London Lee

When I was a kid, there was a ‘young’ comedian named London Lee. Considering I’m in my mid-50s, he’s probably in his mid-60s… maybe 70

When I was a kid, there was a ‘young’ comedian named London Lee. Considering I’m in my mid-50s, he’s probably in his mid-60s… maybe 70s.

Alas, he has disappeared off the face of the earth. Well, he has as far as the Internet is concerned – he’s virtually a non entity.

There is one reference to him I can find and one London Lee story quoted:

“I step off the elevated train and I see two cops with German Shepard’s and said, ‘What do you know, Philadelphia the only city with blind cops!’

That’s comedy!

Because of the consistent traffic to this page, it’s reopened for comments.

31 thoughts on “London Lee”

  1. I just loved London Lee! I remember watching him on Merv Griffin. He was a regular, and I couldn’t wait until he came on. It got to the point that all he had to do was come on stage and I would laugh. He really tickled my funny bone!

    What ever happened to him? did he ever put put a record? Anyone know?

  2. Hi…I’m watching the PBS program on the Mamas and Poppas and feeling nostalgic…for some reason, I wondered about London Lee and did a google search…I’m in my mid 50’s and a buddy and I used to go into NYC (from north Jersey) during school breaks and snow days…my friend’s relative was Roger Tuttle, a staff announcer for NBC, so we’d spend a lot of time behind the scenes at NBC and frequent the other NYC TV studios…anyway, we’d go to the Little Theatre on 44th. St. where Merv Griffin taped his show and saw London Lee (he did seem young!) who did his comedy bit around being a rich kid…very funny…after the taping, we waited by the stage door (an alley really) and he was one of the nicest celebrities we’d ever encountered…he bought us drinks from the local sidewalk vendor and hung with us for some time…we were only about 15 or so at the time and his sharing some time with us made quite an impression…I hope he’s had a health and fulfilling life as I haven’t seen him on TV since the mid 60’s?

    Dave Hammond

  3. Hi!

    Just a quick story about London Lee.

    London Lee was the paid entertainer for the Class of 1971 Senior Prom for Baldwin High School, Baldwin, Long Island, NY. The prom was held at The Galaxie in Planview, Long Island. I can remember seeing him on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson either the night before the prom or maybe two nights before the prom and he pretty-much repeated that comedy routine at our prom. However, he was very funny and we all enjoyed having him there. Incidentally, the person who booked him was Alan Kalter, who was an English teacher at Baldwin High School in those days and is now the announcer on the David Letterman Show.

    I really enjoy your website!

    Ray Frank

    Oceanside, NY

  4. LONDON LEE is scheduled to perform at the Pavillion Grille in Boca Raton, FL on Saturday, March 29th. I was a fan of his also, and always wondered what happened to him. If my memory is correct, he reminds me of my favorite comic, Bobby Collins.

  5. I, also, have wondered became of London Lee. He peformed at my Senior Prom in 1972 from MacArthur HS in Levittown, NY. He was fantastic.

  6. London Lee lives in Hallandale, Florida. He is retired, divorced and doing ok. He can sometimes be seen eating a bagel at the Sage Deli on Hallandale Beach Blvd. Nice guy.

  7. I’m so glad I found this site. I was trying to recall the name of the comedian who was on the Merv Griffin show as a regular and was billed as the ‘little rich kid’. He was so funny ! I agree with Susan who commented above that he would just have to walk on stage and I’d start giggling. I am surprised that his career didn’t go further than the Merv Griffin show..I don’t recall seeing him on Johnny Carson etc. I hope he had a successful and rewarding career because he was funny !

  8. This is a fond personal memory. I attended high school in New York City with London Lee’s niece, Toni. For her sixteenth birthday (1968?), her family threw an extravagant party. I kept my party favor for many years because it was a 14K gold and amethyst locket! Anyway, London dropped by during the party, greeting all of us with, “Hello, Toni’s girlfriends.” Needless to say, all the silly giggling schoolgirls were thrilled:)

  9. Glad you are here. I was just trying to get the 411 on London Lee. He really had my sense of humor and tickled me every time I saw him. Some of his jokes were lame, but, so is my sick mind. Here’s one…”I just had a date with the heiress to the Vicks Vaporub fortune. She was pretty nice, but, boring. All she wanted to do was drive up and down congested streets.”

  10. We are so very happy to find that London Lee is well and still performing. In 1965/66, when I was pregnant with our first son, we saw him several times on TV (Carson, I think) and just loved him! He was so full of life. We don’t remember ever seeing a comic who loved show business more than he! We were completly taken with the story he told about calling his girlfriend and when her brother answered and asked who was calling, he said, “London!” Got a big laugh. We named our son London, after him! Where ever you are, London Lee, we remember you fondly and take great pleasure in telling everyone our son is named after you! May you have Peace! Jann and Hank Bengel

  11. Was looking at some Ed Sullivan shows and saw London Lee perform. Came off a little like Jerry Lewis (with that short laugh of his, it sounded like a copy). He had a short routine on the show and I remember watching him the first airing of this show. He didn’t impress me as hilarious, but more of the quick one liner types so popular at the time. Glad to read here he seems to be doing ok down in Florida.

  12. As a teenager, I was a caddy at the Englewood, NJ Country Club and London Lee was a member there. I remember seeing him practicing on the putting green before beginning his round of golf and he was a very pleasant fellow with a smile for everyone.

    There many Jewish comedians that were members, I can recall caddying for Buddy Hackett and Corbett Monica and the boxer Rocky Graziano as well. Sometimes you would see Joey Bishop strolling into the clubhouse and the actress Ida Lupino could be seen at the pool.

    Sadly, the club is no longer there and has been replaced by condos. I can still remember where every hole was when I drive by now!

  13. It is rare to find a subject or public figure who does not have at least a stub entry at Wikipedia. As of this writing, Wikipedia does not have one on London Lee, and it is a notable omission.

  14. Oh yeah, I found this site because Bill Cosby mentioned London Lee on David Letterman’s show tonight, and I went looking for info on his whereabouts.

    After dropping his name out of literally nowhere really (stream of consciousness showbiz style), Cosby briefly mused about the present-day relative obscurity of London Lee, “I think he’s a dentist now.”

  15. about 12 years ago I sat with London at a bar on a Celeberty cruise ship where he was performing. It was fun chatting with him, off camera so to speak. I remember there was a drunken high school heckler making fun of him during his performance, and London told a joke that really put the s.o.b. to shame. The audience loved it.

  16. Geoff:Wow! you’re a fan of London Lee! I remember him on Ed Sullivan saying that he was in the family business…He was in charge of lightning! (LOL)
    Geoff, I really enjoy watching you on WTNH because you are the new “Mr Wizard” for the younger folks who will become our future scientists and engineers.

  17. Well, here I was, going to publish my London Lee story, and my fingers get ready to type, and sonofagun, who’s name appears in the list of posters, but London Lee! Ain’t dat a kick in the head! So I think I’m gonna write the old boy an email. Oh, my story isn’t much, I was cruising the Internet, reminiscing about the old Borscht Belt resorts like the Concord, and I remember I stayed at one in the late 1980s when they were all staggering toward obsolescence. This must have been one of the last ones standing. I CANT remember the name of it, but the one thing I do remember is that London Lee was the house comic. Apparently there was more to that job than just doing shtick in the lounge, because London popped up everywhere, leading an exercise class for the old yentas, visiting tables in the dining room – I guess they called him the social director. SO…I was trying to research London Lee to see if I could come up with the name of that place. And that’s my story. Goodnight!

  18. Sorry to report that the email address left by “London Lee” is a non-working address. And so is the Facebook link embedded in his name. I think we might have been scammed.

  19. London Lee performed at the Seaview Pool in Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York many years ago. I would guess it was the late 1960’s. His career was in a decline at that point (obviously). Yes, he and Stanley Myron Handelman vanished off the face of the earth.

  20. I spent the evening of July 2nd at the NY Comedy Club in Boca Raton.Most of my time was spent not listening to the comics on stage, but in conversation with London Lee. He has resurfaced and did a few minutes on stage. He was the hit of the evening. He will be appearing on my show later in July. The guys still has it. Plus the stories of his entertaining days with the Rat Pack and others is priceless.

  21. I just saw London Lee last night perfprm at the New York Comedy club in Boca Raton Florida, he was still sharp as a tack, nice man too

  22. I just spoke with my mother who resides in Florida and she told me that she’s going to see London Lee perform this week at her retirement community. She asked if I remembered him from TV – which I do – and then Googled him. This is where I ended up. Anyway, just to say, he’s obviously still performing!

  23. Like many of us Im a baby boomer and Iwas in my teens when I ard him. First funny man left a huge impression on me. Iget to Bocca once in a while. HOPE TO SEE HIM BEFORE i die.

  24. I’m 55, and as a kid in the early 60es my parents would shlep me to the Catskills every summer–where I saw London Lee at the night club shows. (Kids weren’t really allowed in, but my dad was a maverick.)

    Lee played ALL the hotels there, and I usually saw him at The Granite.

    Another big name there and then was Charlie Callas, who sadly passed on a few years ago.

  25. I had the pleasure to meet London Lee in 76 he gave me the opportunity to sing on his show that evening in Miami was great Honor , recently I went to visit him is doing great and still great comic God Bless Him….

  26. I remembered seeing London Lee on one of the T.V. shows in the 60’s. I’ve been told I have no sense of humor but whenever I saw London he tickled my funny bone like no other comedian. I could not control my laughter. I often wonder what happened to him and was glad to hear he is still performing.

    As I was driving on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood a couple of years ago I saw his name on the marquee at the Comedy club and was so excited and told my husband you must see him. Unfortunately, the show was sold out. I wonder if he ever comes to the west coast to perform.

  27. Hello all,

    London Lee is alive and well.
    We spent a day in Miami yesterday (Sept.22,2014) and took some photos.
    I am currently working on setting up a website for London and will show some photos and maybe some video clips shortly.
    Suggestions and comments are welcome.

    Cheers to all,

    Peter

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