Christopher Lee

:This article is about the actor. For the historian, see Christopher Lee (historian).

Career as an actor

In 1946 he gained a 7 year contract with Rank Organisation after discussing his interest in acting with his cousin Niccolo Carandini, the Italian Ambassador, who related to Lee that performance was in his blood as his own Carandini grandparents had been successful opera singers in Australia, a fact of which Lee was unaware. He made his film debut in Terence Young's Gothic romance, Corridor of Mirrors, in 1948. Throughout the next decade, Lee made nearly 30 films, playing mostly stock action characters. His first film for Hammer, made in 1956 with his close friend Peter Cushing, was The Curse of Frankenstein, in which he played, "The Creature". That led to his first film as the infamous Transylvanian Count in the 1958 film Dracula (US: Horror of Dracula). From then on, Lee was periodically featured in numerous horror roles for various studios.

Related Topics:
1946 - Rank Organisation - Italian Ambassador - Australia - Terence Young - Gothic romance - Corridor of Mirrors - 1948 - 1956 - Peter Cushing - The Curse of Frankenstein - 1958 - Dracula

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Lee has played roles in over 220 films since 1948, and has had many notable television roles. He appeared as Flay in the BBC television miniseries Gormenghast, based on Mervyn Peake's novels.

Related Topics:
1948 - Television - BBC - Miniseries - Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake

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As an indication to his prolificacy and longevity, Lee has, according to the Oracle of Bacon at Virginia, an average Bacon number of 2.684104 (as of December 2003), making him second on the list of most suitable centres of the Hollywood universe. This calculation uses a modification of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game.

Related Topics:
Bacon number - Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

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In 2001 Christoper Lee was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire CBE by Queen Elizabeth II.

Related Topics:
2001 - CBE - Queen Elizabeth II

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He has agreed to play the role of Stefan Cardinal Wyszy?ski in the film: John Paul the Second.

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