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Lord of Misrule: The Autobiography of Christopher Lee
From the cult classic
The Wicker Man
to the blood–thirsty Count Dracula, Christopher Lee has been the face of cinema villainy for decades. In
Lord of Misrule,
Lee tells the story of his exceptional career, in films like
The Curse of Frankenstein,
the James Bond classic
The Man with the Golden Gun,
and more recently, in Tim Burton’s
Sleepy Hollow.
After appearing in more th
...more
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Looking forward to read the autobiography of the coolest actor on the planet! :-)
Feb. 14th, 2012:
Imagine sitting on your grandfathers lap when you are 6 years old and you listen to him while he tells you the tales of his youth. That pretty much sums up a bit what I felt while reading this living cinema legends autobiography.
It was fun to read about his youth, Italian background, times during WWII (which I'm sure has been heavily self-censored), his modest beginning in the field of acting and ho ...more
Feb. 14th, 2012:
Imagine sitting on your grandfathers lap when you are 6 years old and you listen to him while he tells you the tales of his youth. That pretty much sums up a bit what I felt while reading this living cinema legends autobiography.
It was fun to read about his youth, Italian background, times during WWII (which I'm sure has been heavily self-censored), his modest beginning in the field of acting and ho ...more
I'm not quite done, but I got it through inter library loan and it's due back. Christopher Lee is dryly funny and very intelligent.
This book helped me realize that, generally speaking, I like biographies more than auto-biographies. When a person writes about their own life, they naturally re-live their memories. That's cool for them, but not necessarily for us. Perhaps these memories and references may have more meaning to my friends that grew up in England. I didn't know about Christopher Lee until he played the wizard Saruman in the "Lord of the Rings" movies. I did learn a few things that interested me, because I had som
...more
It was very refreshing to read a great autobiography by a respected actor who has appeared in over 250 movies albeit not all box office successes. Mr. Lee keeps his chapters short, but packs a lot of information into each one which he doesn't number, but gives a few important words to such as "short sharp shock", "Swiss time", and "Spellbinder" to name a few.
He talks about his upbringing and I wasn't aware that he was half Italian like myself. I enjoyed his stories about working and meeting su ...more
He talks about his upbringing and I wasn't aware that he was half Italian like myself. I enjoyed his stories about working and meeting su ...more
Very sad that the great Christopher Lee died just as I was half way through this. He clearly had an amazing life but, although this is an interesting enough collection of anecdotes, there isn't much in the way of depth or soul-searching or insight. Not a problem if you want to recreate a fairly superficial conversation with a great actor (which would still be amazing!) but, as someone else said below, a biography is probably more what I was hoping for. This becomes a bit of a slog after a while.
If you enjoy golf or horror films (the classics, not slasher variety) then you will probably enjoy this. Same with anecdotes about British public school and the African then Italian campaign during WWII. Lee led a fascinating life full of mishaps, practical jokes, disappointed family members, type casting and wonderful acting. He was part of the intelligence office during WWII but the bios published of him immediately following his death last month made it sound as though he was a mover and shak
...more
Certainly worth it if you are a fan of the vast and dense history of Christopher Lee, the best 91 year about in this, the year 2013. It gets a b it wordy at times, and is certainly very dense with detail, but nevertheless fascinating, and it is just amazing how much this guy has done in his long, full life.
I only wish there was something to fill the time between this last revision and now.
I only wish there was something to fill the time between this last revision and now.
I really looked forward to this book as I had been a long-time fan of Christopher Lee. I was sorely disappointed by the book which, for me, was like wading through treacle so slow was the narrative. One day, when I have a lot more time on my hands, I may give it another try but it's not something that, at the moment, I relish.
When you're 93, and have led a life that ranges over as much time and ground and achievement as Christopher Lee's did, you can be forgiven some repetition and meandering. And there is some. There is also quite a bit more golf and schoolboy beatings than I felt I had signed up for. LotR and Star Wars are kind of blips at the end. On the whole, though, once the reader adjusts his (my) expectations as to the content, the tone and pacing are brisk, and Lee is smart, honest, and critical about his ow
...more
Dos Equis got it wrong. Christopher Lee is The Most Interesting Man in the World.
This autobiography is not the best I have read. Christopher Lee tells a rattling good tale at a rattling pace. This is not a kiss and tell and no tales are told out of school. The people that Lee has met and worked with is breathtaking as is his range of work. There are occasional quotes and anecdotes from some of the obvious suspects but the book is like a whistlestop tour. Sadly it doesn't mention his recent forays into heavy metal and you won't learn a huge amount about other actors.
A great t ...more
A great t ...more
Oct 16, 2013
Tracey
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
bio-memoir
,
libraryread-tcpl
In honor of the upcoming Halloween holiday, I've been somewhat theming my reading appropriately, starting with this memoir, which I picked up from the library while searching to see what films of his they had available.
It was published in 2004, so it includes his thoughts on playing Saruman and Count Dooku. He doesn't appear to be a terribly humble man, and is quite prone to name dropping, but he certainly has been a hard-working actor.
I have a feeling there was more to his role in WWII than h ...more
It was published in 2004, so it includes his thoughts on playing Saruman and Count Dooku. He doesn't appear to be a terribly humble man, and is quite prone to name dropping, but he certainly has been a hard-working actor.
I have a feeling there was more to his role in WWII than h ...more
This was really cool to read, I like that he wrote it himself and didn't just talk about Lord of the Rings or things he's done recently, you get to hear his whole story up until that point and it was really interesting to read about him from before he went into movies. (I actually preferred that part more than when he was talking about films.)
Great read and fantastically written.
Great read and fantastically written.
Just purchased this book, this morning & found it by chance, while looking for a completely different biography book!!! So excited, cannot wait to finish some of the other books that I'm currently working on. Christopher Lee is an outstanding actor with various characters throughout the last 50 years & am excited to have found this!!!! More to follow!!! Truly amazed at all the info I found within the first chapter!!!! 2 more other books I'm trying to finish real quick so I can dive into
...more
Christopher Lee's life playing golf, and the movies that let him pay for it.
Actually, there is more to it than that. He's actually had a fairly busy time of it, and done some quite interesting things, and witnessed a few others.
All of which would be irrelevant if he didn't also write quite well, which he does. There are quite a few nice turns of phrase here, and he comes across as quite clever.
This is certainly a better actor-memoir than some others I've read. He is not as hollow as some of his ...more
Actually, there is more to it than that. He's actually had a fairly busy time of it, and done some quite interesting things, and witnessed a few others.
All of which would be irrelevant if he didn't also write quite well, which he does. There are quite a few nice turns of phrase here, and he comes across as quite clever.
This is certainly a better actor-memoir than some others I've read. He is not as hollow as some of his ...more
Jan 21, 2013
Brian Schwartz
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
entertainment-pop-culture
While his commentary on costars Peter Cushing and Vincent Price is somewhat lacking, he is more detailed in describing his relationship with horror greats Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. His admiration for those pioneers of movie horror is well stated.
Lee tells his life story in anecdotes which seems to be a European style of story telling. His references to European history are often obscure and requires Wikipedia to get the context. The book is obviously a book written by a European for a Europ ...more
Lee tells his life story in anecdotes which seems to be a European style of story telling. His references to European history are often obscure and requires Wikipedia to get the context. The book is obviously a book written by a European for a Europ ...more
A fascinating man with a life equal parts military and artist. I felt like reading this book was like sitting down with Lee and having a chat with him about whatever he felt like talking about from his life. It wasn't a stale biography. It was a conversation.
Masterful autobiography of a screen legend
Good to see an autobiography and not another biography for this screen icon, Christopher Lee takes us through his screen and personal life in awesome detail, from his action in the war right up to the LOTR and Star Wars, his encounters and friendships read like a who's who of Hollywood stars throughout the ages of film, and he holds his own with the best of them, must read for any budding actor, you could do a lot worse than following this man's example, ...more
Good to see an autobiography and not another biography for this screen icon, Christopher Lee takes us through his screen and personal life in awesome detail, from his action in the war right up to the LOTR and Star Wars, his encounters and friendships read like a who's who of Hollywood stars throughout the ages of film, and he holds his own with the best of them, must read for any budding actor, you could do a lot worse than following this man's example, ...more
Intelligent and charming. He lived a remarkable life.
Very enjoyable. Reads as if Mr Lee is being interviewed and he has as many anecdotes as the reader want to hear.
Loved the part where he tells the anecdote about meeting Rasputin's killers at a family party. He's obviously proud of his Russian aristocratic background and almost inherited the title of Count in real life. Supposedly his family can be traced back to cart makers in Ancient Rome.
May 20, 2007
Julie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes biogs.
Shelves:
biography
This book starts,of course, with Christopber lee's birth and tells of his life and career up to Lord of the rings and beyond, including how he managed to be forever linked with his most famous role - "Dracula".
a good read for anyone interested in cinema and actors.
a good read for anyone interested in cinema and actors.
Aug 31, 2014
Margaret
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2014-challenge
,
biography-autobiography
The autobiography of wonderful English actor Sir Christopher Lee.
Not the best theatrical memoir I have read, but certainly one of the better ones.
A must for any Hammer House of Horror fan, fan of European cinema or cinema in general.
Well worth reading.
Not the best theatrical memoir I have read, but certainly one of the better ones.
A must for any Hammer House of Horror fan, fan of European cinema or cinema in general.
Well worth reading.
As an updated version of Tall, Dark and Gruesome this is a welcome revision. A great fan of the actor, I was struck not by the prose style and inevitable name dropping, but as last hurrah for an older version of society.
I love Christopher Lee. This book was a bit of a daunting read at times, given the detail into his family tree, but I love Christopher Lee.
If you are not into old films, this might not be the right fit for you. He has lived a very full life, that's for sure.
Just saw it in the bookshelf. Still remembered some twists of his career. Amazing and blazing.
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Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ was an English actor and musician who first became famous for his roles in Hammer Horror films and, latterly, for his roles as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie trilogies, and Count Dooku in the Star Wars film franchise.
More about Christopher Lee...
“I learned early that the one truly international quality among people of all races is xenophobia.”
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“Outside the cinema I had not yet learned to live, but within it I had most certainly learned to die. I could die for you in every way known to man, and in a few ways known only to scriptwriters. I could see now that provided that I remained fit, the future held many more deaths yet. I could only hope that they would serve some purpose, and that perhaps a reputation may come in the same way as a coral formation, which is made up of a deposit of countless tiny corpses.”
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More quotes…
Dec 09, 2010 05:36PM