Christopher Lee bald?! - The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) Discussion

[–] duke-verity 19 years ago

He's wearing a bald skull cap for Mycroft. Wilder wanted Lee to look significantly different for the part. The skull cap involved wearing a fake fitted bald pate over his real scalp to give the impression of baldness. Lee explains this in his interview for the dvd.

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[–] gasfarty 18 years ago

That's what he says, but to me, it always looked like he was wearing a rug in his films. I'd almost believe that the baldness was the real deal.

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[–] poofta1970 18 years ago

He has a slight degree of male pattern balding, which is a curse of most men with a widow's peek.

Seeing him in the interview it's clear that that is all his own hair (though I think he may have worn dentures for some of his Hammer films).

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[–] pablo-taylor 18 years ago

Lee has been bald for much of his adult life, and has always worn a hair-piece both on and off screen (Private Life Of S.H being an exception). Inspite of his denial, I've seen photographs of him having his makeup applied for The Curse of Frankenstein, where his lack of hair is quite apparent.

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[–] kearnshaw 17 years ago

I knew someone who was a costumier for both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and he told me that both gentlemen wore toupees or wigs for most of their film appearances.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] pablo-taylor 17 years ago

Difference being that Cushing didn't bother off-screen and wasn't particularly bothered by his baldness.

Saving Private Ryan = Forty minutes of steely violence and two hours of cliché-ridden flab.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] dknow3 16 years ago

A couple I know visited Christopher Lee in his home when he was living in California circa 1980. At one point, Lee humorously grabbed his hair and tugged on it, saying, "See it's real!" My friends were under the impression that Lee had probably had transplants. Of course, this anecdote proves nothing.

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[–] luketheratking 16 years ago

I think he's probably worn hair pieces in some films to make his hair seem fuller (some his films look like he has more dome shaped hair), his hair in some pictures (i.e. early 1960s pictures) looks thin, but I had never heard he was bald.

I have noticed his teeth are rather squint at the bottom (though look perfectly healthy, etc.) and he has never had them sorted, so you'd think someone vain enough to have hair implans/wear wigs non-stop would have had their teeth fixed...... just a thought.

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[–] balkaster 15 years ago

It depends on the man. If your teeth have always been slightly crooked or crowded, you would probably be less disposed to regard them as offensive, but when you've had hair all your life and suddenly start losing it -- even if you knew hair loss was in your genetic inheritance -- you might be vain enough about it to wear a wig or have surgery done.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] fanaticita 13 years ago

In the Special Features section of the dvd Lee stated that he had a lot of make up for the role including a bald piece. During the interview he had a lot of hair.

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[–] angelosdaughter 13 years ago

It doesn't matter whether Mr. Lee is bald or not, he is still handsome.

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[–] sherlock-37 11 years ago

I was surprised too. That's what playing Dracula will do to you.

My accountant says, "1 + 1, 40% of the time, equals divorce".

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