BRUCE LEE
The legendary kung fu
action movies starring Bruce Lee have established the Little
Dragon as the worlds greatest Kung Fu star. Bruce Lee could knock
down a fully grown man with a punch delivered from the distance
of 1 inch, as demonstrated at Long Beach's 1967 International
Karate Championships.
Lee Jun Fan (known as Bruce Lee) was born in the Jackson Street
Hospital in Sanfrancisco on November 27th, 1940, to Cantonese
actors Hi Lo Chun and Grace Li. A year later, the family moved
back to Kowloon, their family home in Hong Kong.
At the early age of 6 years old, Bruce appeared in his first film
- The Beginning Of A Boy. Bruce took up fighting as a boy on the
streets of Hong Kong, and at the age of thirteen, after losing
what many people say was the only fight he ever lost, he began
training under Siju Yip Man, a master of the Wing Chun system of
Gung Fu. But six years later, he returned to San Francisco after
his mother had become concerned by his street fighting
activities. During 1959, Bruce stayed with a close family friend
whilst doing odd jobs around the Chinese communities. Later that
year he moved to Seattle to stay with another family friend -
Ruby Chow, whilst working as a waiter in her restaurant. He
enrolled at Edison Technical School and earned his high school
diploma, whilst teaching Gung Fu on the streets and in backyards.
In 1961, Bruce enrolled at the University of Washington studying
Philosophy, and teaching Gung Fu to his students.
In 1963, Bruce met his future wife - Linda Emery and moved the
Jun Gung Fu Institute into a building near the University Campus.
The next year, his good friend Taky Kimura took over the
Institute, as Bruce left for Oakland to start a second school.
On August 17th 1964, Bruce returned to Seattle to marry Linda,
then returning to Oakland to live together. After several months
of teaching in Oakland, Bruce was challenged to a fight by a
leading Gung Fu practitioner - Wong Man. If he lost then Bruce
would stop his classes, teaching non-Orientals how to fight.
Bruce immediately kicked the shit out of him, who then proceeded
to leg it. Bruce ran after him but was dragged off by a friend.
After the fight, Bruce began to re-evaluate his style, and the
early concepts of Jeet Kune Do (The way of the intercepting fist)
were produced by Bruce Lee himself and Dan Inosanto (Game of
Death). It was to become Lee's unique style of fighting which
involved parrying and attacking in one single manoeuvre. Later
that year, a demo of Bruce in action at the International Karate
Championships was given to William Dozier, the producer for
Batman, who was looking to cast a part in a new TV series. Dozier
was greatly impressed and Bruce flew to Los Angeles fo a screen
test.
During 1967-1971, Bruce landed many parts in various films and TV
series, and gave private lessons at $250 per hour to stars such
as James Coburn, Steve McQueen, Jim "the afro" Kelly
and the baketball giant who later appeared in Game Of Death -
Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
In 1971, after huge success in the TV series "The Green
Hornet", Bruce was approached by Raymond Chow for the
leading role in a new film - "The Big Boss". It
instantly became a huge success and grossed more than $3.5
million in less than 3 weeks. This figure was even bettered the
next year when Fist Of Fury was released, further establishing
Bruce Lee as a Hong Kong superstar. That same year location shots
were taken in Rome, Italy for The Way of the Dragon (later known
as Return of the Dragon) which Bruce wrote, directed and starred
in, and included a final fight scene with Chuck Norris. Work was
also began on Game of Death. In 1973, Enter the Dragon was
finally completed and on July 20th, 1973, after being told by
doctors to rest, he didn't and sadly passed away at the age of
23, due to Cerebral Edema (swelling of the brain). Game of Death
was left unfinished, but was later released with a different
actor playing Bruce Lee, although the fight scenes had been
finished. A funeral ceremony was held on July 25th 1973, where
Bruce Lee was dressed in the Chinese outfit he wore in Enter the
Dragon, and he was buried at Lake View cemetry in Seattle, on
July 30th, 1973.
Big Boss, The
Fist Of Fury
Way Of The Dragon
Game Of Death
Enter the Dragon