Veteran actor Christopher Lee passed away on Sunday, June 7, 2015, at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London at the age of 93, after being hospitalized for respiratory problems and heart failure. The actor’s long career was most notable for his on-screen depictions of villainy, ranging from Count Dracula in the classic Hammer horror films of of the 1950’s; the James Bond villain Scaramanga, the title character of The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974; Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus in the Star Wars prequel trilogy of movies; and the wizard Saruman in the Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies.
Lee’s distinctive rumbling baritone was largely used to reprise many of those characters for tie-in video games and animated properties, including the first Star Wars: The Clone Wars theatrical feature that led into the TV series (where Count Dooku was voiced by Corey Burton). He also provided the voice of King Haggard in The Last Unicorn, the 1982 animated adaptation of Peter S. Beagle’s classic fantasy novel.
(Christopher Lee photo by Pier Marco Tacca, Getty Images)
