Lee was born in 1939 in
Springs, Transvaal Province (present-day
Gauteng), and grew up on a
gold mine until her father, an electrician, died when she was nine. She was brought up by her mother and had a sister Barbara. A former waitress, her acting career began in the 1960s in Johannesburg where she became a stage manager for a theatrical company and acted extensively in the theatre and on radio, starring in productions throughout her native South Africa, as well as Zimbabwe and Zambia. Lee emigrated to Australia where she became well known Vera Collins in
Number 96, starting in 1972. Soon after leaving
Number 96 Lee was cast as headmistress Margaret Gibson in
Glenview High, which ran between 1977 and 1978. She then appeared in several productions of the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in TV movies and panel shows, and made guest appearances in drama series such as
A Country Practice. She also continued her stage work, including the challenging one-woman show
Turn on the Heat, loosely based on the last two hours of
Marilyn Monroe's life. Lee made sporadic appearances in Australian feature films during the 1990s. In 1997, she played a regular role in the critically panned
Kingswood Country spin-off situation comedy
Bullpitt!, and she had a recurring role in
Heartbreak High. In the 2000s Lee continued to make occasional appearances in Australian films and drama series, and she opened an acting school in Sydney with
Judi Farr. In 2001 she appeared in the medical drama
All Saints and in 2005 acted in soap opera
Home and Away. Lee also presented a commentary on the 2006 DVD release of
Number 96 ==Personal life==