This Sunday Sir Christopher Lee will receive the BAFTA Fellowship at the Academy’s awards ceremony in London. He joins other recipients such as Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg and Terry Gilliam.
Iconic in his role as Count Dracula in numerous Hammer horror film, his career began in 1948 and so far has seen the actor play in over 250 films. His career has seen a resurgence in recent years with roles for Tim Burton and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and recently it was confirmed that he would reprise his role as Saruman in Jackson’s two film prequel The Hobbit.
Each of you will no doubt have your own favourite Christopher Lee role, and there’s no doubt that his Dracula was a truly terrifying and seductive screen presence but for my money it’s all about Lord Summerisle in Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man which remains his strongest role. He has just completed work with Martin Scorsese on The Invention of Hugo Cabret and is one of the most recognisable figures in cinema, the fact that BAFTA is honouring his body of work is testament to this.
Tim Corrie, Chair of the Academy said,
I am absolutely delighted that the Academy is recognising Sir Christopher Lee. He has entertained me over many years and is a bastion of British filmmaking around the globe.
The man himself responded to the news,
It’s a very unexpected but very great honour to find myself in such distinguished company to receive the fellowship.
As part of the Alice in Wonderland build up last year I was lucky enough to attend an event at the British Library which included readings and discussions from Michael Sheen and Will Self, but the highlight was a wonderful reading of Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky by Christopher Lee, my write up of the night is here and it was a truly memorable night.
Find out more here and check back on Sunday for our complete coverage of the BAFTA ceremony.
