LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Lila Lee
built 656 days ago
Lila Lee (B-movie starlet Cheryl Smith, later ... known as Rainbeaux Smith) is the teenage daughter of a vicious gangster, Alvin Lee (William Whitton). Her backwoods life is disrupted when her father murders her mother. Reverend Mueller (played by writer-director Richard Blackburn) looks after the girl, whom he defends to his congregation as "the most innocent creature on God's earth." But soon after the murder, Lila gets a letter from a mysterious woman named Lemora (Lesley Gilb). The letter instructs Lila to quietly leave town and come to a remote community, Asteroth, where her ailing father is waiting for her, so she can forgive him for his sins. Lila follows the instructions, sneaking off during the night, but leaves a goodbye note for the reverend.
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Lila Lee was born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel in Union Hill, New Jersey into a middle-class family of German immigrants who relocated to New York City when Lila was quite young. Searching for a hobby for their gregarious young daughter, the Appels enrolled Lila in Gus Edwards' kiddie review shows where she was given the nickname of "Cuddles"; a name that she would be known by for the rest of her acting career. Her stagework became so popular with the public that her parents had her educated with private tutors. Edwards would become Lee's long-term manager.
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Plot: After her well known gangster-father escapes from a prison, local church singer Lila Lee receives a note from a mysterious Lemora, inviting her to visit the town of Asterothe where her father is residing. Upon arriving there, Lila discovers a dark world where the local inhabitants all seem to have turned into bloodlusting ghouls and vampires. After holding Lila captive for a little while (to supposedly protect her from other "things") and after the father has escaped, Lemora invites her to live in her house. There, Lemora will initiate her young angelic guest to the dark side.
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In 1936 Lila Lee retired from 19 years in the movies and went back to Broadway. She reportedly suffered from periodic bouts of tuberculosis and in 1973 she passed away at age 72 in Saranac Lake, NY.
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The Clifford E. Lee Foundation is an Alberta-based private foundation that for 30 years has been supporting social and artistic development in Alberta. “Lila Lee (president of the Foundation) is the model benefactor,” states Brian Macdonald, program director of Festival Dance at The Banff Centre. “She was inspired by the possibilities and the award has now evolved to be one of the most prestigious and resource-rich dance awards in North America. Because of the cost of a craft that's very hard to learn, the chance to work for six weeks with as many as 37 dancers is a tremendous opportunity for a young choreographer.”
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Lila Lee is a stunning wife in looks and a good one in acting. All excellent performances by other veterans, with Pauline Frederick's a finished one. The one bad trouping note was that contributed by the sex-starved nurse, as played by Dale Fuller, appeared due to poor direction of this particular player. Miss Fuller over-mugged and over-acted until the audience snickered. A surprise to find her in such a sullen role, for Dale Fuller has a natural comedy pan, having proven it in the past.
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Lila Lee