

Sir Christopher Lee dies at 93 - blackskad
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11666316/christopher-lee-dies-live.html

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Rodeoclash
I have a small Christopher Lee story. I did some extra work on Lord of the
Rings when it was being filmed in New Zealand. One very brief scene in the
movie is Saruman speaking to the wild-men, telling them how the Rohan came and
took their lands from them and that's why they should fight for him.

It was this scene here (towards the end of the clip):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU_zsyulWDg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU_zsyulWDg)
\- it looks like it was only in the extended edition.

I was somewhere in the back of that mob listening to him do the speech. That's
when I really understood what good acting was because I was actually getting
stirred up listening to it. I wanted to go after the Rohan's for taking my
land! I was ready to fight!

Anyway, it's not much. I didn't even speak to him but it made me realize how
great actors project almost an aura of belief around them when they're acting.

~~~
agumonkey
He also has a Zappa feel. Another pretty charismatic man.

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mahranch
The only cast member of LOTR to meet Tolkien. Tolkien also gave him permission
to play a role if they ever turned his books into a movie.

He gave him permission to play Gandalf, funnily enough.

~~~
bmj
There was actually a fair bit of grumbling among some hardcore LOTR fans when
it was announced that Ian McKellen would play Gandalf, mostly because of his
political and cultural leanings.

Of course, Lee made a career of playing villains and monsters, so I find it
completely unsurprising that he was cast as Saruman instead.

~~~
jMyles
> grumbling among some hardcore LOTR fans when it was announced that Ian
> McKellen would play Gandalf, mostly because of his political and cultural
> leanings.

Is there a way I can read some of this? Sounds fascinating.

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arethuza
He volunteered to fight for the Finnish forces in the Winter War against the
Soviets and was then in the proto-SAS:

 _" I was attached to the SAS from time to time but we are forbidden – former,
present, or future – to discuss any specific operations. Let's just say I was
in Special Forces and leave it at that. People can read in to that what they
like."_

That's quite impressive!

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee)

~~~
acheron
There's the story of filming the scene in Lord of the Rings where Saruman is
stabbed in the back by Wormtongue.

From Peter Jackson's DVD commentary:

 _When I was shooting the stabbing shot with Christopher, as a director would
I was explaining to him what he should do "... "And he says, 'Peter, have you
ever heard the sound a man makes when he’s stabbed in the back?' And I said,
'Um, no.' And he says 'Well, I have, and I know what to do.'"_

~~~
TaterJack117
And then the scene was removed :(

~~~
Ntrails
More importantly the pun about it being a purely bywater joke to refer to New
Row as "Sharky's end" never made it to the big screen.

You know nothing Peter Jackson.

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trequartista
The man was making heavy metal albums in his 90s for Christ's sake -
[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne:_The_Omens_of_Death](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne:_The_Omens_of_Death)]

An ultimate badass. RIP

~~~
Bahamut
He also performed with Rhapsody of Fire (formerly Rhapsody) as noted in the
original article, including a song off of the Power of the Dragonflame album
and throughout the Symphony of Enchanted Lands II album
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_of_Enchanted_Lands_II_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_of_Enchanted_Lands_II_%E2%80%93_The_Dark_Secret))
- this band was his first involvement in metal, and he seemed to have passion
for power metal after his first involvement.

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lprubin
Besides all of the amazing things mentioned here, Lee was also a Nazi hunter
in Argentina after WW2:

 _For the final few months of his service, Lee, who spoke fluent French and
German, among other languages, was seconded to the Central Registry of War
Criminals and Security Suspects.[62] Here, he was tasked with helping to track
down Nazi war criminals.[63] Of his time with the organisation, Lee said: "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 ...
We saw these concentration camps. Some had been cleaned up. Some had
not."[63]_

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee)

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ParadoxOryx
The man has accomplished so much that dying was the only thing left he hadn't
done.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Lee. You are an inspiration to all.

~~~
pknerd
Amazing tribute!!

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pierrec
If you can find it, I highly recommend watching _Jinnah_ , a film about the
founder of Pakistan, in which he played the title role. He often said it was
his favorite performance. Sadly it's difficult to find - there's no edition
currently on sale, and even on the pirating scene there only seems to exist a
horribly low quality version. I look forward to a re-edition of the film.

I don't have any ties to the subject, but I loved the movie for its purely
cinematic quality. It would be sad if it stayed forgotten as it is now. Maybe
it will only re-emerge when the conflict surrounding this part of history
becomes less heated and gives way to peace.

~~~
pknerd
As a Pakistani I thoroughly loved how he transformed himself into M.A.Jinnah
and did his role. Truly amazing.

Check this if it helps:

[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11f96g_quaid-e-azam-
muhamm...](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11f96g_quaid-e-azam-muhammad-ali-
jinnah-jinnah-movie-in-urdu-part-2-youtube_fun)

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marai2
My dad died last year at the age of 74. The first time I heard stories of
Dracula and my earliest memory of him mentioning anything related to cinema -
was him telling me (when I was 7 or 8) that the great actor Christopher Lee
played Dracula. So it always amazed me that a name and actor from my ancient
memory (Im in my mid-40s now), and I would've thought any actor my dad admired
when he was young would have passed away a long time ago, was not only well
and alive, but marvellously ingraining another character (Saruman) into my and
my 10 year old son's memories! RIP Christopher Lee.

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bhaak
Even though he had quite a varied career, the first and most profound
impression he had on me was his voice-acting in "The Last Unicorn".

I always felt that most of his later roles, what the telegraph calls "among
the most fruitful" years, were too much of a type-cast.

requiescat in pace

~~~
saiya-jin
that's one mighty movie. brought me to tears at the end in a very consistent
way, quite a few times... The Audio part of audio-visual experience doesn't
get neglected, but story itself is beautiful too.

too bad not many studios have balls to release similar dark stories, most one
can expect is darkly-themed, sugar-sweet ones.

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braythwayt
A lesser-known but highly amusing performance, “Never, Never Say Die.” The
Avengers, Season 5 Episode 10.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azw87CL74Kw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azw87CL74Kw)

~~~
mitchi
His voice is so different!

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codyZ
I remember reading somewhere that Peter Jackson was directing Lee on how to
sound when stabbed in the back...Lee promptly told him No. That is in fact not
how he sounds when he is stabbed in the back. He knows...(given his military
background)

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pknerd
Being a Pakistani I loved his performance in the movie _Jinnah_

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stox
He was a cousin of Ian Fleming and one of the inspirations for James Bond.
What a remarkable man!

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acheron
RIP.

IMDB lists 281 acting credits, from 1946 to 2016.

~~~
amouat
IIRC he claimed to have had the most on-screen swordfights of any actor.

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simonh
A sad loss, he was a seemingly constant presence in my childhood, as he would
frequently pop up in children's TV shows. I'm very glad that, within his
lifetime, he eventualy recieved some of the recognition he so greatly
deserved.

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beefsack
Brilliant innings, he achieved more than many could even imagine.

~~~
zimpenfish
Between him and Brian Blessed, I reckon they've done enough for 50 normal
people lives.

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rohit89
A life well lived.

RIP Sir Christopher Lee

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rquantz
Same day as Ornette Coleman. Amazing.

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satai
RIP :(

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zantana
Farewell, Lord Summerisle!

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crylics
A true legend. RIP Sir.

