Michele Lee

Who is Michele Lee?

Michele Lee is an American actress, singer, dancer, producer, director and frequent game show panelist of the 1970s. She is best known for her Emmy Award nominated role as Karen Cooper Fairgate MacKenzie on the 1980s prime-time soap opera, Knots Landing. She is also a two-time Tony Award nominee.

Lee began her career on Broadway, appearing in Vintage 60 and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. She made her movie debut in the film version of the latter in 1967. She co-starred with Dean Jones in the 1969 Disney film, The Love Bug. and also starred that year opposite Dick Van Dyke in The Comic. She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical in 1974 for Seesaw.

She starred in Knots Landing for all fourteen seasons from 1979-1993 and was the only cast member to appear in every episode. The role earned her an Emmy nomination in 1982 and three Soap Opera Digest Awards for Best Actress, in 1988, 1991 and 1992. Her roles since then have included the title role in the 1998 TV movie Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story and a return to Broadway in the play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, for which she received a second Tony nomination in 2001.