Black Widow of pool, Jeanette Lee, 49, battling stage 4 ovarian cancer

Her unassuming, sweet demeanor wasn't an act. And neither was her intense, ruthless play with a cue stick around a table covered in green felt. 

Said to "eat her opponents alive," a 20-something Jeanette Lee — demure and elegant — was dubbed the Black Widow. 

In her sport of pocket billiards, Lee spit out competitors as she rose to the No. 1 player in the world. She was a woman who transcended a sport that was an afterthought in the mainstream world of football and basketball and became an international superstar. She was in ESPN's The Body issue and walked the red carpet at the ESPY Awards.

At the height of her early success, Lee was based in Indianapolis and lived in Carmel and Mooresville, Indiana. She could be spotted with other sports superstars, Peyton Manning, Helio Castroneves, Travis Best and Edgerrin James, whom she once called the best celebrity amateur pool player she's ever competed against.

Lee, an American of Korean descent, was an icon who could nab sponsorships that had nothing to do with billiards, chalk or cues — including a 7-year deal with Bass Pro Shops. She appeared on numerous national TV shows, including "Good Morning America", "Crook & Chase" and "Hard Copy." Lee also has been featured in People, Glamour and Sports Illustrated, and she had a part in the Walt Disney film, "The Other Sister", directed by Garry Marshall.  

But now at age 49, the seemingly invincible Lee is battling a grim health diagnosis — stage 4 ovarian cancer that has metastasized throughout her body.  

"She has her second round of chemo (Wednesday). She has lost her hair. She is doing OK," Tom George, Lee's longtime manager, told IndyStar Tuesday. "The diagnosis is dire, but people have won."

And if ever there were a dark horse who could come out and win this fight, it would be Lee.

'Can be swiftly terminal'

"It is with heavy hearts that we share that our friend and billiards icon, Jeanette Lee, has been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer," reads the GoFundMe page set up for Lee to help with medical expenses and care for her three daughters. 

"Her prognosis is currently unknown and depends upon her body’s response to the first phase of treatment she is now undergoing. Left untreated, this stage and type of cancer can be swiftly terminal. But backed by her will to live, modern medical treatments may significantly prolong her life."

Lee, who left Indiana in 2008 to move to Florida, owns an American Poolplayers Association franchise in Tampa. She is a single mom, divorced from George Breedlove, known as "The Flamethrower" on the men's pool tour.

"It became very clear when she got the diagnosis that the biggest thing that worried her was her daughters," said George. Lee has three girls, Cheyenne, 16, Chloe, 11, and Savannah, 10. "Jeanette's biggest concern was she was going to leave and leave her kids in a bad way." 

More than 2,500 people have donated more than $185,000 to Lee's legacy fund, including a $10,000 donation from Tony Stewart.

Through George, Lee declined IndyStar's request for an interview. She sleeps much of her days, he said. And she can't make commitments because, depending on the moment, she may not feel well enough to follow through.

But Tuesday, George reminisced on the life and career of Lee, who fell in love with the geometry of pool the first time she picked up a stick.

'Saw the table like no one else'

The daughter of Korean immigrants, Lee spent her childhood in Brooklyn. Playing pool was the farthest thing from her mind at that age, she told IndyStar in 1999. She thought she'd be an elementary school teacher.

But at 18, she walked into a dark, smoky pool hall in New York City and saw an older man make a clean shot into the corner pocket of a billiard table. It fascinated her. She decided then, she would try this sport for herself.

"Jeanette saw the table like no one else, the movement of the balls, the geometric patterns," said George.

She also had a rare combination of unbelievable talent, beauty and allure playing a sport reserved, before then, mostly for men.

Lee knew she needed an agent and she had a friend named Travis Best, who played for the Pacers. Best's agency was in Washington D.C. and he introduced Lee to one of the firm's basketball agents.

"Would one of you talk to her?" that agent then asked members of the firm, including George.

"I did it myself so I wouldn't waste the time of the rest of the staff," he said. 

George had a previous billiards client, Ewa Mataya, whom the Boston Globe described as a "leggy blonde" in 1993. She was pretty, Swedish and really good at pool. But it was so hard to get any traction promoting pool players, George said.

No one wanted to represent them, especially not him. But when Lee walked in to his office that day, he was astounded by her raw beauty and elegance. And by her intelligence and passion for the game.

By the time she left, he had agreed to negotiate deals that came her way, but no proactive work.

"There is a saying in our business, 'If the client recruits you, you don't want them,' but Jeanette turned out to be massively different," he said. "She was superstar material."

A cultural icon

Before she was a teen, Lee was diagnosed with scoliosis, a debilitating back condition that resulted in a curved and deformed spine. Since then, she has had dozens of surgeries.

One procedure involved implanting two 18-inch metal rods in her back to help relieve the pressure on her spine. But the rods also meant she could lean forward at no greater than an 80-degree angle. Those who play pool, including Lee, said that is barely enough to make a clean break on the table.

"When I was 13, I didn't know what the heck was going on," Lee told IndyStar in 1999. "All they told me was they were going to make my back straight. I can tell you I was in the most pain you can imagine. I was in a big white cast all around my upper body."

And yet, Lee persevered, fought through it and toppled the pool industry. 

"She is without a doubt the best-known pocket billiards player in the world," said Steve Tipton, executive director of the WPBA in 1999.  

The world calls her the Black Widow and so does George. But he also has another nickname for her: "Jeanette never-lets-you-down Lee."

She has been to hundreds and hundreds of charity events through her career. Even after surgeries, in great pain, she would go. George remembers just one time since he's known her that she didn't show up for a charity.

Her goodwill and selflessness throughout the years is showing up in a big way on her GoFundMe page, as well wishes pour in. She is being called an icon, a fierce and determined player and gorgeous. But most messages are about Lee's giving personality and care toward all the people she encountered.

"Just wanted to return Jeanette's generosity for her donating signed memorabilia for Ben Davis High School fundraiser for One City Indy's 'Fight to Unite,'" wrote Roy Streater. "These little acts of kindness from Jeanette have never been forgotten. Thank you."

"Jeanette showed me such kindness over and above the several times I had the privilege to play against her while attending a trade show in LV in 2013," Tony Battista wrote. "I remember a couple of shots in our games but I never forgot her kindness."

Lee is, without a doubt, a rare athlete and person, said George. And she deserves to beat this disease. 

"She is the only billiard star who transcended the sport and became, at the very least, a sports icon," said George. "And, depending what prism you look through, maybe a cultural icon as well."

Donate to Jeanette Lee's GoFundMe to help with medical expenses and the care of her daughters.

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow.