The celebrated actor, singer and author Christopher Lee died on Sunday morning after being hospitalised for heart failure and respiratory problems at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, according to British media reports.
The decision to release the news of his death several days after the event was made by his wife, who wished to inform the family first, the Guardian writes.
An legendary yet "criminally underrated" career
Born in London in 1922, Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was the son of a British officer and a countess of Italian origin. He served first as a volunteer in Finland during the Winter War in 1939, then with the Royal Air Force and the Special Forces during World War II. He saw action in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), North Africa and Italy before returning to England and starting an acting career, encouraged by his cousin.
He became famous after joining Hammer, the famous horror film studios, particularly after his portrayal of Dracula in 1958.
"Christopher Lee was Dracula; he had taken over the character as clearly as Sean Connery took over James Bond", film critic Peter Bradshaw writes in his obituary for the Guardian.
Over the years, the main attributes that made Christopher Lee a celebrated actor were the same as those he showed in that 1958 film: a deep, enchanting voice and a tall, elegant stature, aside from his superb acting skills.
Along with his successful performances for Hammer, he portrayed the villain Fu Manchu in a string of movies in the 1960s, as well as starring in the critically acclaimed horror film The Wicker Man in 1973. He also received much praise for his appearance as the main villain of the 1974 James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun.
British actor Christopher Lee, who played the part of Bond bad guy Scaramanga in the film "The Man with the Golden Gun", poses for pictures with the original gun from the James Bond film at the Science Museum in London in this October 15, 2002 (Photo: Reuters)
Concerned with being permanently typecast as a movie villain, Lee moved to the United States to continue his acting career in 1977. He instantly encountered success, appearing in Airport '77 and Steven Spielberg's 1941.
His major commercial successes only came late in his career, with his participation in blockbusters like the Lord of The Rings trilogy as Saruman, and in the Star Wars prequel series as Count Dooku. He also became a regular in Tim Burton's films, appearing in smaller roles in several of his films.
British actor Christopher Lee launches the new DVD of The Lord of the Rings at the Forbidden Planet, London, in this August 6, 2002 file photograph (Photo: Reuters)
Age may have limited Lee's acting career, but it never halted it. Even in his eighties, he insisted on fulfilling his roles to the best of his ability. As he could not travel to New Zealand in 2011 for the filming of The Hobbit, accommodations were made for him to perform the role of Saruman from London.
In an interview with Liberty Voice in 2013, Lee declared that at age 91, "I have some interests outside of acting – I sing and I've written books, for instance – but acting is what keeps me going, it's what I do, it gives life purpose [...] I'm realistic about the amount of work I can get at my age, but I take what I can, even voice-overs and narration."
All in all, Lee appeared in more than 250 movies -- more than he could remember, as he told the Independent in 2002.
"And certainly some of them you want to forget," he added.
With such an impressive acting career, spanning over six decades, the iconic actor has nonetheless never received a major acting award for any of his roles, leading fellow actor Mark Gatiss (known for Doctor Who, Sherlock, Game of Thrones) to call him "criminally underrated". His career as a whole has received some recognition; after being knighted by the Prince of Wales in 2009, he was awarded a BAFTA fellowship in 2011 by his friend film director Tim Burton.
Director Tim Burton (R) poses with British actor Christopher Lee after Lee was presented with the Fellowship at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London in this February 13, 2011 (Photo: Reuters)
Beyond cinema: Christopher Lee the heavy metal singer
"A real actor has to have an awful lot of imagination, and I do have a great deal." The British Film Institute thus remembered Christopher Lee on Twitter with a quote that points to a career spanning beyond the film industry. The Briton spoke five languages fluently and was competent in several others. This, along with his operatic bass voice, allowed him to contribute to many voice works throughout his career, including video games, dubs and voice-over roles.
Lee also did some singing on the side of acting, including a performance on the Wicker Man soundtrack. Yet Lee's contribution to heavy metal is perhaps the greatest use of his voice, albeit the least publicised. With his operatic bass voice, he collaborated as a singer and narrator on the albums of Italian band Rhapsody of Fire between 2004 and 2011 and for the American band Manowar on a 2010 album.
That year, Lee also released a full-length metal album of his own, called Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross. Lee's maternal ancestors, the Carandinis, are an ancient European noble family who are thought to be directly linked to Charlemagne, and he presented the album as a tribute to his distant ancestor.
The album was critically acclaimed and earned Lee additional fame from the heavy metal scene. It earned him a "Spirit of Metal" award at the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden Gods ceremony, where he ironically described himself as "a young man, right at the beginning of his career".
A sequel promptly followed in 2013, and until the end of his life, Lee kept releasing singles and EPs of heavy metal covers. He even made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his single Jingle Hell in 2013, becoming the oldest living musician in history to do so.
A painful farewell
Count Dracula, Lord Summerisle, Francisco Saramanga, Saruman, Count Dooku... Although Lee never received a major award for any of these memorable performances, the massive reaction of cinema's big names following the announcement of his death shows the importance of his influence and of his legacy.
Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, tweeted about him as an "icon, a towering human being" that more than anyone would have deserved immortality.
Tim Burton was quoted by the Telegraph as calling his friend "the last of his kind - a true legend", who would no doubt inspire generations to come.
More condolences were paid by actors like Sir Roger Moore, who played James Bond in The Man with the Golden Gun, but also by public figures like British Prime Minister David Cameron and Boris Johnson, Mayor of London.
Lee leaves behind his wife, former model and painter Birgit Krøncke Lee, as well as one daughter, Christina Lee. The family has so far declined to comment on the event.