Vincent Price and Christopher Lee were born on the same day (27th May) and Peter Cushing was born on the 26th.
A distant cousin and frequent golfing partner of Bond creator Ian Fleming, Lee was the author's personal pick for the role of Dr. No (1962) in the first 007 film. The part, of course, went to actor Joseph Wiseman, who was brilliant. However, fans of the literary Bond might want to check out Lee's portrayal of Chinese master criminal Fu Manchu, for an idea of how Ian Fleming himself envisioned Dr. No.
A stunt double performed the stunts and lightsaber fights in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). Lee's face was imposed on the double's body. Lee mentioned that in the last 40 years, he has done more swordfights than any other actor, but "not anymore".
According to his friend Norman Lloyd, he has a somewhat eccentric hobby: he is fascinated by public executioners and knows the names of every official executioner England has had since the middle of the 15th century.
According to his official website: He speaks French, Italian, Spanish and German and can "get along" in Swedish, Russian and Greek.
Along with Patrick Macnee, he is one of only two surviving cast members of Sir Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948).
Although he and Peter Cushing were often mortal enemies on-screen, off screen they were inseparable friends.
Although he has been in well over 200 films, he has very rarely played a hero, having been a villain in perhaps about 85% of his films (even his bit parts lean towards the unsympathetic).
Appears on the album cover "Band on the Run", performed by Paul McCartney's band 'Wings'.
As a veritable J.R.R. Tolkien expert and the only member of the cast who had met Tolkien himself, he often visited the Production department on the sets of the various "Lord of the Rings" movies to give advice and tips on the various attributes of the films.
As Darth Tyranus, he plays the first Sith apprentice to act in both body and voice.
At 6 feet 5 inches, he is entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as "The Tallest Leading Actor".
At age 77, he confirmed that he has lost an inch of height and is now 6' 4".
Both he and his fellow Star Wars Sith Lord, David Prowse, have played Frankenstein's Monster opposite Peter Cushing.
Classically trained singer.
Dubbed "King Haggard" in the German version of The Last Unicorn (1982) for no fee, out of love for the film.
During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Air Force and in British Intelligence.
Early in his career, Lee dubbed foreign films into English and other languages including Jacques Tat's "Mr. Hulot's Holiday." Sometimes he dubbed all the voices including women's parts. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., recalled that Lee could do any kind of accent: "foreign, domestic, North, South, Middle, young, old, everything. He's a great character actor".
From an acting dynasty, his great-grandparents founded the first Australian opera company.
Has played a staggering amount of Victorian characters. He played Count Dracula ten times, Dr. Fu Manchu five times, Sherlock Holmes three times, Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock's brother) once and Sir Henry Baskerville (a friend of Holmes) once. He also appeared in The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960) and I, Monster (1971), adaptations of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", among others.