You know him as Saramon, Count Dooku, and Dracula. Yesterday, the world lost an incredibly prolific and accomplished artist in Sir Christopher Lee, who died at age 93. Over those 93 years, Lee lived a more interesting life than most of the world combined. For some perspective, being knighted doesn’t make the top five list of interesting Christopher Lee moments. Seriously…check this out.

5 Bond Villain in Film, Bond in Real Life

Lee played the villain Scaramanga in 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun, but in real life, he was closer to James Bond than a Bond villain. During World War II, Lee performed top-secret clandestine operations for the British SAS (Special Air Service). He fought in Finland and North Africa and, after the war, hunted war criminals. I like to picture him doing so with a lightsaber and lightning coming out of his fingertips.

His experience was extensive enough that when Peter Jackson wanted Lee to cry out when being stabbed in the back during The Return of the King, Lee corrected him. As Jackson recalls, “…he says, ‘Peter, have you ever heard the sound a man makes when he’s stabbed in the back?’ And I said, ‘Um, no.’ And he says ‘Well, I have, and I know what to do.’”

You know who else thought Lee was like James Bond? His cousin, Ian Flemming, the guy who freaking created James Bond. In fact, Flemming lobbied to get Lee cast as Bond, but it didn’t work out.

4 He Holds Hollywood Records

At 6’5”, Lee holds the record for the tallest leading man in Hollywood history. As cool as that is, brace yourself for this one; Lee appeared in over 250 movies, making him one of the most prolific actors of all time. Along with his movie pedigree, Lee also released several metal albums when he was in his 90’s and was a talented opera singer.

3 Impressive Family Tree

Speaking of opera, Lee’s grandparents opened the first opera house in Australia. That’s just the tip of Lee’s family tree. We’ve already mentioned Ian Flemming as a relative of Lee’s, but here’s a more distant one you may know: Robert E. Lee. Believe it or not, Robert E. Lee isn’t Christopher’s most famous ancestor, as that honor is saved for Charlemagne. Yeah, that Charlemagne.

2 A Part of History

In one of the more bizarre pieces of Christopher Lee trivia, a 17 year-old Lee was present at the last public execution by Guillotine in France. What are the odds of that happening? Seriously, this guy’s life plays out like Forest Gump, if Gump was a 6’5” badass.

1 Met Rasputin’s Killers, Played Rasputin

This next chapter of “Christopher Lee meets History” deserves its own entry on this list. When Christopher Lee was a boy, his mother introduced him to Prince Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, the men who killed Rasputin. Years later, Lee would end up playing the Mad Monk on the big screen.