She also played the title role in the 1998 TV film Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story and Madame Morrible in the 2015 Broadway musical Wicked.

[6] Her television career began at age 19, on the December 26, 1961, episode of the CBS-TV sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

That same year, she starred in a special television production of the Jerome Kern–Otto Harbach musical, Roberta, in which she sang "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", and also peaked at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "L. David Sloane".

After the birth of her son, she worked infrequently until accepting a role on Broadway in Seesaw, which netted her a Tony Award nomination in 1974.

In 1979, Lee accepted the role of Karen Fairgate on Knots Landing, a spin-off of the highly popular Dallas.

Though slow to start, the series eventually became a ratings hit and became one of the longest-running American primetime dramas ever, lasting for a total of 14 seasons from 1979–1993.

[citation needed] During the fall of 1982, her character met M. Patrick "Mack" MacKenzie (Kevin Dobson), who became her screen husband the following year.

In 2000, she returned to the Broadway stage in The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and received a 2001 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

[12] That same year she appeared alongside Tyne Daly, Leslie Uggams, Christine Baranski and Karen Ziemba for the Kennedy Center Honor of Julie Harris.

[13] In 1963, Lee met actor James Farentino on the set of the play How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and in 1966, they were married.