The acting legend, who is, like his fellow thespian Sir Ian McKellen, a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, died in May of 2015 after being admitted to the hospital with heart failure. Fun fact: Christopher Lee read "The Lord of the Rings" once a year until his death in abd had done so since the year it was published in 1954, and is the only member of the cast and crew ever to have met J.R.R. Tolkien.