After his discharge from the Royal Air Force, Christopher Lee could see returning to his job as a switchboard operator at Beecham Pharmaceutical. Instead, he thought about the few stage roles he had in school productions and decided to pursue a career as an actor. After discouraging meetings with several producers, including one who told the young Christopher that he was “too tall” to be an actor, he was signed to a seven-year contract with the Rank Organization, a huge British film conglomeration headed by the respected Arthur Rank.

Christopher plugged along in countless stock action roles alongside such screen greats as Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Buster Keaton and Laurence Olivier. In 1957, he made his first of many films for the fledgling British studio Hammer Films. He starred as the monster to Peter Cushing’s “Dr. Victor Frankenstein.” in The Curse of Frankenstein. Christopher has met Cushing while at Rank and the two became frequent co-stars and lifelong friends. This was Hammer’s first color film and its first entry into its Frankenstein series. It was an unqualified success and kicked off Hammer’s reign as the “goriest” film studio in the horror genre. Christopher enjoyed a twenty-year run with Hammer.

In the middle 1970s, Christopher explored other genres, including action, drama and science fiction, although new never strayed far from horror. Once he moved to Hollywood, he took roles in mainstream films, working with Disney as a villain in 1978’s Return from Witch Mountain. He showed a lighter side to contrast his screen persona by hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live. Earlier he had turned down the role of “Dr. Barry Rumack” in the disaster spoof Airplane!, a decision he later regretted. (The part went to Leslie Nielsen.)

Christopher entered film history as part of two of the biggest and most beloved franchises — The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars properties. His friend Peter Cushing appeared in the first entry in the Star Wars canon, “A New Hope.” In 1999, he made his first of five appearances in films by director Tim Burton.

Christopher branched out to an unusual side project. In 2010, he released his first heavy metal album, after a few dalliances into music. He release three collections of covers, including one to acknowledge his 92nd birthday. He was also featured on the debut album by supergroup Hollywood Vampires.

Christopher passed away on June 7, 2015 just after his 93rd birthday. However, the news was not made public by his family until four days later. He was also honored at the 88th Academy Awards in February 2016 in the annual “In Memoriam” segment.

Comments

comments

According to his son David, John Carradine saw a production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice when he was 11 years-old and decided that acting was the career for him. He went on to become one of the most prolific and indispensable character actors in movie history. In addition to Westerns and Shakespearean drama, John appeared in numerous horror films throughout his six-decade career. He claimed to have auditioned for director James Whale for the role of the monster in the original Frankenstein. While this claim is unsubstantiated, he did have a small role in its sequel The Bride of Frankenstein in 1935.

John passed away in 1988 at the age of 82. His children and grandchildren carry on the family acting mantle.

Comments

comments

Creighton Chaney changed his name to the more familiar “Lon Jr.” to, no doubt, cash in on his father‘s popularity. Actually, Lon Jr. was discouraged by his father from entering the field of acting and didn’t do so until after his father’s death.

He was best remembered for his role in the 1941 Universal horror film The Wolf Man and its sequels. He portrayed troubled “Larry Talbot” in nearly every incarnation of the character, even after the character was seemingly killed in some films. Although he was closely associated with the Wolf Man character, he is the only actor the portray all of the top Universal monsters – Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Wolf Man and The Mummy.

Working decidedly outside of his genre, Lon Jr, received critical acclaim for his role of the gentle giant “Lennie Small” in the stage production of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. He reprised the role in the film version.

Lon Jr. worked into the early 1970s with a slew of low-budget films like the infamous Spider Baby and guest roles in TV series like The Rifleman, Route 66 and even The Monkees. He passed away in 1973 at the age of 67. As per his wishes, his body was donated to medical research.

Comments

comments