Lee Purcell

Lee Purcell (born Lee Jeune Williams; June 15, 1947) is an American actress who worked primarily in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life Purcell was born Lee Jeune Williams at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point (North Carolina), the elder daughter of Major Frank D. Williams Jr., a decorated Marine Corps pilot who was killed while on active duty when she was two months old. Her mother, Lee ( McKnight) Williams, remarried, to Donald Purcell, a U.S. Navy doctor assigned to the Marine Corps. Lee Purcell has a younger sister.

She graduated from Paragould High School in 1965

Career

She moved to California in 1967 and studied acting. Purcell supported herself by working in commercials

In 1969, Purcell was selected for her first feature film by Steve McQueen in his company's production of Adam at Six A.M., co-starring Michael Douglas. Asked to explain why he chose Purcell from nearly 500 other available actresses, McQueen said, "It wasn't easy. We kept narrowing down the field over a period of weeks until it came to giving screen tests to six of them. All of them were good, but Lee seemed to jump right out of the screen."

Purcell at the 1994 Emmy AwardsHer television work included roles as Billie Dove and Olivia de Havilland in two biopic TV movies: The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) and My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985).

She was nominated for two Emmy Awards. In 1991, she was nominated as Outstanding Lead Actress for Long Road Home and in 1994 as Outstanding Supporting Actress for Secret Sins of the Father. She was co-producer, and starred in the 1998 low-budget cable-TV movie Malaika (alternate title Tons of Trouble).

Purcell's film career wound down in 1983 and she has only had five motion picture credits since, the last in 2015. She has continued to do television projects.

Personal life

In December 2010, Purcell launched an interactive fashion and beauty website, BoomerBabes, geared towards Baby Boomer women. The website gained few visitors and BoomerBabes stopped updating in 2014.

Purcell is a member of the Church of Scientology.

Filmography Feature films Year Film Role Director 1970Adam at Six A.M. Jerri Jo Hopper Robert Scheerer 1972 Dirty Little Billy Berle Stan Dragoti Stand Up and Be Counted Karen Hammond Jackie Cooper Necromancy Priscilla Bert I. Gordon 1973Kid Blue Molly Ford James Frawley 1974 Mr. Majestyk Wiley Richard Fleischer 1978 Big Wednesday Peggy Gordon John Milius Almost Summer Christine Alexander Martin Davidson 1980 Stir Crazy Susan Sidney Poitier 1982 Airplane II: The Sequel Mrs. Seluchi (Deleted Scene) Ken Finkleman Homework Ms. Jackson James Beshears 1983Eddie Macon's Run Jilly Buck Jeff Kanew Valley Girl Beth Brent Martha Coolidge 1985 Space Rage Maggie Conrad E. Palmisano 1996 Movies, Money, Murder Lilah Stephen Eckelberry, Arthur Webb 1998 Dizzyland Dennis Hackin 2005 The Unknown aka Clawed: The Legend of Sasquatch Doris Winslow Karl Kozak 2015Kids vs MonstersFrancine Gingerfield 2019 Carol of the Bells Lilliane

Television Year Title Role Notes1969Bracken's WorldGirl 1970 Marcus Welby, M.D. Cathy Cullen Made a second appearance in 1972, as 'Carol Lockett'Bonanza Angie The Young Rebels Maggie Todd 1972 Medical Center Liza1973 Cannon Marian Luke Made two additional appearances in 1975, various characters Hijack Eileen Noonan TV movie 1974 ABC Wide World Mystery Donna The Rockford Files Susan Parsons S1 E13, "The Dexter Files"1975 The Waltons Bobby Strom Played a “wing walker” Insight Tracy Barnaby Jones Kathy Cooper Made a second appearance in 1977, as 'Peggy Giroux'1976 Hawaii Five-O Molly Taggert Made a second appearance in 1977, same character Jigsaw John Virginia Sand1977 The Amazing Howard Hughes Billie Dove TV movie The Streets of San Francisco Carol Revson 1978 Stranger in Our House Julia Trent TV movie (aka Summer of Fear) 1979 Murder in Music City Samantha Hunt TV movie (aka The Country Western Murders) A Man Called Sloane Michele Blake 1980 Kenny Rogers as The Gambler Jennie Reed TV movie My Wife Next Door Lisa Pallick Pilot for proposed TV seriesThe Secret War of Jackie's Girls Casey McCann TV movie 1981 The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite Bonnie Lee Beaumont TV movie and pilot for proposed TV series Killing at Hell's Gate Jane Pasco TV movie 1982 The Phoenix Cindy Houghton 1985 Magnum, P.I. Goldie Morris Murder, She Wrote Joanna Benson Made four additional appearances in 1986, 1989 and 1994, various characters My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn Olivia de Havilland TV movie Hollywood Beat Maggie 1986 Betrayed by Innocence Sharon DeLeon TV movie 1987 Matlock Andrea Colter MacGyver Shadow 1988 To Heal a Nation Sandie TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns Dr. Maggie Shaw TV movie Jake and the Fatman Pamela Parker 1989 Simon & Simon Colleen Huntley/Missy Taylor 1990 Shades of LA Alex Taylor 1991 Long Road Home Bessie Robertson TV movie. Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress 1994 Secret Sins of the Father Ann Thielman TV movie. Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress 1995 Due South Louise St. Laurent Made five additional appearances in 1995 and 1996, same character Dazzle Red TV movie The Magic of Christmas Herself Holiday special 1997 Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction Dr. Kim O'Farrell Segment: "The Unknown Patient" 1998 Promised Land Beth Hixon Malaika Molly DeMornay TV movie (aka Tons of Trouble) 2010 Persons Unknown Eleanor Sullivan Mini-series. Five appearances 2016 J.L. Family Ranch Mable Ritter TV film 2017Love at First GlanceSusanTV film 2018 Sick Gretchen TV film

Special projects Year Title Role Notes 1987 A Woman's Guide to Firearms Herself Instructional video Your First Gun- A Family Guide To Shooting The mother Instructional video 1992 The Joke Jane 35mm short 1997 This World, Then the Fireworks ADR work (additional dialogue recording) 2006 White Picket Fence Bonnie Durley Super 16mm short