Actor. World War II veteran (special forces). Honorary member of three stuntmen's unions (he did his own fight scenes before it was cool). Oh, and in the Guinness Book of Records as the "Tallest Leading Actor" (He was 6'5 and everyone in Hollywood is short).
He acted in nearly 230 films, making him one of the most prolific actors of all time. 85% of the time he was the villain, whether in a major or small role.
He played, of course, Saruman, a Sith lord (Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus), Dracula (many, many times), Death (more than once), Ramses/Rameses (At least twice, possibly three times. Wait, four, he played a Captain Rameses too...what's with that?), Sherlock Holmes AND Mycroft Holmes, multiple starship captains, Cardinal Rochefort, Lucifer, Fu Manchu, Grigori Rasputin, Frankenstein's Monster. Oh, and he also had some role in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the 2005 version), The New Adventures of Robin Hood, Sleepy Hollow, The Odyssey, more than one version of Ivanhoe, a Discworld short (as, of course, Death), Around The World In 80 Days, The Last Unicorn...and a slew of B movies (sometimes he took work for the money, ya know).
The man was everywhere and the man was brilliant. He had just finished filming a fantasy comedy entitled Angels in Notting Hill.
He will be missed...
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