British actress Margaret Lee died on April 24th in London, according to an announcement by her son producer Roberto Malerba. Born Margaret
Gwendolyn Box in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England on August 4, 1943, she
was a popular leading lady in Italian films in the 1960s and 1970s. She is the
mother of production manager/producer Roberto Malerba [1964- ] (from her
marriage to Gino Malerba) and production manager/producer Damian Anderson
[1973- ]. She was educated at the Italia Conti Theatre School in London,
graduating in 1960. She moved to Rome shortly afterwards to pursue a career in
films. Her film debut came in the sword and sandal adventure “Fire Monsters
Against the Son of Hercules” (1962), where she played the female lead alongside
Reg Lewis, but it was a string of popular comedies that initially made Lee a
star in Italy. With a blonde, fluffy look modelled after Marilyn Monroe, Lee
spent the first half of the 1960s appearing in numerous Italian comedies and parodies
– several of which starred the popular comedic duo Franco and Ciccio. Few of
these films received much, if any, distribution in English-speaking territories
but they were highly successful in Italy and made Lee a well-known film
actress. Lee appeared in three Spaghetti westerns: “The Two Sergeants of
General Custer” in 1965 as Beth/Betty ‘The Lynx’ Smith; “Djurado” in 1966 as
Mitzy. She was to appear in a 1964 western entitled “I Shot Johnny Ringo” but
the film was never made and “Bano de sangre” (Blood Bath) in 1971 but it was
never released.
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