Sad news, Christopher Lee has passed away.

http://www.theguardian.com/fil...ruman-bond-star-wars

Legend.

I know when someone who is 93 passes away, we tend to think, well, 93 is a good run, but for this man, it should have been 193. He has left behind a lifetime of great work, and he will be even more beloved as time goes by. With some cgi to help his body get around, he was the best part of the Hobbit movies and the new Star Wars trilogy, these performance given in his mid 80's and early 90's. I'll be watching "Wicker Man" very soon.

Rest in Peace, Sir...

R.I.P. Christopher, fangs for the memories.

Oh, man -I just saw this on the morning news...

The last of the "real" classic monsters (IMO) and an all-around extraordinary actor.
Very glad that I was able to pick up his Wickerman card (my favorite autograph card.)

Will be watching some Hammer DVDs this weekend.

RIP Sir Christopher.

Just saw the news...

RIP Christopher.

Apparantly he died in hospital last sunday. How did they manage to keep it quiet until now?

So Christopher Lee has now joined his old pal Peter Cushing. That duo brings back so many memories of Hammer films that I saw on TV as a kid. And both of them were great actors that became icons in those horror pictures, at the same time that it inevitably typecast them.

But Bond, and Star Wars and Lord of the Rings enabled them to reach the younger audiences that, believe it or not, may never have seen those classic British movies. What wonderful careers they both had! A favorite film of mine that they both appeared in was their version of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

RIP Mr. Lee.

What a loss. My first memories are of him in the Hammer Horror films. Loved him in LOTR and don't think anyone but him could have done the job as well.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Apparantly he died in hospital last sunday. How did they manage to keep it quiet until now?

I read that it was at his wife's request as she wanted to inform the family rather than have them read it in the papers. Nice for a change that the staff clearly did respect the family's wishes.

Was one of the best Bond Villains bar none, and was my favourite character in Lord of the Rings. It was a travesty that Peter Jackson cut him from the theatrical print of The Return of the King.

quote:

Originally posted by X:
It was a travesty that Peter Jackson cut him from the theatrical print of The Return of the King.

I hadn't heard that. What was the explanation for it? Even trimming for time, why wouldn't Jackson leave in some part of his work, even as a cameo, just out of respect?

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

quote:

Originally posted by X:
It was a travesty that Peter Jackson cut him from the theatrical print of The Return of the King.

I hadn't heard that. What was the explanation for it? Even trimming for time, why wouldn't Jackson leave in some part of his work, even as a cameo, just out of respect?

Why indeed... Jackson gave the usual time and pacing line, and he confirmed it was his decision, not the studio. Yet there was still enough time to see Merry and Pippen ******* about ad nauseam. Lee was not too pleased about it to say the least and consequently snubbed the premiere.
http://www.theguardian.com/fil.../lordoftherings.news

Lee was a real LOTR fan and was reported to have read the books at least once a year. You can only imagine how gutted he was and many (LOTR, Tolkein, Lee) fans were very unhappy, myself included. I remember sitting in the cinema, not having read about the cut beforehand, thinking "What happened to Saruman?!?" because if Jackson wants to get all 'filmy', the audience was not given thematic closure to the series central human antagonist. His scene was kept for the Extended DVD however.

quote:

Originally posted by X:
His scene was kept for the Extended DVD however.

Well, those really are the only versions of those films that should be watched anyway. They are all way better than the theatricals.

I was very sorry to hear of his passing.
I haven't seen him in much but his portrayal as Saruman very amazing.

I'm sure he will be sadly missed by alot of people.