Spooky Season Dracula Actors # 3: Sir Christopher Lee

BLOOD AND GUTS COUNT

Number four in my actors who have played Dracula series, is the immortal and much beloved Sir Christopher Lee. He was the second actor I saw playing Dracula at a tender age, after Bela Lugosi, and my love for him was cemented instantly.

He was tall, dark and handsome with a commanding presence. He played Dracula 7 times for Hammer films between 1958 and 1973. He also played Count Dracula in foreign productions. The stereotype of the count —tall with black, widow's peak hair and a red-lined black cloak was not mentioned in the book. This was the image created by Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee.

Like Frank Langella, Christopher Lee also sexed up the count, with film historian Tim Stanley stating:

"Lee's sensuality was subversive in that it hinted that women might quite like having their neck chewed on by a stud".

He has some great deaths in the Hammer films - exposed to sunlight by Peter Cushing ripping the curtains down, drowning in the ice of his moat, and impaled on a cross.

Hammer films were campy fun filled with lashings of fake blood and hold a special place in my heart, as does Sir Christopher Lee, R.I.P.

The cloak worn by Christopher Lee as Dracula for Hammer films