An Asian beauty noted for her long jet black hair, this Playboy Centerfold never rose out of minor roles and was almost always bikini-clad in her movies to the delight of her many male admirers. China Lee became Playboy’s first Asian American Playmate of the Month when she disrobed as Miss August 1964. She was one of 1964’s most popular centerfolds and came close to being named Playmate of the Year but lost out to Jo Collins. With an alluring smile and a figure measuring 35-22-35, it is no wonder movies beckoned for this captivating beauty though throughout her career she was considered a sort of poor man’s Irene Tsu.
Lee made her film debut playing a hooker in the obscure comedy The Troublemaker (1964). She then joined a gaggle of starlets as anonymous gold lame bikini-clad robots in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) a takeoff on James Bond’s Goldfinger. The following year Lee kept busy in a string of minor roles beginning with Harper starring Paul Newman; The Swinger starring Ann-Margret; and Paradise, Hawaiian Style starring Elvis Presley.
But the film that brought China the most notoriety was Woody Allen’s spy spoof, What’s Up, Tiger Lily? (1966). Allen took a serious Japanese spy adventure, threw out the original dialog and plot, and re-dubbed it turning the movie into a comedy about an agent trying to foil an evil organization from getting their hands on the world’s best egg salad recipe. China Lee doesn’t appear until the very end in a new scene added with Allen. As he lounges on a sofa munching on an apple, the curvy lass dressed in a tight black dress begins stripping for him as the end credits start to roll. Just as she is about to remove her black panties, Allen stops her and says directly to the audience, “I promised I’d put her in the film…somewhere” as the screen freezes and then fades to black. Lee’s curvaceous bikini-clad figure was prominently displayed on the movie’s poster art. Though the movie brought Lee to the masses as the still of her in her swimsuit was used to promote the movie worldwide it didn’t bring her any significant film roles.
China was back playing bits in the Sonny and Cher musical Good Times (1967) and in the satire on Southern California lifestyles Don’t Make Waves (1967) starring Tony Curtis and Sharon Tate. Lee’s last film role was a minor bit as a rowdy roller derby patron sitting next to Robert Forster and Marianna Hill in Haskell Wexler’s groundbreaking film Medium Cool (1969). She retired from show business shortly after.
You can read more about China Lee and past birthday girl Bettina Brenna in my book Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood.