Christopher Lee, horror master and renowned film villain, dies at 93

Christopher Lee , the British actor who mastered horror roles  before  his turns as a James Bond villian and the wizard Saeuman in "The Lord of  the Tings"  trilogy died  Sunday , June 7 , a London borough spokeman said . The  actor  was  93.

Lee, pictures in 1948 , initially  made  a name  for  himself in British horre  films . His  career  spanned  nearly seven decades .

Lee plays  a monster in the 1957 film  "The Curse of Frankenstein" with Peter Cushing and  Robert Urquhart.

In 1958 , Lee first plays  the  vampire  Count Dracula in "Horror of Dracula.'

In 1958 , Lee first plays  the  vampire  Count Dracula in "Horror of Dracula.'

Lee stars in 1966's 'The Brides of Fu Manchu."

Lee , second from left , stands by as  queen Elizabeth II greets  French actress Catherine  Deneuve  in 1966.  Also present  , from lef , are  Ursula Andress ,Woody Allen and  Raquel Welch . Lee as  named a knigh of the British Empire  in 2009 .

Lee plays Lord Summerisle in 1973 in the  horror cult  classic "The Wicker Man."

In 1974 , Lee takes on the role  of Bond Villain Francisco Scaramanga in 'The  Man With The Golden Gun."

Lee appears  with his wife , Gitte , in Los Angeles , circa 1985 .

Lee tries to throw a gremlin off his  arm in the 1990 film  ''Gremlins 2; The  New Batch."

Lee plays  the  evil Saruman in 2001's  " The Lord of the Rings: The  Fellowship of the  ring."

In 2002 , Lee plays  Count Dooku , also known as Darth  Tyranus , in "Star Wars Episode ll ; Attack of he  CLONES .''

Johnny Depp greets Lee at the  London premiere of '' Alice in Wonderland . Lee voiced Jabberwocky in  the  Tim buron film .

Director Tim Burton  presents Lee with the  Academy Fellowship , a lifetime achievement award  , at the  British Academy film Awards in 2011 .

Christopher Lee, the actor, was often the villain.

He played Dracula, the bad guy in the James Bond thriller "The Man with the Golden Gun," the deliciously evil wizard Saruman in the "Lord of the Ring" films, and the dude who fought Yoda with a lightsaber in "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones."

But Sir Christopher Lee, the man, who died this week at the age of 93? Not an ounce of villain to be found, fans and fellow actors alike said Thursday.

"You were an icon, and a towering human being with stories for days," "Lord of the Rings" co-star Elijah Wood tweeted Thursday. "We'll miss you."

Lee died Sunday, a spokesman for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea said.

He had more than 150 film credits to his name, beginning in 1948 and stretching into this decade.

Lee initially made his name in horror films. His first major horror role was as Frankenstein's creature and then the infamous vampire Dracula in a series films for Britain's Hammer Films studios from the 1950s until the 1970s.

He was often quoted as saying he had to be talked into playing in some of the Dracula films. He said he played the character silently in one film -- 1965's "House of Horrors" -- because the lines were so bad.

Later, he took on the role of James Bond's nemesis Francisco Scaramanga in 1974's "The Man with the Golden Gun," and was introduced to a new generation of film-goers in 2001 with "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring."

In it, he played the evil wizard Saruman, former mentor to Gandalf -- the good-guy wizard's role Lee said he once coveted but had grown too old to play.

The next year, he entered the "Star Wars" universe as the fallen Jedi knight, Count Dooku, in the "Star Wars: The Clone Wars."

Both series brought him renewed fame and acclaim, but for Lee, two roles always stood out: His 1973 turn as Lord Summerisle in the cult classic "The Wicker Man," and his portrayal of the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, in the 1998 film, "Jinnah."

"The most important thing I've ever done," he said in a 2011 forum at the University College Dublin.

Lee was knighted in 2009 -- fittingly on the day before Halloween -- for his accomplishments in the arts. Two years later, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awarded Lee its highest honor, the Academy Fellowship.

BAFTA CEO Amanda Berry expressed sorrow Thursday at the passing of Lee, whom she called a "truly talented and versatile actor."

"His biography, and therefore his legacy, is one that many in the film industry can only dream of," Berry said.

In 2011, Lee said that he always wanted to bring something unexpected to his roles.

"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.

In his last few years, he did just that for many fans: he turned to a heavy metal career, releasing the holiday albums "A Heavy Metal Christmas" and "A Heavy Metal Christmas Too" in 2012 and 2013 -- endearing himself to yet another group of fans, many of whom reacted to the news of his death with an outpouring of celebration and sadness.

"The great, always criminally underrated Sir Christopher Lee has left us," actor Mark Gatiss wrote on Twitter. "A Titan of Cinema and a huge part of my youth. Farewell."

In remembrance of  Sir Christopher  Lee ....

RIP  ....The  PICs