Roqoo Depot

Happy Birthday, Christopher Lee

The master of Hammer Horror celebrates his 89th birthday today, and we here at Roqoo Depot wish him a very happy birthday. Being a fan of old horror movies, I have to say Christopher Lee is one of the greats and his work with fellow actor Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin) are timeless cinematic classics. Most of you will recognize him as Count Dooku in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. You’ll probably also recognize him as Saruman the White in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. What you might not have known is that Christopher Lee has also played the monster in The Curse of Frankenstein, Count Dracula in Horror of Dracula (and nine other vampire films), and the mummy in, well, what else The Mummy.

Born in London England, Christopher would later attend Wellington College and joined the RAF to fight in World War II. During the war he served as a cipher officer with the No. 260 Squadron RAF in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. He also served as an intelligence officer for the Long Range Desert Group (a recon and raiding force) and at some point ended up in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The SOE was a British special forces unit tasked with espionage and sabotage behind enemy lines. In other words, he was a spy. The SOE has some rather colorful names including: The Baker Street Irregulars, Churchill’s Secret Army, and my favorite The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. It’s worth noting that Christopher Lee is a cousin to Ian Fleming, the author and creator of James Bond, and according to rumor, the activities of both individuals during the war is still top secret.

After leaving the RAF in 1946 as a Flight Lieutenant, he became an actor and eventually played a small part in his first film Corridor of Mirrors in 1948. Later that year he played another role in the film Hamlet along side fellow actor Peter Cushing whom he would later become friends with and together dominate the British horror films of the 60’s and 70’s.  As of date, Christopher Lee has had 272 film roles in total. In the upcoming Hobbit, he will be retaking his role as Saruman.

Aside from his success in films, Mr. Lee has also had a very successful marriage. He has been married since 1961 to Danish model Birgit “Gitte” Kroencke Lee, and they have one daughter. If you would like learn more about Christopher Lee you can check out his official website here, and for some real fun you might want to read this entertaining article about him on cracked.com that includes a video of him explaining to Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson just what sound a man makes when you stab them in the back (I told you he was a spy!).