Christopher Lee's 10 Most Memorable Sci-Fi And Fantasy Roles
7. Sherlock Holmes (And His Brother)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqKfZFa_dC8Christopher Lee's first encounter with the world of Sherlock Holmes came in 1959 when he played Sir Henry in The Hound of the Baskervilles. But he soon got to play the Great Detective himself in 1962's Sherlock Holmes And The Deadly Necklace, battling Professor Moriarty for possession of Cleopatra's jewellery.
Lee's association with Holmes didn't end there, though. He returned to the fog-shrouded streets of Victorian London in 1970 to play Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, in The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes, a tale that, rather bizarrely, saw Robert Stephen's consulting detective face off against the Loch Ness monster.
That still wasn't the end, though. Lee returned as Sherlock in 1991, starring in the TV movie Sherlock Holmes And The Leading Lady, alongside old friend Patrick Macnee as Dr Watson. The pair returned the following year for The Incident At Victoria Falls, with a trailer that understandably labelled Macnee as the star of The Avengers but which unbelievably described Lee as the guy from Gremlins 2. It would seem that Lee no longer had to fear typecasting as a horror star by this stage of his career.
Looking on the bright side, not many actors can claim to have played Sherlock for 30 years. Benedict Cumberbatch can only hope for such longevity in the part!