Welome back to the Randomizer!
Now for this month, I was considering to do one subject I
had never really covered before: A sport article, namely football. I would have
talked about a few issues with the sport at the moment, and if something can be
done to sort that out in the short, and long, run. Examples will have included
the current ongoing crisis at FIFA, why some teams are bigger than others,
racism, money played to players, it’s a pretty lengthy list. One that might
incur the wrath (and annoying superiority) of my brother.
Sadly, due to unforeseen circumstances, that’s going to be
on the back-burner for the moment, and might need some considerable research to
start with. For this month, I have decided to talk about one man, whom many of
you will know passed away on the morning of the 7th June, but his
death was only announced last week for privacy reason. Even in death, he needs
no introduction whatsoever, but I will give him one because frankly, he
deserves it. Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, Justin Bieber
fans…………………Christopher Lee.
What hasn’t been said about the world famous actor? Peter
Jackson (director of the Middle-Earth Sagas) called him: “in every sense, a man
of the world; well-versed in art, politics, literature, history and science”.
Tim Burton: “He was the last of his kind – a true legend – who I’m fortunate
enough to have called a friend. George Lucas: “A great British Actor of the
old-school. A true link to cinema’s past and a real gentleman”.
In many ways, it feels like we suffered the loss of a family
member, someone whom many of us have never met but had a great fondness for.
From some of the films I have seen of him, and some of the backstage videos
from various sources, he was one of the most incredible actors of many generations
and one of the nicest people to walk the face of the Earth. I’d even go as far
to say that he was one of my teenage heroes, watching him for the first time in
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Even though he turned out to
be one of the main villains (as was most of his career), he left a big
impression on me. I was admired with him then I was with most of the other
characters in the whole series! I even wanted his staff, which sadly I never
could get because it was so expensive then. Boo.
For this month, let us come together and celebrate the life
of a man who had lived over 200 lives (including his own), by reading up 10
interesting facts about him. I’m quite a listing person it seems! In this case
I think it’s acceptable. I’ll try not to include some of the obvious ones that
some will know, like how many times he’s played the Count Dracula (who’d just
kill Edward Cullen on the spot. No question, he just would), being the tallest
actor to live, and having the original bromance with close friend Peter
Cushing, though I don’t think he’d use that word himself. Maybe…inseperable
companion. But I digress. Let’s bask in the awesomeness that is Christopher
Lee.
(By the way, I bet many are saying he should be ‘Sir’
Christopher Lee instead. Problem is because he’s died, he no longer has a
knighthood, therefore not part of the order. If anyone disagrees, I’ll send out
the Warg Riders on you).
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1)
He has royal blood in him
Wouldn’t it be awesome if he was
part of the royal family? He would’ve been one of the most awesome members in
existence. Well…not OUR royal family at least. On his maternal side, he
belonged to a house that extends back over one thousand years ago, back in the
8th/9th centuries, a house that contained the first ever
Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemange. You read right, Christopher Lee was a direct
descendent of one of the most successful Kings of all time. We should all bow
now.
For those who don’t know, Charlemagne was THE emperor,
uniting most of the kingdoms of Western Europe into one, and laying down the
foundations for modern France and Germany. Thus, he was given the nickname
‘Father of Europe’. As information goes, reaching that far back and discovering
you are directly descended from the ‘Father of Europe’ must have been quite the
surprise, and induced a sense of pride. I’d would have thought Lee was proud of
that himself as I will come to later on.
Not only that, his maternal ancestral family, The
Carandinis, has the right to bear the Holy Roman Empire Coat of Arms, handed
onto them by the 12th century emperor, Frederick Barbarossa. Well at
least 80-90% of it, but close enough anyway. So pretty much Lee rules us all,
he had everything. Just imagine, he could have started a revolution to be King
of Europe. But yet he chose to be an actor instead. Actually, I’m weighing up
the options to what job would have been better. Maybe actor would have been the
best move…acting being a king!
