He was also a first class drama queen who famously threw his rattle out of the pram when Peter Jackson cut one of his scenes from The Two Towers (which Lee subsequently claimed was "The Most Important Scene In The Entire Film".
Lee's background in "special forces" is well known. He's related to Ian Fleming who was one of Bill Stephenson's top spooks operating in the European theatre around the end of the war. Both were assigned to Operation Alsos, which involved the theft of German technology, intellectual property and the spiriting away of Nazi war criminals who should have stood trial but instead were given false papers and a new and prosperous life in the West.
Formerly Lee worked among the Partisans - which just goes to show that these old establishment types really aren't too fussed about whose bed they sleep in.