RIP Cherylene Lee
San Francisco Chronicle
May 10, 2016
Cherylene Alice Lee was born in June 1953 in Los Angeles and passed away in March 2016 in San Francisco. She fought a very brave fight with stage 4 breast cancer for ten years. Cherylene started a prolific career as a child actress and dancer at age 3, dancing with Gene Kelly at age 5, and performing as a song and dance team in Las Vegas for three summers with her sister, Virginia Lee. She was featured in many TV series and films.
As an adult, Cherylene was part of the International Company of "A Chorus Line" and became an award-winning playwright, published poet, and storyteller. Among her many notable published works were ARTHUR AND LEILA, CARRY THE TIGER TO THE MOUNTAIN, LOST VEGAS ACTS, and YIN CHIN BOW. Her last and greatest work is her autobiography, JUST LIKE REALLY: AN UNCOMMON CHINESE AMERICAN MEMOIR, which she self-published in 2015. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Paleontology and from UCLA with an MS in Geology. As a writer, she was a fierce Words with Friends opponent.
Cherylene is predeceased by her father and mother, Dr. and Mrs. Edward Lee, and her brother, Warren Lee. She is survived by her loving sisters, Priscilla "Puggy" Lee and Virginia Latimer, in addition to two nieces and a nephew.
Donations in her honor may be made to community organizations that made a difference in the last ten years of her life.
1. UCSF Foundation, PO Box 45339, San Francisco 94145 (reference "B2802 Investigational Therapeutics in her memory").
2. Shanti's Margot Murphy Breast Cancer Program, 730 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109.
3. Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, 12 Grace St, Ste 300, San Francisco, CA 94103.
LEE Cherylene (Cherylene Alice Lee)
Born: 6/?/1953, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Died: 3/18, 2016, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Cherylene Lee’s western – actress:
Stagecoach to Dancer’s Rock – 1962 (Ah Ling)