Gwen Lee - Acting Career

Acting Career

Born Gwendolyn Lepinski in Hastings, Nebraska, Lee began her career as a department store model. She was discovered by director Monta Bell while appearing in a stage production. She signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. That same year, she made her film debut in Lady of the Night, starring Norma Shearer. She followed with roles in Pretty Ladies, starring Zasu Pitts, His Secretary, and The Plastic Age, starring Clara Bow. In 1926, Lee was cast in The Lone Wolfe Returns, starring Bert Lytell and Billie Dove.

In 1928, she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star. Lee continued her career with supporting roles in Laugh, Clown, Laugh and The Actress (both 1928). Her career continued for almost a decade into the era of sound motion pictures. Lee played Marjory in Untamed (1929), with Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery. She appeared again with Crawford and Marie Prevost in the prison drama Paid (1930). In 1931, she was in The Galloping Ghost, with famed football running back Red Grange, and the crime drama, The Lawless Woman, with Vera Reynolds. In 1932, she appeared in the Western Broadway to Cheyenne (1932), with Rex Bell.

By the late 1930s, Lee was appearing in minor film roles most of which were uncredited. Her final film roles were in Man-Proof and Paroled from the Big House, both in 1938.