Lord of the Rings movie icon's touching final hours
The imposing Christopher Lee may be a legendary figure for his embodiment of iconic character Dracula, yet during an interview as he was being knighted in 2009, the actor expressed irritation at being typecast. In the conversation featured in the new Sky documentary The Life And Deaths Of Christopher Lee, the journalist concluded her segment with, "A knight of the realm, but still the king of horror." To which Christopher's towering presence cast a shadow as he retorted, "The king of what? " sounding clearly miffed. He insisted, "Don’t say that dear, I’m not! I haven’t done a horror film for 34 years. Please don’t refer to me as the king of horror."
The new documentary delves into the multifaceted life of the late Christopher Lee, who passed away in 2015. It employs a striking black and white puppet to represent him and features a spot-on voice impression by Peter Serafinowicz. More than just a horror icon, the feature-length biopic explores Christopher's wide-ranging movie career and personal connections including ties to industry greats like Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and JRR Tolkien — whose work "The Lord of the Rings" was a favourite of Christopher's — and his relation, James Bond creator Ian Fleming. With insights from directors such as Joe Dante and John Landis, and reflections from his niece, acclaimed actress Harriet Walter, the documentary celebrates a film legacy that stretches over two centuries of cinema.
The documentary features snippets from his roles in cult classic The Wicker Man, Bond movie The Man With The Golden Gun, in which he played baddie Scaramanga, and three Star Wars prequel movies. However, the most intriguing insights come from those who knew another side to the actor. Before his movie career, he worked as an intelligence officer in the RAF during and after the Second World War. While Christopher hinted at espionage – and even some 007-style activities – he never disclosed the true nature of his occupation.
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The most heartwarming story in the documentary involves his love for The Lord Of The Rings. Peter Jackson, the director of the 2000s trilogy based on the books, discusses casting Christopher as Saruman, fulfilling a lifelong dream for the actor. Christopher’s son-in-law Juan Francisco Aneiros Rodriguez also reveals that on the night the actor passed away, he had been watching the movies in hospital with his nurses, reliving the iconic role he wanted to be remembered for, and always will be.
