Leonara Elizabeth Grant (3 August 1931 – 22 July 2016), known professionally as Lee Grant or Miss Lee Grant, was an English-born New Zealand actress and singer. Born in

Carshalton Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England, on 3 August 1931, Grant moved to New Zealand in the 1960s and became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in December 1980.''Sunday Star Times''. 30 October 1994. p. D2. She was best known as a stage actress in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

from the 1960s onwards—being particularly associated with the

Mercury Theatre The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also ...

—but also appeared with

Chic Littlewood Cecil "Chic" Littlewood (17 November 1930 – 11 January 2015) was a New Zealand television entertainer and actor. Biography Born on 17 November 1930 in southeast London, England, Littlewood originally worked as a baker. He had a gift for mimicr ...

in cabaret performances, and in New Zealand's first television sitcom, ''Buck House'', in 1974. Her film appearances included ''Trial Run'' (1984) starring

Annie Whittle Annie Whittle is a British-born New Zealand singer and actress who has appeared on such shows as ''Shortland Street'', where she played Barbara Heywood for four years and has had a singing career that has spanned three decades. She was previousl ...

, and ''Arriving Tuesday'' (1986). Grant was also a singer, although she suffered a recurrent throat problem and underwent a minor throat operation in 1969. She appeared in musicals at the Mercury including the 1975 production of ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

'', and as Velma Kelly in ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

''. As well as singing and acting, Grant pursued a career as a choreographer, and was awarded a grant of $4000 by the Arts Council for a study trip to Canada. In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, Grant was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to the theatre. She moved to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia, in 1994, but returned to New Zealand on a number of occasions to appear on stage or in television productions, including ''

Three Tall Women ''Three Tall Women'' is a two-act play by Edward Albee, written in 1990, which won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Albee's third Pulitzer. Characters * A: A is a 92-year-old woman. She is thin, autocratic, proud, and wealthy, with "encroachi ...

'' with the

Auckland Theatre Company Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) is a professional theatre company in Auckland. It was founded in 1992 and since 2016 has been based in ASB Waterfront Theatre in the Wynyard Quarter in central Auckland. History Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) wa ...

in 1996, and the television drama, ''Coalface'', in 1997, during which she was injured and subsequently required a hip replacement. Grant died in Perth on 22 July 2016, aged 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Lee 1931 births 2016 deaths People from Carshalton English emigrants to New Zealand Naturalised citizens of New Zealand New Zealand stage actresses New Zealand television actresses New Zealand musical theatre actresses New Zealand film actresses New Zealand choreographers New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand emigrants to Australia