---
name: "James Lee"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/james-lee"
roles: ["Screenwriter"]
born: "4 January 1923"
died: "2 July 2002"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T16:49:33.580194+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# James Lee

Screenwriter. Born 4 January 1923 in Pleasant Ridge. Died 2 July 2002.

## Details

- **Work:** Screenwriter
- **Born:** 4 January 1923, Pleasant Ridge
- **Died:** 2 July 2002

## Biography

James Lee was an American screenwriter and playwright. Born James Henderson Lee III on 4 January 1923 in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, he graduated from Harvard University and began his career as a stage actor in New York before turning to writing.

Lee wrote several episodes of the 1977 ABC miniseries *Roots*, adapting Alex Haley's novel, and shared a 1977 Humanitas Prize with William Blinn for one episode; he also received an Emmy nomination for his work on the series. Earlier, he wrote episodes of the anthology series *Omnibus* (one of which won an Edgar Award) and created the medical drama series *Rafferty* (1977). His other credits include the play and 1959 film *Career*, and screenplays for *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* (1960) and *Change of Habit* (1969).

Lee was married to actress Neva Patterson from 1957 until his death on 2 July 2002 in Santa Monica, California.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com, latimes.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Roots* (1977), Fi1m 83, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/tv/roots.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/james-lee