He will be seen on our screens this Christmas in his new movie, but yesterday Christopher Lee took centre stage for a different reason. The veteran horror actor was at Buckingham Palace to collect his CBE from the Queen, who had honoured the 79-year-old for his services to drama.
“The Queen said: ‘You’ve had a long career’ – it’s 55 years now – and she asked me what I was doing now,” said a visibly proud Christopher after the ceremony. “So I told her about Lord Of The Rings. I play Saruman the White, the Great Wizard, who is 8,000 years old.”
The actor, who was born in Belgravia and later won a scholarship to Eton, is best known for his Hammer Horror films, the first of which was filmed in 1957. He also played Scaramanga in the Bond classic The Man With The Golden Gun, and in 1997 portrayed the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the role of which he is proudest.
But his “baddie” reputation has never left him – besides playing the JRR Tolkien character, Christopher will be appearing in the new Star Wars prequel next May – as villainous Count Dooku.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
