- Best known for his role as Count Dracula in a string of popular Hammer Horror films, but other notable roles include Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Saruman in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and The Hobbit film trilogy (2012–2014) (He actually dreamed of playing Gandalf, but by the time the films were made he was too old to do the Horse riding and fight scenes required), and Count Dooku in the final two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
- He was knighted for services to drama and charity in 2009.
- 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 volunteered to fight for the Finnish forces during the Winter War in 1939. He was kept away from any actual fighting, but he was issued winter gear and put on guard duty a safe distance from the front lines. He later served in the Royal Air Force and intelligence services during World War II, including as an intelligence officer with the Long Range Desert Group in Northern Africa. He trained as a pilot in South Africa, but eyesight problems forced him to drop out. He eventually ended up stationed in North Africa as a Cipher Officer for No. 260 Squadron RAF. He admitted serving in Special Operations Executive but always declined to go into details. Lee could speak fluent French and German, and was moderately proficient in Swedish, Russian and Greek. After the war, was seconded to the Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects to help to track down Nazi war criminals.
- Lee appeared on the cover of the 1973 Wings album Band on the Run.
- He was a close friend of Vincent Price (also born May 27) and Peter Cushing (born May 26).
- Lee was a classically-trained singer with a bass voice. He sings on the The Wicker Man soundtrack, performing Paul Giovanni's psych folk composition, The Tinker of Rye, the closing credits song of the 1994 horror film Funny Man, and in the superhero comedy/rock musical The Return of Captain Invincible (1983) he performs a song and dance number called Name Your Poison written by Richard O'Brien.
- He was also a heavy metal singer, the oldest on record. He sang a duet with Fabio Lione, the lead vocalist of the Italian metal band Rhapsody of Fire, on the single The Magic of the Wizard's Dream from the Symphony of Enchanted Lands II album. In 2006, he performed a heavy metal variation of the Toreador Song from Carmen with the band Inner Terrestrials.
- He also produced metal albums of his own - Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross, which was critically acclaimed and awarded with the "Spirit of Metal" award from the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden Gods ceremony, and Charlemagne: The Omens of Death from which he released a single, Let Legend Mark Me as the King at the age of 90.
- Lee is a step-cousin of Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond spy novels, and a distant relative of Robert E. Lee and the astronomer John Lee.
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