Ruta Lee

Born in Montréal, Ruta Lee grew up in the suburb of Verdun. The only child of Lithuanian immigrants, her father, Joseph Kilmonis was a tailor and her mother, Mary, was a seamstress. Lee began acting at a very young age appearing in elementary school productions but when she was 12 her father sold his small clothing store chain and moved the family to Los Angeles. Ruta Lee started school at Immaculate Heart High in Los Angeles in 1950, but later switched to Hollywood High where she really began to take her acting courses seriously. In 1952, signed to an agent, she landed her first television role appearing in an episode of Roy Rogers as Ruta Kilmonis. Two years later she landed a role in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and although she was still in school, her acting career was set to take off.

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