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| Best Job Ever (btw I know it's a portrait, but is it just me, or is there an air of similarity between the two?) |
2)
He met Rasputin’s actual killers (allegedly)
Ok, take this with a pinch of
salt because I’m not entirely sure this is 100% true. One night when Lee was
sleeping in his coffin as a young vampire boy, his mother woke him up and said
two people in black tie tuxedos were there, and he’d remember meeting them. The
two people in particular were Prince Felix Yusopov and the Grand Duke Dmitri
Pavlovich, who were involved in the conspiracy to kill the ‘Mad Monk’ Rasputin.
I take this with a pinch of salt
because it’s such a surreal moment to think about, especially the point that he
was a vampire as a boy. The point that it’s two co-conspirators involved with
Rasputin’s death. It may not be so surprising perhaps through the connections
surrounding Lee at that age, but still it’s a bizzare moment. Especially
probably how it took forever to kill Rasputin in the first place, first pastries
laced with cyanide, then being shot, came back to life, shot more times, and
finally dumped into an ice hole, where presumably he drowned. Maybe Arnie would
be good playing him? It’d be repeating his performance from the Terminator
franchise, but still.
Lee didn’t remember the visit
very well, and didn’t remember their faces. But in an odd twist many years
later, he really played the part of Rasputin in one of the Hammer Horror Films
in 1966. The film was noted for inaccuracies, but Lee understood why that was
the case. Prince Yusopov was still alive then, and had threatened legal action
whoever used his or his wife’s name in the film. In another strange twist
reported by The Independent newspaper, Lee met Rasputin’s daughter, who said
that he looked uncannily like her father in the film. Wonder if he took that as
a compliment?
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| I told you I'll be back |
3)
His interest in public executions
Be warned. If you have a nervous desposition with blood and
other forms of bodily fluids, skip this part.
Later on in lifebefore the start of World War II, Lee was in
Paris for a short time on holiday. On June 17th, he heard of the
lost appeal of murderer Eugen Weidmann, due for execution immediately. Perhaps
in curiousity, Lee took the chance to see the murderer with a friend in tow.
The execution wouldn’t be shot with rifles or hanging, it would be with perhaps
one of the most prolific French symbols for generations: guillotine. It was the
last time an execution was made public in France, for a riot began to spring
up. Some people collected the blood with their hankerchiefs, while others threw
handfuls of blood and spinal fluid around the place. It was a different time.
Now if this might not be macabre enough for your
taste/disgust, there are pictures and even videos on YouTube of the event.
Seeing the videos myself, they are astoundingly graphic, despite not even
seeing Weidmann being executed. You don’t see blood, but you do see the
guillotine drop and the body quickly moved into a makeshift casket. Lee himself
is unrecognisable in either photos or video, though some have tried to spot
him. Whether they found him or not is up for debate.
This might have spawned an interest, or perhaps developed,
in Lee. In later years from what I’ve researched, he knew the names of every
official executioner working in England from the mid-15th century
onwards. To be fair, being a vampire it’s not a surprise he would know all of
them if they tried to kill him off. In those same years (not mid-15th
century onwards), he was friends with the executioner Albert Pierrepoint, and
drank in his pub. Maybe he took a liking to him and decided not to kill him?
Either way, it’s interesting.
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| You're too....interesting to be turned. So go on Mr Pierrepoint, tell me who was the favourite person you executed? |
4)
His service in World War II
From different interviews, Lee
always kept silent about his war service. More so with his later career in the
last few years of World War II. But there are some things that are interesting
to note. After the war broke out in England, Lee was working as an office clerk
before deciding to bugger that job and volunteer in the army. More specifically
the Finnish army, where the Finnish were fighting against the Russians who laid
claim to their territory. However he never saw much action and came home to
join the RAF. Again, he could not get far because he lacked the eyesight to fly
an aircraft. So he became an intelligence officer instead, transferring to the
North African Front.
