Also known as William J. E. Lee Role Musician Name Bill Lee | Years active 1952-present | |
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Birth name William James Edwards Lee III Movies Mo' Better Blues, She's Gotta Have It Spouse Jacquelyn Lee (m. ?–1977), Susan Kaplan Parents Alberta Grace Lee, Arnold Wadsworth Lee Died May 24, 2023 (aged 94) New York City, New York, U.S. Similar Joie Lee, Spike Lee, Cinqué Lee Nationality American | ||
Bill Lee Interview
William James Edwards "Bill" Lee III (July 23, 1928 – May 24, 2023) was an American musician. He played the bass for many artists including Chris Anderson, Cat Stevens, Harry Belafonte, Chad Mitchell Trio, Gordon Lightfoot, Aretha Franklin, Odetta, Simon and Garfunkel, Ian & Sylvia, Tom Rush, Burt Bacharach, Peter, Paul and Mary, Arlo Guthrie, Tom Paxton, Carolyn Hester, John Lee Hooker, Josh White, Duke Ellington, Malvina Reynolds, Eric Bibb, The Clancy Brothers and Bob Dylan. On the original release of Dylan's classic song "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," Lee, on bass guitar, was the only musician performing other than Dylan himself. He was the father of Spike Lee.
Contents
- Bill Lee Interview
- Biography
- Relationship with Spike Lee
- Film work
- Film appearances
- Stage work
- Television appearances
- As sideman
- Film music
- Stage music
- Opera
- Death
- References
Biography
Lee was born in Snow Hill, Alabama, the son of Alberta Grace (Edwards), a concert pianist, and Arnold Wadsworth Lee, a musician. With his first wife, Jackie, he had five children, including the famed film director Spike Lee (born 1957), still photographer David Lee (born 1961), actress Joie Lee (born 1962), and filmmaker Cinqué Lee (born 1966) and has composed original music for many of his son's films, including She's Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do the Right Thing and Mo' Better Blues. With his second wife, Susan, he had one son, Arnold Lee, who plays alto saxophone.
Lee was involved in many releases from the influential jazz record label, Strata-East Records, including directing the 1980 album The New York Bass Violin Choir.
Lee was arrested on October 25, 1991 in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn for carrying a small bag of heroin during a police drug sweep of a park near his home. Lee would later say of his arrest, "I'm glad I was arrested, It woke me up."
Relationship with Spike Lee
Though Bill Lee scored his son's first four movies, they had a falling out shortly after the arrest on drug charges.
"I don't have anything to do with Spike now," Lee told New York Newsday in 1994. "We haven't talked for two years."
Bill Lee said their problems started with his son's intolerance of his interracial second marriage. The family feud began in 1976, when Spike Lee's mother Jacquelyn died of cancer and Susan Kaplan moved in with Bill. Spike has been quoted as saying, "my mother wasn't even cold in her grave."
Tensions escalated following the release of "Jungle Fever," a Spike Lee film exploring interracial romantic relationships between White and Black individuals. Bill Lee, who has a son, Arnold Tone Kaplan Lee, with his current wife, expressed, "That's directly talking about me and my wife in a negative way." Mrs. Lee has said, "I've never been a Spike Lee fan." In 1992, when Bill Lee asked his son for a few thousand dollars to cover household expenses, Spike turned him down "and his attitude was very insulting," said Bill Lee in 1994.
Asked if he would give his side of the story, Spike Lee stated, "Hell No. Why should I dignify comments my father said, or play it out in a public forum?"
Film work
Film appearances
Stage work
Television appearances
As sideman
Film music
Stage music
Opera
Death
Lee died at his home in Fort Greene on May 24, 2023, at the age of 94.