James Henderson Lee III (January 4, 1923 – July 2, 2002) was an American screenwriter. He is best known for writing several episodes of the 1977 TV miniseries Roots.
Moving into television, Lee wrote four episodes of the anthology series Omnibus. One of these, "Capital Punishment", won an Edgar Award for Best Episode in a TV Series.[3]
Lee continued to work as a screenwriter, primarily in television, from the 1960s through the 1980s. His greatest success came with the 1977 miniseries Roots. Adapting the 1976 novelbyAlex Haley, Lee wrote four of the series' twelve episodes, and co-wrote four others.[2]
He and William Blinn received a 1977 Humanitas Prize for writing "Part IV" of Roots,[2] and Lee was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Part V". He had previously received an Emmy nomination in 1963 for the drama The Invincible Mr. Disraeli (shown on Hallmark Hall of Fame). He received a third Emmy nomination in 1980 for the Marilyn Monroe biopic This Year's Blonde.[1]
James Lee married actress Neva Patterson in 1957, after they met on the set of the Broadway play The Seven Year Itch. The couple adopted a daughter, Megan, and a son, Filippo.[1][4]
