Harriet Lee (singer)

[2] After her radio appearances ended in the mid-1930s, Lee was a voice coach working with various film stars for major Hollywood studios.

Between the 1930s–1960s, she gave singing lessons to Dorothy Lamour, Ava Gardner, Esther Williams, Rhonda Fleming, Ginger Rogers, and Janet Leigh, among others.

Called "Bobby Lee" as a publicity stunt because of her low contralto voice, many in the audience assumed the unseen singer they were hearing was a man.

[3][11] In April 1929, Lee was introduced by Wendell Hall as the "Chicago Nightingale" on The Majestic Theater of the Air show on the CBS radio network.

In Variety's review of the program, the entertainment trade magazine called Lee a "heavy voiced crooner", whose performance "gave a pleasing rendition of a new ballad".

[4][18] Graham McNamee described her as a "blonde statuesque beauty" wowing the 28,000 Fair attendees at New York's Madison Square Garden, where great interest was shown in the nascent television technology.

[5][10][19] In early 1932, Lee left CBS for the NBC Blue Network, debuting April 7 on flagship station WJZ in New York.

[20][21] After two years, Lee moved to Hartford, Connecticut, to perform on WTIC-AM, where her program was carried on the NBC Red Network, beginning in October 1934.

[22] In his syndicated newspaper gossip column of May 3, 1938, Jimmy Fidler said Lee had "slipped into oblivion" as far as the radio listening public was concerned, but noted she had found a new, behind-the-scenes role as voice teacher for actress Dorothy Lamour.

[25] The Harriet Lee television show aired in a 15-minute evening time-slot on Wednesdays and Fridays, produced live at W2XAB's Manhattan studios.

W2XAB broadcast an early Harriett Lee episode on Wednesday, July 29, 1931, at 8:30 p.m., preceded by Tony's Scrap Book and followed by an interview.

[39] In 1940, students from Lee's Los Angeles voice studio performed on Stage One, a Sunday afternoon radio program on KMPC.

[44][45][46] By 1960, syndicated columnist Hedda Hopper was writing of Lee, "She's taught more [stars] how to sing than you could shake a stick at", mentioning Ginger Rogers and Janet Leigh.