User:Tiller54/Christopher Lee in the 2010s

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee,, (born 27 May 1922) is an English actor, singer and author. Lee initially portrayed villains and became best known for his role as Count Dracula in a string of popular Hammer Horror films. His 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), and Count Dooku in the final two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002 and 2005).

He was knighted for services to drama and charity in 2009, received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011 and received the BFI Fellowship in 2013. Lee considers his best performance to be that of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the biopic Jinnah (1998), and his best film to be the British horror film The Wicker Man (1973).

Always noted as an actor for his deep, strong voice, he has, more recently, also been known for using his singing ability, recording various opera and musical pieces between 1986 and 1998 and the symphonic metal album Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross in 2010 after having worked with several metal bands since 2005. The heavy metal follow-up titled Charlemagne: The Omens of Death was released on 27 May 2013. He was honoured with the "Spirit of Metal" award in the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden God awards ceremony.

Christopher Lee is one of the highest grossing actors of all time, having grossed $8,321,486,066 worldwide.

2010s
In 2010, Lee marked his fourth collaboration with Tim Burton 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 he only had two 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 Metal" 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.

In 2011, he appeared in a Hammer film for the first time in thirty-five years, the last being 1976's To the Devil a Daughter. The film was called The Resident and he gave a "superbly sinister" performance alongside Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Whilst filming scenes for the film in New Mexico in early 2009, Lee injured his back when he tripped over power cables on set. He had to undergo surgery and as a result was unable to play the role of Sir Lachlan Morrison in The Wicker Tree, the sequel to The Wicker Man. Very disappointed, director Robin Hardy recast the role but Lee was determined to appear in the film, so Hardy wrote a small scene specially for him. Lee appears as the unnamed "Old Gentleman" who acts as Lachlan's mentor in a flashback. Hardy has stated that fans of The Wicker Man will recognise this character as Lord Summerisle, but Lee himself has contradicted this, stating that they are two unrelated characters. Also in 2011, Lee appeared in the critically acclaimed Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese.

On 11 January 2011, Lee announced on his website that he would be reprising 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. A July 2011 behind-the-scenes featurette showed Jackson at the Pinewood Studios in London and Lee in make-up and costume as Saruman, so it would seem that production has been adjusted to accommodate Lee's travel concerns and allow him to participate in the film. Lee has stated that he worked on his role for the films over the course of four days and that he is portraying Saruman as a kind and noble wizard, before his subsequent fall into darkness, which audiences have seen in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

In 2012, Lee marked his fifth collaboration with Tim Burton by appearing in his film adaptation of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, in the small role of a New England fishing captain.

In an interview in August 2013, Lee said that he was "saddened" to hear that his friend Johnny Depp might retire from acting and said that he has no intention of retiring.

"There are frustrations – people who lie to you, people who don't know what they are doing, films that don't turn out the way you had wanted them to – so, yes, I do understand [why Depp would consider retiring]. I always ask myself "well, what else could I do?". Making films has never just been a job to me, it is my life. I have some interests outside of acting – I sing and I've written books, for instance – but acting is what keeps me going, it's what I do, it gives life purpose... I'm realistic about the amount of work I can get at my age, but I take what I can, even voice-overs and narration."

Lee narrated the feature-length documentary Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics, which was released on 25 October 2013. In 2014, he appeared in an episode of the BBC documentary series Timeshift called How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective. Lee and others who have played Sherlock Holmes discussed the character and the various interpretations of him. He also appeared in a web exclusive, reading an excerpt from the short story The Final Problem. He currently narrates an advertising campaign for Age UK, reading a poem by Roger McGough.