Christopher Lee
Remember how Indiana Jones built up Marcus in 'Last Crusade': connected, well-spoken, and seemingly impossible to kill? Well, such a man exists, and he's also a secret agent Dark-Jedi Dracula. His name is Sir Christopher Frank Carandini "Vlad" Lee.
Just The Facts
- Best known for his portrayal of iconic villains in over 260 movies. Roles include Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, Francisco Scaramanga, Dark-Jedi, evil wizards, and... eh, you get the idea.
- Despite being born during the silent-era, Lee still stands a healthy 6' 5", earning him dual Guinness World Records for "Tallest Leading Actor," and "Actor Least Likely to Star Alongside Tom Cruise."
- Served in the British Special Forces during WWII, filmed more swordfights than any other actor in history, married a Danish supermodel, speaks seven languages, knows every local custom, and is rumored to be in possession of the Holy Grail.
Absolut Lee
Christopher Lee got paid for sixty-years to be what any Cracked reader would sell his soul for in an instant: a Jedi, a secret agent, a king, a wizard, freakin Dracula (brides included)... you name it. If there existed a more badass character in his films, Lee's character either had him on his payroll, dropped mountains on him, sported way-cooler weapons, or got busy seducing his girlfriend as a wolf/bat/whatever the hell that thing was in the Coppola movie.

WTF?
The Long Ranger
Before stealing every scene he ever shared with actors half his age and shorter than his chin, Lee's already impressive list of contacts included J.R.R. Tolkien, James Bond-author Ian Fleming, and Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. Lee probably could have started acting at an even earlier age, but decided that the Nazis overrunning Europe were a cause more worthy to fight for than Classics. He left school in 1939 to help the Finnish fight the Soviet Union in the war where the Molotov-cocktail got its name from... and found it boring.

Not badass enough for Christopher Lee.
For a man who eventually built an entire career off drinking blood, Lee admitted that fighting the Reds wasn't all he had hoped, so he transferred to the Royal Air Force, and then the more badass sounding Long Range Desert Group. It was there Lee honed one of his greatest talents: killing Nazis.

Guitar-case included.
"Churchill's Secret Army"
After making life hell for the thousands of Nazis and Italians he caught pissing in the sands of North Africa, an awakened, blood-frenzied Lee was deemed tough enough to join Britain's Special Operations Executive, aka, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." (No, seriously.)

Lt. Christopher Lee
While this may sound like England's WWII equivalent to a certain league peopled by extraordinary gentlemen, the truth is actually closer to a much better movie. Though their exact function in WWII remains classified to this day, what we do know is that Britain's Special Operations Executive was tasked by Winston Churchill himself to "set Europe ablaze." That's right, Christopher Lee was a founding member of the original 'Inglourious Basterds'.

(Based on a true story... about Christopher Lee.)
While the details of his OCS-days remain classified to this day, there is one thing about his war years that we know for sure: It left him with expert knowledge at "exactly the sort of noise" someone makes when they are stabbed in the back, most likely by a Dark Jedi.
More badass than the entire trilogy? You decide.
Hammertime
After obtaining the necessary 100 Nazi scalps to finally make Webelos, Christopher decided to enter the realm of acting since no worthy adversary remained for him in reality. However, after finding that no worthy adversary could be found in fiction either, Lee decided to establish himself as the ultimate villain of cinema by starring in just about every horror movie Hammer Film Productions could steal from Abbot and Costello. He became the most iconic actor to portray Dracula since the legendary (and weird as hell) Bela Lugosi, partaking in Hammer's more liberal approach towards on-screen blood, violence, and female nudity along the way. To bolster his already daunting villainous stature, it was decided on a space-station-easily-mistakable-for-a-small-moon that the only man mad enough to take on Lee's Dracula was Grand Moff Tarkin himself, Peter Cushing.

League of Extraordinary Evil, '57 mixer.
That's right, the guy who blew up Alderaan and its two billions inhabitants actually plays the good guy in these movies. That'd be like casting Heath Ledger's Joker as Ronald McDonald in 'Mac and Me'.

I'm lovin' it!
Unfortunately, Lee proved to be so good at "pretending" he was Dracula that Hammer Studios refused to let him do anything else. Lee has gone on record that he was "blackmailed" by Hammer (who probably knew what he did with all those Nazi scalps: wear them) into continuously making films, for loads of money, that required him to suck on the necks of exotic actresses with heaving bosoms. This alone should warrant Lee for a third Guinness World Record: "Best. Blackmail. Ever."
However, once his "cousins" in the League notified him that fellow-cousin Ian Fleming's spy novels were being adapted to film, Lee knew he had finally found the adversary he was waiting for: James fucking Bond.

"I've been looking forward to this."
License to Suck
Christopher Lee wanted a piece of James Bond before the first film, Dr. No, even entered production. (Please note that he did NOT want to play Bond; just kill him in front of Ursula Andress.) Even Ian Fleming wanted to see if James Bond could last an evening on a radioactive island with Dracula. I mean, who wouldn't want to see that now more than ever?

'Twilight of Solace'?

Not a movie.
However, Bond flicks tend to have much less female nudity than Lee had grown accustomed to in films like 'The Wicker Man' (the good one). As such, Lee found this job almost as boring as killing Commies for Finland. Eager to get the stupid film over with, Lee let Moore take a shot at him with his harmless, non-silver PP7. The film tanked as a result of its silly ending, and Roger Moore became firmly established as the 'Adam West' of Bond actors. As for Lee, his career was a lot like himself: impossible to kill. Not only does he remain one of the most versatile actors in history, but one of the most bomb-proof as well. (I mean, have you actually seen '1941'?)

Even John Williams sucked in it.
Mopping the Floor with Gandalf the Grey
Now that his days of ripping bodices and drinking blood were over until 2012, Christopher Lee spent the next 30 years of his life becoming England's much cooler equivalent to Kevin Bacon. Armed with a vast resume, booming voice, and MONSTER eyebrows, he performed many of his own stunts and swordfights, earning honorary membership into three badass stuntmen's unions which will probably evolve into the Masons of tomorrow's Americas. He then landed the biggest break of his career when he was "offered" - more on that in a minute - the role of lead-villain in Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings Trilogy'. (Let's face it, that CGI eyeball was kinda weak.)

An entire motion picture trilogy about jewelry.

community organizing...

AP Chemisty...

'intelligent design'...


Noob.
In hindsight, it may have been a good thing for Lee that Peter Jackson told Tolkien's friends and fans to fuck off. When you compare the role of Gandalf to Saruman, Lee definitely got the better half of the baby. Lee's Saruman welded more power in Middle-Earth than a maxed-out mage from Dalaran, while Gandalf's powers appeared limited to playing flashlight-tag with Nazgul, crashing parties hours before they started, and smoking all his best friend's finest weed. He was essentially everyone's least favorite college roommate.

He then watched Merry and Pippin do his fucking laundry.
However, after mercifully sparing audiences Saruman the Many Coloured's coming-out party in 'The Return of the King', Peter Jackson followed with one of the biggest dick moves in modern cinematic history. Just days before the film's release, Jackson cut Christopher Lee's six-minute scene to make room for the 11-Academy Award nominated picture's 11 Academy Award winning endings (and to make a little money on the side through DVD sales since, apparently, $2.9 billion buys you only so many handjobs in New Zealand.) When asked if he would still attend the film's premiere, Lee's bitch-slap to Peter Jackson became required reading for every Lord of the Rings nerd on the planet: "No, what's the point? What's the point of going? None at all."

This man-child won more Oscars than Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Scorsese, and Kubrick put together.
Fortune and Glory
After blowing off some steam by kicking Obi-Wan's ass across two Star Wars prequels, Christopher Lee entered the eighth decade of his life more powerful and popular than ever. He got to enjoy a more prominent death as Count Dooku in 'Revenge of the Sith,' assumed the mantle vacated by Vincent Price in Tim Burton movies, and was recently knighted after 87 years of being awesome (as demonstrated by his recent symphonic metal album on his ancestor Charlemagne).
Just when you thougth he ran out of ways to blow your fucking mind.

In closing, Sir Christopher Lee has outlived all his real-life adversaries (including Hitler), is respected in his neighborhood, feared by teenagers, and can still count on the endless admiration of fans and well-wishers for the remaining 700 years of his life (or until he crosses 'The Great Seal').

Where Christopher Lee keeps his car keys?






Epic stuff, well done.
ReplyDon't forget he's also THE VOICE OF THIS GUY. And how! (Whoever stole his role in Hogfather was apparently kicked out quickly for The Colour of Magic.) Please. Reaper Man movie. Now, till they can do it!
ReplyNo, the guy in Hogfather died. And he was a fine choice, although not nearly as good as Lee.
As a huge Pratchett and Lee fan, I had a nerdgasm when I watched The Colour of Magic for the first time. I remember jumping up and down with my laptop in front of my roommate, shouting, "It's Christopher Lee!"
Needless to say, she shot me with a tranq gun and I spent the next few nights in the hospital.
Let's update this article. At 87 the f****r has released a symphonic metal album about his ancestor, Charlemagne.
ReplyUpdated.
peter jackson is so awesome though
ReplyI mean without him we wouldnt have neil blomkamp and without neil we wouldnt have district 9 (the best movie of 2009)
Release the Drive Bee!
ReplyDude, you mention Charlemagne but you forgot to add that Christopher Lee is actually a direct descendant of Charlemagne. I mean, if that doesn't automatically warrant him the title of Supreme Lord of Europe, I don't know what else does. Plus, he just released a Heavy Metal album. Yes, I s**t you not, he did!
ReplyChristopher Lee, probably the best thing to have come out of Europe since, oh who am I kidding, probably the greatest human being alive!
And he's related to the Borgias. Badass ancestry on both sides.
Lee didn't "kill commies for Finland". Along with a handful of other British volunteers, he travelled there and stayed for a fortnight. However, he and his comrades were kept safe away from actual battle. He explains this in his biography.
ReplyI know he didn't kill commies for Finland. Hence, his boredom.
GREAT topic! Well done
ReplyThat McJoker is going to give me so many nightmares.
Reply"He was set to portray the lead-villain in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy ('cause let's face it, that CGI eyeball is really weak)."
ReplyThank you! Sauron sucked in the LotR movies!
now hold on! the remake may have been an abomination, but the original Wicker Man is the Citizen Kane of horror films
ReplyThat's why he added '(the good one)'. A thinking person's movie. Anyone who knew about a certain Celtic custom knew someone would be toasted.