The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson this week joined Sir Christopher Lee in celebrating his upcoming BFI Fellowship, the highest honour the BFI can bestow. The Fellowship will be presented at the 2013 BFI London Film Festival Awards on Saturday 19 October, at Banqueting House, Whitehall, SW1. A BFI Fellowship is awarded to individuals in recognition of their outstanding contribution to film or television. Last year the Fellowship was presented to Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton. In 2011, it was awarded to David Cronenberg and Ralph Fiennes.

BFI Chief Executive Amanda Nevill says:

The BFI Fellowship is awarded to those at the pinnacle of their profession. It is a truly illustrious moment to be honouring Sir Christopher Lee for his enormous and unique contribution to film during a Festival that is committed to excellence.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London says:

Congratulations to Sir Christopher on being awarded this distinguished accolade for a film career that has been genuinely iconic. As the BFI London Film Festival gets underway, with a wonderful array of films from around the world, it’s a good time to celebrate great British film and film talent.

London is one of the top three production centres in the world and at the centre of a dynamic and creative sector that is hugely important for our economy, so I’m delighted to welcome all the visiting filmmakers, industry professionals, as well as cinephiles, to this exciting festival where they can make new contacts, do business and see great films.

Sir Christopher Lee has acknowledged the BFI fellowship

It is a great privilege to be included amongst such a distinguished group of predecessors who have received this Award from the BFI.

Knighted in 2009 for his services to drama and charity, Sir Christopher Lee can boast more than 250 acting credits for film and television.  Having made his feature debut in 1948 with Corridor of Mirrors, he first became a star in the mid-50s playing Frankenstein’s creature, then the title role of Dracula for Hammer Films. In a career spanning more than eight decades, he has starred as Mycroft Holmes in Billy Wilder’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, as Lord Summerisle in cult classic The Wicker Man, as Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun, and as Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Sir Christopher won a new worldwide audience when he starred as Saruman in the BAFTA and Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy and appeared as Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels. He has also worked extensively with Tim Burton, including on Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and with distinctive voice roles in Alice in Wonderland and Corpse Bride.