Ultimate Alphas: Christopher Lee

When James Bond is based on your real life there is no question about your status. Explore the military history and screen legacy of the legendary Christopher Lee

By Your Bro · Wed Feb 12 2020 · Guy Stuff

When a character like James Bond is loosely based on your real life, there is no question about your alpha male status. Christopher Lee did not just play the part of a hero on screen; he lived a life that would make most modern action movies look like a quiet afternoon at the library.

The Real Life Inspiration for 007

Most men know Christopher Lee as the guy who played the heavy in every major franchise from Star Wars to Middle-earth. What they do not realize is that Lee was the real deal long before he stepped onto a film set. He was the cousin of Ian Fleming, the man who created James Bond. Fleming did not have to look far for inspiration. Lee worked in military intelligence during WW2 and spent time with the Gurkhas of the 8th Indian Infantry Division during the Battle of Monte Cassino. This was not a desk job. He was part of the Long Range Desert Group, the precursor to the SAS.

While on military leave in Naples, Lee climbed Mount Vesuvius, which erupted three days later. It is as if the earth itself could not handle him standing still for too long. During the final assault on Monte Cassino, his squadron was based in San Angelo and Lee was nearly killed when one of the planes crashed on takeoff and he tripped over one of its live bombs. Most guys would have taken that as a sign to go home and find a safe accounting job. Lee just kept moving. When we talk about the 10 most masculine movie characters, we usually focus on the actors' performances. Lee is one of the few who actually brought the scars and the history to the table.

The Intelligence Officer and the Nazi Hunter

Lee’s service record is still partially shrouded in the kind of secrecy that usually accompanies men who know how to keep their mouths shut. He was attached to the Special Operations Executive (SOE), an organization tasked with conducting espionage, reconnaissance, and sabotage in occupied Europe. When asked about his work there, he would famously ask people if they could keep a secret. When they said yes, he would lean in and say, "So can I."

He was proficient in multiple languages and spent the tail end of the war hunting down Nazi war criminals. This was not a sanitized process. It involved grit, persistence, and a stomach for the darker sides of human nature. Research from the Pew Research Center historically notes that the "Greatest Generation" possessed a unique set of survival skills forged by the Depression and global conflict. Lee was the pinnacle of this. He once corrected director Peter Jackson on the set of Lord of the Rings regarding what sound a man actually makes when he is stabbed in the back. He knew because he had heard it in person. That is not acting; that is a haunting level of experience.

A Career Defined by Presence

After his death-defying military years were over, Lee enjoyed an extremely successful acting career. He did not settle for being a one-hit wonder. He played Count Dracula in a string of popular Hammer Horror films, turning a monster into an icon of sophisticated dread. He was a James Bond villain in The Man with the Golden Gun, Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man, Saruman in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films, and Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

I remember watching him as Saruman for the first time. There is a weight to his voice that you cannot teach in a workshop. It reminded me of an old foreman I used to work for. The man didn't have to yell to get the site quiet. He just had to breathe. Lee had that same gravity. He understood that true power is not about making a scene; it is about owning the space you are in. I have written before that you should appear confident in all situations, but Lee lived it by simply standing still. He was over six feet tall and carried the silence of a man who had seen the worst of the 20th century and survived it.

The World’s Oldest Metalhead

Most people retire and take up golf or birdwatching. Lee decided to become a heavy metal star. At the ripe age of 88, Lee released a heavy metal album and won awards for his music. The single he released on his 90th birthday made him the genre’s oldest performer. He even had a song on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 2013 making him, at 91, the living oldest performer to ever chart.

This speaks to a refusal to let age define his output. According to data from the National Institute on Aging, staying mentally and creatively active is a primary factor in longevity and cognitive health. Lee did not just stay active; he dominated a completely new field in his tenth decade. It is a reminder that you are never too old to start something that people think is ridiculous. If Christopher Lee can sing about Charlemagne over power chords at 90, you can probably manage to go to the gym on a Tuesday morning.

Legacy of a Polymath

If he wasn’t the world’s biggest badass, he might still have been the world’s most interesting man. He was a champion fencer, an opera singer, a linguist, and a soldier. He lived through the transition from colonial empires to the digital age without losing his footing. We lost Christopher Lee in 2015, at the age of 91. He left behind over 200 film credits and a life story that proves reality is often far more intense than fiction.

He was a man who understood that life is a series of chapters, and you do not have to be the same person in the third act that you were in the first. He moved from the battlefield to the soundstage to the recording studio with the same disciplined approach. He is the blueprint for what happens when a man refuses to be bored or intimidated by the world. We could use more of that today. He understood that your time is bigger than money and he spent every second of his 91 years making sure he wasn't wasting a breath.

—Your Bro