Born December 26, 1976 in Czechoslovakia, she was a member of the Czech high diving national team and injured her spine in an accident when training for the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996, diving from the 10m platform. Some time after her injury, Lea did her best to recover, and qualified again for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. However her problems persisted, so she retired from high diving. She was later persuaded by a photographer to pose nude, thus turning eventually to the adult film industry.

Lea de Mae appeared in over 80 adult films. She first showed up on American screens in a series of features for Private Studio where her stunning looks were well received. Lea de Mae ended up returning to Europe after the time she spent in US. She then started to film more adult films in her native land but after a brief period of time she returned to the States. Lea De Mae along with colleagues Silvia Saint, Daniella Rush and Monica Sweetheart (known as "The Dream Team") led the home contingent in the early days of the Czech adult movie/modeling world. She was nominated for the 2004 AVN Award for Foreign Female Performer of the Year. Lea was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer in July 2004. During Lea's battle for life, fans from around the world and fellow artists supported a medical fund that had been set up for her in Prague, but she succumbed to the disease on December 9, 2004 at the age of 27, 17 days shy of her 28th birthday.