Dorothy Lee's journey in the entertainment industry began shortly after completing her high school education, as she ventured into the world of vaudeville. This experience laid the foundation for her subsequent career in show business. She soon found herself singing alongside the renowned Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, a prestigious group that further honed her skills as a performer.
Lee's film debut arrived in 1929 with the release of "Syncopation," a movie that marked the beginning of her illustrious career in Hollywood. Her breakthrough role came later that same year in "Rio Rita," where she was paired with the popular comedy duo Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. This partnership would lead to her appearing in almost all of their subsequent films, much like Margaret Dumont's association with the iconic Marx Brothers.
In 1931, Lee's personal life took a significant turn as she entered into a short-lived marriage with Jimmy Fidler, a prominent Hollywood gossip columnist. However, her career continued to flourish, with her collaboration with Wheeler and Woolsey coming to an end. As the duo's partnership dissolved, Lee's career began to lose momentum, and she eventually left the film industry in 1939.
Although Lee did make a few more appearances on the big screen in the early 1940s, she ultimately retired from the film business permanently after that.
