Screen legend Sir Christopher Lee died on Sunday morning at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, the BBC reports. He was 93 years old.
Standing at 6 foot 4 inches, Lee’s claim to Hollywood fame came from his powerful roles as the lead in Count Dracula (1970), as Saruman in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and as the assassin, Francisco Scaramanga, in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).
Lee’s father was a colonel of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and his mother, Contessa Estelle Marie Carandini di Sarzano, was an “Edwardian beauty” who was painted by artists John Lavery and Oswald Birley, and sculpted by English artist and writer Clare Frewen Sheridan.
The actor also worked with director Tim Burton on several films including Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Burton called Lee “an enormous inspiration,” according to the AP.
Even though the actor has passed, his legend lives on. At an entertainment memorabilia sale at Bonhams London, several items from various Bond films will be on offer, including a non-firing replica of the golden gun used by Lee’s character Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). In the film, the deathly weapon can be disassembled into innocuous parts: a cigarette case, a lighter, a pen, and cuff links. Scaramanga assembles the gun in seconds and never misses his target.
The gold-plated edition (199/7500) signed by actor Roger Moore (who played Bond in the film) is estimated to sell between £2,500-3,000 ($3,900–5,400). The same model was offered at Bonhams in 2012.
Moore tweeted about Lee’s passing: “It’s [terrible] when you lose an old friend and Christopher Lee was one of my oldest.”
James Bond, The Man With The Golden Gun: a SD Studios replica signed by Roger Moore (199/7500).
Photo: courtesy of Bonhams.