Christopher Lee

The thing I have always tried to do is surprise people: to present them with something they didn't expect.

It's what you don't see that keeps you on the edge of your seat in any kind of film - leave it to the imagination of the viewer.

When I was very young - around the age of nine - my family used to go to a house in Somerset that my stepfather rented every summer. There was fishing, lakes and riding.

There are many vampires in the world today... you only have to think of the film business.

When the Second World War finished, I was 23, and already I had seen enough horror to last me a lifetime. I'd seen dreadful, dreadful things, without saying a word. So seeing horror depicted on film doesn't affect me much.

A whole new career opened up for me when I was in 'Lord Of The Rings' and 'Star Wars.'

Let's just say I was in Special Forces and leave it at that. People can read into that what they like.

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've worked with Tim Burton five times, and it's just like being part of a family; life doesn't get much better than that.

We don't always get the kind of work we want, but we always have a choice of whether to do it with good grace or not.

I don't really like long flights any more - I find them too tiring. Flying always involves the same things these days - huge crowds at airports, waiting around, late take-offs, weather problems, and so on. I don't really enjoy travelling. I don't imagine anyone does except young children.

'The Impossible Dream' is, in my opinion, one of the greatest songs ever written. Here is a man, an old man, a very old man full of daring, bravery, courage, determination, romanticism and dreams.

My great-grandmother was born in London, the daughter of a Brixton coachman, and became the most famous singer in Australia. Her name was Marie Carandini, Madame Carandini.

One of the first things a British visitor to Southern California discovers is that he must have a car. Freeways. Bad public transport. I took driving lessons.

I lived for 10 years in Los Angeles, and the one element that surpasses everything else - that you are very conscious of - is fear. You can smell it.

'The Wicker Man' for me, as an actor, was definitely the best film I've ever done.

Comedy is the most difficult thing to do. Easily the most difficult.

As far as I am concerned, Don Quixote is the most metal fictional character that I know. Single handed, he is trying to change the world, regardless of any personal consequences.

You can learn Elvish, if you want. It's a language like Italian and English. You can learn to read it, you can learn to write it, and you can learn to speak it.

Acting as a profession came to me by chance: in 1946, after the war, I was having lunch with my cousin, who was the Italian ambassador, and he asked, 'What are you going to do now you're out of uniform?' I said, 'I'm pretty inventive, and I can imitate people,' and he said, 'Have you thought about being an actor?'

I've always acknowledged my debt to Hammer. I've always said I'm very grateful to them. They gave me this great opportunity, made me a well known face all over the world for which I am profoundly grateful.

Not every Hammer film was perfect.

I thought that people should know about the dangers of Satanism, and diabolism does exist - there's no question about it.

Every actor has to make terrible films from time to time, but the trick is never to be terrible in them.

If I had any deadly secrets, I wouldn't still be alive.

I turn to the 'Telegraph's' obituaries page with trepidation.

The first 'Charlemagne' album is metal, of course, but what I sang was more symphonic.

Films are now made by accountants. They pick a pretty young female or male face out of the air and give them a part - not because they think that person is right for it or is ready for it, but because they think that person will make them money.

Before 'Lord of the Rings,' some people would have just classed Peter Jackson as a horror director. But there is a mind there.

I knew Vincent Price from films - he was a big movie star - but the first time I met him was when we filmed 'The Oblong Box.'

The song 'My Way' is a very remarkable song. It is also difficult to sing because you've got to convince people that what you're singing about is the truth. It's a man who is very proud of having achieved everything that he's achieved his way.

The saddest country I went to was Romania, years ago, during Ceausescu's rule.

What's really important for me is, as an old man, I'm known by my own generation and the next generation know me, too.

I haven't spent my entire career playing the guy in the bad hat, although I have to say that the bad guy is frequently much more interesting than the good guy.

The secret to a long marriage in the film industry? Marry someone wonderful, as I did. And always have her come along on location.

There was a gap of seven years between the first and second Dracula movies. In the second one as everybody knows, I didn't speak, because I said I couldn't say the lines.

I'm much softer than people think. I don't present to the world an emotional face. I'm pretty good at self-control, but I am easily moved.

Peter Jackson's instincts are extraordinary, as is his stamina.

I associate heavy metal with fantasy because of the tremendous power that the music delivers.

I didn't want to be known as a man who only made horror films. I made some - very few.

My favourite country is Finland because once you get to a certain point, you can drive for hours without seeing a single person. I love peace and quiet - something I don't get very often.

I haven't done lots of horror.

Ian Fleming was my cousin, you know. He was in naval intelligence.

When I first read 'Lord of the Rings,' I wanted to see a film of it. But at that time, the technology wasn't there; there was no such thing as CGI.

I've done a lot of films that have become iconic, not necessarily because of me.

Somebody once asked me how I found Peter Jackson, and I said: 'Well, I parted his hair, and there he was.'

The most important film I made, in terms of its subject and the great responsibility I had as an actor, was a film I did about the founder of Pakistan called 'Jinnah.'

I wasn't a spy. I'd have been spotted in five seconds. Yes, I was in intelligence, but that covered a multitude of things.

I have made a lot of movies, but I don't see any point in talking about films I don't think are terribly good. I have been in a few. I don't know any actor that hasn't.

I did play Ramses II once, who lived to be 91 and had 120 children, but he died 4,000 years ago.

To be a legend, you've either got to be dead or excessively old!

I made three films with Boris Karloff. He was absolutely wonderful.