Lee Meriwether best known as “Betty” in the highly successful CBS series, Barnaby Jones, has had starring or recurring roles in no less than nine different series, ranging from the first women’s editor with Dave Garroway on the original Today Show on NBC to her three-year run as Lily on The Munsters Today for Universal. Some of Lee’s successful series include: Time Tunnel, The New Andy Griffith Show, Mission: Impossible, The F.B.I., 12 O’Clock High, and Dr. Kildare.
Her noteworthy film roles include “Catwoman” in the original Batman movie. She also portrayed Andy Griffith’s pregnant wife in Angel in My Pocket, as well as Rock Hudson’s southern wife in The Undefeated. Lee “swam” with Namu, the killer whale, and has a great deal of fun in reminding film buffs that she played the “man” killed by Kim Novak in The Legend of Lylah Clare.
Live theatre, however, continues to be Lee’s first love. Credits include: the female version of The Odd Couple, Last Summer at Blue Fish Cove, The Business of Murder, Follies, Country Matters, and most recent productions of the musicals Hello Dolly, Mame, The King and I with George Chakiris, and I Do, I Do, Pirates of Penzance, the 20th Anniversary Tour of Nunsense, and four national tours of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite with her husband, Marshall Borden.
Lee is active with a number of humanitarian endeavors and charities. She serves as Honorary Chairman of ABILITY FIRST. She was an honorary member of Women in Show Business, a philanthropic organization that funded reconstructive surgery for needy children. She has also served as National Education Chairman of the American Cancer Society and Los Angeles Chairman for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. There has also been a special place in her heart for the Blind Children's Center, the Jeffrey Foundation and the pet organization Actors and Others for Animals.
