Lee was born to Korean-immigrant parents in Brooklyn in 1971. She attended the
Bronx High School of Science before dropping out, finished years of college, majoring in Early Childhood Development, before deciding to go full time after making a career in billiards, earning money as a teenager by nannying and waitressing to pay for her table time. She went on to rank as the No. 1 female pool player in the world during the 1990s, and received the
Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) Sportsperson of the Year Award in 1998. She was three times runner-up at the World Nine-ball Championships (
women's), from 1993 to 1996. She is also a US Open 9-ball Champion, WPBA National Champion, McDermott 8-ball bar-table world champion, National 3-cushion Billiard Champion, and Trick Shot World Champion. In addition to many top finishes on the
WPBA Tour, she won the
gold medal for the United States at the
2001 World Games in
Akita, Japan, and won the ladies' 25,000 winner-take-all Tournament of Champions twice, in 1999 and 2003. Lee also co-wrote ''The Black Widow's Guide to Killer Pool.'' In 2001, Lee challenged
Efren Reyes to a -to-13
exhibition match at
nine-ball, in
Manila, Philippines, but lost 4–13. In 2013, Lee was inducted into the
Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame. In 2015, was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame based in Seattle, Washington. In 2017, was inducted into the Women's Professional Billiards Association Hall of Fame. In 2022, ESPN made a 30 for 30 documentary on Jeanette's story, called “Jeanette Lee Vs”, sharing her beginnings, her journey with Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer, and how her experiences have built her into who she is today. Lee voices a fictionalized version of herself in the 2025
Adult Swim original series
Haha, You Clowns. ==Outside competition==