Lee, Franne, 1941-

Franne Lee (born 1941) has had a distinguished and varied career as a costume and production designer for theater, film, and television, as well as a producer and visual artist.

Born in the Bronx, Lee initially studied art at the University of California, Berkeley, but, while studying painting at the University of Wisconsin, she was recruited to create sets for the theater department and switched her focus to set and costume design. Her professional career began in Philadelphia with the Theatre of the Living Arts productions of Harry Noon and Night (1969) and A Line of Least Existence (1970). While working on these productions she met Eugene Lee, the set designer, with whom she lived and worked for the next ten years. Together they designed the Manhattan Project's highly acclaimed production of Alice in Wonderland (1970), directed by Andre Gregory, for which they shared a 1971 Drama Desk Award. The couple soon began dividing their time between New York and Rhode Island, where they worked with the Trinity Square Repertory Company. Other notable collaborators included the director Peter Brook and producer/director Harold Prince. Work with Prince included the revival of Candide (1974) and the original production of Sweeney Todd (1979), both of which earned Lee a Tony award for costume design. During this time, the Lees also ventured into television work, becoming the original designers for Saturday Night Live (1975-1980). Franne earned an Emmy award for set and costume design on the show, creating such iconic outfits as the Killer Bees and the Coneheads. The Lees divorced in 1980, but they collaborated occasionally on projects. Franne continued to work in theater and television, and branched into film; among her projects were John Sayles' Baby It's You (1982), Al Pacino's The Local Stigmatic (1992) and Chinese Coffee (1997). She also designed several music videos, including the Harlem Shuffle (1986) with the Rolling Stones, and created the sets for Suzanne Vega's Days of Open Hand Tour. Lee moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1995, and became increasingly involved in television. In 1998 she moved to Nashville and began working on local music videos, commercials, and theater.

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