{"id":4696,"date":"2015-06-12T10:45:19","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T17:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/?p=4696"},"modified":"2015-06-12T10:59:12","modified_gmt":"2015-06-12T17:59:12","slug":"christopher-lee-1922-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/2015\/06\/12\/christopher-lee-1922-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher Lee 1922\u20132015"},"content":{"rendered":"

The legendary Hammer horror film actor Christopher Lee<\/strong> has departed this mortal coil.<\/p>\n

\"FrankLee\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I enjoyed Chris’ Hammer films as a kid. His Frankenstein monster<\/strong> in Curse of Frankenstein<\/strong><\/em> was terrific (in the true sense of the word) and he became forever associated with Count Dracula<\/strong>. He portrayed the famous vampire in at least nine films, the first being Horror of Dracula<\/strong><\/em> (Dracula<\/em><\/strong> in the UK).<\/p>\n

I thought he made a fine Mycroft Holmes<\/strong> in Billy Wilder<\/strong>‘s wonderful Sherlock Holmes<\/strong> mini-epic, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes <\/em><\/strong>(Chris played Sherlock himself in the Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady<\/strong><\/em> TV movie).<\/p>\n

I met Chris while I was working on Conan the Barbarian<\/em><\/strong>. Our writer-director, John Milius<\/strong>, was executive producing his pal Steven Spielberg<\/strong>‘s movie 1941<\/em><\/strong> at the time, so we were sharing offices with Steven. Ron Cobb<\/strong> and I would work on Conan during the day and then in the evening kick around ideas with Steven for his next film project, Raiders of the Lost Ark.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Christopher heard about Raiders<\/em>. He was living in L. A. at the time (he had been cast in 1941<\/em>) and really wanted to be cast in Steven’s next film. Chris decided one of the ways to Steven and a prominent role as a German officer was through Ron and me.<\/p>\n

We could hear him coming before he entered our room. This was a man more in love with his voice than anyone I’d ever met. A deep, booming, cavernous baritone, his voice seemed to reverberate done the hallway to our office.<\/p>\n

He dressed somewhat casually when he visited us — nice jeans and a starched but casual dress white long sleeved shirt, sleeves rolled up past his wrists. I think he was trying to affect a younger look (appearing to be too old was a reasonable fear; he’d been acting in TV since 1946 and movies since 1948 — a year before I was born). He always seemed cheerful, peppy and energetic, however.<\/p>\n

At first his visits were fun, but as he pressured us more and more to suggest to Steven that he be cast in Raiders<\/em> (“Did you know I’m fluent in German?”), it started to kinda drive Ron and me a little bit nuts. But that wasn’t just Chris doing that…nearly every actor or actress we encountered seemed to be on the hustle. We just preferred when it wasn’t so obvious.<\/p>\n

Chris didn’t get the role he coveted in Raiders<\/em> but he went on to a spectacular Second Act to his career. After being typecast as Dracula, he somehow (and this was no small feat) overcame his typecasting and landed plum roles as a James Bond<\/strong> villain (Scaramanga<\/strong> in The Man With the Golden Gun<\/em><\/strong>), was in several Tim Burton<\/strong> (good ol’ Tim has never lost his love for monsters and the fine actors who portrayed them) movies and, most memorably, was Saruman<\/strong> in Peter Jackson<\/strong>‘s wonderful Lord of the Rings<\/em><\/strong> films.<\/p>\n

I mysteriously ended up with a life cast of Christopher Lee’s face in the mid-1970s. I think I’ll retrieve it, prop it up on my sofa and watch one of my favorite Christopher Lee films with the head of ol’ Chris tonight. I’ll crank up my sub-woofer so that his voice is extra resonant. Cheers, my friend!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The legendary Hammer horror film actor Christopher Lee has departed this mortal coil. I enjoyed Chris’ Hammer films as a kid. His Frankenstein monster in Curse of Frankenstein was terrific (in the true sense of the word) and he became forever associated with Count Dracula. He portrayed the famous vampire in at least nine films, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8TM5S-1dK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":846,"url":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/2011\/04\/10\/monsterpalooza-wow\/","url_meta":{"origin":4696,"position":0},"title":"Monsterpalooza — WOW!","author":"Bill","date":"April 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"WOW! Monsterpalooza, in only its third year, hit capacity yesterday afternoon! The Fire Marshall had to close admissions to the event, allowing members of the long line to get in only when other attendees left. Continuing my \"Old Home Week\", old friends Rick Baker, Mick Garris, Jon Favreau, Joe Dante,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc."","block_context":{"text":"Misc.","link":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/frankie-450x573.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4634,"url":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/2015\/02\/19\/louis-jourdan-1921-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":4696,"position":1},"title":"LOUIS JOURDAN 1921-2015","author":"Bill","date":"February 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I never had the pleasure of meeting French film star Louis Jourdan, but I loved his work. Our connection was tenuous at best (read on). Gigi is a favorite musical of mine; he was great in it as Gaston. Because of his good looks and the huge success of Gigi,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc."","block_context":{"text":"Misc.","link":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Louis Jourdan with Gigi","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Gigi-450x570.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10862,"url":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/2026\/04\/05\/untold-tales-of-hollywood-142\/","url_meta":{"origin":4696,"position":2},"title":"Untold Tales of Hollywood #142","author":"Bill","date":"April 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Masters of the Universe continues with my designs for Skeletor, who was excellently portrayed in the film by the great Frank Langella. To my amazement, Frank has declared Skeletor to be the favorite role of his career. I think the fact that he took this role so seriously is truly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc."","block_context":{"text":"Misc.","link":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GoldSkeletorProfile.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6171,"url":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/2020\/07\/13\/son-of-horror-films-for-your-sequester\/","url_meta":{"origin":4696,"position":3},"title":"Son of Horror Films for Your Sequester","author":"Bill","date":"July 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)Janet Munro (Katie O\u2019Gill), Edward Judd (X the Unknown, First Men In The Moon), Leo McKern (X the Unknown, Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes\u2019 Smarter Brother). Hysterical panic has engulfed the world after the United States and the Soviet Union simultaneously detonate nuclear devices causing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc."","block_context":{"text":"Misc.","link":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94,"url":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/2009\/06\/04\/david-carradine-r-i-p-and-my-beginnings-as-a-screenwriter\/","url_meta":{"origin":4696,"position":4},"title":"David Carradine, R. I. P. …and My Beginnings as a Screenwriter","author":"Bill","date":"June 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I was deeply saddened to learn that David Carradine has taken his own life in Bangkok, Thailand. David was the star of the first film I ever wrote, \u201cThe Warrior and the Sorceress\u201d. He was my first choice for the lead role. He was the son of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc."","block_context":{"text":"Misc.","link":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":929,"url":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/2011\/05\/19\/wonderfest-2011-part-two\/","url_meta":{"origin":4696,"position":5},"title":"WonderFest 2011, Part Two","author":"Bill","date":"May 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"There are two kinds of Rondo Awards: The \"regular\" award in the form of a bust of Rondo Hatton (sculpted by my friend and colleague, Monster Kid and fellow Rondo recipient, the talented Kerry Gammill) that is given each year for outstanding achievement in the various categories set forth by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc."","block_context":{"text":"Misc.","link":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/rondobutton_001.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4696"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4716,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4696\/revisions\/4716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamstout.com\/news\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}