Christopher Lee, who was best known for his work on the British Hammer Horror films, has died at the age of 93, according to The Telegraph.

Lee, who had been hospitalized with respiratory problems and heart failure, died on June 7 at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, but the news was not made public for four days. His wife, Birgit Kroencke, wanted his friends and family to hear the news before it went public, according to The Guardian.

Lee's early life included acting at a young age in the role of Rumpelstiltskin while he was living and attending school in Switzerland. He was the step-cousin to James Bond creator Ian Fleming. At a young age, he was introduced to the assassins of Grigori Rasputin, whom he would later portray on film.

Lee served in World War II and upon his return to civilian life, he could not bear the thought of going back to his previous career in an office, so chose to pursue acting.

His breakthrough work would start with the Hammer Company following his role on the film "The Curse of Frankenstein," in which he starred alongside good friend Peter Cushing.

That friendship lasted a long time. In that time, Lee worked on a string of cult-horror hits that included portraying the title character in a big-screen adaptation of "Dracula" in 1958. This role would eventually catapult him to fame, and he would come back to reprise the character in five more films, all of which gave him very few speaking roles and Lee expressed disdain for the later films.

In 1973, Lee portrayed Lord Summerisle in "The Wicker Man." He would also follow that up with a role in his step-cousin's 1974 James Bond film "The Man With the Golden Gun," where he portrayed Francisco Scaramanga.

Although Lee would work with Cushing many times in his professional career, there is also a time when both appeared in a "Star Wars" film, albeit separate films in different decades.

He most recently experienced phenomenal box office success with "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, in which he played Saruman. He would reprise that role in the recent "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" film.

Daily News also reports he frequently collaborated with director Tim Burton, most recently on "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Alice in Wonderland."

See classic video of Lee on the set of "Taste the Blood of Dracula" in 1969 below.