I once wrote a dual birthday tribute blog for Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
Not only are these two guys horror legends of the finest order, their dates of birth are only a day apart!
How awesome is that?
While Cushing has been gone, and much missed, for several years now Christopher Lee was still rocking on in his 90's.
Literally rocking, I tell you, as he has also been knighted and put out a heavy metal concept album.
Sadly though, all reigns must come to a physical end and Lee is pretty much the final nail in the horror coffin to be hammered into history.
Christopher Lee died quietly at a hospital on June 7th but news of his death only hit the internet yesterday, June 11th.
In the day and age of media scrambling I am not in the least bit certain how his family managed to pull this delay in announcement off but I must say kudos for them! Christopher Lee was, and always will, one of the greatest horror/acting icons of all time and it only seems proper for his family to have a few days to grieve privately before all media Hell can be let loose.
But the news is out now and now grieving is what we all must do. In celebration, of course, because I mean seriously, this man had quite a career.
Years ago he was part of the most elite horror squad known to all kind. Literal royalty along with Peter Cushing, whom he enjoyed a long running friendship with, and Vincent Price.
Both of those gentlemen have been in the great beyond for some time now and now their friend, and fellow horror legend, has joined them.
His filmography is over 200 strong, this is not even including his television appearances.
He was Dracula.
He was Frankenstein's creature.
He was the Mummy.
He was Sherlock Holmes.
He was Dr. Fu Manchu.
He was Rasputin.
He was the Bloody Judge.
He was Rochefort of the musketeers.
He gave us one of the coolest Bond villians ever in Scaramanga.
He was Dr. Catheter in Gremlins 2.
He was the Burgomaster of Sleepy Hollow.
He was in two of the most successful film franchises of all time, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars
AND
he was Willy Wonka's dad, Wilbur.
He has been Lucifer and Ramses and the President.
He even played Death itself multiple times.
He was a central part of my childhood.
Along with Cushing, Price and Carl Kolchak himself, Darren Mcgavin, Christopher Lee pretty much sealed my early horror fan-dom with a scarlet exclamation point.
I don't think there has been, nor will there ever be, anybody who so truly defines cool and the horror genre itself greater than Christopher Lee.
I am sad to hear of his passing but I am overjoyed that he had such a long and illustrious career and it is with great pride that I offer up this tribute by calling for all who remember him to pay tribute of their own. He has so many great roles to choose from and now, more than ever, seems like a good time to re-visit them.
RIP good sir. It's been a long and terrifying journey with you and though you just left us we miss you already.
But your work lives on.
Hallelujah and Gory be thy name!
