Horror has lost its most charismatic villain.
His piercing gaze and commanding bass voice were only part of a stage presence that was monumentally iconic and eternally inimitable.
In his early career he was the reigning king of B-movie horror, working with the likes of Terence Fisher, Antonio Margheriti, Mario Bava, Freddie Francis, Jess Franco, Vernon Sewell, Gordon Hessler, Billy Wilder, Roy Ward Baker, Robin Hardy, Gary Sherman and Philippe Mora.
Late in his life he enjoyed the resurgence of interest that he so rightfully deserved, appearing in a number of movies for some of genre cinema's greatest directors, including Joe Dante, Tim Burton, Peter Jackson, John Landis and Martin Scorsese.
His genre credits are innumerable, but I'll most remember him for playing Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula, the Mummy, Fu Manchu, Lord Summerisle, Scaramanga and Saruman the White.