Christopher Lee

[Diable Rouge]

Strange that in the Twitter era, his death went unreported for four days - if it had been an Irish celebrity, he'd already have been buried by now.

[Gangster Octopus]

Christopher Lee

It's not on the Beeb's site, so it's not happened...

[ian.64]

Christopher Lee

It's happened apparently. His family - for reasons of private grief possibly. - kept it from the media for a couple of days.

[Gangster Octopus]

Christopher Lee

'Till they'd put a stake through his heart?

[Patrick Thistle]

Christopher Lee

Too soon, GO.

Sad news.

He was 93 though. Blimey.

[Mumpo]

Christopher Lee

"He marked his 92nd birthday by releasing an album of heavy metal cover versions"

What more can you say?

[Calvert]

Christopher Lee

How about 'Saturday night, summer hols, BBC2, Hammer Horror double-bill'?

[Various Artist]

Christopher Lee

I'm gutted. My very favourite actor, a long-held cherishing that began from the discovery years ago that we share a birthday, but which was maintained by watching his films and thus confirming that he was an awesome screen presence. And, as Mumpo's post above acknowledges, he was a Renaissance man of magnificently broad talents and catholic taste.

By the weirdest of coincidences, I heard the news upon returning from the funeral of my next-door-neighbour, who was born five days before Christopher Lee and, from what is said upthread, must've predeceased him by eight.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Christopher Lee

He did well, really, in that he avoided the comparative stereotyping that his contemporaries—particularly Vincent Price and Peter Cushing—did.

[Sits]

Christopher Lee

One of the greats - RIP.

Sorry about your neighbour EVA

[Various Artist]

Christopher Lee

Cheers Sits, I'd known him a long time but only quite dimly — the gap both of generations and across the fence, plus he'd been housebound for the last several years. He went on his own terms though, in his own bed looking out at his beloved garden after 93 years on earth: not so bad really. It does gently rattle my brain that his lifespan so perfectly overlapped with Christopher Lee's that, of the last 93 years and a couple of weeks on the planet, there were only 13 days when they weren't both alive.

One of the great random cinema factoids (particularly from my point of view due to my own birthday) is that Vincent Price and Christopher Lee shared a birthday, and Peter Cushing's was the day before. Why I'm not also a horror icon by now is a mystery to me.
The sheer breadth of Lee's output went a long way to avoiding stereotyping, and of course in his later years he'd managed to become globally famous for at least four distinct franchises: Hammer, Bond, Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings. I've always loved how his personal favourite of all his 250-odd films though was The Wicker Man, something close to my own heart I'm pleased to say.

[Benjm]

Christopher Lee

Rasputin is my fave.

He was definitely the least awful thing about The Man With The Golden Gun.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Christopher Lee

Tom Baker played Rasputin in Nicholas & Alexandra, a film I don't think anyone's ever seen, including me. Great casting though.

[Benjm]

Christopher Lee

A friend mentioned Tom Baker's tilt at the monk while we were having a drink last night. Come to think of it, he didn't categorically state that he had actually seen it.

[MsD]

Christopher Lee

He looks like my hubby.

[Benjm]

Christopher Lee

Does the holyman formerly known as MrD have mystical healing powers?

[MsD]

Christopher Lee

Dunno. I just think of him when I see Rasputin or any Russian Orthodox monks, really. And think "divorce!" Them forget about it again.

But that's a digression and Christopher Lee was well interesting.

His films are mostly too scary for me, though.

[ian.64]

Christopher Lee

I still can't get over the heavy metal connections of Lee's work, though. Since Lee was also adept at singing opera (I think), perhaps he found some kind of over-theatrical, over-the-top common ground between the two styles. Credit to him for being so eclectic in his musical ambition, though.

As for his career, well, his body of work (no pun intended) is so large and varied that just to say he was a horror icon would be too much of a generalisation. He did loads, although he also did a lot of schlock before a classier renaissance in his very later years emerged. But then he was such a presence with no little talent that his CV could withstand some clunkers.

RIP