Christopher Lee’s most iconic movie moments

At the behest of director Billy Wilder, Lee moved to America to further his career with the disaster flick Airport ’77. In it, his character died and Lee almost drowned in the process.

As bad guy Scaramanga in 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun, Lee gave new life to his career as a rich assassin who used only bullets made of pure gold.

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Even undead, Lee was an unstoppable entertainer. In Dracula A.D. 1972, his character is risen from the dead and seeks revenge against van Helsing’s descendants.

Yep, this 1968 film is pretty self-explanatory. Lee’s Dracula comes back after his castle is exorcised to once again exact revenge — only this time against the Monsignor who performed the rites.

Genetically modified gremlins? Say it isn’t so. You can thank Lee’s character, Dr. Catheter, for that in Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

The first of 10 times Lee would play the iconic fanged role, 1958’s Horror of Dracula saw him prey on the Harker family — and ultimately face van Helsing.

Before Aaron Eckhart was steaming up the screen in 2014’s I, Frankenstein, Lee nailed the “I” movie scene with 1971’s chilling Jekyll and Hyde flick, I, Monster.

For those perhaps too young to remember Lee’s earlier roles, he will likely be immortalized for his memorable turn as the traitorous Saruman in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings franchise.

Two years after the events in Dracula A.D. 1972, Lee reprised his role as Count Dracula when a satanic rite is used to summon back the character.

Arguably Lee’s most memorable role in his later years, in the Star Wars prequel reboot the actor played Count Dooku, a Jedi Master who was seduced by the dark side.

In Taste the Blood of Dracula, Lee once again assumes the form of Dracula, this time after three men beat one of the Count’s servants to death.

Although Lee was Sax Rohmer’s evil Asian madman for five films during the ’60s, The Brides of Fu Manchu is our personal favorite.

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In 1957’s The Curse of Frankenstein, Lee tackled the iconic role of Mary Shelley’s “creature” brought to life by Victor Frankenstein. But, he doth not behave.

Lee showed off his rarely seen but always enjoyed lighter side in this hilarious clip from The Return of Captain Invincible. Quick wit and self-deprecation were his specialties.

In full disclosure, we’re still pretty creeped out by Lee’s role as Lord Summerisle in the haunting 1973 horror film, The Wicker Man.

You’ll sleep with one eye open for a month after watching 1976’s To the Devil a Daughter, in which Lee plays an excommunicated priest planning to sacrifice a young girl to Satan.

To hell with Brendan Fraser! Christopher Lee was and always will be the Mummy to us, thanks to the original 1959 film by the same name.

In yet another brilliant performance, Lee plays Mycroft Holmes in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes — Sherlock’s even smarter older bro.

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