Dorothy Ann Lee (née Damrow) was born in 1941 in New Jersey. Her family came to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1946 in an effort to improve her father’s health but chose to stay after she and her sister contracted chicken pox during the trip. She attended John S. Park Elementary School and Las Vegas High School. She moved around the city of Las Vegas a number of times during her childhood before settling in the Huntridge neighborhood with her mother in 1950. She worked for the Huntridge Theater during her high school years. She was also a member of the Rhythmettes, Las Vegas High School’s dance troupe, for three years and performed all over the United States during her time with them. After high school, Lee attended the University of Illinois until she met her future husband and dropped out. She lived in Chicago for six months before she and Danny Lee moved back to Las Vegas to get married. They married in 1960 at the Little Church of the West. The couple had four children together.