21 Facts About Michele Lee

Michele Lee was born on June 24,1942 and is an American actress, singer, dancer, producer and director.

Michele Lee is known for her role as Karen Fairgate MacKenzie on the prime-time soap opera Knots Landing, for which she was nominated for a 1982 Emmy Award and won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Actress in 1988,1991, and 1992.

Michele Lee was the only performer to appear in all 344 episodes of the series.

Michele Lee made her movie debut in the film version of the latter in 1967.

Michele Lee was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1974 for Seesaw and for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2001 for The Tale of the Allergist's Wife.

Michele Lee played the title role in the 1998 TV film Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story and Madame Morrible in the 2015 Broadway musical Wicked.

Michele Lee was a guest on the series premiere of The Tim Conway Show in 1980.

Michele Lee Dusick was born in Los Angeles on June 24,1942, the daughter of Sylvia Helen, and Jack Dusick, a makeup artist.

Michele Lee recorded two records on Columbia Records in the 1960s, in addition to her singing work on original Broadway cast albums.

Michele Lee played Michele Burton, a clerk in a hotel newsstand, with support from Stephen Collins.

In 1979, Michele Lee accepted the role of Karen Fairgate on Knots Landing, a spin-off of the highly popular Dallas.

Television personality Joan Rivers commented that Michele Lee was, in theory, the "First Lady of Knots Landing" during her guest appearance on The Late Show, then hosted by Rivers.

Michele Lee won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Lead Actress three times, and was nominated for an Emmy in 1982 for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series".

Six years later, Michele Lee directed her first of several episodes of the series.

Michele Lee became the first woman to star in, direct, and produce a TV movie for Lifetime, Color Me Perfect.

Michele Lee was in the reunion miniseries Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac, and portrayed novelist Jacqueline Susann in the television biopic Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story.

In 2004, Michele Lee returned to feature films in the role of Ben Stiller's character's mother in Along Came Polly.

In 2010, Michele Lee did voice work for an episode of the animated comedy series Family Guy.

Michele Lee returned to Broadway in 2015 to star as Madame Morrible in the musical Wicked.

In 2025, Michele Lee reunited with KL co-stars Joan Van Ark and Donna Mills for the episodic podcast We're Knot Done Yet, available on streaming platforms such as Podbean and Spotify.

In 1963, Michele Lee met actor James Farentino on the set of the play How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and in 1966, they were married.