Christopher Lee is a name synonymous with countless pop-culture icons. From his roles as Saruman to Dracula, Lee made his mark on the world with his acting but he was also a military man, a metal singer, and a lifelong cigar smoker. Today, we're going to take a look at Lee's life and what made the man a living legend.

Early Life

Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was born on May 27, 1922, in Belgravia, London. His father was Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Trollope Lee of the 60th King's Royal Rifle Corps, and his mother was Countess Estelle Marie. His father was a veteran who fought in both the Boer War and the Great War, and his mother was a beautiful woman painted by countless artists and even sculpted by Clare Sheridan.

Lee's parents' relationship was contentious at best, with them separating when he was four and divorcing two years later. His mother took Lee and his sister to the mountain village of Wengen in Switzerland, and shortly after, he would be sent to Miss Fisher's Academy in Terriet, Switzerland. Their stay in Switzerland was short, and soon they returned to London, and his mother would marry Harcourt George St-Croix Rose, a banker notable for being the uncle of James Bond author Ian Fleming, who then became Lee's step-cousin.

Lee got a good education throughout his childhood, earning scholarships in classical studies. He dabbled in fencing and racquets, could play cricket, but was not great at other sports. He had a disdain for mock battles and was often beaten throughout his schooling due to his rule-breaking.

At 17, he was made to drop out after his stepfather garnered a gambling debt of £25,000 or $1,888,591.16 in USD in 2025. Naturally, his mother separated from Rose, but Lee had to get a job. Timing was unfortunate as many employers were going on summer holidays, so opportunities weren't bountiful. Lee was sent to the French Riviera to join his sister on Holiday instead.

Lee would make brief stops in Paris to parley with journalist Webb Miller and witness Eugen Weidmann's execution before arriving in Menton. He was supposed to stay there for a while, but it became a brief stay with the Russian Mazirov family due to Europe being on the brink of war. He returned to London and began work for the United States Line, taking care of mail and errands. Then World War II began.

When war broke out in 1939, Lee wasted little time enrolling in the military, volunteering to fight for the Finnish army against the Soviets during the Winter War. The British Volunteers were largely kept away from the actual fighting and instead posted on guard duty. Two weeks later, they would return home. Upon returning from Finland, he picked up his role at the United States Line once again. Early in 1940 he joined the Home Guard, but after his father fell ill with pneumonia in the winter and died in March, Lee had no inclination to follow his father into the Army, and while he still had time to make some manner of choice of where he served, he volunteered for the Royal Air Force.

Lee reported to RAF Uxbridge for training before being posted to the Training Wing at Paddington. He passed his exams and travelled to South Africa to be posted at Bulawayo in Southern Rhodesia. Lee was trained with the trainer aircrafts de Havilland Tiger Moths. During his first solo flight, he suffered from headaches and blurred vision and the medical officer reluctantly diagnosed him with a failure of his optic nerve. Lee was never allowed to fly again. Lee recounts this story:

Paired with the death of his fellow trainee, Summer Field, Lee's morale was low. During Lee's depression, he decided that a tour of the African countryside would raise his spirits. While on their tour of the African countryside, Lee and his friend were inspecting a colony of baboons, stopping to take some pictures of the tribe. Lee remembers the story in his autobiography:

After that incident, Lee would bounce around flying stations before he applied to join the RAF Intelligence. His superiors were impressed, and he was seconded into the British South Africa Police and posted as a warder at Salisbury prison before being promoted to leading aircraftman and setting sail on the SS Nieuw Amsterdam. Lee would then spend time as an intelligence officer across the North African Campaign.

Lee remarked that he "was expected to know everything." His squadron was averaging five missions a day, and during their advance into Tunisia, Lee was almost killed when Axis forces digging themselves in at the Mareth line bombed Lee's airfield. By the time the Axis surrendered in May 1943, Lee's squadron moved to Zuwarah in Libya to prepare for the Allied invasion of Sicily. By July 1943, Lee had become a flying officer, and by the time the Sicilian campaign was over, he was down with malaria for the sixth time in under a year and flown to a hospital in Carthage for treatment.

When he returned, his squadron was under stress as they were frustrated with the lack of news about the Eastern Front. This, coupled with no mail from home and no alcohol, was leading them to threaten mutiny. Lee talked them into resuming their duties with his expert knowledge on Russia, impressing his commanding officer. Later, during the final assault on Monte Cassino, Lee was nearly killed again when one of the planes crashed on takeoff, and he tripped over a live bomb. November 1944 saw Lee get promoted to flight lieutenant and he left his squadron to take up a post at Air Force HQ.

Here, Lee would take part in forward planning and liaison work. In the final months of his service, he was seconded to the Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects with the task of tracking down Nazi war criminals due to his fluency in multiple languages. Lee shared this on his work with the Central Registry. Lee expalined "We were given dossiers of what they'd done and told to find them, interrogate them as much as we could and hand them over to the appropriate authority."

Lee would return to London in 1946 and reject an offer to take his old job at Beecham's back as he felt he "couldn't think myself back into the office frame of mind." It was during lunch with his cousin Nicolò Carandini that Carandini suggested, "Why don't you become an actor, Christopher?" Lee was fond of the idea and upon meeting Carandini's friend Filippo Del Giudice, a producer at Two Cities Films, who looked at Lee and said, "I was just what the industry had been looking for."

Christopher Lee, the Actor

Lee's career began properly with his film debut in 1948 in the Gothic Romance Corridor of Mirrors. He had a single line. He'd also have an uncredited role in a version of Hamlet that same year. In 1951, he would appear in Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. as a Spanish captain. He was cast because he could speak Spanish and fence. The same year, he had another uncredited role in Quo Vadis where he played a chariot driver and was injured when he was thrown from the chariot during the shoot.

Lee says his breakthrough came in 1952 when Douglas Fairbanks Jr. began making films at the British National Studios. Lee was cast in 16 of them. Lee also appeared in the Oscar-nominated Moulin Rouge and for the next decade he made nearly 30 films as mostly stock action characters.

1957 would see the start of Lee's career for Hammer Film Productions with his role in The Curse of Frankenstein, where he played Frankenstein's monster, starring beside his soon-to-be lifelong friend Peter Cushing, who played Baron Victor Frankenstein. A year later, Lee would co-star with Boris Karloff in Corridors of Blood. Lee's first truly iconic role came in 1958 when he starred in Hammer's Horror of Dracula as the titular vampire. This was a landmark role, not just for Lee, but for pop culture as well. Lee brought a sexy allure to the vampire, adding an iconic element to vampires in pop culture.

Lee would play in countless Hammer films over the years, mostly against his own desires. Later sequels of Dracula would just have Lee hissing. Lee claims that he refused to speak the poor dialogue presented. He also said he was essentially blackmailed into the sequels by Hammer President Jimmy Carreras. Carreras would sell the sequels to American distributors on Lee's billing, and if Lee didn't come back for the role then all the film's staff would be put out of work. Lee would play several Sherlock Holmes roles over the years, like Sir Henry Baskerville, Holmes' brother Mycroft, and Holmes himself.

In an amusing incident in 1962, Lee auditioned to star in The Longest Day but was turned down because he did not "look like a military man." Regardless, he was incorrectly credited with a role in the film and would spend the rest of his life having to correct that. Lee would appear in numerous horror films from 1957 to 1977 with roles including Dr. Fu Manchu, with him in yellowface make-up, roles in I, Monster, The Creeping Flesh, and the original The Wicker Man. Lee was so keen to star in the The Wicker Man that he gave his services for free and later would call the film the best he ever made.

Lee would star in Jess Franco's Eugenie as a favor to a producer, with him being completely unaware it was soft-core porn. In 1974, he would cross paths with his step-cousin Ian Fleming to play the assassin Fransico Scaramanga in the Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. Lee called his performance "charming, elegant, amusing, lethal ... I played him like the dark side of Bond."

In 1977, Lee crossed the pond for Hollywood. In 1978, he was the guest host on Saturday Night Live. Steven Spielberg was in the audience, and upon seeing Lee, he would cast him in 1941. On the same note of comedy, Lee had a chance to play Dr. Barry Rumack in Airplane! but turned it down, which would be a regret in Lee's life.

The 2000s would see a resurgence in Lee's career. Lee portrayed Saruman in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Around the same time, Lee would star as Count Dooku in the prequel Star Wars trilogy. Lee also worked with Tim Burton across three films, with him being completely cut from the third (The Ballad of Sweeney Todd).

Lee would voice act for countless films, audiobooks, and video games over the years. In 2011, he appeared in a Hammer film for the first time in 35 years with his role in The Resident. However, he injured his back when he tripped over power cables on set. Lee returned to his role of Saruman for The Hobbit, with a regret that he would have liked to showcase Saruman's corruption, but was unfortunately too old.

Christopher Lee, the Suave Smoker

Lee was naturally suave, with a refined air that wasn't stuck up and could be quite playful. Peter Jackson recounts a moment on-set celebrating Lee's birthday. "So for many weeks I found myself on set with Christopher Lee, calling on all my reserves of self-control to behave like a professional film director instead of a fan. He turned out to be a wonderful gentleman with a delightfully playful sense of humour. He celebrated his eightieth birthday while I was forty — 'Now it's official', he announced, "you're only half the man I am!" Of course, his natural charisma is exhibited in his acting, particularly while playing sinister characters, with that ability to add a refined elegance to even the most wicked.

He also had a deep love for cigars his entire life. Really, smoking in general. Lee was featured as the cover story in a 2007 issue of Cigar Journal where he talked about his passions for both acting and fine tobacco. He once did an interview with the Guardian where writer Victoria Barrett wrote, "Christopher Lee takes a long puff on his vast cigar, grins his lupine grin and silently dares me to argue back."

Another example of Lee and his love for cigars is showcased on the last day of his filming as Saruman, as told by Peter Jackson.

Christopher Lee lived a life worth remembering, not just for his incredible contributions to acting and pop culture, but as a dedicated military man who served the free world when the world needed it the most. He was a man who always found peace in a fine cigar, whether it was on the set of a film or in his home with close friends. I hope next time you light a stogie, you too can find solace in a quiet smoke and raise a toast to Christopher Lee.

Bibliography

• Lee, C. (2004). Lord of Misrule: The Autobiography of Christopher Lee. Orion.
• Pickel , J. (2015, June 11). Christopher Lee's memorable movie roles: "I dreamed of being a character actor." pennlive.
• Farndale, N. (2015, June 11). Sir Christopher Lee interview: "I'm softer than people think." The Telegraph
• Barrett, V. (2003, May 29). "The Good, the Bad, and Christopher Lee." The Guardian.
• Williams , O. (n.d.). "Sir Christopher Lee in his own words." Empire.