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 ...

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'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 {{US-screen-actor-stub