Christopher Lee: How a new generation learned about him with 'Lord of the Rings'
Lee portrayed evil wizard Saruman in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, which was released between 2001 and 2003, as well as the later 'Hobbit' films. He was a big fan of the book series himself and recalled how those on set would ask him obscure 'Rings' questions. 'They never caught me out 鈥� not once!' he said.
Christopher Lee poses on the red carpet during the Rome film festival in 2009.
Tony Gentile/Reuters
Actor Christopher Lee, who died earlier this week, became known to a new generation and became part of an Academy Award-winning film series when he took on the role of evil wizard Saruman in the 鈥淟ord of the Rings鈥� trilogy.聽
Lee was an extremely prolific actor and is famous for his roles in the Hammer horror films, for which he played such creatures as Count Dracula, Frankenstein, and the titular Mummy, among other characters. He also faced off against James Bond in the 1974 movie 鈥淭he Man With the Golden Gun鈥� and starred in the horror film 鈥淭he Wicker Man,鈥� appeared in Steven Spielberg鈥檚 comedy 鈥�1941,鈥� and appeared in such Tim Burton movies as 鈥淐harlie and the Chocolate Factory鈥� and 鈥淎lice in Wonderland,鈥� among many other works.
But he became well known to a generation who may have missed the Hammer horror movies when he played the villain Saruman, a wizard and former ally of good wizard Gandalf who turned to evil in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. According to an interview he did with , Lee actually met Tolkien once at a pub. 鈥淚 was very much in awe of him, as you can imagine, so I just said, 鈥楬ow do you do?鈥欌�� Lee said. He called 鈥淩ings鈥� 鈥渢he greatest literary achievement in my lifetime鈥� and said he first read a scene as Gandalf. 鈥淚 would have loved to play Gandalf, but I don鈥檛 think [director Peter Jackson] ever had me in mind for Gandalf, because by that time I was too old,鈥� he said.聽
Lee described Saruman as 鈥渁 very complex character, superbly written by Tolkien,鈥� and recalled how others on the set of 鈥淩ings鈥� would ask him obscure bits of trivia from the series. 鈥淢embers of the cast and crew where always trying to catch me out,鈥� Lee remembered. 鈥淭hey鈥檇 ask me questions like, 鈥榃hat was the name of Frodo鈥檚 father?鈥� or 鈥榃hat was the name of this or that sword?鈥� Things like that. Well, they never caught me out 鈥� not once! They tried, but they never did.鈥�
Following the news of Lee鈥檚 death, many on Twitter are remembering his portrayal of the dark wizard.