Christopher Lee, who died on Sunday – but whose passing was only just announced today (in order to allow time for the notification of family) – was a lifelong opera lover. In fact, in his autobiography, “Lord of Misrule” (previously released as “Tall, Dark and Gruesome”), he relates how he relished a stint in Scandinavia early in his career, since it gave him the opportunity to steal away with a regional opera company.
On the recommendation of Jussi Björling, he auditioned for the Swedish Opera, and was accepted, but unfortunately he could not afford the training.
He liked to claim his singing talent was genetic. His great grandparents founded the first opera company in Australia.
In recent years, he stated his one regret in life was that he had not pursued singing professionally. But then he added philosophically that if he had, he most certainly would have had to give it up years ago, whereas as an actor, he just kept right on going.
Opportunities to hear Lee employ his singing voice in film are sadly rare. Here’s a clip from 1970: