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Compound that with persistent bursitis and a diagnosis of Stage 4 ovarian cancer in early 2020, which meant more surgeries. It’s hard to think of a chronic ailment less suited to billiards than a bad back. A scoliosis diagnosis at 12 required surgeries to have metal rods inserted in her back that was the first of around two dozen operations.
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Still, perhaps the most extraordinary thing about Lee is that her grace and pulchritude masked a series of physical ailments dating back to her childhood.
Now a whole new generation will get to know the Black Widow, along with her children, who only know that mom was famous once through the documentary.
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When Lee was first working with Advantage, most pro pool players had another job her appearance fee was $2,500. And she understood crowds as well as any athlete.” “She had this wonderful sense of sex appeal,” said George, “and she knew exactly how much to use to make it fun, without going over the line where it would have been uncomfortable. Lee ran the table on him - twice.Īll along, it was her persona: Catwoman with a pool cue and long black hair, always dressed in black, that were the attractions as much as her ability, with which she garnered more than 30 domestic and international billiards titles and brought people to the game who had never watched it before.Ī first-generation daughter of Korean immigrants, Lee’s fame rose quickly. At one Super Bowl appearance, Super Bowl winning QB Trent Dilfer was talking smack about beating the Black Widow. It’s easy to fit a pool table in a hospitality tent and Lee would entertain with trick shots and play anyone naive enough to challenge her. But her stock and trade was combining her looks, skill and personality at personal appearances, largely corporate outings.
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Lee’s had a few endorsements with TV ads, including some with Bass Pro Shops. And I would still tell you that she’s one of the hardest-working athletes I’ve ever represented.”
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I told them that in professional experience, good-looking people were easier to sell - that’s still true. “At the beginning,” said George, “I got a lot of flak from people who said I signed her because she was so good-looking. Lee’s is even more so, since she is a first-generation daughter of Korean immigrants with an indelible nickname, and looks to qualify her as a model. The tale of any athlete’s ascendancy from sidelines to stardom is usually compelling. She was extremely skilled, but the number of opportunities for female athletes, especially ones from immigrant families, was far more limited.” “She turned that into an advantage, mostly through her personality, her will and the fact she was so unique in that world. “Jeanette had the benefit of there being an existing pool culture and the detriment of not fitting into it,” said de Picciotto. If you think team sports have been male-dominated, consider the pool halls where Lee acquired her professional acumen. Lee was at the forefront of that movement, compelling those who’d never picked up a rack or chalk to watch pool, largely on ESPN2.
The past few years has seen an unprecedented rise in interest, prominence and financial support of women’s professional sports. Within half a year of starting a pro career, Jeanette Lee was a force in the pool world.
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Six months later, George was representing her full time 30 years subsequent, he and Octagon founder and President Phil de Picciotto are executive producers on an ESPN “30 for 30” film on Lee that debuts this week: “Jeanette Lee Vs.” It was his first lesson regarding Lee’s inexhaustible well of focus and fortitude, traits which eventually made her the top female pool player in the world - around four years after she started playing.īut during that first meeting, George kept saying “no, in a variety of ways.” Like any skilled billiards player, Lee tried a different angle, asking if Advantage (now Octagon) would do solely her legal work on a part-time basis, and take a percentage, nothing proactive as far as marketing. “There’s an axiom in our business that if an athlete or personality is pitching you, then you probably don’t want to sign them for representation,” said George. George recalls that perhaps he wasn’t paying Lee a lot of attention during that initial visit. Lee was seeking representation from the same agency that handled renowned names such as Steffi Graf, Michael Chang and Moses Malone. Somewhere north of 30 years ago, as Jeanette Lee was climbing the ranks of the sport she would eventually dominate, the billiards assassin known as “the Black Widow” paid her own way to Tom George’s Advantage International office in McLean, Va.
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