As you may be aware, The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals’ personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom. Bestowed by the Queen, it is one of the highest honours a citizen of the UK can achieve. We already have a few other knighted cast members from The Lord of the Rings, and now we are happy to report Christopher Lee will be joining their ranks. Lee needs no introduction to The Lord of the Rings community, as his portrayal of Saruman in The Lord of the Rings community has been widely praised and well-received among fandom. Congratulations Sir Christopher Lee! Thanks to all the Ringers sending in the link. [Read More]
Category: Christopher Lee
Christopher Frank Carandini Lee CBE, CStJ (born 27 May 1922) is an English actor and singer. He initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films. Other notable roles include Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man (1973), Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Count Dooku in the Star Wars series, as well as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Lee’s most important role, according to him, was his portrayal of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the biopic Jinnah (1998). Lee has performed roles in over 220 films since 1948. Along with Rock Hudson, Lou Ferrigno, Vincent Price, Sterling Hayden, Vince Vaughn and few others, he is, at 195.6 centimetres (6 feet, 5 inches), one of the tallest leading actors of all time.
Lee was born in Belgravia, England, the son of Contessa Estelle Marie (née Carandini di Sarzano) and Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Trollope Lee of the 60th King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Lee’s mother was a famous Edwardian beauty who was painted by Sir John Lavery, as well as Oswald Birley and Olive Snell, and was sculpted by Clare F. Sheridan. Lee’s maternal great-grandfather had been an Italian political refugee who sought refuge in Australia; his great-grandmother was Australian opera singer Marie Carandini. christopherleeweb.com
morten writes: I just saw the news that Christopher Lee is going to be at the LOTR in Concert in Copenhagen. I am looking forward to it – the people behind it are the Tolkien Ensemble, who has created some beautiful and moody music for LotR and the illustrations for the LotR created by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe the 2nd will be a part of the experience. Just thought I’d let you know since I haven’t heard a mention of it on theonering.net so far. Here is the link, in Danish (sorry!). Christopher Lee At LOTR in Concert in Copenhagen
Message board member diedye found this IGN interview in which Christopher Lee discusses his role as a Bond baddie in “Man with the Golden Gun,” and speculates about reprising the role of Saruman in the upcoming Hobbit films. This part, in particular, sounds promising:
“IGN: Would you be willing to reprise the role?
Lee: In the spirit very much so. But I’ve reached an age now [86] where going to New Zealand again would be a very considerable effort. It would not be easy because it’s an exhausting journey. Even with a break I’m not sure I could do it.
IGN: If they could film your part in London, would you be interested?
Lee: Oh yes, of course. I’d be delighted.”
Lee: In the spirit very much so. But I’ve reached an age now [86] where going to New Zealand again would be a very considerable effort. It would not be easy because it’s an exhausting journey. Even with a break I’m not sure I could do it.
IGN: If they could film your part in London, would you be interested?
Lee: Oh yes, of course. I’d be delighted.”
Nienna sends in this story: British actors Hugh Laurie and Christopher Lee have had their status as top Hollywood stars confirmed with entries in the Guinness World Records 2009. The latest list of record-breaking achievements, which goes on sale on Wednesday, will see 86-year-old acting veteran Lee crowned Most Connected Living Actor. A database created by the University of Virginia mapped the working relationships between more than a million actors and actresses, and identified Lee as living “in the centre of the Hollywood universe”. London-born Lee, who has been made a CBE, was listed in the 2001 record book as the star with the most screen appearances to his name – after playing about 300 film and TV roles. Read More
Another week, another great FLASHBACK from Ringer Diedye. This week’s flashback details the events that took place in the Tolkien universe between August 3rd and August 9th. This is a weekly feature that Diedye posts in the forum, so if there is ever a time we don’t post it on the homepage of TORn, make sure to check the Main board in our forums. Click on the link below to transported in time!