Lee attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. He enjoyed writing, and had dreams of one day writing the "Great American Novel". He said that in his youth he worked such part-time jobs as writing obituaries for newspapers for the National Tuberculosis Center. He delivered sandwiches for the Jack May pharmacy to offices in Rockefeller Center, worked at the Rivoli Theater on Broadway, and sold subscriptions to the "New York Herald Tribune" newspaper. He graduated from high school early in 1939 and joined the WPA Federal Theatre Project.