Special Collection: Christopher Lee as Dracula
CHRISTOPHER LEE - Biography
No less an authority than Adrian Conan Doyle, son of the famous novelist, appraised Christopher Lee's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes to be one of the two finest he had ever seen-the other was Basil Rathbone's. The popular star now appears in Zodiac Films' "Horror Castle," filmed in Totalscope and Color, as Erich, the keeper of the torture museum in the castle.
Born in London, in 1921, Christopher Lee's father was a Colonel in the King's Royal Rifles. Although there was a strong military tradition in his family, Lee attended Wellington College where he was a classical scholar. When the war came, he trained as a fighter pilot in the R.A.F. and was based in South Africa and Rhodesia, transferring to Intelligence because he was multilingual. After the war he decided to become an actor, arranged to meet a motion picture producer and was told he didn't have a chance because of his height-6 feet 4 inches.
Undaunted, he made his debut in 1947 and has appeared in
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a long list of films including, "Hamlet," "Moulin Rouge," "Cockleshell Heroes," "Moby Dick," "Port Afrique," "Beyond Mombassa," "A Tale of Two Cities," and many others. Being an expert athlete, boxer and swordsman, he did 'stunt' work early in his career and has made over 50 appearances on TV. He scored a tremendous success as the "Creature" in the horrific hit "The Curse of Frankenstein" with the result Christopher Lee Clubs were formed in many countries. More recently his role in the successful "The Pirates of Blood River" consolidated his standing as a top screen star.
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