Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Sophie Lee worked as a model early in her career, both in Australia and Japan appearing in print and on TV. Her first feature film was Raw Silk in 1988. First rising to fame in 1990 hosting the The Bugs Bunny Show on Australian TV, the show provoked controversy through her wardrobe, which was publicised as "middle-aged men... rush home from work in time to watch Sophie throw to Bugs Bunny cartoons". The Nine Network series, which had previously not been hosted, featured Bugs Bunny and other Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, plus occasional other material, such as an interview between Sophie and Kylie Minogue. She was cast by executive producer David Lyle out of 150 candidates. In 1991, Lee started playing the ongoing role of Penny Wellings in the drama series The Flying Doctors.
Also that year Lee, on saxophone and vocals, formed a pop group, Freaked Out Flower Children, with Gumpy Phillips on lead vocals and guitar (ex-Battle Happy); Tricky J as synthesiser programmer; Nicole Love on backing vocals; and Fiona Ruttelle on backing vocals. In December that year the group issued their sole album, 'Love In', which Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, found was "full of syncopated beats and breezy melodies wrapped around tunes". The group's debut single, "Spill the Wine", was a cover version of Eric Burdon and War's 1970 hit. Freaked Out Flower Children's version reached #31 on the ARIA Singles Chart but by 1993 the group had disbanded "the concept had run its course as the retro-cabaret and day-glo focus of the ensemble ... did little to foster a sense of longevity"
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