Lee Phillip Bell, Who Co-Created Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful, Dies at 91
Lee Phillip Bell, who co-created both soap operas The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful with her late husband William J. Bell, has died. She was 91.
Lee died on Tuesday, her children said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE on Wednesday. Further details about her death were not released.
“Our mother was a loving and supportive wife, mother and grandmother,” her children William James Bell, Bradley Phillip Bell and Lauralee Bell Martin said in the statement.
“Gracious and kind, she enriched the lives of all who knew her. We will miss her tremendously,” their statement continued.
In addition to creating TYATR and TBATB, Lee had a successful broadcast journalism career.
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She hosted The Lee Phillip Show for more than 30 years for CBS and produced and narrated multiple award-winning specials covering topics like rape, children born into the prison system, the foster system and children and divorce.
The Emmy winner interviewed many prominent figures, including presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Regan, as well as celebrities like Judy Garland, Clint Eastwood, Jerry Lewis, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Oprah Winfrey and members of both the Rolling Stones and The Beatles.
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Among Lee’s many awards earned throughout her impressive career, she was the fist female recipient of the Governors Award from the Chicago chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. And in addition to her 16 regional Emmy awards, Lee also won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1975 in the outstanding drama series for being the co-creator of TYATR.
She also won the Daytime Emmys’ lifetime achievement award in 2007.
Lee is survived by her three children William, Bradley and Lauralee, daughters-in-law Maria Arena Bell and Ambassador Colleen Bell and son-in-law Scott Martin, as well as eight grandchildren.
