Sir Christopher Lee is one of the most successful actors of several generations. He will soon turn ninety, but continues an active acting career since 1946. He has a most distinguished career, spanning acting, narrating, singing, and serving in the British Royal Air Force and Intelligence Service. His film ‘Hugo’ is one of four projects in 2011.

It is difficult to imagine anyone having missed Christopher Lee’s performance completely. He has appeared in nearly three hundred movies, counting some of the most successful and iconic in cinema history. He had appeared in nearly fifty productions before his real success in horror films.

In 1957, he played the monster in the Hammer horror ‘The Curse of Frankenstein.’ He would be better known as Count Dracula the following year, while Frankenstein’s monster would be more associated with Boris Karloff, his friend, neighbour and twice-co-star. Another friend and co-star, Peter Cushing, often played the good guy to Christopher Lee’s villains.

He played Sir Henry Baskerville to Cushing’s Sherlock Holmes in ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ (1959). He also played Holmes and his brother Mycroft in two other Holmes films. Other roles in this period include Dr. Fu Manchu, the Mummy and Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde. He also starred in the cult-classic, ‘The Wicker Man,’ the story goes, for free.

Christopher Lee has acted in foreign films as well: in addition to English, he can speak German, French, Spanish and Italian (and a little Greek, Swedish and Russian). His mother’s family is of Italian nobility. The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa granted the family the right to bear the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire.

This might explain the name of his ‘Charlemagne Productions, Ltd.’ and its album ‘Charlemagne,’ a symphonic metal concept album in which he narrates. He has also sung heavy metal and other genres. He is a classically-trained bass vocalist with an extensive discography. He has also narrated and voiced characters for video games.

Over another generation of films, he appeared as the villain in the James Bond film, ‘The Man with the Golden Gun.’ His step-cousin, Ian Fleming, had been denied his choice of Sir Christopher Lee as Dr. No earlier. He also played a villain in ‘The Three Musketeers’ (1973) and its two sequels, among other roles in film and TV.

In the last decade of cinema, he has appeared in two of the first three episodes of the ‘Star Wars’ series. still performing many of his own stunts and swordplay, and played Saruman in the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. He will reprise the role in the two part ‘The Hobbit,’ released over the next two years.

His recurring collaboration with director Tim Burton is an appropriate marriage of talents, and his distinct voice and profound acting ability and presence ensure Sir Christopher Lee will continue to entertain audiences in a broad range of television and film genres as long as possible. Nearly ninety, he shows little sign of retiring –thankfully, for all.

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It is a charming irony that the man whose appearance is best remembered as Frankenstein’s monster should be equally regarded for his mellifluous voice as narrator (and protagonist) in ‘Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’

It is another irony that ‘Boris Karloff’ was never his legal name. William Henry Pratt signed his name as “William Henry Pratt AKA Boris Karloff.” He was the youngest of nine siblings; his older brothers were distinguished members of the British government. Mr. Karloff abandoned this career to become a more respectable monster.

He was born in London, England in 1887, with bow legs, a lisp, and a stutter. He shed the stutter, but the lisp remained and helped distinguish his usually soft voice. That distinctive voice has become most associated with the 1966 television production of Dr. Seuss’s ‘Grinch.’

In 1909, he toured Canada, performing theatre. Afterwards, Mr. Pratt became Mr. Karloff on stage. In 1912, a cyclone hit Regina, Saskatchewan, where he had been staying. He and other performers helped clean up the city.

He was cast in silent films when he first arrived in Hollywood. Mr. Karloff appeared in eighty films before playing the monster in James Whale’s version of ‘Frankenstein’ (1931). He was credited as “?” in the immensely successful feature.

Other roles followed swiftly, many that were in horror films. He appeared as Frankenstein’s monster in two more films: ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ (1935) and ‘Son of Frankenstein’ (1939). He also played Imhotep in ‘The Mummy’ and Dr. Fu Manchu in ‘The Mask of Fu Manchu,’ both roles in 1932.

Although he was first a silent film star, he made the transition to ‘talkies’ easily, and recorded several stories. He played ‘Cymbeline’ for the Shakespeare Recording Society and narrated ‘Peter and the Wolf’ with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

Other recordings were intended for children. Among these were ‘Just So Stories’ by Rudyard Kipling, ‘Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes,’ and ‘The Hunting of the Snark’ by Lewis Carroll.

Mr. Karloff had grown up quite poor; he is quoted as once having wished for an extra dime for a pair of doughnuts with his coffee. Perhaps because of his roots, he was charitable, kind and a gentleman. He donated particularly to children’s charities.

He was also interested in fair treatment for adults: he was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild, which was formed as a reaction to the working conditions at the Hollywood Studios in the 1930s.

Boris Karloff continued acting until his death in 1969; a couple of films were released posthumously. Perhaps his greatest legacy is his narration of ‘Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’ (1966), which has been at the top of Christmas specials’ popularity lists for many years since. It is a fitting finale for a monster with a big heart.

Image Courtesy of  Fr. Dougal McGuire

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