Frances Lee Strong ( Myers; May 29, 1934 – April 24, 2020), better known by her stage name Grandma Lee, was an American stand-up comedian who was a talent show contestant on '' America's Got Talent'' in 2009. She began performing when she was in her 60s and became known for her off-color humor.

Early life

Frances Lee Myers was born in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, Oklahoma, and grew up in

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citi ...

, where her father was a college

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

. After he died when she was 12, the family fell apart, and she eventually landed in a children's home in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. In 1956, she graduated with a degree in English education from

Otterbein University Otterbein University is a private university in Westerville, Ohio. It offers 74 majors and 44 minors as well as eight graduate programs. The university was founded in 1847 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ and named for United Bre ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Career

After college in 1958, Myers married a career

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

, Ben Strong. The couple moved around the world as he fulfilled his military duties, raising four children. She taught for a semester before realizing the profession was not for her. While living in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

in the late 1950s, she worked as a newspaper reporter at the '' Cleveland Press''. Lee Strong and her husband were living in

Homestead, Florida Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. The population was 80,737 as of the 2020 census. Homestead is primarily a Miami s ...

, in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed their home. They moved to

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, where Ben died of cancer in 1995. They had been married for 37 years. Strong later took a

buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity of a company, or a majority share of the stock of the company is acquired. The acquiror thereby "buys out" the present equity holders of the target company. A buyout ...

from

BellSouth BellSouth, LLC (stylized as ''BELLSOUTH'' and formerly known as BellSouth Corporation) was an American telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after ...

, where she was working as a phone operator. Strong began doing stand-up comedy in 1997, performing at

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether t ...

nights at The Comedy Zone in Jacksonville. In Tampa in 2004, she reached the final rounds of auditions for ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

''. In 2009, Strong rose to prominence as a contestant on the fourth season of the reality series '' America's Got Talent'', when she advanced to the final round. She amused audiences with her distinctive raunchy Southern humor. She also flirted with judges

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was ...

and

David Hasselhoff David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on ''The You ...

. One of ten finalists, Strong was not selected for the final five during the two-hour finale. She told ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'', " ymaterial is based on the truth. I go up there and wing it… but I had to clean it up for the show. I won’t say a cuss word or anything to jeopardize yself I can do clean or edgy."

Death

Strong died at age 85 on April 24, 2020, at an assisted living facility in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grandma Lee 1934 births 2020 deaths America's Got Talent contestants American stand-up comedians People from Cape Girardeau, Missouri People from Jacksonville, Florida People from Oklahoma City American women comedians Comedians from Oklahoma 21st-century American comedians Otterbein University alumni 21st-century American women