I've always acknowledged my debt to Hammer. I've always said I'm very grateful to them. They gave me this great opportunity, made me a well known face all over the world for which I am profoundly grateful.

While they frequently played off each other as mortal enemies onscreen—Lee's Count Dracula to Cushing's Professor Van Helsing—they were close friends in real life. R. He made his film debut in Terence Young's Gothic romance Corridor of Mirrors in 1947.

Other notable roles include Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) Saruman in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and The Hobbit film trilogy (2012–2014) and Count Dooku in the final two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002 2005). Lee initially portrayed villains and became best known for his role as Count Dracula in a string of popular Hammer Horror films. He was honoured with the "Spirit of Metal" award in the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden God awards ceremony.