He will turn 89 this year but
Sir. Christopher Lee is still working in Hollywood's biggest productions (he's in Scorsese's Hugo Cabaret, and health permitting, a reprisal of Saruman for Peter Jackson's Hobbit) and this Sunday he will be honored by his peers with an 'Academy Fellowship' at the Orange BAFTA Ceremony, taking place at London's Royal Opera House. The award is given out annually and is recognised as the highest U.K. film accolade, given out "in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film" and he joins legends like Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Sean Connery, Stanley Kubrick and the recently departed John Barry, in this hall of fame. Last year's recipient was Vanessa Redgrave. Having starred in nearly 200 films and forging out some of the best known villains in Hollywood (Dracula, Man With The Golden Gun, Saruman) and always pushing the limits of an actor, even in the silliest feature, the award is clearly well deserved and has been a long time coming. Lee's current awards cabinet is sadly bare (no Oscar or BAFTA nom to speak of, despite his stunning career) and of course, the awarding of Lee basically now means I have a reason to watch the BAFTA's this Sunday as they self-congratulate all Brit films as if nothing else was made in the last 12 months. At least, I guess, in The King's Speech they may have an argument for a change!