All The Babes
Belinda Lee
Career
Active 1954 – 1961
Biography
About Belinda Lee
Belinda Lee had a slim, blonde, green-eyed look that made her a natural fit for the screen. She was born on June 15, 1935, in Budleigh Salterton, East Devon, England, the daughter of florist Stella Mary Graham and hotel owner Robert Esmond Lee. Nicknamed "Billie," she attended Rookesbury Park Prep School in Hampshire and St. Margaret's boarding school in Devon, then studied dramatics at the Tudor Arts Academy in Surrey in 1947. A scholarship took her to London's RADA, where she made her stage debut in "Point of Departure."
Rank Studio director Val Guest spotted her at the Nottingham Playhouse and helped her get a contract with Rank. In 1954 she married photographer Cornel Lucas, who was much older, and he promoted her as a sex goddess through thousands of glamorous pictures. Her first film role was in The Runaway Bus (1954). She played a sensuous foil to Benny Hill in Who Done It? (1956) and appeared opposite John Gregson in Miracle in Soho (1957) and Louis Jourdan in Dangerous Exile (1957). But she grew frustrated being typed as a buxom peroxide blonde, a second-string Diana Dors.
Estranged from Lucas, she moved to Italy for a change of pace, only to find more temptress parts: Aphrodite, Messalina, and Lucrezia Borgia in low-budget spectacles. She became involved with married men, including Prince Filippo Orsini, whose Vatican position caused a scandal. After a suicide attempt in January 1958 and her divorce from Lucas in 1959, she continued intense affairs. Her last Rank film was Elephant Gun (1958). In 1961 she joined her current love, Italian producer Gualtiero Jacopetti, on a trip to Las Vegas. On the way to Los Angeles, their driver lost control and the car flipped. Belinda was thrown out and died of a fractured skull and broken neck on March 12, 1961, at age 25. The other three passengers had minor injuries. She was cremated in the US, and her ashes were returned to Rome's Campo Cestio Cemetery.
Her whole career lasted just seven years, from 1954 to 1961.
Record
Profile details
Personal
- Died
- Sunday 12th of March 1961 (age 25)
- Years Active
- 1954-1961 (started around 19 years old; 7 years active)
- Birthplace
- Budleigh Salterton, East Devon, England, United Kingdom
- Ethnicity
- Caucasian
- Sexuality
- Straight
Body
- Hair Color
- Blonde
- Boobs
- Real/Natural
Frequently asked
How did Belinda Lee's marriage to Cornel Lucas affect her career?
Her husband, photographer Cornel Lucas, promoted her as a sex goddess with thousands of glamorous photographs, boosting her public image.
What roles did Belinda Lee play in Italy?
In Italy she took on historical temptress parts, including Aphrodite, Messalina, and Lucrezia Borgia, in low-budget spectacles.
What were the circumstances of Belinda Lee's death?
She died in a car accident on the way from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, when the driver lost control and the car flipped; she was thrown out and suffered a fractured skull and broken neck.
How old was Belinda Lee when she started acting professionally?
She began her film career at age 19 with The Runaway Bus (1954), and worked for seven years until her death at 25.
Did you know
- Belinda Lee's father owned a hotel and her mother was a florist.
- She won a scholarship to RADA after studying at the Tudor Arts Academy.
- Her affair with Prince Filippo Orsini, a Vatican figure, caused a major scandal.
- Her last film with Rank was Elephant Gun (1958), opposite Michael Craig.
- She was a passenger in a car driven by someone who lost control, leading to her fatal injury.
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