Sir Christopher Lee has died in London.
Sir Christopher Lee, the celebrated actor and star of Dracula and The Wicker Man, has died aged 93 after being hospitalized with respiratory problems and heart failure. The veteran actor enjoyed a staggering career in film though also released a series of heavy metal albums including Charlemagne: The Omens of Death.
Christopher Lee had a long and distinguished career
Back in 2012, Lee became the oldest living performer to enter the Billboard charts with his metal Christmas carol called "Jingle Hell" and he returned last year with a reinvention of 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' called 'Darkest Carols, Faithful Sing.'
The veteran actor passed away on Sunday morning at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, though his wife wanted to inform family members before the press. The couple had been married for over 50 years.
More: Bram Stoker turns 165: in praise of Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula
Lee's movie career began in 1947 with Corridor of Mirrors, though he would become world famous for his Hammer movies. His first role with the studio was The Curse of Frankenstein before he delivered his most famous performance, as Dracula.
In the 70s, he continued to gain fame with a role in the unnerving horror The Wicker Man - a film which he considered to be his best - and went on to play a Bond villain in The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974. He famously turned down roles in Halloween and Airplane!
In later life he would enjoy a multi-film collaboration with Tim Burton and appeared in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings franchise. He recently completed work on the comedy-fantasy Angels in Notting Hill.
Lee, who was knighted in 2009, is survived by his wife Birgit and their daughter, Christina.
More: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice synopsis: "A new threat arises"
After five long years, the Clone Wars are still raging across the galaxy. Count Dooku...
Discontent is spreading across the galaxy. A separatist movement, led by the fallen Jedi Count...
Peter Jackson's expanded take on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit comes to a conclusion in a...
The Lonely Mountain has been reclaimed from the dragon Smaug. The dwarves of Thorin Oakenshield...
When a Latin professor, Raimund Gregorius (Jeremy Irons), sees a young Portuguese woman in a...
Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and the mini-army of dwarves led by Thorin are facing an evermore...
Bilbo Baggins has narrowly escaped several deadly confrontations with the likes of trolls, stone giants...
Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and their company thirteen dwarves have managed to leave the Misty Mountains...
This first chapter of Peter Jackson's new Tolkien trilogy takes us back to the familiar...
In 1752, The Collins family moves from Liverpool for a new life in North America....
Beth Boothby is a hugely successful American gospel singer and an evangelical Christian. She and...
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit, who lives a quiet life in The Shire. His peace...
Based on the Brian Selznick novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Scorsese's first family movie...
Hugo is a twelve year old boy who lives in Paris and loves mysteries. One...