From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Etta Lee (born Etta Lee Frost, 1906 – 1956) was an American silent film actress. Lee was born on September 12, 1906, in Kauai, Hawaii. She was of Chinese and French descent; her father was a Chinese medical doctor and her mother was of French ancestry. She grew up in California and went on to get her degree in education at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Lee moved back to Hawaii to be a teacher, before returning to Los Angeles to begin her career as an actress.