[3] Lee appeared in films such as A Man Called Adam (1966) opposite Sammy Davis Jr. and Cicely Tyson, and the blaxploitation film Superfly (with Ron O'Neal, 1972).
He also appeared on television in such shows as The Defenders, Mannix, and Good Times ("Willona's Surprise", 1977) in which he portrayed Willona Woods' ex-husband Ray, who makes sexual advances towards the character Thelma Evans.
While filming The Connection, Lee fell in love with its director, Shirley Clarke.
Lee suffered a heroin addiction that caused him to contract AIDS from a dirty hypodermic needle.
[4] In a 2000 interview, filmmaker James Toback stated "In the sort of hip world of New York, Carl Lee was the hip-black-actor icon.