Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Lee Huan 李煥
Nationality
Order	Premier of the Republic of China
Term start	1989
Term end	1990
Predecessor	Yu Kuo-hwa
Successor	Hau Pei-tsun
Birth date	September 24, 1917
Birth place	Hankou, Hubei, China
Death date	December 02, 2010
Death place	Taipei, Taiwan
Spouse	Pan Hsing-ning (潘香凝)
Children	Lee Ching-chung (李慶中)Lee Ching-chu (李慶珠)Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) Diane Lee (李慶安)
Party	Kuomintang (KMT) }}

Lee Huan (; September 24, 1917 December 2, 2010) was a politician in the Republic of China. He was Premier of the Republic of China from 1989 to 1990, serving for one year under former President Lee Teng-hui. He was the father of current KMT legislators Lee Ching-hua and Diane Lee. He was born in Hankou, Hubei.

Early life and education

He received his Bachelor of Laws at Fudan University and his Master of Arts in education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Lee also received an honorary doctorate from Dongguk University in South Korea.

Political career

In 1972, Lee Huan was appointed as Director General of the Department of Organization for the Kuomintang (KMT) when Chiang Ching-kuo was Premier. In 1976, then-Premier Chiang Ching-kuo instructed Lee Huan to select several dozen young party leaders for the highest level cadre training program at the party school. Among the 60 individuals chosen for the training, half were Taiwanese, including Lien Chan (a member of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee member and Minister of Foreign Affairs), Wu Po-hsiung (a CSC member and Mayor of Taipei), Shih Ch’iyang (a CSC member and Vice Premier). This opening of the KMT’s cadre program was an unprecedented opening for native Taiwanese, and was an important step in Chiang Ching-kuo’s program of loosening mainlander control of the KMT by integrating native Taiwanese into its leadership.

In 1977, several thousand anti-KMT demonstrators led by Hsu Hsin-liang rallied in the town of Chung-li to protest the use of paper ballots in the upcoming elections, for fear that the KMT would use the ballots to rig the election. When the protesters realized that the KMT had likely carried out the fraud that they had feared, they rioted, ultimately burning down the Chung-li police station. The riot – the first such large-scale protest in Taiwan since 1947 – was subsequently called the Zhongli incident. Taking responsibility for the incident, Lee Huan tendered his resignation, offering no other explanation than to state "The election in 1977 didn't meet my expectations, so I resigned."

After his resignation, he became the president of CTV until 1979. That year he became president of National Sun Yat-sen University. In 1984, he was appointed Minister of Education. In his three years as Education Minister, he abolished restrictions on students' hair length, enabled the establishment of private colleges, established a college of physical education, increased scholarships for graduate students, and established the University Publications Committee.

KMT Secretary General

Chiang Ching-kuo ascended to the presidency in 1978, and in July 1987, he tapped his old confidante Lee Huan to be the KMT’s new Secretary-General. Chiang told Lee that he had three goals he would like Lee to fulfill: reform the KMT, move the ROC towards democracy, and move the ROC towards reunification. In a speech to the KMT’s Kaohsiung headquarters in September 1987, Lee declared that the KMT’s goal was no longer to replace the communist party ruling mainland China, but rather to "push for democracy, freedom of the press, and an open economy in the mainland so as to rid China of Communism and to move it toward a democratic modern state." Many in the KMT’s right-wing claimed the speech betrayed the party’s historic commitment to destroy the communists; Chiang countered by instructing Lee to publish the entire speech in the party’s official journal.

Premiership

Chiang Ching-kuo died on January 13, 1988 and Vice President Lee Teng-hui immediately stepped in and ascended to the presidency. The "Palace Faction" of the KMT, a group of conservative mainlanders headed by General Hau Pei-tsun, Premier Yu Kuo-hwa, and Lee Huan sought to block President Lee's accession to the KMT chairmanship and sideline him as a figurehead. With the help of James Soong – himself a member of the Palace Faction – who quieted the hardliners with the famous plea "Each day of delay is a day of disrespect to Ching-kuo," Lee was allowed to ascend to the chairmanship unobstructed. At the KMT party congress of July 1988, Lee named 31 members of the Central Committee, 16 of whom were native Taiwanese: for the first time, the native Taiwanese held a majority in what was then a powerful policy-making body.

Yu Kuo-hwa retired as premier in 1989, and President Lee named Lee Huan to replace him. However, only one year later, Lee was forced out in favor of Hau Pei-tsun, likely due to strong disagreements between President Lee and Lee Huan on policy and the direction of the democratization of Taiwan.

Despite being forced from office, conservative leaders within the KMT such as Lee Huan, Premier Hau, Judicial Yuan President Lin Yang-kang, and the second son of Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Wei-kuo, formed a bloc (called the “Non-mainstream faction”) to oppose those who followed President Lee (the "Mainstream faction").

Lee died at the Veterans' General Hospital in Taipei on December 2, 2010.

See also

Politics of the Republic of China

Elections in the Republic of China

History of the Republic of China

Administrative divisions of the Republic of China

Political status of Taiwan

Notes

References

.

External links

Kuomintang Official Website

|-

Category:1917 births Category:2010 deaths Category:People from Wuhan Category:Premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan Category:Dankook University alumni Category:deaths from heart failure Category:Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan Category:Senior Advisors to President Lee Teng-hui Category:Taiwanese Ministers of Education Category:Republic of China politicians from Hubei

ko:리환 no:Lee Huan pt:Lee Huan ru:Ли Хуань sv:Lee Huan zh:李煥

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Tōwa Tei
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
born	Yokohama, Japan
instrument	Keyboards
genre	Shibuya-keiElectronicaDanceHouse
occupation	Music producerDisc jockey
label	Elektra Records
associated acts	Deee-Lite
website	http://www.towatei.com/ }}

is a DJ, Artist and Record Producer from Japan.

Tōwa debuted as a member of Deee-Lite, from the U.S. label Elektra Records in 1990, and shot to fame via their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart". His solo was with his album ''Future Listening!'' in 1994 and he has since relocated back from New York to rural Nagano prefecture in Japan

His concept party, "Hotel H", started in 2009 as a social spot for music industry people in Tokyo.

Biography

Towa began making demo tapes at the age of 16 having bought his first synthesizer, a Korg MS-10. While studying at Musashino Art University Junior College of Art and Design he sent his tape to a radio program of Ryuichi Sakamoto titled "Sound Street".

In 1987 Towa moved to the US to study graphic design and joined house act Deee-Lite, a trio with Super DJ Dmitri and Lady Miss Kier, enjoying almost instant success after debuting in 1990 with their album ''World Clique'' and the single "Groove Is In the Heart".

In 1994 Towa returned to Japan after seven years in New York. He hinted in a 2011 interview that his time with Deee-Lite made him ill, though he didn't expand on the reasons why. Towa debuted as a solo act with Future Listening! that same year, incorporating an array of musical styles, including electronic, bossa nova, house, jazz and pop. It featured collaborations with Joi Cardwell, Bebel Gilberto, MC Kinky, Hiroshi Takano, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono, Toshihiko Mori, Satoshi Tomiie, Yuichi Oki of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra and Pizzicato Five vocalist Maki Nomiya.

Sound Museum followed in 1997, then Last Century Modern in 1999. 2002 brought the album Towa Tei, under the pseudonym Sweet Robots Against the Machine. Flash surfaced in 2005 by which time Towa was DJing regularly in Japan. He has admitted though, that he doesn't enjoy performing and prefers producing and using computers.

Big Fun, featuring Verbal and Mademoiselle Yulia was released in 2009 and was the third album to feature the artwork of San Franciscan painter and graffiti artist Barry McGee.. For the album, Towa utilized MySpace to collaborate with artists from around the world even if he didn't know them, such as with German act Taprikk Sweezee. Another collaborator he worked with for Big Fun was Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto, though they also only met on MySpace.

Towa has also established his own creative company, hug inc, which among other things, manufacturers his trademark sunglasses.

Discography

Studio albums

1995 ''Future Listening!''

1998 ''Sound Museum''

1999 ''Last Century Modern''

2002 ''Tōwa Tei'' (as Sweet Robots Against the Machine)

2005 ''Flash''

2009 ''Big Fun''

2011 ''Sunny''

DJ compilation albums

2004 ''Motivation-Songs for Make Up''

2004 ''Motivation-Driving Sweets''

2005 ''Motivation3''

2005 ''Motivation4 -Dusty Dance Halls''

2007 ''Motivation Five''

2008 ''Motivation 7''

Singles and EPs

1995 "Technova"

1995 "Luv Connection"

1997

1997 "Intro"

1998 "GBI: German Bold Italic" feat. Kylie Minogue - UK #63

1998 "Butterfly" feat. Ayumi Tanabe

1999 "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)"

1999 "A Ring"

1999 "Let Me Know" feat. Chara

2000 feat. Ikuko Harada (Clammbon)

2001 "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" (re-release)

2005 "Sometime Samurai" feat. Kylie Minogue

2006

2008 "N705i"

Digital singles

2008 "A.O.R." feat. Lina Ohta

2009 "Mind Wall" feat. Miho Hatori

2009 "Taste of You" feat. Taprikk Sweezee

2009 "Taste of You" (Zickzack Remix) (BIG FUN Remix)

2009 "Lyricist" (ajapai Remix) (BIG FUN Remix)

2009 "Taste of You" (Michael Fakesch Remix) (BIG FUN Remix)

2009 "Mind Wall" (SO TT Remix) (BIG FUN Remix)

2009 "Taste of You" (Atom TM Remix) (BIG FUN Remix)

Remix albums

1994 ''Future Recall!''

1995 ''Future Recall 2''

1997 ''Stupid Fresh''

2000 ''Lost Control Mix''

2000 ''Lost Control Mix 2''

2003 ''Re: Tōwa Tei'' (as Sweet Robots Against the Machine)

2006 ''Flasher''

Compilation albums

2002 Tōwa Tei / Best

2003 ''Best Korea'' (Korea only)

References

External links

Official TOWA TEI Website

Official TOWA TEI Myspace

Official TOWA TEI Twitter

Category:1964 births Category:Dance musicians Category:DJs Category:Electronic musicians Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Tokyo Category:Remixers Category:Shibuya-kei musicians Category:Zainichi Korean people

de:Towa Tei fr:Towa Tei ko:토와 테이 ja:テイ・トウワ ru:Тэй, Това sv:Towa Tei

Li Yixing was Dingnan Jiedushi (regional military commander) (935-967) during the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.

Category:Tang Dynasty Jiedushi of Dingnan Circuit Category:Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Jiedushi

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
hangul	이준
hanja	李儁
mr	I Chun
rr	I Jun }}

Yi Jun (Bukcheong, December 18, 1859 – The Hague, July 14, 1907) was a Korean judge and diplomat.

Yi Jun was born in Bukcheong (북청) in the province of South Hamgyong and later worked as a judge in Seoul. In 1907 he and his compatriots Yi Sang-seol and Yi Wi-jong were delegated by Emperor Gojong to attend the Second Hague Peace Conference in The Hague. He was commissioned to announce to the international community that Korea was an independent state and that the Japanese invasion was unlawful. The trio traveled for two months on the Trans-Siberian Railway to The Hague.

The Korean delegation was not officially invited, although the Netherlands is initially had planned. However, the Japanese government was able to step in and succeeded in convincing the other delegates of the conference to not let Korea participate. A few days after Yi Jun protested against the decision, he was found dead in his room at the Hotel De Jong Wagenstraat Hague. His cause of death is unknown, but in South Korea it is assumed that he committed suicide due to the rejection by the international community. In time, however, Japanese newspapers suggested that he was killed by Japanese spies.

The mission had already failed. However, the three Koreans succeeded in receiving worldwide attention due to a press conference and receiving attention in an independent newspaper which covered the Peace Conference. The direct result of their mission was that the Korean Emperor, Gojong forced to resign in favor of his son Sunjong.

Yi was buried at Old Oak and Dunes in The Hague. His remains were exhumed on September 26, 1963 and transferred to South Korea and there solemnly reburied.

The former hotel De Jong, where Yi died, since 1995 the ''Yi Jun Peace Museum'' established a private museum in memory of Yi Jun and the promotion of peace. The museum was founded by a South Korean businessman Lee Kee-Hang and his wife Song Chang-ju.

Reference

See also

Hague Secret Emissary Affair

Category:Joseon Dynasty people

ko:이준 nl:Yi Jun

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Sir Christopher Lee
birth date	May 27, 1922
birth place	Belgravia, Westminster, England
nationality	British
alma mater	Wellington College
occupation	Actor, author, singer
years active	1948–present
spouse
parents	Geoffrey Trollope Lee (father)Estelle Marie Lee (mother)
website	http://www.christopherleeweb.com/ }}

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ (born 27 May 1922) He is well known for his deep, strong voice and imposing height.

