Christopher Lee Appreciation Thread
DrMaxMGold
Posts: 70MI6 Agent
In honor of his unique life on and off screen, I think it's time that Christopher Lee got his own appreciation thread. He played so many iconic villains in different genres, and all have unique memories of him. Where do we begin? Outside of TMWTGG, of course.
Comments
Aside from being the real-life inspiration for James Bond himself, I always loved him as Saruman in Lord of the Rings
The Duke de Richleau in 'The Devil Rides Out'.
Sir Christopher Lee was simply spellbinding in the film.
Was he a real life inspiration for James Bond? Do you have any sources? I don't think his claimed exploits during and right after WWII are documented apart from his time as a fighter pilot and later in RAF intelligence. I know of no independent sources for him working with a range of special forces units. One can draw the "confidential" card, but it's highly unlikely that every contact he had with these units are still confidential 80 years later.
Yes! Sir Christopher Lee was Ian Fleming's cousin: "Lee being step-cousin to Ian Fleming. Fleming, who was an intelligence officer in the war, admitted that Lee's days as a spy are what inspired him to create the Bond series."
Where is your quote from?
I love Christopher Lee, but he did tend to have a reputation for self aggrandisement, so I wouldn't put it past him to have started that story himself!
I'm sure I've heard it said of him that, according to his own stories: 'if he hadn't flown it, he'd f***ed it' 😁
It's highly unlikely Lee actually did many of the things he did during the war. He was a very accomplished man, so It's a shame he felt the need to make them up. It's possible he told the same stories to Ian and Ian based aspects of James Bond on that. I doubt Ian Fleming felt the need to fact-check his relative even though he was very well connected in the world of espionage and special operations. But I need a good source for that quote before I believe Bond was (partly) based on Christopher Lee.
Sir Christopher Lee was a great actor and noble soul.
The World War affected him greatly and there were things he saw, which affected him for the rest of his life.
He never went on leave for the 5 years the war raged.
1941- 45 in the RAF and then 1946 in which he spent the year investigating war crimes.
He was the very inspiration for Commander James Bond.
There are many good reasons for admiring Christopher Lee, but I very much doubt many of his claims from WWII and I'm unconvinced that he inspired the creation of Bond. You’ve posted a quote you say is from Ian Fleming, but you haven't given any source for that quote. By that I mean: where did you find it?
Article on Sir Christopher Lee (Independent):
No. 260 Squadron RAF (Wikipedia)
Sir Christopher Lee's foreign language proficiency:
(The most important skill needed to be an intelligence officer.)
There are also other subtle things that hint at Sir Christopher Lee's personality:
1. He remained married to the same person for 54 years. That shows commitment and honesty.
2. He never liked being called the King of Horror. That shows a deep humility and an acknowledgement of other people's contribution to the genre.
3. See his interviews on WW2 on YouTube. You can clearly see the pain in his eyes once he recollects those horrid days. He went through a very tough time during WW2.
Sir Christopher Lee was a thorough gentleman.
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Now, for the sake of discussion, let us imagine if the converse was true...
Sir Christopher Lee exaggerated his exploits in WW II.
Well...even by that definition, he would still be an inspiration for Bond.
Because who is James Bond at the end of the day?
A fictitious secret agent, who performs feats of imaginary heroism.
A look at Sir Christopher Lee's astrological profile shows why he became such a legendary actor.
Jupiter+Saturn+Rahu in the first house, creates a very intelligent mind, as the energies of Rahu (illusion) get magnified (Jupiter) and sharpened (Saturn).
This combination creates an individual so enigmatic and imaginative...he can make people believe anything. That is why audiences were so captivated by his fantastic portrayals. This combination also explains his world wide fame (Jupiter) portraying evil and mysterious men (Rahu + Saturn).
Saturn in the first house also makes a person secretive. Now with Jupiter and Rahu conjunct with Saturn, you are looking at a very secretive man.
This is an ideal combination for a spy.
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Looking at his life, his intelligence and his integrity...I have no doubts that he served his country to the best of his abilities during WW2 and that there was a lot of truth to what he said.
An amazing actor and a first rate human being.
The Man with the Golden Gun.
Sir Christopher Lee.
The claims about his WWII has no other source than himself. As always. For many years now we've known what happened during the development of the nuclear bomb in detail. We've also known about assassination missions, the first biography of an SAS soldier was published just a couple of years after the war, same with SOE. But somehow every single operation Lee says he was a part of are still secret? There was a WWII Norwegian espionage organition called XU that was secret until the 1990's because the organisation could be re-started if the USSR invaded. None of the many members of XU even hinted at their wartime service before this, including a famous singer and writer. Lee on the other hand claimed that most of what he did was secret until his death, but still somehow not too secret for him to hint at them on many occations. An operation is secret and you can't talk about it, or it isn't secret and you can talk.
