Christopher Lee
Date of Birth:
27 May 1922, Belgravia, London, England, UK
Birth Name:
Christopher Frank Carandini Lee
Nickname:
Chris
Height:
6' 5" (1.96 m)
Mini Biography:
The British actor Christopher Lee was born in 1922 in London, England, where he and his older sister Xandra were raised by Estelle Marie and Geoffrey Trollope, a professional soldier, until their divorce in 1926. Later, while Lee was still a child, his mother married (and later divorced) Harcourt George St.-Croix (nicknamed Ingle), who was a banker. After attending Wellington College from age 14 to 17, Lee worked as an office clerk in a couple of London shipping companies until 1941 when he enlisted in the RAF during World War II. Following his release from military service, Lee joined the Rank Organisation in 1947, training as an actor in their "Charm School" and playing a number of bit parts in such films as Corridor of Mirrors (1948). He made a brief appearance in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948), in which his future partner-in-horror Peter Cushing also appeared. Both actors also appeared later in Moulin Rouge (1952) but did not meet until their horror films together.
Lee had numerous parts in film and television throughout the 1950s but didn't achieve stardom until his association with Hammer Film Productions, which started with The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Horror of Dracula (1958), The Mummy (1959), and The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), all co-starring Peter Cushing. Lee continued his role as "Dracula" in a number of Hammer sequels throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s. During this time, he made numerous appearances as Fu Manchu, most notably in the first of the series The Face of Fu Manchu (1965), and also appeared in a number of films in Europe. With his own production company, Charlemagne Productions, Ltd., Lee made Nothing But the Night (1973) and To the Devil a Daughter (1976). By the mid-1970s, Lee was tiring of his horror image and tried to widen his appeal by participating in several mainstream films, such as The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), The Three Musketeers: The Queen's Diamonds (1973), The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974), and the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).
The success of these films prompted him in the late 1970s to move to Hollywood, where he remained a busy actor but made mostly unremarkable film and television appearances, and eventually moved back to England. Lee's career was revitalized in the early 2000s by his appearances in two blockbuster film franchises: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) (as Saruman the White) and Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) (as Count Dooku). In 2001, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his contributions to the film and television industries.
Spouse:
Gitte Lee (17 March 1961 - present) 1 child
Dark Shadows 
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In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Brouchard. A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman, to help with her family troubles.
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When young Victor's pet dog Sparky (who stars in Victor's home-made monster movies) is hit by a car, Victor decides to bring him back to life the only way he knows how. But when the bolt-necked "monster" wreaks havoc and terror in the hearts of Victor's neighbors, he has to convince them (and his parents) that despite his appearance, Sparky's still the good loyal friend he's always been.
Click here to get an e-mail reminder on the release date or when Frankenweenie is showing in UK cinemas near you. Have you seen this film? Click here to review/comment on Frankenweenie. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey The Hobbit: Part 1
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Local Shire hobbit Bilbo Baggins, uncle of Frodo Baggins, is living a quiet, peaceful life until Gandalf the Grey knocks on his door. A band of wandering dwarves shows up one or two at a time. The goal? To hire poor Bilbo for a quest (as a burgler) that entails defeating a dragon and recovering (burgling) a treasure. Along the way there are adventures with trolls and elves, a battle with goblins, the naming of Bilbo's sword as Sting after a battle with some spiders, escaping from Wargs, and a barrel ride in a river. There is a great battle, The Battle of Five Armies, which includes men, dwarves, elves, goblins with Wargs, and more. Most importantly of all, part of this story leads Bilbo into Riddles in the Dark where he meets Gollum and in the process acquires a peculiar ring that has had and will have a great impact on the future of their world.
Click here to get an e-mail reminder on the release date or when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is showing in UK cinemas near you. Have you seen this film? Click here to review/comment on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The Hobbit: There And Back Again The Hobbit: Part 2
