Lenny Dee not only entertained locally, but with Jimmy Dorsey, on The Ed
Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show with Jack Paar and the Lawrence Welk Show .

ST. PETERSBURG - Lenny Dee, who was "Mr. Entertainment" on the Pinellas
beaches for more than three decades, died Sunday (Feb. 12, 2006) at home
under hospice care. He was 83.

In his great days on the local scene, beginning in the 1950s, the
veteran organist and singer known for his campy humor and off-color
jokes grew into a legend.

He had been off the stage for years. He complained to a newspaper
reporter in 1997: "I'm 74 and out of work for three years. How can a man
like me not have a home to go to every night?" By home, he meant a
regular gig, a place to work in the evenings and meet his fans.

"My fans don't come out to nightclubs anymore," he said. "They're afraid
to drive at night. And they don't drink like they used to, so they can't
support the kind of clubs I love."

His musical reputation stretched far beyond the Suncoast. A one-time
performer with Jimmy Dorsey, Mr. Dee in his heyday in the '50s, '60s and
'70s appeared on such national TV programs as The Ed Sullivan Show, The
Tonight Show with Jack Paar and the Lawrence Welk Show .

A Nashville recording artist, Mr. Dee sold more than a million copies in
the 1950s of the hit song he wrote, Plantation Boogie, and covered
hundreds of pop and country standards for MCA Records.

The liner notes of a later compilation album included this tribute:
"The venerable boogie style was reborn in Dee's Hammond (organ), and
Plantation Boogie became one of the more influential records of the
decade. When words were added, the song was soon covered by everyone
from Red Foley to the Gaylords, and it helped launch Dee on a career
that encompassed some 56 LPs and continued into the '90s.
"The electric organ, especially in its later incarnation as the Hammond
B3, became a staple of rock and soul groups in the 60s."
He made his first album of organ music in 1951, four years before
hitting gold with Plantation Boogie. About that time, he began working
during the Suncoast winter season, spending the rest of the year on the
nightclub circuit or concert tours, making personal appearances and
fitting in recording sessions in Nashville.
On the south Pinellas beaches, he played at most of the big hotels. He
owned pieces of some of the clubs too. A pal to the locals, he made fans
of many tourists who came back to see him again and again.
"I don't know what it is, but people I just meet think they know me," he
said in 1991. "Or maybe they saw me 20 years ago and have never
forgotten what I did for them. That's beautiful, man. They come to see
you and they feel like part of the family. I just love these people and
I'm sincere."
The story of his life began in Chicago but quickly shifted to Florida.
Reared "near Tampa," he got his first job at the old Olive Hotel there.
"This is the only place I've really stayed in long," Mr. Dee said. "It's
home. You get your audience and they know you and what you are, who you
are and that you are around. But the whole business has changed around
here."
But for his family, knowing Lenny Dee meant more than the recognition he
received. Instead he was all about his fans.
"I think he would have just said thank you to them," said his daughter,
Georgia Dee. "He really loved his fans and the people. They meant a lot
to him."
Survivors include his wife, Hendrica; their two children, Georgia and
Raymond, both of St. Petersburg; his two children from a previous
marriage, Barbara and Leonard, both of Sarasota; and six grandchildren.
Another daughter, Linda, died two years ago.
Information from Times files was used in this obituary.