Lee has performed roles in 274 films since 1948 making him the Guinness book world record holder for most film acting roles ever. He was knighted in 2009 and received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011.

Early life

Lee was born in Belgravia, Westminster, as the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Trollope Lee, of the 60th King's Royal Rifle Corps, and his wife, Contessa Estelle Marie (née Carandini di Sarzano). Lee's mother was a famous Edwardian beauty who was painted by Sir John Lavery as well as by Oswald Birley and Olive Snell, and sculpted by Clare F. Sheridan. Lee's maternal great-grandfather was an Italian political refugee, and his great-grandmother was English-born Australian singer Marie Carandini.

His parents separated when he was very young, and his mother took him and his sister to Switzerland. After enrolling in Miss Fisher's Academy in Wengen, he played his first villainous role as Rumpelstiltskin. The family returned to London, where Lee attended Wagner's private school. His mother then married Harcourt "Ingle" Rose, a banker and stepcousin of Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels. Lee applied unsuccessfully for a scholarship to Eton although the interview was to prove portentous because of the presence of the noted ghost story author M. R. James. Lee later claimed in his autobiography that James had cut a very impressive figure; sixty years later Lee played the part of M.R. James for the BBC.

Instead, Lee attended Wellington College, where he won scholarships in classics.

Involvement in World War II

Lee volunteered to fight for the Finnish forces during the Winter War against the Soviet Union in 1939; however, he along with other British volunteers were kept away from actual fighting, although he was issued winter gear and was posted on guard duty a safe distance from the frontlines. He went on to serve in the Royal Air Force and intelligence services during World War II, including serving as an Intelligence officer with the Long Range Desert Group. He trained in South Africa as a pilot, but eyesight problems forced him to drop out. He eventually ended up in North Africa as Cipher Officer for No. 260 Squadron RAF and was with it through Sicily and Italy. Additionally, he has mentioned (including in his audio commentary on the Lord of the Rings DVD) serving in Special Operations Executive. Lee retired from the RAF after the end of the War with the rank of Flight Lieutenant.

Early career

In 1946, Lee gained a seven-year contract with the Rank Organisation after discussing his interest in acting with his mother's second cousin Nicolò Carandini, the Italian Ambassador. Carandini related to Lee that performance was in his blood, as his great-grandmother Marie Carandini had been a successful opera singer, a fact of which Lee was unaware. He made his film debut in Terence Young's Gothic romance ''Corridor of Mirrors'' in 1947.

Also in 1947, Lee made an uncredited appearance in Laurence Olivier's film version of ''Hamlet'' as a spear carrier (marking his first film with frequent co-star and close friend Peter Cushing, who played Osric). Throughout the next decade, he made nearly 30 films, playing mostly stock action characters.

Lee's first film for Hammer was ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957), in which he played Frankenstein's monster, with Cushing as the Baron. A little later, Lee co-starred with Boris Karloff in the film ''Corridors of Blood'' (1958), but Lee's own appearance as Frankenstein's monster also led to his first appearance as the Transylvanian vampire in the 1958 film ''Dracula'' (known as ''Horror of Dracula'' in the US).

Stories vary as to why Lee did not feature in the 1960 sequel ''The Brides of Dracula''. Some state that Hammer was unwilling to pay Lee his current fee, but most tend to believe that he simply did not wish to be typecast. Lee did, however, return to the role in Hammer's ''Dracula: Prince of Darkness'' in 1965. Lee's performance is notable in that he has no lines, merely hissing his way through the film. Again, stories vary as to the reason for this: Lee states he refused to speak the poor dialogue he was given, but screenwriter Jimmy Sangster claims that the script did not contain any lines for the character. This film set the standard for most of the Dracula sequels in the sense that half the film's running time was spent on telling the story of Dracula's resurrection and the character's appearances were brief. Lee has gone on record to state that he was virtually "blackmailed" by Hammer into starring in the subsequent films; unable or unwilling to pay him his going rate, they would resort to reminding him of how many people he would put out of work if he did not take part.

His roles in the films ''Dracula Has Risen from the Grave'' (1968), ''Taste the Blood of Dracula'' (1969), and ''Scars of Dracula'' (1970) all gave the Count very little to do, but were all commercially successful. Although Lee may not have liked what Hammer was doing with the character, worldwide audiences embraced the films, which are now considered classics of the genre. Lee starred in two further Dracula films for Hammer in the early 1970s, both of which attempted to bring the character into the modern-day era. These were not commercially successful.

Lee's other work for Hammer included ''The Mummy'' (1959). Lee also portrayed Rasputin in ''Rasputin, the Mad Monk'' (Lee apparently met Rasputin's assassin Felix Yussupov when he was a child) and Sir Henry Baskerville (to Cushing's Sherlock Holmes) in ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' (1959). Lee later played Holmes himself in 1962's ''Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace'', and returned to Holmes films with Billy Wilder's British-made ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' (1970), in which he plays Sherlock's decidedly smarter brother, Mycroft. Lee also played a leading role in the German film ''The Puzzle of the Red Orchid'' (1962), speaking German, which he had learned during his education in Switzerland.

He was responsible for bringing acclaimed occult author Dennis Wheatley to Hammer. The company made two films from Wheatley's novels, both starring Lee. The first, ''The Devil Rides Out'' (1967), is generally considered to be one of Hammer's crowning achievements. According to Lee, Wheatley was so pleased with it that he offered the actor the film rights to his remaining black magic novels free of charge. However, the second film, ''To the Devil a Daughter'' (1976), was fraught with production difficulties and was disowned by its author. Although financially successful, it was Hammer's last horror film and marked the end of Lee's long association with the studio that brought him fame.

Like Cushing, Lee also appeared in horror films for other companies during the 20-year period from 1957 to 1977. Other films in which Lee performed include the series of Fu Manchu films made between 1965 and 1969, in which he starred as the villain in heavy oriental make-up; ''I, Monster'' (1971), in which he played Jekyll and Hyde; ''The Creeping Flesh'' (1972); and his personal favourite, ''The Wicker Man'' (1973), in which he played Lord Summerisle. Lee was attracted to the latter role by screenwriter Anthony Shaffer and apparently gave his services for free, as the budget was so small. Lee also appeared in ''Eugenie'' (1970), unaware that it was softcore pornography, as the sex scenes were shot separately. In addition to doing films in the UK, Lee did movies in Mainland Europe: he appeared in two German films, ''Count Dracula'', where he again played the vampire count, and ''The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism''. Other films in Europe he made include ''Castle of the Living Dead'' and ''Horror Express''.

1970s to 1999

Since the mid 1970s, Lee has eschewed horror roles almost entirely. Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond spy novels and Lee's stepcousin, had offered him the role of the titular antagonist in the first official Bond film ''Dr. No''. Lee enthusiastically accepted, but the producers had already chosen Joseph Wiseman for the part. In 1974, Lee finally got to play a James Bond villain when he was cast as the deadly assassin Francisco Scaramanga in ''The Man with the Golden Gun''.

Because of his filming schedule in Bangkok, film director Ken Russell was unable to sign Lee to play The Specialist in ''Tommy'' (1975). That role was eventually given to Jack Nicholson. In an AMC documentary on ''Halloween'', John Carpenter states that he offered the role of Samuel Loomis to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee before Donald Pleasence took the role. Years later, Lee met Carpenter and told him that the biggest regret of his career was not taking the role of Dr. Loomis.

In 1978, Lee surprised many people with his willingness to go along with a joke by appearing as guest host on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live''.

In 1978, he played ''Grand Duke Dmitri'' in the TV series ''How the West Was Won''.

In 1979, he played German officer Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt in the film ''1941'' directed by Steven Spielberg.

In 1982, Lee appeared in ''The Return of Captain Invincible''. In this film, Lee plays a fascist who plans to rid America (and afterwards, the world) of all non-whites. Lee also sings on two tracks in the film ("Name Your Poison" and "Mister Midnight"), written by Richard O'Brien (who had written ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' seven years previously) and Richard Hartley.

Lee made his latest appearances to date as Sherlock Holmes in 1991's ''Incident at Victoria Falls'' and 1992's ''Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady''.

In addition to more than a dozen feature films together for Hammer Films, Amicus Productions and other companies, Lee and Peter Cushing both appeared in ''Hamlet'' (1948) and ''Moulin Rouge'' (1952) albeit in separate scenes; and in separate installments of the ''Star Wars'' films, Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin in the original film, Lee years later as Count Dooku. The last project which united them in person was a documentary, ''Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror'' (1994), which they jointly narrated. It was the last time they saw each other as Cushing died two months later. While they frequently played off each other as mortal enemies onscreen—Lee's Count Dracula to Cushing's Professor Van Helsing—they were close friends in real life.

