Veteran screen actor Christopher Lee, 87, received one of Britain's highest honours on Saturday, as part of the Queen’s birthday honours. The legendary star has been made a Knight of the Realm.

Lee first made his name in Britain's low-budget Hammer Studios horror films, most memorably playing the silent but mesmerizing ‘Dracula’. He went on to play the part in a string of sequels, as well as appearing in many other Hammer productions, often alongside his old friend, the late Peter Cushing, who continually played Van Helsing to his Count.

He became one of cinema's most popular bad-guys, appearing as everything from Bond villain Scaramanga in ‘The Man With the Golden Gun’ to the disreputable Russian mystic in ‘Rasputin, the Mad Monk.’ His film and TV credits number at over 250, making him one of the most credited actors of all time.

Most memorably, he also played Lord Summerisle in the cult classic ‘The Wicker Man’ in 1973, opposite Edward Woodward. Lee himself has always considered this the best film he has ever been a part of. Talking in his autobiography, ‘Lord Of Misrule,’ he stated that, ‘this I think might be the one I would take with me to a desert island…it turned out to be a flawed masterpiece.’

More recent performances include the evil wizard Saruman in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and Jedi Count Dooku in two of George Lucas's ‘Star Wars’ prequels.

In the past, he has been quoted as suggesting that, ‘to be a legend, you've either got to be dead or excessively old!’

Sir Lee is currently filming in New Mexico.

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