Auriol Lee

Auriol Lee (13 September 1880 – 2 July 1941) was a popular British stage actress who became a successful West End and Broadway theatrical producer and director. Auriol Lee's father was a medical doctor who, according to her New York Times obituary, was a distant relative of Robert E. Lee.

She remained active on Broadway as a performer until 1930 while dividing her time between America and Europe, appearing in a mix of classical and modern plays. Towards the end of the 1920s, Auriol began to transition away from acting to producing and directing plays.

Over the remainder of her career, she had a close working relationship with British playwright John Van Druten, directing all his Broadway productions that fell between 1931 and her death some ten years later. She was returning to New York from Hollywood where she had gone to play the writer Isobel Sedbusk in Alfred Hitchcock's film Suspicion and pay Van Druten a visit at his Southern California ranch.

She once reportedly told Van Druten that she wanted to be buried where she died, and as she wished, she was interred at Fairlawn Burial Park in Hutchinson.

At the time of Auriol's death, her only close relatives were a sister and a niece, actress Virginia Field.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1938 A Royal Divorce Napoleon's Mother 1941 Suspicion Isobel Sedbusk (final film role)