John Dotson Lee Jr. (July 4, 1898 – December 12, 1965) was an American singer, dancer and actor known for
voicing the role of
Br'er Rabbit
Br'er Rabbit (an abbreviation of ''Brother Rabbit'', also spelled Brer Rabbit) is a central figure in an oral tradition passed down by African-Americans of the Southern United States and African descendants in the Caribbean, notably Afro-Bahami ...
in
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's ''
Song of the South'' (1946) and as the clownish, cringing, tremulous-voiced shyster pseudo-lawyer Algonquin J. Calhoun in the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
''
Amos 'n' Andy
''Amos 'n' Andy'' is an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago and later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio show ...
'' TV and radio comedy series in the early 1950s. His comedic portrayal of Calhoun was a highlight of a brilliant ensemble cast whose storylines remain eternally funny. Much of his career was spent in
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
, but he also performed in motion pictures, on recordings and in television. He released a record (as "Johnnie Lee") in July 1949 called "You Can't Lose A Broken Heart" (
Columbia Records # 30172), with backup vocals by The Ebonaires. Lee also starred in an all-black musical comedy called "Sugar Hill" in 1949 at Las Palmas Theatre in California.
He died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
on December 12, 1965 age 67.
Discography
*''Song of the South: Soundtrack'' (1946)
*''You Can't Lose a Broken Heart'' (released July 1949)
*''Mickey Mouse's Birthday Party''
"A Spin Special: Stan Freberg Records"
Retrieved 2017-09-21. (1954)
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
*
1898 births
1965 deaths
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
20th-century American male singers
African-American male actors
20th-century African-American male singers
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
Male actors from Los Angeles
Vaudeville performers
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