Elaine Lee (23 December 1939 – (death announced) 19 September 2014) was a South African-born Australian-based theatre and television actress and entertainer best known for her role of Vera Collins in the 1970s television soap opera Number 96.

Career

Her acting career began in the 1960s in South Africa where she acted extensively in the theatre and on radio. Emigrated to Australia in 1970 and became well-known playing the perpetually unlucky-in-love Vera Collins in Number 96 starting 1972. Lee was an original cast member of the serial and the sophisticated Vera emerged as a key figure in many of its storylines. Vera suffered several failed love affairs and was raped three times as the story progressed – including once in the feature film version of the serial released in 1974 – and was occasionally seen semi-nude.

Lee had emigrated to Australia with her husband, South African-born actor Garth Meade. The marriage ended in 1976; Meade later had a brief role in Number 96 in 1977 after Lee had left the series.

Elaine Lee remained in the role of Vera for four and a half years, finally leaving in mid-1976 of her own volition. A few months later the producers of the show briefly returned her to the series as part of an attempt to launch a situation comedy spin-off, Fair Game, following the further adventures of Vera Collins away from Number 96. Footage from the pilot episode was incorporated across two consecutive Number 96 episodes however the proposed series never eventuated. Soon afterwards Lee played the regular role of school principal, Margaret Gibson, in the school-based drama series,Glenview High (1977). The series was not a major success and was not renewed beyond its single season.

She subsequently appeared in several productions of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in TV movies and panel shows, and made guest appearances in drama series such as A Country Practice. She also continued her stage work, including the challenging one-woman show Turn on the Heat, loosely based on the last two hours of Marilyn Monroe's life.

She made sporadic appearances in Australian feature films during the 1990s, in 1997 played a regular role in critically panned situation comedy series Bullpitt, and had a recurring role in series Heartbreak High. In the 2000s Lee has continued to make occasional guest appearances in Australian films and drama series, and opened an acting school in Sydney with fellow thespian Judi Farr. In 2005 she acted in soap opera Home and Away. She also presents a commentary on the 2006 DVD release of the Number 96 feature film.