Fran Lee, formerly known as Frances Lederman, was born in Manhattan on Sept. 28, 1910. Her father was a designer of coats and suits in the garment district; her mother was a milliner. In 1929 she married Samuel Weiss; she was known afterward in private life as Frances Lederman Weiss. She was an actress throughout the earlier part of her life, and later became a large public figure in the area of public health and safety issues for New York. As an actress, Ms. Lee was in several Off-Broadway plays, and in the late 1940s she toured as Judith Anderson's understudy in "Medea." She had a small part as a Macy's customer in the film "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) and guest roles on "Lux Video Theater" and other television shows. Lee also founded the organization, Children Before Dogs, which promoted the absence of any type of waste on the sidewalks and warning others of the potential risks that dogs can bring when allowed to defecate out in the open. Lee strongly believed (and preached) to others that dogs should only be allowed to relieve themselves on the owner’s property. Since most New Yorkers didn’t have the privilege of owning a backyard, inside the home would be the only choice for evacuation. Lee claimed that both dog urine and feces were too dangerous for the public and that dogs and, although could still be walked in public, should have their bathroom habits restricted to lay out newspapers or various sorts of padding on one’s own floor. On more than one occasion, Lee would gather several others like-minded people to parade the streets, strutting posters tied around their necks with writings such as “Caution! Do not sit on the ground! Dog and pigeon droppings make this a potentially dangerous area. Toxocara-carriage eggs could be swallowed.” Due to her activism, NYC was the first large city to pass pooper scooper law on August 1, 1978. Every day NYC residents and visitors benefit from her often ridiculed campaign.