Lord Of The Rings Legend Rewatched Films Before Death
The passing of Christopher Lee remains one of the saddest celebrity deaths for fans of Lord of the Rings. The actor had a storied career spanning decades, but there was something about his performance as Saruman that helped ground Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy tale. But here is something that should comfort all fans of the films: according to a recent documentary, he actually re-watched Lord of the Rings the night that he died.
Christopher Lee Watched The Lord Of The Rings On His Death Bed
This information comes to us courtesy of the recent documentary The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee. The acclaimed actor’s son-in-law Juan Aneiros appears in the documentary and describes how Lee was in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital receiving care and was very optimistic that he would soon be heading home. Aneiros and his wife (and Lee’s only daughter) Christina were there, and they all watched the Lord of the Rings along with the nurses, having no idea that the actor would be dead in the morning.
According to Aneiros, it was Christopher Lee’s idea to watch Lord of the Rings that night, in part because “he loved that movie.” It was coming on television, and the actor wanted to watch the film with his family in part to give them some behind-the-scenes info. He made an offer to his daughter and son-in-law that most fans of the franchise would have loved to receive: “I’ll explain to you how the movie [was made].
Didn’t Expect Lee To Pass That Night
Christopher Lee got his wish that night, and his family sat down with him to rewatch Lord of the Rings. It’s a pleasant memory, but one that has been made understandably bittersweet by the actor’s death. Aneiros says that they left thinking that Lee was okay and would be coming home soon; later, he remembers seeing his wife’s stressed face and hearing her sad pronouncement that “daddy is gone.”
Part of what made Christopher Lee’s death so shocking to Aneiros is that he thought the man would be extremely long-lived, much like his character in Lord of the Rings. “I actually thought he was eternal,” the son-in-law said. Because of that, Lee’s sudden death was “a shock,” but the family was able to take comfort from the manner of the man’s passing.
The Christopher Lee Documentary
In the documentary, Aneiros reiterates something we already know about Christopher Lee: namely, that the Lord of the Rings legend passed away peacefully in his sleep. “He didn’t suffer,” Aneiros said, “he just went to sleep.” While we would have selfishly loved to see more of the talented performer in other roles, it’s comforting to know that his death involved no pain or suffering.
These days, it’s hard not to think about Christopher Lee and the original Lord of the Rings performers as the franchise tries to forge a new path for an entirely new audience. The Rings of Power show is trying to bring some of the earliest days of Middle Earth to life, but its low viewership numbers suggest that many fans would rather toss this show into the crack of Mount Doom than watch it again. One can easily imagine what Lee’s Saruman would tell Amazon executives about this very expensive (season 1 alone cost $465 million) failure: “you have elected the way of pain.”
If nothing else, that’s certainly what all of us watching it have elected for ourselves.
Source: Yahoo! Movies
Login with Google