Lee Purcell

Purcell was born at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina.[1] Her birth father, an aviator and Marine major, died when Purcell was a young child. She then lived with her grandparents[2] until her mother, Lee McKnight Purcell, married Navy doctor Donald Purcell, who formally adopted Lee as a child.[3] She has a sister, Paige Wooldridge.[4] Purcell and her family moved multiple times to different states and military bases.[2]

After the military service ended, they eventually settled in Paragould, Arkansas, where Purcell spent most of her youth. She graduated from their high school in 1965[4] and attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri as a dance and theatre student.[5][6][7] [8]

Purcell in 1970

Purcell made her debut as a performer at five years of age, appearing on a Memphis, Tennessee TV show.[9][10] After being expelled from Stephens College, Purcell[5] arrived in California in 1967[11] and studied acting. Casting off her southern accent was another goal she successfully worked on.[12] Purcell supported herself by working in commercials[8] and selling clothes at a disco.[12]

In 1969 Purcell was personally chosen for her first feature film by Steve McQueen in his company's production of Adam at Six A.M., co-starring Michael Douglas.[13] Asked to explain why he picked Purcell among nearly 500 other available actresses, McQueen said, "It wasn't easy. We kept narrowing down the field over a period of weeks until it came to giving screen tests to six of them. All of them were good, but Lee seemed to jump right out of the screen."[14]

Purcell at the 1994 Emmy Awards

In the early 1970s Purcell temporarily moved to England, studying acting in London[15] under the private training of Professor Margot Lister.[16] During this time she frequently returned to the United States to act in American movies and TV shows.[17] Years later, she told a reporter, "I had a great time. I thought it was a permanent move. But I wasn't allowed to work there and it became difficult to go elsewhere to work."[12]

Her television work included roles as Billie Dove and Olivia de Havilland in two biopic TV movies: The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977)[18] and My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985).[19]

She was nominated for two Emmy Awards. In 1991, she was nominated as Outstanding Lead Actress for Long Road Home.[20] and in 1994 as Outstanding Supporting Actress for Secret Sins of the Father.[21] She was co-producer, and starred in the 1998 low-budget cable-TV movie Malaika (alternate title Tons of Trouble).[22][23]

Purcell has performed narrations of poetry and fiction in front of live audiences.[24][25][26] She is a former NRA (National Rifle Association) director[27][28] and has been involved with Scientology.[29]

In December 2010 Purcell launched an interactive fashion and beauty website, BoomerBabes, geared towards women over 40 and Baby Boomer women born between 1946 and 1964. BoomerBabes no longer accepts orders. [30]

Purcell is on the board of directors for Heart of a Horse, a non profit organization which seeks to rescue and rehabilitate abused and neglected horses.[31]

Media related to Lee Purcell at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Lee Purcell at IMDb
• Fashion and beauty website created by Purcell