David Clark Lee (born 1950) is an American

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

. His best-known works are '' Cheers'' and ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub ...

''. Lee grew up in Claremont, California, and went to college at the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university headquartered in Redlands, California. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Califo ...

. He co-wrote and co-produced ''

The Jeffersons ''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longest-running sitcoms in history, ...

'' and ''Cheers'' with

Peter Casey Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

for, respectively, six and four years. He and Casey co-created ''

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

'' and ''

'' alongside the late

David Angell David Lawrence Angell (April 10, 1946 – September 11, 2001) was an American screenwriter and television producer. He won multiple Emmy Awards as the creator and executive producer of the ''Cheers'' spin-off shows ''Wings'' and ''Frasier'' wit ...

under the

Grub Street Productions Grub Street Productions was an American production company founded in 1989 by three writers and producers - the late David Angell (who later was a victim of the September 11 attacks), Peter Casey and David Lee - who met while working on '' Cheers ...

. He produced revival productions of Broadway musicals, including '' South Pacific'' starring Brian Stokes Mitchell and Reba McEntire, '' Can-Can'', and ''

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...

''. He co-wrote a newly revised script of '' Can-Can'' alongside Joel Fields when he was reviving the old musical. Lee has been nominated eighteen times for Primetime Emmy Awards; he won nine out of those nominations. He also won the Directors Guild Award, the Golden Globe Award,

Producers Guild Award The Producers Guild of America Awards were originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor ...

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their liv ...

British Comedy Award The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards ( ...

, three

Television Critics Association Award The TCA Awards are awards presented by the Television Critics Association in recognition of excellence in television. There are eleven categories, which are presented every summer towards the end of the organization's summer press tour. Due to ...

s, two

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

s, and the Peabody Award.

Personal life

Lee is

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

. He paid US$3 million in 2002 () for a Palm Springs estate built by architect

Donald Wexler Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

and originally resided in by

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

. He sold the estate to real estate agents for $5,995,000 in 2009 (), later purchased by Leonardo DiCaprio in 2014 for $5,230,000 ().Beale, Lauren (March 7, 2014)
Leonardo DiCaprio buys Dinah Shore's onetime desert home
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''; accessed May 23, 2017.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, David American male screenwriters American television directors American television producers Primetime Emmy Award winners Living people American gay writers Directors Guild of America Award winners American television writers Place of birth missing (living people) University of Redlands alumni Showrunners LGBT producers LGBT television directors American male television writers American theatre people 1950 births 21st-century LGBT people