Film Personalities: Christopher Lee
by Angie McKaig

 

British actor Christopher Lee has portrayed Bram Stoker's infamous charcter, Dracula, in more films than any other actor.

Christopher Lee was born May 27, 1922 in London, England. His first film appearance was in the film Corridor of Blood. He made several films before he was approached by Hammer Films to play the monster in their remake of the Mary Shelley classic, Frankenstein. With the success of Frankenstein, an unspoken alliance was formed between Lee and the horror film studio.

Lee's first portrayal of Dracula was in the 1958 Hammer Films' version of Stoker's Dracula entitled The Horror of Dracula, in which he played opposite Peter Cushing. The monstrous success of this film made Hammer a household name and rocketed Lee's career to stardom.

As opposed to Lugosi's charming and gentlemanly portrayal of Dracula in Universal Studios' 1931 version of Dracula, Lee's performance (thanks to many of the film techniques used by Hammer Films) was gritty and realistic. The realism that Hammer achieved with their film horrified 1950's audiences, yet Lee captured their devotion. Lee's Dracula was also different from that of Lugosi's in that he had fangs which he bared prominently for the camera at every opportunity.

Lee returned to Hammer several years later to take up the title role in Dracula: Prince of Darkness. Its success was responsible for a Dracula series that Hammer released over the next several years, including:

 

Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1969)
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
Scars of Dracula (1970)
Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

 

Chrisopher Lee also portrayed Vlad the Impaler in scenes for a 1974 documentary based on the book In Search of Dracula by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu. His portrayal of vampires also extended to films produced in Italian, French and Spanish.

Lee's autobiography, Tall, Dark and Gruesome, was published in 1977.

 

 

 

 

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