The Internet is exploding this morning with the news that Christopher Lee has passed away, and I’m with Dara: this week is so very, very fired.
I realize that Saruman is an easy answer for my favorite role of his, but hey, this is what happens when the Middle-Earth movies are among my all-time favorite movies ever, and when I’m a lifelong Tolkien geek. But I have to also give him props for Count Dooku in the Star Wars movies, say what you will about the prequel trilogy. Lee was still pretty freggin’ awesome. Moreover, I have to give him props for his Hammer film appearances. We love us some Hammer films at the Murkworks, and so I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him in some of those, too.
And while I don’t even like heavy metal, I gotta say, releasing a heavy metal album at age 92? Unbelievably awesome. I just hope I’m that lively and awesome when I’m in my nineties.
The BBC article I’m linking to is saying a lot of folks are calling him ‘a titan of cinema’, and they are not wrong. Rest in peace, Sir Christopher. Culture worldwide will be a little poorer for your passing.