In 1994, Lee played the character of the Russian commandant in ''Police Academy: Mission to Moscow''.

In 1998, Lee starred in the role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of modern Pakistan, in the film ''Jinnah''. While talking about his favourite role in film at a press conference at Brussels Fantasy film festival, he declared that his role in ''Jinnah'' was by far his best performance.

Lee was at one point considered for the role of comic book villain/hero Magneto in the screen adaptation of the popular comic book series ''X-Men'', but he lost the role to Ian McKellen.

2000 to 2009

He has had many television roles, including that of Flay in the BBC television miniseries, based on Mervyn Peake's novels, ''Gormenghast'' (2000), and Stefan Wyszyński in the CBS film ''John Paul the Second'' (2005). He played Lucas de Beaumanoir, the Grand Master of the Templar Order, in the BBC/A&E; co-production of Sir Walter Scott's ''Ivanhoe'' (1997). He also played a role in the made-for-TV series La Révolution française (1989) in part 2, "Les Années Terribles", as the executioner, Sanson, who beheaded Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Robespierre and others. Lee played Saruman in the ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy. In the commentary he states he had a decades-long dream to play Gandalf but that he was now too old and his physical limitations prevented his being considered. The role of Saruman, by contrast, required no horseback riding and much less fighting. Gandalf was given to Ian McKellen and Lee played Saruman. Lee had met Tolkien once (making him the only person in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy to have done so) and makes a habit of reading the novels at least once a year. In addition, he performed for the album ''The Lord of the Rings: Songs and Poems by J. R. R. Tolkien'' in 2003. Lee's appearance in the third film was cut from the theatrical release, resulting in a frosty friendship with Peter Jackson. However, the scene was reinstated in the extended edition.

''The Lord of the Rings'' marked the beginning of a major career revival that continued in ''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'' (2002) and ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' (2005), in which he played Count Dooku, a name allegedly chosen to reflect his fame playing Count Dracula. His autobiography states that he did much of the swordplay himself, though a double was required for the more vigorous footwork. His good friend and frequent co-star, Peter Cushing, portrayed the equally icy Grand Moff Tarkin in ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope''.

Lee appeared on the cover of the 1973 Wings album ''Band on the Run'' along with other people, including chat show host Michael Parkinson, film actor James Coburn, world boxing champion John Conteh and broadcaster Clement Freud.

Lee is one of the favourite actors of Tim Burton and has become a regular in many of Burton's films, having now worked for the director four times since 1999. He had a small role as the Burgomaster in the film ''Sleepy Hollow''. In 2005, Lee then went on to voice the character of Pastor Galswells in ''Corpse Bride'' co-directed by Burton and Mike Johnston and play a small role in the Burton's reimagining of the classic Roald Dahl tale ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' as Willy Wonka's strict dentist father Dr Wilbur Wonka.

In 2007, Lee collaborated with Burton on ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' playing the spirit of Sweeney Todd's victims called The Gentleman Ghost alongside Anthony Head, with both singing "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", its reprises and the Epilogue. These songs were recorded, but eventually cut since director Tim Burton felt that the songs were too theatrical for the film. Lee's appearance was completely cut from the film, but Head still has an uncredited one-line cameo.

Lee narrated in late November 2009 the Science+Fiction Festival in Trieste, Italy. Also in 2009, Lee starred in Stephen Poliakoff's British period drama ''Glorious 39'' with Julie Christie, Bill Nighy, Romola Garai and David Tennant, Academy Award-nominated director Danis Tanović's war film ''Triage'' with Colin Farrell and Paz Vega, and also Duncan Ward's comedy ''Boogie Woogie'' alongside Amanda Seyfried, Gillian Anderson, Stellan Skarsgård and Joanna Lumley.

2010 to present

In 2010, Lee marked their fourth collaboration by voicing the Jabberwocky in Burton's adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic book ''Alice in Wonderland'' alongside Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway. While it only had a couple of lines, Burton said that he felt Lee to be a good match for the iconic character because he is "an iconic guy".

Lee won the "Spirit of Hammer" award in the Metal Hammer Golden Gods 2010. The award was presented by Tony Iommi.

In 2010, Lee received the Steiger Award (Germany) and, in February 2011, Lee was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship.

2011 saw Lee in ''The Resident'' alongside Hilary Swank.

