Skip to page content

Michele Lee

About this Artist

MICHELE LEE, perhaps best-known worldwide for her Emmy-nominated role as Karen in the landmark CBS series Knots Landing, started her career on the Broadway stage when discovered by producer David Merrick at the age of seventeen. By the time she was nineteen she was sharing the boards with Metropolitan Opera's Cesare Siepe in Bravo Giovanni, which led to her breakout role as Rosemary in the original How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opposite Robert Morse. In 1974 she starred on the Broadway stage in Michael Bennett's musical Seesaw. Her performance won her a Tony nomination, the Drama Desk, and the Outer Critics Award for Best Actress.

Ms. Lee has produced and starred in and numerous films for television, including CBS's Emmy-nominated Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story, When No One Would Listen, and Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story.

In 1996, Ms. Lee became the first woman to produce, direct, co-write and star in a motion picture for television. Color Me Perfect made its debut as an event presentation on Lifetime Television. It was honored with the prestigious Christopher Award, and the Gracie Allen Award presented by the American Women in Television and Radio.

Other television films include Neil Simon's Broadway Bound Dark Victory, and Bud and Lou. Ms. Lee was named the NATO Star of Tomorrow for her debut in the movie version of How to Succeed… starred with Dick Van Dyke in Carl Reiner's cult classic The Comic and in the Disney favorite The Love Bug.

In 2000 Ms. Lee returned to Broadway earning rave reviews and a Tony nomination for her role as the mysterious, enigmatic Lee Green in Charles Busch's, The Allergist's Wife. Ms. Lee was recently presented a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.