Lee's service in the RAF are however on record and no-one is disputing that. Same with his impressive language skills.
Birth charts on the other hand isn't proof in any shape or form.
Christopher Lee had a long and colourful life, and he was a very good actor. He deserves to be remembered for that. His claims of being with the SAS, LRDG, SOE (I believe his claims expanded as the years went by. Popski's Private Army was one) are almost certainly his own fan-fiction. As an RAF intelligence officer it's not unlikely he had some contact with those units such as planning flights into enemy territory to drop them off or get them home. But he made it look like he did a lot more than that, and there is no proof of that. No mention in dispatches, no documents, no SF member who said he remembered him.
Was Sir Christopher Lee the great spy man we would all like to believe...
Only God knows.
What I know for a fact is that he was the greatest heavy metal christmas carol singer the world has ever seen.
This we can agree on! 😁
A wonderful tribute to the great man.
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Around the 14 minute 35 second mark in the video, Flight Lieutenant Bobby Brown tells of a prank played on Sir Christopher Lee, where he was informed by HQ that he would be sent on a secret mission to Russia.
Sir Christopher Lee spent 5 hours on the runway dressed in winter gear in 100 degree Fahrenheit weather, refusing to tell anyone why he was there.
Notice something...
A natural reticence.
He refused to tell anyone what he was doing.
In later life, when he was asked about his service, he never went into details.
That tells you something about Sir Lee.
The only person who Ian Fleming publicly named as being the inspiration for James Bond, was Sir William Stephenson. Fleming once wrote: “James Bond is a highly romanticized version of a true spy. The real thing is William Stephenson” (The Times, October 21, 1962).
There were undoubtedly elements of many others who helped inspire the character or the character's actions in the novels - people with whom it is proven that Fleming was personally acquainted or whose actions he was proven to be aware of - including Peter Fleming, Dusko Popov, Patrick Dalzel-Job, Fitzroy Maclean, Biffy Dunderdale etc. It is telling that Christopher Lee barely features in any of the Fleming biographies (Shakespeare, Pearson, Lycett). Yes, he was a relative, but it never sounds as though they were particularly close.
As for Christopher Lee's owns claims, they must be taken with a large tumbler of salt delivered by the wonderful thespian that he was. He was long-ago debunked as having served in the SAS during WW2, as he claimed. When pressed on it, he stated he couldn't talk about it which was nonsense. The regimental records for the Regiment in WW2 were long ago declassified and Lee and make it clear that he was not then or ever a member. He may have worked with them, but he was never a badged member. The Regiment's historians have stated that.
Did he serve his country well in the Second World War? Undoubtedly. Was he a good actor, yes. Was he in the SAS? No. Was he "James Bond"? No.
'It's been the greatest regret of my life: I still believe I was born to be an opera singer.' Sir Christopher Lee
'I Stole The Prince'
'A More Humane Mikado'
What a marvellous and gifted singer...
"Look, Mr Broccoli, I would really love to do it, I'm sure I -"
"For the last time, NO, Christopher. Lulu is going to sing the title song and that's it".
😁
In addition to his fine acting and remarkable linguistic & singing skills...Sir Christopher Lee was also an accomplished swordsman.
You can see Sir Christopher Lee's swordsmanship in this video from 1974's 'The Four Musketeers'.
As grim as the ending seems, the Comte de Rochefort (Sir Christopher Lee's character) survives the duel with D'Artagnan and makes a return in the 1984 sequel 'The Return of the Musketeers'.
This we can agree on. Christopher Lee was one of the great cinematic swordsmen. 😀
There were a few articles about an interview with Christopher Lee a few years before he passed that I mentioned here before. Both a friend of Ian Fleming’s and a cousin by marriage Lee often talked with Fleming about the Bond character. Considering all the actors up to Daniel Craig who played Bond, Lee felt that Pierce Brosnan came the closest to matching Fleming’s original vision based on those conversations. With that said Fleming did specify a non-actor personality at the time who I don’t remember, whom he felt captured Bond’s character and physical appearance.
A very nice interview of Sir Christopher Lee.
The injury Sir Lee alludes to at the 4 minute 20 second mark was incurred in the 1955 film 'The Warriors / The Dark Avenger'.
An excellent tribute to the life of the great man.
Written and directed by Jon Spira.
A look at Sir Christopher Lee's medals.
The third image shows the miniature dress medals Sir Christopher Lee wore and I have excluded the medals highlighted in image 2.
The medals were sold in an auction at Spink and Son, London in 2017.