Christopher Lee had entered into negotiations to reprise the role of Saruman for the prequel film ''The Hobbit''. Lee had originally said he would have liked to have shown Saruman's corruption by Sauron, but would not be comfortable flying to New Zealand at his age. Lee went on to say that if a film were made, he would love to voice Smaug, as it would mean he could record his part in England, and not have to travel.

On 11 January 2011, Lee announced on his website that he would be reprising his role. Filming of The Hobbit: There And Back Again began in February 2011. A July 2011 behind-the-scenes featurette showed Peter Jackson at the Pinewood Studios in London and Lee in make-up and costume as Saruman.

Voice work

With his classically-trained bass voice, Lee sings on the ''The Wicker Man'' soundtrack, performing Paul Giovanni's psych folk composition, "The Tinker of Rye". He also sings the closing credits song of the 1994 horror film ''Funny Man''. His most notable musical work on film, however, appears in the strange superhero comedy/rock musical ''The Return of Captain Invincible'' (1983) in which Lee performs with a song and dance number called "Name Your Poison", written by Richard O'Brien.

In the 1980s, during the height of Italo Disco, Lee provided vocals to Kathy Joe Daylor's "Little Witch".

Lee reprised his role as Saruman in the video game ''The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth'' along with the other actors of the films.

Lee provided the off-camera voice of "U. N. Owen", the mysterious host who brings disparate characters together in Agatha Christie's ''Ten Little Indians'' (1965). The film was produced by Harry Alan Towers, for whom Lee had worked repeatedly in the 1960s. Even though he is not credited on the film, the voice is unmistakable.

Lee appears on Peter Knight and Bob Johnson's (of Steeleye Span) 1970s concept album ''The King of Elfland's Daughter''. Lee also provided the voices for the roles of DiZ (Ansem the Wise) in the video games ''Kingdom Hearts II'' and ''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days'', but was replaced by veteran voice actor Corey Burton for ''Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories'' and ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep''.

He contributed his voice as Death in the animated versions of Terry Pratchett's ''Soul Music'' and ''Wyrd Sisters'' and reprised the role in the Sky1 live action adaptation ''The Colour of Magic'', taking over the role from the late Ian Richardson.

He is fluent in English, Italian, French, Spanish and German, and moderately proficient in Swedish, Russian and Greek. He was the original voice of Thor in the German dubs in the Danish 1986 animated film ''Valhalla'', and of King Haggard in both the English and German dubs of the 1982 animated adaptation of ''The Last Unicorn''.

Lee bridged two disparate genres of music by performing a heavy metal variation of the Toreador Song from the opera ''Carmen'' with the band Inner Terrestrials. Lee narrated and sang for the Danish musical group The Tolkien Ensemble, taking the role of Treebeard, King Théoden and others in the readings or singing of their respective poems or songs. Lee also appeared as a narrator for Italian symphonic fantasy power metal band Rhapsody of Fire, playing the Wizard King in the latest four albums: ''Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret'', ''Triumph or Agony'', ''The Frozen Tears of Angels'' and ''From Chaos to Eternity'' as well as the EP ''The Cold Embrace Of Fear - A Dark Romantic Symphony'' which is also a part of the saga in which he performs. He narrates several tracks on the albums, as well as singing a duet with lead vocalist Fabio Lione in the single "The Magic of the Wizard's Dream" from the ''Symphony of Enchanted Lands II'' album. Lee was the voice of Lucan D'Lere in the trailers for ''Everquest II''.

Some thirty years after playing Francisco Scaramanga in ''The Man with the Golden Gun'', Lee provided the voice of Scaramanga in the video game ''GoldenEye: Rogue Agent''.

In 2005, Lee provided the voice of the Pastor Galswells in ''The Corpse Bride'' co-directed by Tim Burton and Mike Johnston. He also served as the narrator on ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'''s poem written by Tim Burton as well.

In 2007, Lee voiced the transcript of ''The Children of Húrin'', by J. R. R. Tolkien for the audiobook version of the novel.

Lee reprised his role of Count Dooku in the 2008 animated film ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' but did not appear in the TV series. Corey Burton takes his place for Count Dooku.

Lee has been signed by Falcon Picture Group to host the syndicated radio series "Mystery Theater", a nightly two-hour program featuring classic radio mystery shows. The program is distributed by Syndication Networks Corporation with a launch date of 2 March 2009.

