Obituaries
Original Hello, Dolly! Star Sondra Lee Dies at 97
Ms. Lee originated the role of Minnie Fay in the Jerry Herman musical.
February 25, 2026 By Margaret Hall
Original Hello, Dolly! star Sondra Lee died February 23, at the age of 97. News of her passing was confirmed by her representation.
Ms. Lee was a true woman of the theatre, devoting herself to multiple facets of the craft across her long life. A sickly child, Ms. Lee required growth hormones from a young age, barely reaching four-foot, 10-and-a-half inches in height. While her diminutive stature limited certain performance opportunities, she pursued her passions aggressively from the moment her health stabilized, studying ballet with the endorsement of prima ballerina Alexandra Danilova at Studio 61 in Carnegie Hall, with Vera Nemtchinova and Edward Caton.
She made her Broadway debut in 1947 as a corps de ballet member for Jerome Robbins in High Button Shoes, but it was her second outing with the great choreographer that would make her eternal. In 1954, Ms. Lee created the role of Tiger Lily opposite Mary Martin in the musical adaptation of Peter Pan, replicating the role on television in the production's first three TV broadcast presentations. The third and final of these, which survives in color, initially broadcast to more than 65 million viewers, and has remained enduringly popular for generations, with Ms. Lee impacting the childhood of countless individuals over the last 70 years.
Elsewhere on Broadway, Ms. Lee performed in the original Broadway productions of Hotel Paradiso, Jerome Robbins' Ballet: U.S.A., and Sunday in New York. Her final Broadway performance was nearly as iconic as her second: Ms. Lee originated the role of the excitable shopgirl Minnie Fay in Hello, Dolly!, performing with a swath of Dolly Levi's including Carol Channing, Ginger Rogers, Betty Grable, and, her personal favorite, Martha Raye, with whom Ms. Lee took the musical on tour with the USO during the Vietnam War.
Throughout her nearly 100 years, Ms. Lee constantly reinvented herself, working as a dancer, actor, teacher, author, stage director, playwright, theatre and film consultant, and painter. Ms. Lee taught at New York University and the Stella Adler Conservatory, and memorably spent one month in 1965 teaching members of the touring division of the Metropolitan Opera how to 'effectively' die on stage.
Her memoir, I’ve Slept with Everybody: A Memoir, was released in 2009 by Bear Manor Media. At the time of her death, she was deep into writing a second book, Snapshots Redux.
Her last public appearance was at Carnegie Hall on June 23, 2025, for Transport Group’s Hello, Dolly, In Concert. As the musical’s last surviving original principal, she received one final standing ovation.
A celebration of Ms. Lee's life will be announced at a later date.
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