Sir Christopher Lee's passing
 

On a sad movie related note, Sir Christopher Lee passed away at age 93.

He played his role well. Farewell Christopher aka Saruman.

Thank you, Sir Christopher
 

That's sad news. Thank you for all your work, Sir Christopher, including what you did as Saruman, and my condolences to those who were close to you.

Legendary actor; my grievances over the way the character was presented in the films were nothing to do with Lee, who gave a typically memorable performance.

93 though: good innings!

A very fine actor indeed. I must get around to watching some more of his Hammer Horror roles one of these days.

I read his autobiography a number of years ago and it was a very interesting read. He had a very full life. Some favourite anecdotes included him lying to his Air Force superior in the Second World War that the reason he needed shore leave in Africa was to visit a business associate of his family who he claimed, needing a quick lie on the spur of the moment, was a brylcreem salesman - pilots were somewhat mockingly known as the "brylcreem boys" back then. There was also a good story about him being woken up as a youth when his mother was having a party downstairs to be introduced to some of the guests, specifically so that, for the sake of posterity, he could know that he had met the men who killed Rasputin.

I believe he was the only cast member in "The Lord of the Rings" (possibly the only person involved in the production altogether?) who had actually met Professor Tolkien.

George McDonald Fraser on Lee
 

George McDonald Fraser (1925-2008), who as well as being the author of the Flashman books also wrote screenplays, said this about Sir Christopher in a book of memoirs about his screenwriting days, The Light's on at Signpost (2002), having got to know him in the early 1970s due to writing the screenplay for The Three Musketeers. It struck him that 'this man was the ultimate film star; he must have made more pictures than John Wayne, even, and the whole world knows him'. After talking about him being so recognised by so many people, Fraser then commented that it couldn't have happened 'to a nicer man'.

Fraser, in the same book, retold an anecdote told to him about Sir Christopher by director Guy Hamilton, when the latter was directing the Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), in which the actor was playing villain Francisco Scaramanga:

the set was visited by Muhammed Ali, professing himself a devoted Lee fan, and requesting an audience. They were introduced, Ali assuring Christopher that he was his favourite movie star, and then he had added: "And I'm goanna dedicate my next fight to you, too!"

While this was seen as 'an extravagant compliment, no more', when Ali won his next fight,

and the ring was awash with fans, handlers, and journalists, the champion fought his way to the nearest TV camera and roared into the lens: "I won that fight for Christopher Lee!" Which as Guy remarked, was not only a tribute to Christopher, but proved Ali a man of his word.

Later, Fraser recalled how, in the 1960s, he wrote a letter to Tolkien asking if the goblins in The Hobbit were the same as the orcs in The Lord of the Rings, and 'received a courteous and detailed reply'. Tolkien answered 'Yes' to the question, and also said that they had been inspired by his childhood reading of the stories of George McDonald. Fraser said that those stories 'helped to freshen my own infant nightmares'.

My favorite Lee story (while he was filming Lord of the Rings)...is when he corrected Peter Jackson. :D

Jackson wanted Saruman to scream out in the scene where Grima stabs him in the back. Lee says "Do you know the noise a person makes when he's stabbed in the back? I do. I know what to do."

One of the best on screen, and sadly it seems the type of men in his profession is a dying breed. Maybe he can be reunited with his old friend Peter Cushing....Lord Tyrannus and Grand Moff Tarkin, in a galaxy, far, far away.

It was a rather more sinister "have you ever heard... I have". Unsurprisingly as a rare multilingual Brit, he spent his war as an Intelligence Officer. He probably had rather an"interesting" time

He apparently did a lot of very interesting stuff that he never spoke about.

I'd say that he was one of the most fascinating and widely experienced individuals in the modern era.

JRRT approved of Christopher Lee as a candidate to do Gandalf, had the opportunity arose in the 1960s, 1970s.