There, he took part in various
bombing raids and went behind enemy lines to sabotage the German Line, until
the Germans surrendered in 1943. He then was part of the Allied Invasion of
Italy, taking part in various operations, meeting his cousin in the outskirts
of Rome, and climbing up Mt. Vesuvius on his time away from war. Vesuvius promptly
erupted three days later. Which I’m sure had nothing to do with Lee whatsoever!
In the last few months of his
service, Lee was transferred to the SAS, helping to hunt down Nazis who had
absconded from existence. In one very memorable part behind the scenes for the
Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson tried to show Lee how he was to be
stabbed in the back. However, Lee stopped him on the spot, and asked ‘Have you
any idea what kind of noise happens when a man is stabbed in the back?’. He
said that because the breath is driven out of the body, you don’t make much of
a sound. Jackson quietly dropped his directory duties for that one moment, and
allowed Lee to proceed.
How did Lee know that? Well
there’s one quote that’s stuck with me. AN interviewer tried to ask him about
his time in the SAS. Lee said, ‘Can you keep a secret?’ ‘Yes’ said the
interviewer enthusically. Lee responded simply, ‘So can I’.
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| The smile says it all. |
5)
His first engagement
For many of us, our first engagement might hold a lot of
special memories with your loved one. The rings, the endless chit-chat, the
inevitable wedding/break-up, those memories stick with you forever, giving you
a chance to understanding what you’re in for. For Lee, I can assume that
experience must have been hell on earth, or willing to do what it takes.
He was engaged to a Swedish woman named Henriette Von Rosen
in the late fifties. Not a problem with that, except for one thing: her dad,
Court Frtiz Von Rosen. He distrusted Lee seemingly with a passion, because he
asked Lee to do many things. First, to delay the wedding for a year. Second, to
get London based friends to interview him with private detectives included.
Third, Lee had to get references from other actors, which he duly obtained.
Forth, meeting his fiance’s family which according to him was like a surrealist
film, and felt like they were killing him with cream. Fifth and lastly, Lee had
to get permission to marry…from the King of Sweden. The King of Sweden. Lila
McPherson, this is a comedy film waiting to be made! You’d be happy to know he
actually DID get permission from the king, meeting him on a film set some time
earlier in his life.
However, this did not have a Hollywood ending. Lee broke off
the engagement before the wedding himself out of concern for financial security,
considering his career as an actor, feeling she ‘deserved better’. Von Rosen
understood and they broke up. Lila, you fancy writing a script sometime?
It wasn’t all a sad ending. Lee met his now-widowed wife,
Birgit Kroncke courtesy of a Danish friend and they soon married a couple years
later, lasting up until Lee’s death. Sweet.
 |
6)
He met J.R.R Tolkien
It may come as a passing notice that Lee was a big Tolkien
fan. Worldwide Hobbit/Lord of the Rings fans will know that Lee was rather
dedicated to Lord of the Rings, apparently reading the books every year before
he died. He talked about how much he loved the series, calling it the greatest
literacy achievement in his life. It must have been a bigger achievement to
know, he actually met J.R.R. Tolkien himself by chance in the pub at
Oxfordshire.
In an interview with Cinefastique Online, he said: “I was
very much in awe of him, as you can imagine, so I just said ‘How do you do?”.
Imagine that, the great Christopher Lee going giddy at the knees to meet his
literary hero. It’s like Mibs Bayliss meeting Hayley Williams in a cock-tail
bar in London. I can imagine the screams would never stop. Anyway, Tolkien
himself must have been impressed by Lee somehow, maybe because he was tall, for
he gave him his blessing to play the role of Gandalf should there be a film
series ever made.
Cut to many years later, and a young Peter Jackson added Lee
to his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sadly because Lee was old by that time, at
the age of 77 (roundabouts), his time to play Gandalf had passed. But there was
another wizard role up for grabs: Saruman. As a Tolkien expert, and big
experience in playing villains, he seemed well suited for that part. Imaging
him playing Gandalf, he would have been great for the part, probably better
then Ian McKellen! But because I’m rather indecisive, and might receive hate on
Facebook, let them duke it out in a wizard’s duel. That will solve it!
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| I gave you the chance....swapping...our roles....but you, have elected, THE WAY OF....PAIN!!!!! |
7)
His wide range of languages
Being a man of many travels, Lee
would have picked up a number of languages along the way. I’d say that many of
us now don’t necessarily speak another language. Apart from my obvious English,
I can speak a little bit of French, German (Rammstein songs included), bit of
Gaulish (admittedly from folk metal band Eluveitie’s song, ‘Slania’s Song’) and
probably the entire script of the Star Wars films. If I can be bothered. Least
I can one up Alice Beadle in that respect :P. How does Lee compare? He could
speak: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and was moderately proficient in
speaking Swedish, Russian and Greek. Well that shut me up.
Having learned a good deal of
them, Lee would excel at using them, using German (and possibly French) all the
more in his Nazi-hunting days and filming days. Interestingly with the film The
Last Unicorn in 1982, not only did he do the voice work for that as King
Haggard, he also did the German dub for it as the same character, along with
dubbing in German again for the Danish 1986 film ‘Valhalla’. I think it’s
showing off, but he’s allowed too. It’s Christopher Lee, dammit!
In a strange twist of fate, there is one language Lee
probably couldn’t be bothered with after he finished his military service:
Latin. Why is that strange? Veterans from the war were sent to university to
teach the Classics (studying languages, philosophy, history etc, in Ancient
Greece and Rome). Lee apparently felt his own Latin was too rusty and didn’t
care for the enforced curfews. A meeting with his cousin led him in the
direction that would dictate his life from then on: Acting. So partly because
of his rustiness in Latin, it led him to have one of the most distinguished
careers ever. Ok, maybe not that strange but you get my drift.
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| Bonjour, mein amigo. Potresti Som en flitzani krov? |
8)
His possible unique trifecta
Again, take this with a pinch of salt because this can go
either way, not just possibly being not true, but also while possibly true can
be extended a little more. While shifting through Lee’s IMDB page for some
interesting things to find (sad I know), there was one little tidbit that
caught my utmost attention: ‘He is possibly the only actor in cinematic history
to have achieved a unique trifecta. He has played a Star Wars villain (Count
Dooku), a James Bond villain (Scaramanga), and a classic horror movie monster
(Dracula, The Mummy, and Frankenstein’s Monster).
I guess if you really think about it, it is actually true. I
can’t think of any other of the actors in those particular film series that
have been involved in different specific films. The closest I think would be
Peter Cushing, who starred as Baron Victor Von Frankenstein in the Hammer
Horror Frankenstein film series, and in Star Wars as Grand Moff Tarkin, but not
in a James Bond film. In addition, it’s probably would be more pronounce to
call it a villain’s trifecta in a manner.
But when I say it can be expanded, it’s because he played
Saruman in Lord of the Rings. So it’d be less of a trifecta, and more of a
quad-fecta. If that’s not a word, I’ve just invented one right now. You must
bow to me then. Anyway whatever the case, it might well be very true. I’m more
inclined to believe that, considering the number of roles Lee played over the
years. It might be a little bit of a surprise, but it still makes him one of
the most awesome person to walk the face of the earth.
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| Ha ha Peter.....ha ha |
9)
One of his most important films
We all have our favourite specific films and characters that
made a great impression on us. For Lee, it doesn’t go without saying that his
overall favourite film was ‘The Wicker Man’. In fact, he wanted to be a part of
that film so much, he was willing to do it for free so I’ve read. Not sure if
that is true, but I’m sure someone will tell me otherwise. But the film he
considered to be his best performance is a film we’ve never seen before, and
that we should see it so he said. It is called simply, Jinnah.
Only shown in Pakistan and a few selected cinemas back in 1999,
the film entails the founder of Pakistan and his life in flashbacks after he
has died. That’s all I can really say about it, though I did think at one point
it’s kind of similar to Attenborough’s film Ghandi in respect. Nevertheless,
Lee considered this film to be the best film he had ever acted in, by a very
long way, noting it to be historically accurate as well.
