Death of Christopher Lee



Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor, singer, and author. With a career spanning nearly seven decades, Lee was well known for portraying villains and became best known for his role as Count Dracula in a sequence of Hammer Horror films. His other film roles include Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002–2005), and Saruman in both the Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and the Hobbit film trilogy (2012–2014).

Death
Lee died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on 7 June 2015 at 8:30 am after being admitted for respiratory problems and heart failure, shortly after celebrating his 93rd birthday. His wife delayed the public announcement until 11 June, to break the news to their family.

Following Lee's death, fans, friends, actors, directors, and others involved in the film industry publicly gave their personal tributes. The UK Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron, called Lee a "titan of the golden age of cinema." He was also honored by the Academy at the 88th Academy Awards on 28 February 2016 in the annual in Memoriam section.