James H. Lee, 79; Honored as a Writer for ‘Roots’ Miniseries

James H. Lee, 79, a stage, film and television writer honored with the Humanitas Award and an Emmy nomination for his work on “Roots,” died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He had been suffering from emphysema.

Lee wrote four of the 12 “Roots” episodes and was a co-author on four others. The television miniseries was watched by 75 million people in 1977.

A native of Pleasant Ridge, Mich., Lee was a 1944 graduate of Harvard University. He acted on the New York stage in “Desk Set” and “The Seven-Year Itch.”

He later became a writer and his fifth play “Career” became a hit in 1957. He also wrote the screenplay for “Career,” filmed in 1959 starring Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine.

In the next decade he wrote five more films, including “Change of Habit” starring Elvis Presley and Mary Tyler Moore, and “Winning” with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

Lee and William Blinn shared the 1977 Humanitas Prize for “humanizing achievement in television,” and also shared a Television Critics Circle Award as co-writers of “Roots.”