee
And you succeeded, Sir!

 

[Hound of UIster]

Terrible news.

 

[Samurai8472]

 

[Greg Cox]

I still remember the first time I saw HORROR OF DRACULA on the late show as a kid. After being weaned on the more stately, black-and-white Draculas of Bela Lugosi and John Carradine, the sheer physicality of Lee's performance was a revelation to me: bursting through doors, snarling in Technicolor, grappling with Peter Cushing's equally vigorous Van Helsing, it was easily the most EXCITING Dracula movie I had ever seen.

Lee was sorely wasted in the many sequels, lending his imposing gravitas to films that often gave him little to do except snarl and lurk in the shadows, but he also leaves behind many fine performances in such films as THE WICKER MAN, THE DEVIL'S BRIDE, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (as Mycroft), THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and others. He was the last of the classic horror stars, so this truly is the end of an era.
I take comfort in knowing that (unlike Lugosi) Lee went from triumph to triumph in his twilight years: respected, honored, and working in big, high-profile franchises like STAR WARS and THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

He will be missed.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

The biggest out and out biter as Dracula in movies ever, and vicious as fuck, plus amazing in his other roles too:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zoSCn0XR1I[/yt]

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-B9DJvROJU[/yt]

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz68Y6Xhwq0[/yt]

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoemQ3uz890[/yt]

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_dAKu_cNS8[/yt]

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYT3ctPuVRw[/yt]

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQVi_DC9HvI[/yt]

I take comfort in knowing that (unlike Lugosi) Lee went from triumph to triumph in his twilight years: respected, honored, and working in big, high-profile franchises like STAR WARS and THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

He will be missed.

And he wasn't exploited by some glory-seeking moron making him star in bad movies, either. RIP, Chris, we'll take it from here.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Wasn't most of the scene in ROTS done by a stuntman? I seem to recall only the closeups were by Lee.

 

[Gov Kodos]

And he wasn't exploited by some glory-seeking moron making him star in bad movies, either. RIP, Chris, we'll take it from here.

Depending on your feelings about George Lucas and Peter Jackson, I guess.

But seriously, he made everything better, including heavy metal.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTfFXrVJcNQ[/yt]

 

[cooleddie74]

Even in an almost unwatchable turd of a film like The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969) Christopher Lee was the best thing about the movie and about the only good thing in the movie. The man became the roles he played. He was Fu Manchu. Dracula. Francisco Scaramanga. Saruman. Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus.

He made great films fantastic, good films better and crap films watchable (or at least distracted you from the rest of the scenes in those crap films with his own performances).

 

[inflatabledalek]

One of those people who you got the feeling just loved acting and was quite happy to give his all no matter what. Top bloke and will be missed.

My fuller (though not remotely original) thoughts on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31J9owg_kOU

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

I still remember the first time I saw HORROR OF DRACULA on the late show as a kid. After being weaned on the more stately, black-and-white Draculas of Bela Lugosi and John Carradine, the sheer physicality of Lee's performance was a revelation to me: bursting through doors, snarling in Technicolor, grappling with Peter Cushing's equally vigorous Van Helsing, it was easily the most EXCITING Dracula movie I had ever seen.

Lee was sorely wasted in the many sequels, lending his imposing gravitas to films that often gave him little to do except snarl and lurk in the shadows, but he also leaves behind many fine performances in such films as THE WICKER MAN, THE DEVIL'S BRIDE, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (as Mycroft), THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and others. He was the last of the classic horror stars, so this truly is the end of an era.
I take comfort in knowing that (unlike Lugosi) Lee went from triumph to triumph in his twilight years: respected, honored, and working in big, high-profile franchises like STAR WARS and THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

He will be missed.

Yeah, Christopher Lee was one lucky guy. Not only did he manage to live till he was 93 and remain in reasonably good health to continue to do movies till the very end, he also pulled off a rather successful career comeback in his late 70s (!) after having experienced a bit of a less stellar period during the 1980s and 1990s.

 

[Mk_Sn]

Excellent Dracula, terrible Sith, never seen LOTR. All in all, an excellent actor, it's sad to see him go.

 

[DarthPipes]

He was a great Sith. Far better and more interesting than Darth Maul.

 

[Redfern]

At least we can't say he was "taken before his time". 93 years and still active for most of them.

I can imagine Peter Cushing "up there", tapping his foot, glancing at his watch every so often and upon Lee's arrival, Peter says, "Well, you certainly took your time. I even ordered you a pint of bitter. It's probably gone a bit flat by now."

Before we learned Vader wore the armor because he was injured (as hinted in "Empire") and before we actually saw Sebastian Shaw under the helmet in "Jedi", I imagined Vader looked like Christopher Lee. Too bad he didn't actually play the part. He was tall enough for the costume and his voice had the gravitas to project the menace required. No need for two people to play him. Besides, he and Cushing were a duo. It just seemed weird to have one (Cushing) but not the other (Lee). Yeah, he played Dooku, but it was a case of too little, too late; Peter was decades gone.

Sincerely,

Bill