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THE OFFICIAL HONOURS AND RELATED FILM AWARDS BESTOWED UPON SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE, C.B.E., C. ST. J. (1922-2015) 1 NOVEMBER 2017 LONDON GROUP CHAIRMAN AND CEO Olivier D. Stocker YOUR SPECIALISTS STAMPS UK - Tim Hirsch FRPSL Guy Croton David Parsons Nick Startup Neill Granger Dominic Savastano George James Ian Shapiro (Consultant) USA - George Eveleth Fernando Martínez EUROPE - Guido Craveri Fernando Martínez CHINA - George Yue (Consultant) Alan Ho COINS UK - Richard Bishop Tim Robson Gregory Edmund Robert Parkinson Lawrence Sinclair Barbara Mears John Pett (Consultant) USA - Muriel Eymery Greg Cole Stephen Gol dsmith (Special Consultant) CHINA - Kin Choi Cheung Paul Pei Po Chow BANKNOTES UK - Barnaby Faull Andrew Pattison Thomasina Smith USA - Greg Cole Stephen Goldsmith (Special Consultant) CHINA - Kelvin Cheung Paul Pei Po Chow ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS & MILITARIA UK - David Erskine-Hill Marcus Budgen USA - Greg Cole BONDS & SHARES UK - Mike Veissid (Consultant) Andrew Pattison Thomasina Smith USA - Stephen Goldsmith (Special Consultant) EUROPE - Peter Christen (Consultant) CHINA - Kelvin Cheung BOOKS UK - Emma Howard Nik von Uexkull AUTOGRAPHS USA - Greg Cole Stephen Goldsmith (Special Consultant) WINES CHINA - Angie Ihlo Fung Guillaume Willk-Fabia (Consultant) SPECIAL COMMISSIONS UK - Ian Copson Edward Hilarey Davis YOUR EUROPE TEAM (LONDON - LUGANO) Directors Tim Hirsch Anthony Spink Auction & Client Management Team Mira Adusei-Poku Rita Ariete Grace Hawkins Dora Szigeti Nik von Uexkull Tom Hazell John Winchcombe Viola Craveri Finance Alison Bennet Marco Fiori Mina Bhagat Dennis Muriu Veronica Morris Varranan Somasundaram IT & Administration Berdia Qamarauli Michael Lewis Liz Cones Tom Robinson Giacomo Canzi YOUR AMERICA TEAM (NEW YORK) Managing Director Charles Blane Auction Administration and Marketing & Design Nathalie Rochel Kaitlyn Argila Finance & Administration Amit Ramprashad Auctioneers Charles Blane Fernando Martinez YOUR ASIA TEAM (HONG KONG - SINGAPORE) Administration Sue Pui Angie Ihlo Fung Newton Tsang Christina Kong Representative for Australia Peter Griffiths Alan Ho [email protected] THE OFFICIAL HONOURS AND RELATED FILM AWARDS BESTOWED UPON SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE, C.B.E., C. ST. J. (1922-2015) 1 November 2017 in London and on and/or * SALE LOCATION YOUR SPINK TEAM FOR THIS SALE SPINK LONDON FOR YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SALE LOTS 69 Southampton Row, Bloomsbury David Erskine-Hill London WC1B 4ET [email protected] tel +44 (0)20 7563 4000 fax +44 (0)20 7563 4066 +44 (0)20 7563 4064 Vat No: GB 791627108 Marcus Budgen SALE DETAILS [email protected] +44 (0)20 7563 4061 Wednesday 1 November 2017 at 7.00 p.m. In sending commission bids or making enquiries, this sale should be referred to as DENVILLE HALL 17047 FOR YOUR BIDS Dora Szigeti PUBLIC VIEWING OF LOTS [email protected] +44 (0)20 7563 4005 At Spink London fax +44 (0)20 7563 4037 Monday 30 October 2017 10.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. Tuesday 31 October 2017 10.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. FOR YOUR INTERNET BIDDING Private viewing by appointment at Spink or locations within London by prior arrangement, 23 - 27 October 2017 Michael Lewis [email protected] +44 (0)20 7563 4090 SPINK ON SOCIAL MEDIA +44 (0)20 7563 4089 TWITTER: @SpinkandSon YOUTUBE: Spinkauctions INSTAGRAM: Spink_auctions WECHAT: Spink _auctions FOR YOUR PAYMENT FACEBOOK: Spink Auctions Veronica Morris *Spink is pleased to continue to offer our on-line bidding platform Spink Live [email protected] for no charge through www.spink.com. Please note that bidders who acquire +44 (0)20 7563 4018 lots on the-saleroom.com will have a fee of 3% on the hammer price added to their invoice for using this facility. Please use the QR code to visit our website, view our catalogues and other FOR YOUR VAT ENQUIRIES publications and place commission bids. You can download the QR Code Reader for iPhone, Blackberry and Android from App Store on your John Winchcombe smartphone. [email protected] The Spink Environment Commitment: +44 (0)20 7563 4101 Paper from Sustainable Forests and Clean Ink Spink has a long history of preserving not only collectables but our planet, too. We are proud to ensure that our policy of sustainability and conservation keeps up with Spink’s growth, helping improve the environment for new generations of collectors. To purchase a catalogue: We insist that our printers source all paper used in the production of Spink catalogues from FSC and/or PEFC email: [email protected] suppliers and use non-hazardous inks. We also ask they hold the environmental standard ISO 14001. Spink recycle all ecological material used on our