Elaine Lee (actress)

Elaine Lee (23 December 1939^[1] – 17 September 2014^[2]) was a South African-born Australian-based theatre and television actress and entertainer best known for her role of Vera Collins in the 1970s television soap opera Number 96.

Career

Lee was born in 1939 in Springs, Transvaal Province (present-day Gauteng). Her acting career began in the 1960s in South Africa where she acted extensively in the theatre and on radio. Lee emigrated to Australia with her husband, South African-born actor Garth Meade. The marriage ended in divorce in 1976. She became well known as a sex symbol and played the perpetually unlucky-in-love, fashionista and clairvoyant Vera Collins in Number 96, starting in 1972.^[3] Lee was an original cast member of the series. She was raped three times, including by her onscreen husband Harry Collins (Norman Yemm), with the sophisticated Vera emerging as a key figure in many of its story lines. Lee remained in the role of Vera for four and a half years, finally leaving in mid-1976 of her own volition. She appeared in the feature film version, in 1974, in which she was raped by a group of bikers in the opening scene, Number 96 producer David Sale, said that Number 96 was always going to be controversial and shocking, especially for its time, so we thought, "start the film version with a rape sequence and get it over with". A scheduled spinoff from Number 96 called Fair Game, featuring Lee and Abigail, did not eventuate.

Lee subsequently 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.^[3]

Lee made sporadic appearances in Australian feature films during the 1990s. In 1997, she landed a regular role on the critically panned situation comedy Bullpitt!. She had a recurring role on Heartbreak High. In the 2000s Lee continued to make occasional guest appearances in Australian films and drama series, and opened an acting school in Sydney with Judi Farr. In 2001 she appeared in the medical drama All Saints and in 2005 appeared in the soap opera Home and Away. She also presented a commentary on the 2006 DVD release of the Number 96 feature film.^[4]

Lee died, aged 74, on 17 September 2014 in Sydney, Australia.

Filmography

References