Reports are coming in from all corners of the internet that actor and singer Christopher Lee has died. He was 93.
One of few actors recognisable to all ages throughout an eight decade career, he will be forever immortalised as Dracula, Saruman or, perhaps in his finest hour, as Lord Summerisle in Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man.
His imposing presence on screen found its perfect form in the Hammer Dracula films. An iconic film role which still holds its power, and he was able to maintain his natural gravitas through even the most bizarre offshoots (Dracula 1972 AD, I’m fixing my bloodstained eyes firmly at you).
And let’s just take a moment to appreciate how amazing is it that as recently as last year Lee was still turning to his first love of singing, releasing a Heavy Metal Christmas single, Darkest Carols, Faithful Sing.
We were lucky enough to be in attendance a few years ago when, as part of the promotion for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, he appeared at the British Library to read Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky. He appeared at the event, frail but still incredibly present, and relished the opportunity to hold us spellbound.
Here is that performance,
It’s an inevitability that these words can only sound out a murmur of the legacy we are left with. As always, and particularly so in Christopher Lee’s case, we have a wealth of his films to enjoy forever.
