Anthony Lee

Anthony Dwain Lee (July 17, 1961 – October 28, 2000) was an American actor and playwright.

He began his career in the 1980s appearing in numerous stage productions, and in guest roles on television and in films.

In 1986, he traveled to Ashland, Oregon and auditioned at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) a nationally and internationally known Regional Equity theater.

He was cast the following season at OSF with a ten month contract.

Lee starred in Master Harold and the Boys, playing Willie, and a had a lead role in a Carson McCullers' play.

Lee met his future wife, Serena Scholl, also an actress, at OSF.

Lee was raised a Baptist, but began practicing Nichiren Buddhism with the Soka Gakkai International in 1986 in Sacramento.

He and his wife, Serena Scholl, both practiced Buddhism with the SGI-USA and were active members and leaders, supporting other practitioners.

They moved to Sacramento then to Seattle in 1988 where they married on August 8, 1988.

The move was precipitated by Lee being cast by Tim Bond in, The Colored Museum, at The Empty Space Theater.

Lee continued working in stage productions at the Seattle Repertory Theatre.

He appeared in The Cider House Rules as Mr. Rose, as Sweet Back in Spunk and in a role in A Raisin in the Sun.

He also acted in The Kentucky Cycle at the Intiman Theatre, and appeared in productions of The Colored Museum, Uncle Vanya, The Meeting as Malcolm X, and as the lead character in Othello.

He won the 1995 LAWeekly award for "Best Actor" in Mitch Hale's "Buffalo Soldier" at Theatre/Theater in Hollywood.

Lee's last onscreen appearance was on the Season 7 ER episode "Rescue Me" in which he portrayed a homeless man.

While attending a Halloween party on October 28, 2000, Lee was fatally shot by a Los Angeles Police Department officer.

Lee's death, and the circumstances surrounding it, garnered significant national and international media attention.

Lee was born in Redding, California and grew up in a middle-class family in Sacramento where he attended Valley High School.

Lee began acting at the age of 20 in a community acting class that performed productions at retirement and assisted living homes.

His first professional productions were at The Sacramento Theater Company.

The episode, which aired on November 23, 2000, is dedicated to him.

On October 28, 2000, Lee was attending a costume party in Benedict Canyon at a friend's mansion dubbed "The Castle".

The LA Times reported that in the past Lee had worn a cape and mask to Halloween parties.

Police reported he was carrying a replica of a .357 Magnum Desert Eagle handgun made of rubber.

Sometime around 1:00 a.m, two LAPD officers, Officer Terrill Hopper and Officer Natalie Humpherys, responded to a noise complaint at the residence.

The two were met by a private security guard hired by one of the party's hosts.

The security guard showed the officers to the kitchen and left them to find one of the party's hosts.

Before the party hosts could be found, Officer Hopper left the kitchen, exiting through a side door.

He searched the darkened, narrow path area behind the home with his flashlight before coming upon a glass door.

Behind the door stood Lee and his friend, fellow actor Jeff Denton.

The two were in Denton's bedroom chatting with another actor when they saw Officer Hopper's flashlight shine through the glass door.

Officer Hopper then shot through the glass door nine times, hitting Lee a total of four times, once in the head and three times in the back.

Lee was killed instantly.

Officer Hopper later said he fired his weapon because Lee aimed his replica gun at him, and he was unaware that the gun was not real.

On October 30, 2000, Bernard C. Parks, who was then the chief of the LAPD, held a press conference to address the events surrounding Lee's shooting.

Parks maintained that Officer Hopper acted in self-defense and that Lee was pointing the replica gun "in a very direct location" towards Officer Hopper.

Parks also showed a replica gun that Lee was carrying at the time of the shooting, comparing it to a real Desert Eagle.

The replica reportedly appeared to be a near match.

On December 4, 2000, the results of Lee's autopsy were released.

The autopsy determined that Lee was struck once in the back of the head and three times in the back.