"Who's Lee?"

Lee Ellis was born into an American military family on the Fourth of July in Paris, France. Lee grew up in western Massachusetts, attended prep school at The Williston-Northampton School and graduated from Vassar College with a degree in Biopsychology.

Deciding to forgo a career in medicine to pursue his heart's true dream of a career in music, theatre and film, Lee moved to the Big Apple, New York City, landed a position in the chorus of The Light Opera of Manhattan, and began playing in piano bars on New York's Upper East Side for several years. This led to a Summer performing at The Horse and Buggy nightclub in Bermuda in 1983. That same year Lee went to sea as the Entertainer on the luxury four-masted Sailing Yacht SEA CLOUD, sailing the Caribbean and Mediterranean for two seasons.

Back in New York, Lee co-wrote a highly successful cabaret show called NO STRINGS ATTACHED, worked for Broadway producer and Tony Award winner John Glines on the STAMP OUT AIDS project, and helped to create BROADWAY CARES, which has since become the largest fund raising organization in the U.S. for AIDS services.

As a member of the Screen Actors Guild and in true Forrest Gump tradition, Lee has rubbed shoulders with many major directors and stars including Woody Allen, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorcese, Meryl Streep, Robin Williams, Robert DeNiro, Jessica Lange and even Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy in movies such as GHOST, REGARDING HENRY, and THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN.

At your local Video Store, you can find Lee's best bits in movies such as the classic film WHEN HARRY MET SALLY! Right at the end, after the New Years kiss, the smiling waiter with the tray of Champagne is...you guessed it! Lee was also a stand-in/photo double for four seasons on the television program THE EQUALIZER and worked on all the New York Soap Operas, including "One Life to Live", "Guiding Light" and "All My Children". Perhaps you recall his famous scene with Susan Lucci - "Where would you like the stereo, Miss Kane?"

Lee moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1992, and performed his original songs three times on The Grand Ole Opry's Gospel Hour. Lee became the first Minister of Music at Unity Center for Positive Living in Nashville and began performing extensively at churches throughout the US, sharing his story of healing from spiritual abuse and spreading the message that God loves everyone. In 1999, Lee traveled to Lynchburg with Rev. Mel White, members of Soulforce, and over 140 news organizations from around the globe to meet with Jerry Falwell in an effort to turn the tide against the tragic discrimination performed in the name of religion.

Later that year Lee was nominated for a GLAMA award for Best Contemporary Spiritual Song, "Follow Your Heart", from Lee's debut CD, MICHAEL, which Lee produced in Boulder and Nashville. In 2002, Lee met the Indian humanitarian Chalanda Sai Ma. Lee has traveled with and performed for Sai Ma, and her organization Humanity in Unity, spreading the message that we are each living emanations of The One Creator, all connected to one another and to the cosmos.

Lee has also traveled extensively with His Holiness Cealo, a Burmese monk, who is considered a Living Buddha. Cealo has brought forth song poems from The Divine, and asked Lee to create the music and perform these sacred Hymns to joyfully awaken humanity to their own inner Divinity. Cealo and Lee have donated all the proceeds from these CD's to raise money for orphans in Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma).

In January and February 2004 Lee returned for his third tour of Japan with Cealo, performing for the first Annual HEART EXPO in Takamatsu, where Cealo and Lee brought Cambodian orphans to meet with American and Japanese children and adults to discuss peace and the ways in which we can all work together to achieve a harmonious future for our planet.

The following month, Lee returned to Cambodia for a second time to help Cealo conduct a dance contest for orphanages, simultaneously helping to revive the ancient Khmer culture through the children, and giving thousands of dollars in prize money to the orphanages to fund school, food and medical projects, all the while encouraging the children to continue with their education and cultural activities.

Lee currently performs his own inspirational pop music, and is the Composer/ Lyricist for the new musical, THE AWAKENING OF ANGEL DELUNA, with Librettist/ Lyricist Judylynn Schmidt. The team of Ellis and Schmidt are working to bring their heartwarming show to Broadway and Film and look forward to opening their own Foundation for the Children of the World!