The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia remembers the late Christopher Lee ("The Man with the Golden Gun") on the anniversary of his birth.
The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia presents This Day in James Bond Movie History, remembering the late actor and movie icon Christopher Lee on the anniversary of his birth in 1922. Lee portrayed Scaramanga, the million-dollar-a-hit assassin opposite Roger Moore in “The Man with the Golden Gun.” An actual cousin of 007 author Ian Fleming, Lee (1922-2015) was destined to find his way into the series, but his portrayal was atypical for him. Having made his mark in cinema as a series of monstrous villains, from Dracula to Frankenstein, The Mummy, Fu Manchu, and more, Lee was given a huge boon by director Guy Hamilton to plays his Bond villain as the opposite of monstrous. Scaramanga is a cool cat who dresses in comfortable sportswear, enjoys fine wines, sleeps with the gorgeous Andrea Anders (Maud Adams) and really enjoys his work. He lives on a stunningly beautiful island off the coast of China (actually Thailand) and is a formidable adversary for Bond. In press reports for years, Lee lauded Hamilton for “getting the spook out of me.” In keeping with his quest for against-type roles, six years later, Lee played a gay motorcycle gang leader in the comedy “Serial.” However, his forte was always playing the baddie – and he returned to those roots for a new generation of filmgoers, as Count Dooku in “Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith” and Saruman the Wizard in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” So let’s raise a glass of fine Cabernet to a brilliant actor whose place in the pantheon of great Bond villains is assured for eternity. Happy Celestial Birthday, Chris. Stay Safe Everyone.