premises and we encourage you to recycle your catalogue tel: +44 (0)20 7563 4005 fax: +44 (0)20 7563 4037 once you have finished with it. For more information about Spink services, forthcoming sales and sales results visit the Spink Website Front Cover Illustrations: 2, 46 Back Cover Illustration: 37 www.spink.com THE AWARDS OF SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE, C.B.E., C. ST. J. Sir Christopher’s C.B.E. Warrant (See Lot 1) WWW.SPINK.COM November 1, 2017 - LONDON THE OFFICIAL HONOURS AND RELATED FILM AWARDS BESTOWED UPON SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE, C.B.E., C. ST. J. (1922-2015) Sold by Order of Lady Lee A percentage of the sale proceeds will be donated by Lady Lee to Denville Hall, Northwood, the retirement home for actors and actresses LONDON, WEDNESDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2017 Commencing at 7.00 p.m. All Sales are subject to the Terms and Conditions for Buyers printed at the back of this catalogue. Please note that bidders who acquire lots on the-saleroom.com will have a fee of 3% on the hammer price added to their invoice for using this facility. Spink is pleased to continue to offer our on-line bidding platform Spink Live for no charge through www.spink.com. Estimates The estimated selling price of each lot is printed below the lot description and does not include the Buyer’s Premium Bidders should bear in mind that estimates are prepared well in advance of the sale and are not definitive. They are subject to revision. A reception will be held from 6 p.m. For those interested in attending, please contact Rita Ariete ([email protected]) 3 THE AWARDS OF SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE, C.B.E., C. ST. J. A FOREWORD BY DAME HARRIET WALTER, D.B.E. We Knew Him as Tio If the phrase “star quality” had been known to me as a child in the 1950s I would most definitely have applied it to my uncle Christopher Lee, and not because of anything to do with his actual film stardom. For me his star quality existed off screen. I was forbidden to witness his professional stardom by the X rating attached to all his films, although in my early teens, with the collusion of my otherwise law-abiding grandmother, I did sneak in to the Notting Hill Coronet to see Dracula; Prince of Darkness wearing my older sister’s high heels and a padded bra. Long before that he had impressed me as the romantic, roving uncle, who would fly in on occasional visits from faraway places. His presence always created excitement. The pulse of the entire family seemed to quicken, and life became more vivid at the sound of his voice when he entered the room. We were a captive audience for his exotic anecdotes and brilliant imitations, necessarily looking up to his 6’4” standing figure from our quickly improvised circle of armchairs or cushions on the floor. My own passion for acting took hold at the age of nine, which may have been partly inspired by one or two visits to the Hammer Film Studios at Brae, where I was let loose on the sets of Pirates of Blood River but I remember it as a quite independent thought more to do with my crush on Hayley Mills than my uncle’s influence. However by the time I was heading for Drama School I was very ready to attend a rather serious private audience with Tio (as we always called him) in which he tried to put me off the acting profession, painting a direful picture of its pitfalls even though he seemed to me to have avoided them quite successfully himself. I acknowledged his superior wisdom, thanked him and went right on and became an actor anyway. Christopher was full of surprises. His looks could famously terrify, but he was a gentle and, I think, rather insecure man. He took himself seriously but was extremely funny. He could seem a bit uncoordinated but he was an excellent sportsman and did most of his own stunts. His school memories were more about sport than academe, but as an adult he was an eternal autodidact with a prodigious memory. There was very little he didn’t know about opera and his own rich baritone voice could have led to a singing career if he had been able to afford the training. In his book Tall Dark and Gruesome he wrote eloquently about this and about his early life, the immediate family he grew up with, his days at Wellington College and how, like most young men of his generation, his youth was violently interrupted by the war. He enlisted in the RAF but when he blacked out at a certain altitude he was forced to abandon that path. Instead he became an Intelligence Officer, in which role his un- English looks, his fluency in five languages and his bravery made him excellent material. To the day he died he never disclosed any details of the things he saw or the secrets he had kept, but I know they would have fed into his acting when he played out adventures in a safer form.