Was Christopher Lee Typecast as Dracula - Simple Question I

Daniel · 17th March 2001, 06:25 PM

all of you CL Fans a lot more hardcare than myself cpuld be more right on this issue than me

Juan Aneiros · 17th March 2001, 11:58 PM

I think Mr Lee was and still is typecast as Dracula. The same applies to the majority of Mr Lee's fans, they are typecast as Dracula/Hammer/Horror fanatics too.

If that wasn't so, the press would not mention the character at every single opportunity and refer always to the Cult Horror Fans.

I feel that this will change with the release of LOTR, after all these films have more fans and following that any other film ever did. Then he will be typecast as Saruman and the other films won't matter that much anymore.

Most actors/people are associated with one thing in their lives. For instance, Picasso is mostly remember for "The Guernica", who cares if he painted several other magnificent paintings and/or was or not his best one.

Mr Lee calls this laziness, because the press finds it easier to come up with repetitive headlines and copy other people's work than bother to do their own research. In some cases it is also due to the press being misinformed and/or ignorant and in others the fact that they hate to be proven wrong.

When we went to the Barbican, we saw a different type of film and needless to say that 99% of all fans were not Dracula/Horror typecasts. The press found it very hard to come out with any sensionalistic headlines, so they concentrated on rumours about remakes of old films. I think that Mr Lee's comments on a certain newspaper helped too somehow. As far as I know, only one article concentrated on Jinnah and needless to say that it was written by one of the most respected film critics in the Country.

Talking to some of the regular Mr Lee followers, fans in their 50-60's they were surprised that "The Dracula Brigade" did not turn up for the signing. Two of them did and I think that was enough. All I can say, I've never met a nicer bunch of people united in one place together and I like to think that most of Mr Lee's fans don't fall in "The Dracula Brigade" category.

Daniel · 18th March 2001, 01:56 AM

Juan you cant typecast two totally different men in the same role

**Joe Skinnell** · 18th March 2001, 02:19 AM

Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. Is that a cry in the woods I hear? Two differant men are associated with the same role from differant eras. Both left a heavy mark on the film going public with their portrayals of "D".
In Lugosi's case, the fact that he played the role on stage for years, and was buried in the cape and ring might help justify the typecasting on his part.
In Christopher Lee's case, he was just so darned good, despite the limited screen time that people seem to always want to associate him with Dracula. True, unfair, but true.
Might I suggest you read a book or two about these fine actors? You may want to start with Tall, Dark and Gruesome and read CL's own words on typecasting.
It may help to enlighten you.
There is a fine book on Lugosi available from Midnight Marquee press that I would also recommend. http://www.midmar.com/lugosi.html
Remember, most people stereotyped Lon Chaney Sr. as a horror film star when in reality he only played three horror characters. Those were in Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback of Notre Dame, and London After Midnight. Considering the bulk of films LC Sr. did, this too is quite unfair, but none the less it happened.
The easiest way for an actor to over come such a dilema is for his fans to stop bringing the danged subject up and reminding others of the stigma.

(Edited by JoeS at 5:22 pm on Mar. 17, 2001)

Daniel · 18th March 2001, 01:03 PM

I'm sorry Joe it will never be brought up by me agian and one Question if you count the Stage did Bela Play Dracula more than CL

Juan Aneiros · 20th March 2001, 03:59 PM

Yes he was typecasted as Dracula. And that is something I will never understand. Yeah, of course he was great in this part...but it bothers me since years and years that people and especially the newspapers never credite/d him much enough for all his other great characters he played or movies he made. That is as if you would only listen to one or two songs from a Singer. An artist like Christopher Lee who has so many talents and different faces deserves definitely more of the worlds attention. He developed and still developes his skills day by day more and more in so many directions.

To reduce him to just one character he played.....is like reducing a rainbow to just one color.

Even today magazines and newspapers (every single article) use to begin with words like : The Count, The horror-actor....etc. That makes me sick.

Some days ago , I was reading a german article about Jinnah (I forgot the name of the newspaper...I want forget !)
Even the Headline made me very upset. It said : "A Vampire fight for Justice".....unnessecary to say that the whole article was full of nonsens and empty phrases.

I bought the last three editions from that newspaper.....but only to smash it into the trash-can where such articles belongs to be.
I hope by this I saved at least two persons of reading this article.

Steffi

Juan Aneiros · 20th March 2001, 08:17 PM

Welcome back Steffi, we were starting to miss you around here. I hope you are well.

**Joe Skinnell** · 20th March 2001, 10:24 PM

Well Daniel, I believe Lugosi played him on stage off and on for almost 20 years, many of them before he made the movie, so yes, he played "D" more than CL did.

Gena · 21st March 2001, 05:20 AM

Usually typecasting comes when someone does something that catches everyones attention. If memory serves me correctly this is one of Mr. Lees first big parts, which he played several times, and may I add he portrayed it so well. Although he has portrayed many parts well, this was one of the first and will always be a part of his name. Why is that a bad thing?? The Dracula charactor has been around for how many years now and has become a legend. We agree this was a portrayal on Mr. Lees part and not an extension of his self, just a great portrayal. I know I'm bias, I love Dracula,

**Pam Stockbarger** · 21st March 2001, 05:43 AM

Typecast. Christopher has made so many films, and although I am fond of Dracula, I like Lord Summerisle better. The press are lazy, mentioning Dracula and showing photos of Christopher with Kensington Gore all over his face for the umpteenth time when they could be showing great photos of him from 220 other films.

Enough. I think he was wonderful as Dracula. He hasn't done Dracula for over two decades. If he was typecast, he'd still be doing it. Bela was a wonderful actor, but he was reduced to playing Dracula to make enough money to survive, and when he died he was still playing Dracula.

I was a journalism major in college, and I despise the press that can't do a bit more research and really write something about such a distinguished actor except "King of the Horror Films" or "Horror Legend". Shows their ignorance, and since their job is to keep the public INFORMED, they are erroneously propagating the "typecasting" aspect themselves.

Bah, humbug....

Andre · 27th March 2001, 08:53 AM

I have to agree with Gena as i also love Dracula(although i have to admit that i'm not too keen on any of the more modern films about D that have come out over the last few years)..and i think that we all know that Mr Lee was so damn good in this role that people can't help themselves when it comes to associating Mr Lees name with the Dracula character.
But then again i also have to agree with Pam in that i also believe that alot of Mr Lees Typecasting can be blamed on the Press(not all of it but a great percentage of it)...every time i see an article on Mr Lee it seems to concentrate on His Dracula movies and i get the feeling that they don't want to go too in depth about any of his other films as they feel that people won't be intrested(total rubbish of course).
The fact is that Mr Lee has made many wonderful films(and continues to do so) and i think that we are very lucky to have an actor of calibre with us and i for one am extremely grateful for the many hours of viewing pleasure that he has given me over the years.

(Edited by Andre at 3:18 am on Mar. 31, 2001)

**Maria Silbermann** · 31st March 2001, 08:56 AM

It's been 28 years and many major films. Why does that character still catch the imagination? Perhaps in an era of catastrophic change, the public want their favorite popular images to remain the same. Is it stronger in England? Doing the nostagia "horror week" commentaries probably does not help (though I, for one, love any opportunity to hear backround stories and info from the players!). :homer: