Lee Phillip Bell Biography

Fast Facts

• The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented her with its Governor's Award in 1977, making her the first woman to win the award in the Chicago chapter
• Graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in microbiology
• Got her introduction to television while working part time in her family's floral shop and accompanying her brother to a local talk show where he demonstrated flower arrangement
• Worked in various positions at the WBBM-TV Chicago TV station before being offered her own show
• Often worked with her husband William J․ Bell on writing soap operas, suggesting relevant topics of the day for him to include in his storylines and co-creating such popular series as "The Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful․"
• The first television show she hosted, "The Lee Phillip Show," was also the first television program to air a self breast examination
• Lived in a house that once belonged to aviation Howard Hughes, then actor Cary Grant