Lee Lawrence was born July 25 1923, in Atlanta, GA. Her father was a traveling salesman and moved the family often. She grew up in Los Angeles, Nashville, Louisville, New Haven, Buffalo, and Cleveland. At the age of seven, she was already in “show business.” Inspired by the circus and the remnants of vaudeville at the Hippodrome Theatre, she began producing “two penny” musical extravaganzas for neighbors’ children and their parents.
At the age of twenty, she became technical consultant to the great stage designer Norman Bell Geddes on the biggest show to be produced during the war, Billy Rose’s “Seven Lively Arts.” Rose asked Lee to supervise the reconstruction and restoration of the Ziegfeld Theatre where the show was to open and later to be the coordinator of the spectacular, which had her working with stars such as Beatrice Lillie and Bert Lahr, with composer Cole Porter, and writers Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, and musicians Ben Hecht and Benny Goodman.
She continued to work on Broadway in the production area, finally forming her own production company with her future husband, Bert Lawrence. After their marriage, he went to work for J. Walter Thompson and she stayed home to raise two children, working part time at their nursery school as a librarian.
After her divorce from Bert Lawrence in 1956, she went back to work, joining NBC-TV as assistant to the producer of Hallmark Hall of Fame. She began working for Dave Garroway on “Wide, Wide World,” and followed him to the Today show, where she was news and feature editor, working closely with Garroway developing stories, setting up interviews, producing special segments including an award winning show on mental health, and a week of live shows from Rome, Italy, in 1958.
In 1961, Lawrence suffered a catastrophic accident involving a fall. Two vertebrae in the small of her back were crushed, three of her ribs were broken, and her pelvis was shattered. The sole of her left foot was split and her right foot was shattered. Her most serious injury involved her left hip where her upper leg bone had been driven through the top of her hip socket. Her doctors thought Lawrence might die from shock and her injuries. Her medical history states that Lawrence remained in a coma for about six months, receiving intravenous feeding and around the clock blood transfusions. After six months, the doctors felt she would live. She was transferred to the Hospital for Joint Diseases, but doctors did not think she would ever walk again. In the end her right leg was amputated below the knee and she was fitted with a prosthesis.
After months of physical therapy, she began to walk again. Finally she was ready to move forward with her life and she moved to Washington, D. C. to bring her skills to a second career in government.
In 1964, she entered the federal service as a public information specialist in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She developed and implemented public awareness campaigns for various programs, arranged media interviews of key persons, and wrote news releases, brochures, manuals, newsletters and speeches. She produced several series of public announcements for national television and radio distribution as well as documentary films and television specials. Between 1965 and 1983, Lawrence designed and coordinated White House and interdepartmental conferences and annual meetings, including the White House Conference on Aging, 1971 and 1981; the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1982; and conferences on air pollution, dental health, occupational health, gerontology, and trauma.
After working with various federal agencies for several years, in 1976 Lawrence received the assignment to conduct the public awareness program for the White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals.
In October 1982, Lawrence took a disability retirement from the federal service but continued to earn her living by doing freelance work from her home office. From 1985 to 1987 she served as outreach coordinator for two television special programs. She wrote a documentary called "The Skin Horse," that dealt with the issue of sexuality and people with disabilities and wrote and produced another documentary, "Drinking and Driving, The Toll, The Tears," calling attention to the lenient treatment of intoxicated drivers who cause accidents. From her home office in Bethesda, Maryland, Lawrence operated an information program for the National Organization on Disability in Washington D.C. and wrote articles for disability publications including Ability Magazine.
Lawrence continued to face and conquer physical challenges. In 1992, it was discovered that she had a massive brain tumor that was removed in a four-hour operation. She returned home from the hospital in less than a week. In 2000, she was operated on successfully to remove cancer of the lung. That same year she had triple heart by-pass surgery. While she rebounded from both procedures, by the end of the year it was clear she could no longer live independently, and she moved into the Potomac Valley Nursing and Wellness Center. While living here she wrote for the center’s newsletter and buoyed the spirits of other residents with stories of her life in the theatre and television.
She died August 26, 2002, with her son at her side. Friends recalled her with love and affection, including Carlton E. Spitzer, who said, “Despite her pain, Lee Lawrence Ansberry has given constant encouragement, comfort, and inspiration to her friends these many years.”
Lee Lawrence was a disability rights activist.
From the guide to the Lee Lawrence Papers, 1937-2001, 1937-2001, (Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections, The University of Toledo)