In 2010, Lee collaborated again with Tim Burton, this time by voicing the Jabberwocky in Burton's adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic book ''Alice in Wonderland''.

Lee has provided the vocals for a symphonic metal concept album called ''Charlemagne''. It was released on 15 March 2010.

Lee is working with Manowar while they are recording a new version of their first album, ''Battle Hymns''. The original voice was done by Orson Welles. The new album, ''Battle Hymns MMXI'' was released on 26 November 2010.

Honours

In 2001, Lee was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II and was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2009 by Prince Charles. Lee was named 2005's 'most marketable star in the world' in a ''USA Today'' newspaper poll, after three of the films he appeared in grossed US$640 million. In 2011 Lee was awarded the BAFTA Academy Fellowship by Tim Burton.

Personal life

The Carandinis, Lee's maternal ancestors, were given the right to bear the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Cinemareview cites: "Cardinal Consalvi was Papal Secretary of State at the time of Napoleon and is buried at the Pantheon in Rome next to the painter Raphael. His painting, by Lawrence, hangs in Windsor Castle".

Lee is a step-cousin of Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond spy novels.

He has been married to the Danish model Birgit "Gitte" Kroencke Lee since 1961. They have a daughter named Christina Erika Carandini Lee. He is also the uncle of the British actress Harriet Walter.

Lee has a longstanding personal interest in the occult, maintaining a library of over 12,000 books which is largely devoted to the topic. This is discussed in his autobiography, ''Tall, Dark and Gruesome''.

Lee is a supporter of the British Conservative Party.

In 1999, Lee confirmed he has lost an inch in height and is now (1.93 m)

Books authored

''Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror'', Pyramid Publications, 1966

''Christopher Lee's New Chamber of Horrors'', Souvenir Press, 1974

''Christopher Lee's Archives of Terror'', Warner Books, Volume I, 1975; Volume 2, 1976

''Tall, Dark and Gruesome'' (autobiography), W. H. Allen, 1977 and 1999

''Lord of Misrule'' (autobiography, a revised and expanded edition of ''Tall, Dark and Gruesome''), Orion Publishing Group Ltd., 2004

Filmography

Albums

''The Wicker Man soundtrack'' (1973)

''Hammer Presents "Dracula" With Christopher Lee'' (EMI NTS 186 UK/Capitol ST-11340 USA, 1974)

''The Soldier's Tale'' by Stravinsky, with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Lionel Friend (Nimbus, 1986)

''Peter and the Wolf'' by Prokofiev, with the English String Orchestra conducted by Yehudi Menuhin (Nimbus, 1989)

''Annie Get Your Gun'' (1995) JAY Records recording of Annie Get Your Gun

''The Rocky Horror Show'' (1995) JAY Records recording of The Rocky Horror Show

''Devils, Rogues & Other Villains'' (1998)

''The King and I'' (1998) JAY Records recording of The King and I

''Musicality of Lerner and Loewe'' (2002) Christopher Lee sings Wandering Star on this recording Musicality of Lerner and Loewe

''Lord of the Rings: Songs and Poems by J. R. R. Tolkien'' (2003)

''Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret'' (2004)

''Triumph or Agony'' (2006)

''''Revelation'''' (2006)

''Charlemagne: By The Sword & The Cross'' (2010)

''The Frozen Tears of Angels'' (2010)

''The Cold Embrace of Fear - A Dark Romantic Symphony'' (2010)

''Battle Hymns MMXI'' (2010)

''The Resident'' (2010)

''Charlemagne: The Omens of Death'' (2011)

''From Chaos to Eternity'' (2011)

References

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External links

Christopher Lee at ChristopherLeeWeb.com (official website)

2006 article ''from The Spectator''

Christopher Lee on the making of legends and Jinnah

Bizarre Magazine interview

Concerning his role in ''The Lord of the Rings'' movies

Guardian Unlimited Profile

Starwars.com interview in which he mentions work with SOE

Christopher Lee interview 2007

Christopher Lee at the CinéArtistes (in French)

Christopher Lee at FEARnet

Category:1922 births Category:Living people Category:English people of Italian descent Category:Carandini family Category:Commanders of the Order of St John Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:English film actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:Old Summerfieldians Category:Old Wellingtonians Category:People from Belgravia Category:Royal Air Force officers Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Category:Special Operations Executive personnel Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Actors awarded British knighthoods

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