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The daughter of a premier makeup artist and the sister of a district attorney, Michele Lee was born Michele Lee Dusick in Los Angeles, Cal., on June 24, 1942. Her childhood was consumed by the Hollywood entertainment industry. Lee was outgoing and had taken every chance to do plays in front of her family and friends. In Junior High, she continued acting in school plays. When she was in the 10th grade at Hamilton High School, she tried out for the band and was the lead singer for that. Prior to her graduation from Hamilton, she landed her first role in the Broadway revue, "Vintage '60," and her career was launched. A small role in "Bravo Giovanni," and the lead role as Rosemary in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967), followed. Her musical talent was brought to the attention of Columbia Records (now Sony), and she signed to the label in a hurry. Shortly after she appeared in Broadway shows and became a singer, she began making a number of guest appearances on television, doing dancing, singing and performing comedy routines on most live-action segments, most notably, Danny Kaye Show, The (1963). She was only 22 and her career was off to a firing start. She continued making guest appearances on a number of television specials and live-action shows. However, the silver screen took precedence as she made her movie debut with the film, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967), followed by The Comic (1969), co-starring Dick Van Dyke. A year that after her first child was born, and soon after she was back at work, starring in Love Bug, The (1969). It was the best movie of 1970 and it made it to the top of the box office all across the country. While her laughter was brought to the world, however, her father passed away of a severe heart attack in 1974 at age 57. Ms. Lee was devastated by the loss of her father, but she quickly directed herself to head back to work. She accepted a role on Broadway in "Seesaw", where her work gave her a 1974 Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Tragedy haunted Michele, however--she was unable to spring back for a long time after her mother died in 1976. In December 1979, after spending a vacation with her husband and only child, she accepted the leading role of the persistent-yet-friendly neighbor, Karen Fairgate MacKenzie in the prime-time soap opera, Knots Landing (1979). For 14 of those years, Michele was the big asset of the show, and that won her one Emmy nomination. The triumph of the series was splendid, but in real-life, her marriage to James Farentino was a burden. In 1993, Knots Landing was cancelled when her substitute family came to a close. When the series was dropped away from its schedule on CBS, she was open to new opportunities. She began to produce/develop her own television movies through her own production company. Michele Lee has had an incredible career that spans almost 40 years in television, film and on stage: she earned her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located not far from the site of her very first audition for "Vintage '60."
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