Watching an questions & answers panel, Lee gives out an
honest opinion that it wouldn’t be distributed, simply because Jinnah was a Muslim.
That I can understand, but Lee continues pointing out that Jinnah was NOT a fundamentalist,
NOT a terrorist, NOT a man who sent others to kill people and so on. Seriously
his emphasis is on NOT, and there is truth in that. Certainly from what I’ve
read, and covered back in my Persepolis article couple years ago to a point,
those extremists are a minority. There’s definitely over a billion Muslims in
the world, so compare that to the numbers of ISIS and other extremist groups.
We have allowed them to define the term Muslim as evil, and foolish enough to
go along with that, and I think Lee would agree with me on that.
Perhaps Jinnah is worth a view then, to see what it’s like.
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| It's the hat that made the film |
10)
He loved his metal
Lee wasn’t always involved with the Heavy Metal scene to
start with, for he came into it in the 90s when he gave his operatic baritone voice
to the band Rhapsody of Fire, though he has sung on different film soundtracks
before. But he was a big fan of the genre, enjoying the riveting Black Sabbath,
and calling Tony Iommi ‘The father of metal’, to which Iommi said back Lee was
the one who started it all himself, influencing him and others with his Hammer
Horror turns. What other bands Lee liked I cannot say…though I hope Nightwish
was part of his repertoire.
At the age of 88 back in 2010, Lee released his first heavy
metal album, and bringing us back full circle, Charlemagne: By the Sword and
Cross. In honesty, I have not heard this album, but from what I’ve heard of his
singing, I wasn’t that impressed. I’m sorry, and no disrespect, but I didn’t
think his voice carried very well. That’s my opinion anyway. Obviously the
metal gods disagree, awarding Lee with the ‘Spirit of Metal’ award in that same
year at the Metal Hammer awards. In 2013, he released another album again with
Charlemagne as the main focus, Charlemagne: The Omens of Death, with an
interesting bit of trivia of Richie Faulkner arranging the album, who is now
guitarist with Judas Priest.
But that wasn’t the only focus in his short career as a
Metal God. He also released Christmas songs under his banner, as well as a selection
of covers under his wing released last year, his final reckoning. Yet he took
great pleasure in surprising people, and I’d agree in saying he definitely succeeded
in that, as he told Rolling Stone Magazine: “Heavy Metal has, since its very
beginning, surprised in the best sense of the word, and people all over the
world. To be involved in that, and to show people that even now I can surprise
my audience, it’s very important”. Spoken like a true hobbit.
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| You can learn all there is to him, and yet even after 100 years....he can still surprise you. |
So, in the end today, it still seems like Christopher Lee was
a pretty awesome guy to know.
I can’t think of much else to say about the man. We all have
our fondest memories of him in some capacity or other. I would have considered
it a personal honour to have met him if that were possible. Of course that can
never be the case now. What I can really is this: My fondest memories of him
really came from Lord of the Rings, James Bond’s The Man with the Golden Gun, and
more recent watching Hammer Horror’s Dracula, which his performance was
startling, yet almost perfect. Now he has passed, I don’t have much of an
excuse not to watch The Wicker Man now! It might be disrespectful to do so.
Yes. We have lost one of the greatest inspirations known to
mankind only under two weeks ago. A very good actor, an interesting character
to know, and a genuine person through and through. But what he has left behind
is an enduring legacy. A life of well-received films throughout his career that
will live forever, a fan-base that spans generations, and extraordinary events
that came out of luck, survival, and sheer will to do what he could do.
Even in probably a thousand years from now, he might become
just a name, but a name with meaning to everyone. Whether it be Dracula,
Saruman, Scaramanga, Jinnah, even Death, he leaves behind a name that will be
fondly remembered, for many years to come. So from the bottom of my heart…
Thank you Christopher Lee…thank you.
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| 1922-2015 |
That is it for this month. Next month…whatever I feel like
doing!
Randomizer, out.
