Claudia Lee (born Claudia Lee Mirkowski; ) is an American actress and singer who is best known for her roles as Magnolia Breeland on ''

Hart of Dixie ''Hart of Dixie'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The CW from September 26, 2011, to March 27, 2015. The series, created by Leila Gerstein, stars Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, a New Yorker who, after her dreams of b ...

'', as Bridget on ''

Zeke and Luther Zeke is a masculine given name and nickname, sometimes a shortened form (hypocorism) of Ezekiel, which may refer to: People *Caleb Bailey (nickname "Zeke", 1898-1957), US Marine Corps brigadier general and athlete *Zeke Bella (1930–2013), Amer ...

'', and as Whitney in '' The Outcasts''.

Early life

Lee was born Claudia Lee Mirkowski in

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, whi ...

, to Denise and Klaudius Mirkowski. At the age of 3, her parents enrolled her in dance classes, where she studied ballet, jazz and tap-dancing for 10 years. When she was 8 years old, Lee expressed a desire to learn her father’s native language,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

, so her parents sent her to school in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

for one month every summer for five years. Claudia also has an older brother who with whom she shares a "great bond" and influences her characters. Long interested in music, Lee began taking piano lessons when she was 10. At age 13, she attended the School of Creative and Performing Arts (SOCAPA) summer camp in Vermont. There, her roommate introduced Lee to an agent from Hollywood who was instrumental in bringing her to Los Angeles.

Career

Acting

Lee and her family arrived in Hollywood in January 2010. Within her first few weeks, Lee landed a role in a national TV commercial for

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

with actor

Zachary Levi Zachary Levi Pugh ( ; born September 29, 1980) is an American actor. He received critical acclaim for starring as Chuck Bartowski in the series ''Chuck'', and as the title character in '' Shazam!'' and its 2023 sequel, as a part of the DC Ext ...

(''Chuck'', ''Less Than Perfect''). She was then cast in a short film, ''The Circus Girl'', as Elizaveta, a young Russian villain who is traveling with a struggling circus family. Following ''The Circus Girl'', Lee went on to television series ''

'' and ''

''. In August 2012, Lee was cast in the

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

film '' Kick-Ass 2'', which was based on the second volume of the ''Kick-Ass'' comic book series by

Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer and television producer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series '' The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ex ...

and John Romita, Jr. The film, directed by

Jeff Wadlow Jeffrey Clark Wadlow (born March 2, 1976) is an American writer, producer and director. Feature films that he has both written and directed include ''Truth or Dare'', '' Kick-Ass 2'' and ''Fantasy Island''. Life and career Wadlow was born in ...

, was released in August 2013. In 2014, Lee appeared in the Fox comedy series ''

Surviving Jack ''Surviving Jack'' is an American sitcom that aired as a mid-season replacement on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox as part of the 2013–14 United States network television schedule, 2013–14 American television season. On May 8, 2013, Fox placed ...

''.

Singing

In 2010 Lee began working with music producer Max DiCarlo. In November of that year, Lee released her first song and music video, "It Gets Better", inspired by a national campaign aimed at stopping bullying. Lee's debut album, ''Here Right Now'', was released in February 2012. "Hollywood Sunset", a song on the album, had previously been released in September 2011. The next two singles from the album, the country-rap song "3 Leaf Clover", and "Take My Hand" that Lee performed on ''

'', were released in 2012.

Filmography

References

; Footnotes ; General sources
Article in Billboard.com

Article in ''Seventeen Magazine''

Article in ''Talk TV World''

Article in ''Talk Tunes World''

Article in ''The Hollywood Reporter''

Article in ''Character Grades''

External links

* *
Claudia Lee on FanAccess

''Hollywood Sunset'' on YouTube

''It Gets Better'' on YouTube

''3 Leaf Clover'' on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Claudia 1996 births Living people Actresses from Indiana American child actresses American child singers American film actresses American people of Polish descent American television actresses People from Lafayette, Indiana Singer-songwriters from Indiana 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers