#BLACK WIDOW BILLIARDS PRO#

She also had a rare combination of unbelievable talent, beauty and allure playing a sport reserved, before then, mostly for men. 'Jeanette saw the table like no one else, the movement of the balls, the geometric patterns,' said George. She decided then, she would try this sport for herself. She thought she'd be an elementary school teacher.īut at 18, she walked into a dark, smoky pool hall in New York City and saw an older man make a clean shot into the corner pocket of a billiard table. Playing pool was the farthest thing from her mind at that age, she told IndyStar in 1999. The daughter of Korean immigrants, Lee spent her childhood in Brooklyn. And she can't make commitments because, depending on the moment, she may not feel well enough to follow through.īut Tuesday, George reminisced on the life and career of Lee, who fell in love with the geometry of pool the first time she picked up a stick. Through George, Lee declined IndyStar's request for an interview. More than 2,500 people have donated more than $185,000 to Lee's legacy fund, including a $10,000 donation from Tony Stewart. 'Jeanette's biggest concern was she was going to leave and leave her kids in a bad way.' 'It became very clear when she got the diagnosis that the biggest thing that worried her was her daughters,' said George. Lee has three girls, Cheyenne, 16, Chloe, 11, and Savannah, 10. She is a single mom, divorced from George Breedlove, known as 'The Flamethrower' on the men's pool tour. Lee, who left Indiana in 2008 to move to Florida, owns an American Poolplayers Association franchise in Tampa. But backed by her will to live, modern medical treatments may significantly prolong her life.' Left untreated, this stage and type of cancer can be swiftly terminal. 'Her prognosis is currently unknown and depends upon her body’s response to the first phase of treatment she is now undergoing. Lee, who famously played sporting black dresses and long, dark hair, was given the 'Black Widow' moniker by friends despite her sweet demeanor because she would 'eat people alive' when playing on a pool table.'It is with heavy hearts that we share that our friend and billiards icon, Jeanette Lee, has been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer,' reads the GoFundMe page set up for Lee to help with medical expenses and care for her three daughters. 1 overall ranking and more than 30 national and international titles during her legendary career, which extended into the 2000s, but ended in 2010 due to scoliosis.

#BLACK WIDOW BILLIARDS PRO#

She began her pool career in 1989 and went pro in 1991, prior to earning the Women's Professional Billiard associations player of the year honor in 1994 and the WPBA Sportsperson of the Year award in 1998. Lee became one of billiards' biggest stars in the 1990s when ESPN dedicated airtime to women's tournaments. George said Lee objected to the APA's news release's description of her as having been diagnosed with 'terminal cancer' as he 'intends to beat it,' despite having been told by doctors that she likely has no more than a year or two to live. “She’s in a lot of pain all the time, anyway, so she didn’t notice any difference,” Lee’s longtime agent, Tom George, told the Washington Pos t on Wednesday. The account suggests the pain from scoliosis led to her cancer spread being unrecognized. Lee has battled scoliosis since her childhood and, according to the GoFundMe page, it has gotten worse over the past decade. 'The future care, well-being and education of her girls is the biggest cause of anxiety for her.' 'Jeanette has been a single mother for the last several years,' the GoFundMe states.

Lee said she's already begun chemotherapy and undergone multiple surgeries in her battle with the disease, which has metastasized her lymph nodes, according to a GoFundMe page launched with the intention to make sure her daughters, Cheyene (16), Chloe (11) and Savannah (10) are cared for and can afford college through the 'Jeanette Lee Legacy Fund.' “Jim Valvano so eloquently told us to ‘Never give up.' I owe it to my three young daughters to do exactly that.” “I intend to bring the same resolve I brought to the billiards table to this fight,” Lee said in a statement through the American Poolplayers Association (APA) obtained by Yahoo!. 1 overall ranking and gold medalist at World Games, as well as being a WPBA, BCA and Asian Hall of Fame inductee. Lee, 49, a Brooklyn native of Korean heritage, best known as 'The Black Widow' was a fixture competing on ESPN's broadcasts of the Women's Professional Billiard Association circuit in the 1990s, earning a No. Jeanette Lee, once arguably the most recognizable figure in billiards, announced her stage IV ovarian cancer diagnosis on Wednesday.

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