Sondra Lee (born September 30, 1930)[1] is an American former actress and dancer who performed on Broadway, on television, and in films.

Early years

Lee was born in Newark, New Jersey,[1] and grew up there. As a child, she received growth hormone shots and frequently had pneumonia.[2]

She desired to be an actress from childhood, tracing those yearnings to watching Greta Garbo in the film Camille (1936). Although her mother wanted her to pursue training for a career in business, Lee persisted in her desires. She also began taking dancing lessons in her mid-teens,[3] studying at Studio 61 in Carnegie Hall.[2]

Stage

Lee's early experience in theater included acting with the YMHA Players in Newark and performing at the Walnut House on the Hill in the Catskills.[2] At age 16, she danced professionally in a night club in Washington, D.C.[3]

She began performing on Broadway in 1947 in High Button Shoes. Other Broadway credits included Peter Pan (1954), Hotel Paradiso (1957), Jerome Robbins' Ballet: U.S.A. (1958), Sunday in New York (1961), and Hello Dolly (1964).[1] She also performed in Peter Pan in San Francisco in 1954.[4] In 1953, Lee portrayed Daisy, a maid, in a production of Bloomer Girl by the St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre,[3] and in 1954, she relocated to France to be the co-star of Ballets de Paris.[2]

She directed Hillbilly Women at the ArcLight Theater in 2011. Based on Kathy Kahn's book of the same name, the production focused on six women of Appalachia, each of whom presented highlights of her life story.[5] Lee taught at the NYU Drama School and at the Stella Adler Conservatory.[2]

Her work at the latter led to her being selected to teach actors how to die.[clarification needed][citation needed] For one month in 1965, she worked with members of a newly created touring division of the Metropolitan Opera to ensure that their death scenes evoked an appropriate response from the audience.[6]

Year Title Role(s) Notes Ref.
1947 High Button Shoes Corps de ballet; playmate of the boy at the picnic Broadway debut [7]
1954 Peter Pan Tiger Lily [8]
1957 Hotel Paradiso Victoire, the maid [9]
1961 Sunday in New York Woman [10]
1964 Hello, Dolly! Minnie Fay [11]
2005 The Audience Maddy [12]

Television

Lee was a member of the casts of three DuMont Television Network programs. The S.S. Holiday (1950) was a two-hour variety program that was converted to a one-hour program and retitled Starlit Time, featuring performances at night clubs in New York City.[13]: 1008  Once Upon a Tune (1951), was a musical anthology series that presented a complete musical (usually adapted from a Broadway show) in each episode.[13] She also developed choreography for The Voice of Firestone and adapted children's stories that she wrote into dances for TV.[3] She performed in NBC productions of Hansel and Gretel (1958)[14] and Peter Pan (1959).[15]

Personal life

Lee married Sidney Armus in 1954.[2]

She made a hobby of using items that she described as mostly "just junk" to decorate her apartment in New York City.[16] Some items were gifts, including a Victorian sofa that someone anonymously left at her door and she reupholstered and an old clock that her parents gave her and she gilded. In other instances, she used her acting skills to obtain used items from shop owners at the lowest possible price.[16]

Lee's memoir, titled I've Slept With Everybody, was published in September 2009.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Sondra Lee". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Sondra Lee". Masterworks Broadway. Sony Music Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Kimbrough, Mary (June 16, 1953). "Verbal Compliment Sent by Freight". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 36. Retrieved August 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Sondra Lee In 'Peter Pan'". Oakland Tribune. July 26, 1954. p. 24. Retrieved August 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (January 14, 2011). "Scraping By in Appalachia". The New York Times. p. C 12. ProQuest 1634192138. Retrieved January 25, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ Calta, Louis (July 31, 1965). "Actress Teaches Met Singers How to 'Die' in Proper Style". The New York Times. p. 10. ProQuest 116938205. Retrieved January 25, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ "High Button Shoes – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  8. ^ "Peter Pan – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  9. ^ "Hotel Paradiso – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  10. ^ "Sunday in New York – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  11. ^ "Theater: 'Hello, Dolly!' Has Premiere; Carol Channing Star of Musical at St. James". The New York Times. 1964-01-17. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  12. ^ Stasio, Marilyn (2005-04-11). "The Audience". Variety. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  13. ^ a b Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 788. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  14. ^ Crosby, John (April 30, 1958). "'Dial M' Was Expert Theater; Critic Tired of TV Fairy Tales". The Times-Tribune. Pennsylvania, Scranton. New York Herald Tribune. p. 31. Retrieved August 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Mary Martin Flies Again in 'Peter Pan'". The Times Recorder. Ohio, Zanesville. March 23, 1989. p. 19. Retrieved August 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ a b Warren, Virginia Lee (October 5, 1966). "The Tag on the Sofa Said 'Love and Kisses'". The New York Times. p. 34. ProQuest 117388674. Retrieved January 25, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  17. ^ Bacalzo, Dan (August 25, 2009). "Sondra Lee's I've Slept With Everybody Set for September 15 Release | TheaterMania". TheaterMania. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
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