British actor Christopher Lee worked in 150 films during his career, and played cult favorites like “Dracula.”
He’s also is the most inspirational of 2015 due to his contributions to end animal testing and child poverty. Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was an accomplished English actor and humanitarian. He known for his work in “Count Dracula,”“Lord of the Rings,” Star Wars: Episode II,” Sleepy Hollow,” “The Hobbit” (Saruman) and “Jinnah.” Lee’s last project was “Deus Ex Machina 2” as the narrator (2015). Lee received numerous awards, including being knighted in 2009 for his work with charities and film career.
The accomplished actor died on June 7, 2015 in London at the age of 93 from heart failure. Lee was born to Countess Estelle Mar and Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Trollope Lee in London the spring of 1922. His parents would divorce while he was four, but his mother continued to make sure he was given a proper education. Lee spoke Spanish, Greek, Italian and German. Lee acted in plays as young as nine after attending Miss Fisher's Academy to play in Brothers Grimm’s Rumpelstilzchen.
By 1939 he fought during World War II. He spoke about playing in horror films, and seeing dreadful things.
“When the Second World War finished, I was 23, and already I had seen enough horror to last me a lifetime. I'd seen dreadful, dreadful things, without saying a word. So seeing horror depicted on film doesn't affect me much.” By 1948 Lee was hired for the role of Charles the British drams 1948—“Corridor of Mirrors,” and also played many small roles until “Dracula.” .
“We don't always get the kind of work we want, but we always have a choice of whether to do it with good grace or not,” he said. "One thing to me is very important, if you're playing somebody that the audience regards as, let's say evil, try to do something they don't expect, something that surprises the audience," he said about playing a villain.
In reality, Lee was not a villain-- he cared about ending animal testing, giving a lot of his wealth to stop it.
He also felt that children should not starve death and to lend his notoriety as a platform to fight hunger.
Lee worked with UNICEF, and “UNICEF’s Child Survival Campaign worked to alleviate the basic causes of death, including common childhood diseases such as pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, malaria and measles,” Look to the Stars reported, which shares charities celebrities are involved in.
“What's really important for me is, as an old man, I'm known by my own generation and the next generation knows me, too,” Lee said.
Lee would work in 150 films during his career
