Roger Moore leads celeb tributes to Christopher Lee

Los Angeles - Sir Roger Moore is "terribly sad" to have lost one of his "oldest friends" Sir Christopher Lee.

The James Bond star was among the first to pay tributes to the star on twitter shortly after learning of the 93-year-old actor's death in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on Sunday after being treated for respiratory problems.

He tweeted:

It's terribly when you lose an old friend, and Christopher Lee was one of my oldest. We first met in 1948.

— Sir Roger Moore (@sirrogermoore) June 11, 2015

Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins alongside Lee's Lord Saruman in the Lord of the Rings franchise, tweeted that the actor would be profoundly missed:

An extraordinary man and life lead, Sir Christopher Lee. You were an icon, and a towering human being with stories for days. We'll miss you.

— Elijah Wood (@woodelijah) June 11, 2015

And Jonathan Ross who interviewed the late actor many times, wrote: "So sad to hear that Sir Christopher Lee has died. A great actor, a great star, a surprisingly good singer and a lovely, lovely man."

Director Tim Burton, who worked with Lee on five films including Charlie And The Chocolate Factory wrote: "Christopher has been an enormous inspiration to me my entire life. He was the last of his kind — a true legend — who I'm fortunate to have called a friend. He will continue to inspire me and I'm sure countless others for generations to come."

The acting legend was knighted for services to drama and charity in 2009 and will be most remembered for being Count Dracula in a string of popular Hammer Horror movies, also for his roles as Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun and Saruman in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, as well as Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

He is survived by his wife Birgit Kroencke and daughter Christina Erika Carandini.