Christopher Lee was 93-years-old when he died . His roles in films like the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit series, as well as the Star Wars franchise, are well-known.
But here are three dark bits of knowledge about Christopher Lee that you may take to the grave with you.
Christopher Lee Was A Heavy Metal God
Lee’s deep, rich voice lent itself well to his famous film roles, as well as lots of voice over work. But he also ventured into music, with far different results than the novelty efforts by actors like William Shatner or Leonard Nimoy. Christopher Lee sang heavy metal.
Lee had sung on albums and films before, including operatic and musical numbers. But he stepped into heavy metal in 2004, appearing on an album by symphonic power metal band Rhapsody. After working with a few other metal bands in the years following, Lee released his own album in 2006 called Revelation . Two more albums followed, Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross in 2010, and Charlemagne: The Omens of Death in 2013.
Lee did two heavy metal Christmas albums, one in 2012, one in 2013. Both were EPs. Another EP, called Metal Knight, followed those.
Christopher Lee told Blabbermouth that doing heavy metal Christmas albums was his way of having fun.
“It’s light-hearted, joyful and fun… At my age, the most important thing for me is to keep active by doing things that I truly enjoy. I do not know how long I am going to be around, so every day is a celebration and I want to share it with my fans.”
Christopher Lee Did Horror Films With Moff Tarkin
Christopher Lee was best friends with actor Peter Cushing. Cushing is perhaps known best to younger audiences as Moff Tarkin in the original Star Wars film, while Lee himself later starred in Star Wars prequels.
Lee and Cushing starred together in a long series of horror films in the 1950s and ’60s for Hammer Film Productions. These “Hammer Horror” films are cult classics to this day.
In the Hammer Horror films, Lee played Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, Sir Henry Baskerville, Rasputin, and many other roles. Peter Cushing played Baron Victor Frankenstein, Professor Van Helsing, and Sherlock Holmes, among others.
After Peter Cushing died in 1994, Christopher Lee said of his best friend: “I don’t want to sound gloomy, but, at some point of your lives, every one of you will notice that you have in your life one person, one friend whom you love and care for very much. That person is so close to you that you are able to share some things only with him. For example, you can call that friend, and from the very first maniacal laugh or some other joke you will know who is at the other end of that line. We used to do that with him so often.”
“And then when that person is gone, there will be nothing like that in your life ever again.”
Christopher Lee And The Occult
Because of his dark film roles, heavy metal albums, and booming vocal presence, there were rumors that Christopher Lee dabbled in the occult. Some rumors went further than “dabbling,” claiming that Lee had a library of over 20,000 books on the occult.
Lee responded to these rumors in a speech to students in Ireland.
“Somebody wrote I have 20,000 books. I’d have to live in a bath! I have maybe four or five [occult books].”
Even so, Lee actually steered away from occult practices. He warned those students about becoming involved in the occult.
“I warn all of you: never, never, never. You will not only lose your mind, you’ll lose your soul.”
Hearing the booming voice of Christopher Lee warning you against “losing your soul” must have been a memorable experience.
[Image via Charlemagne Productions ]