Christopher Lee: readers' tributes and memories

As a child, the Hammer Horror films were my first introduction to Sir Christopher Lee. The voice, the on screen presence always stayed with me. Subtle, yet terrifying performance in 'The Wicker Man.' Fabulous performance in 'Jinnah.' As a Tolkien fan, Lee was Saruman. Never understood why he didn't receive more credit for his career until late in life. Wonderful advocate for human rights and, of course, a WWII veteran. A life truly well lived. RIP.

Farewell from Greece. I still remember the… epic fights I had, as a boy, with my mother, back in the ‘80s, when I could not come to terms with the idea that I would be deprived of the delight to watch him incarnate Count Dracula, at the role of whom he was iconic –even better than Bela Lugosi, in my opinion. I still remember the line I had read in a magazine about him: ‘more Dracula than Count Dracula himself’. Sir Cristopher Lee belonged in a very rare and admirable breed of British people, tending to go extinct, which combined intellect with action, quest with adventure, artistry with courage and bravery, embodying in an identical way the ancient-Greek dictum: ‘healthy mind in a healthy body’. He was a charismatic performer, both an actor and a singer, a philanthropist, and, at the same time, a warrior, fighting for the ideals of freedom and democracy as a R.A.F. pilot and as an S.A.S. member during World War II. Another ‘great’ belonging in the same breed was Patrick Lee Fermor, the legendary kidnapper of general Kreipe and renowned writer, who honored Greece with his presence for a long period of time and who lived in Mani, the place I come from. Dienekes

One of the first memories I had of the great man on hearing the sad news today was of his wonderful website/fan club run by his daughter. In the days before widespread broadband this was ahead of its time, with live webcam chats with the great man and a wonderful fan forum. Items signed by Sir Christopher were also available if I recall correctly. RIP

We’d seen him gliding through the hallways of the Sofitel, even had lunch with him. Now, as the elevator doors slid open, there he stood, incredibly tall, elegant in a long overcoat with that imposing stare. Lance and I stepped in; the doors closed and silently went upwards. Finally, I couldn’t help it. I turned to him and nervously croaked, “Mr. Lee, you and those movies… are partly the reason I became a filmmaker.” Towering above me, he studied me carefully before shaking my hand and replied with that Edwardian voice, “Well, you seem to have turned out alright.” Then he smiled. Behind him, Amanda Plummer and Robert Forster contained their giggles. Later, Amanda told me that they were laughing because they too had wanted to express their fandom but didn’t have the nerve to do so. The only thing missing was a fog machine. Otherwise, a perfect meeting, a perfect memory.

A music lover < I met him when he came to the L.A.record store where I was working and it was easy to start a conversation - about music of course. A few years later on when I worked in London he would come by and at that time he had a recording of the narration of Stravinsky's 'A Soldiers Tale' and he agreed to do an in-store record signing (it was on a Friday the 13th!). Well this signing went on for about 2 hours to huge crowds. Luckily his manager had thoughtfully brought along a stack of 8 x 10 glossies as we sold only about 3 CD's of his recording so he had something to sign. But he was gratified at the outpouring of affection of his fans and I know he enjoyed himself. After it was over he told me that he thought there would only be "Two kids and a dog" showing up. I met him a few other times and I found Mr. Lee to be warm, open, friendly, gracious, very intelligent and a gentleman in every sense of the word. I think there are many others who feel the same. Oh and he was a good actor too.

I worked for BAFTA in the same year that Sir Christopher Lee was awarded fellowship, and had the privilege of directly speaking with Sir Christopher in taking his votes for the BAFTA Film Awards that year. Over several conversations he opened up; speaking with great enthusiasm about his work for Unicef, as well as his acting career. So yes, I know what Sir Christopher's favorite film of 2011 is, but technically i'm not supposed to tell.... An absolute privilege to speak with you Sir Christopher - conversations I will never forget. Andy Stephens

Had the pleasure of meeting Sir Christopher on a Baltic Cruise, several years ago where he discussed the film industry and his career in general. A truly extraordinary gentleman - a great loss to humanity

a Saturday night guilty pleasure on our unaffiliated station in Fort Worth, TX, introduced me to Lee's early work back in the 60s. Vile TV dinners, the crawl announcing tornadoes to the west, severe lack of air conditioning: nothing mattered when he was on. My mom expressed admiration; my dad glared. Thank you for doing what you did, and doing it well.

The moment that Christopher Lee, taking the role of Willie Wonka's father, realises his son is before him, and says "you´ve never flossed", is one of my favourite cinema moments. The realisation of the errors of parenthood, and the distancing, and coming back. What a beautiful, tender moment. Christopher Lee has left us far, far more than Dracula.

As Olwen, Robin's magical mentor, Christopher Lee brought a touch of class to our capers in the Lithuanian forests. A gentleman and a scholar. He played another wizard later but we were lucky to get him first.

Feel like I lost a dark, crazy grandfather today. From first seeing him as the Hammer Dracula when I was in 4th grade Sir Christopher has always been part of my geek life. His roles were legendary, Bond villain, a star wars Sith lord, Saruman (a role played with the richness of a Tolkien devotee), pagan aristocrats and of course, in his most memorable portrayal( which to my mind is eve more iconic than Lugosi) , the original Super villain, Dracula. His off screen life was almost as legendary as his onscreen lives. Descendant of European aristocrats , son of a British war hero, secret service officer during WWII,( when he hunted nazi war criminals, acting well into his nineties and finally starting a symphonic metal career in his eighties. In an era of cheap celebrity he was an actor who believed and lived for his craft, not for the notoriety it could bring him, a true gentleman, and one of the last of his breed. Obviously his passing is not shocking, and he lived a full and good life but to quote Tolkien "Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil." Knowing Sir Christopher is gone, taking a great deal of his dark enchantment with him, leaving the world an emptier, smaller place, is I think a good reason for a tear. I'll leave the final words to a certain Dutch metaphysician from over a century ago. He is clearly speaking of both Sir Christopher's greatest role as well as the actor himsel : "was he no common man; for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the ‘land beyond the forest.’ That mighty brain and that iron resolution went with him to his grave"