Bruce Lee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bruce Lee
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| 李小龍 | |||||||||||
Lee in 1971
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| Born |
Lee Jun-fan (李振藩)
November 27, 1940 |
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| Died | July 20, 1973 (aged 32) Kowloon Tong, British Hong Kong
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| Cause of death | Cerebral edema | ||||||||||
| Resting place | Lake View Cemetery, Seattle, Washington, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Other names | Lee Siu-lung, Lee Yuen-cham, Lee Yuen-kam | ||||||||||
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| Alma mater | University of Washington | ||||||||||
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| Years active | 1941–1973 | ||||||||||
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| Children | Brandon and Shannon Lee | ||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 李小龍 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 李小龙 | ||||||||||
| Jyutping | Lei5 Siu2-lung4 | ||||||||||
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| Lee Jun-fan | |||||||||||
| Chinese | 李振藩 | ||||||||||
| Jyutping | Lei5 Zan3-faan4 | ||||||||||
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Bruce Lee (born November 27, 1940 – died July 20, 1973) was a famous Chinese American actor, martial artist, and filmmaker. He also created his own martial arts style called Jeet Kune Do.
Lee became very famous for making martial arts popular in the United States during the 1970s. He starred in several movies, including Enter the Dragon. This movie was the first martial arts film made in the U.S. It was also his most successful and well-known film, released after his death. Bruce Lee died in 1973 while working on a movie called The Game of Death. The film was not finished, but some parts were released later. His son, Brandon Lee, also died tragically while making a movie almost 20 years later.
Bruce Lee taught martial arts to many people. These included famous actors like Steve McQueen and James Coburn, and basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He inspired many other martial arts actors, such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Chuck Norris. Jackie Chan had a small role in Enter the Dragon. Chuck Norris co-starred with Lee in Way of the Dragon.
Lee starred in five main movies: The Big Boss, Fist of Fury (also known as The Chinese Connection), The Way of the Dragon (also known as Return of the Dragon), Enter the Dragon, and The Game of Death.
He is remembered for his big impact on both the Hong Kong and American movie industries in the 1970s. People also admire his new ideas in martial arts, his philosophy, and his amazing physical fitness. Many consider him a cultural icon and one of the most important martial artists ever.
Bruce Lee died on July 20, 1973, at age 32. He passed away from cerebral edema, which is when fluid builds up around the brain. This is thought to have been caused by a reaction to painkillers he was taking for a back injury.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Bruce Lee's father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was a famous Cantonese opera singer in Hong Kong. In December 1939, his parents traveled to Chinatown, San Francisco in California for an opera tour. Bruce Lee was born there on November 27, 1940. This made him a citizen of both Hong Kong and the United States.
When he was four months old, in April 1941, his family returned to Hong Kong. Soon after, their lives became difficult for four years. Japan attacked Hong Kong in December 1941 during World War II and ruled the city.
Bruce's father was Cantonese, and his mother, Grace Ho, had mixed European and Asian heritage. Lee's maternal grandfather was Cantonese, and his maternal grandmother was English. His great-uncle, Robert Hotung, was a very successful businessman in Hong Kong.
Bruce was the fourth of five children. He had two older sisters, Phoebe and Agnes, and two younger brothers, Peter and Robert. His younger brother Robert Lee Jun-fai became a well-known musician and singer in Hong Kong.
While studying at the University of Washington, Bruce met his future wife, Linda Emery. They were both students. They married in secret in August 1964. At that time, laws against people of different races marrying were still in place in many U.S. states. Bruce and Linda had two children: Brandon (born 1965) and Shannon Lee (born 1969).
After Bruce Lee's death, Linda continued to share his martial art, Jeet Kune Do. She wrote a book about him in 1975 called Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew. A movie called Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story was based on this book.
Bruce Lee died when his son Brandon was eight years old. Bruce had taught Brandon martial arts and often took him to movie sets. This made Brandon want to become an actor. Brandon Lee found success in action movies like Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991). Sadly, in 1993, at age 28, Brandon Lee died in an accident on the set of the movie The Crow.
Bruce Lee's daughter, Shannon, was four when he died. She later studied Jeet Kune Do, her father's martial art. She trained to prepare for roles in action movies.
Becoming a Star
Early Roles and Martial Arts Training
Bruce Lee's father was a famous actor, so Bruce started acting when he was very young. His first role was as a baby in the film Golden Gate Girl. He was born in the year of the Dragon according to the Chinese zodiac. Because of this, he was given the Chinese stage name Lee Siu-lung, which means "Lee the Little Dragon."
At age nine, he starred with his father in The Kid (1950). This was his first main role. By the time he was 18, he had appeared in twenty films.
When Bruce was 12, he went to a Catholic school called La Salle College. He later transferred to St. Francis Xavier's College. There, a teacher named Brother Edward, who coached the school's boxing team, helped him a lot.
After Bruce got into several street fights, his parents decided he needed martial arts training. His friend William Cheung introduced him to Yip Man, a famous Wing Chun Kung Fu master. At first, Yip Man was hesitant to teach Bruce because of his mixed heritage. However, William Cheung spoke up for Bruce, and he was accepted.
Bruce began training in Wing Chun with Yip Man. Yip Man encouraged his students to fight in organized competitions to keep them out of street gangs. After a year, some of Yip Man's other students refused to train with Lee because of his mixed ancestry. But Bruce was very interested in Wing Chun and continued to train privately with Yip Man and other teachers.
In 1958, Bruce won the Hong Kong schools boxing tournament. He knocked out the previous champion, Gary Elms, in the final. That same year, Lee also won Hong Kong's Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship as a dancer.
Moving to America and Creating Jeet Kune Do
In April 1959, Bruce Lee's parents sent him to the United States to live with his older sister, Agnes. She was already living with family friends in San Francisco. A few months later, he moved to Seattle to finish high school. He also worked as a waiter at a restaurant.
In March 1961, Lee enrolled at the University of Washington. He studied subjects like dramatic arts, philosophy, and psychology.
Lee left college in early 1964 and moved to Oakland. There, he lived with James Yimm Lee, an older and well-known Chinese martial artist. Together, they opened the second Jun Fan martial arts studio in Oakland. James Lee also introduced Bruce to Ed Parker, an American martial artist.
At Parker's invitation, Bruce Lee appeared at the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships. He amazed the audience by doing two-finger push-ups, using only his thumb and index finger on one hand.
From 1966 to 1967, Lee played the role of Kato in the TV series The Green Hornet. He starred alongside Van Williams, who played the main character. The show lasted only one season (26 episodes). Lee and Williams also appeared as their characters in three episodes of Batman.
The Green Hornet introduced Bruce Lee to American audiences. It was the first popular American show to feature Asian-style martial arts. The show's director wanted Lee to fight using typical American boxing moves. But Lee, as a professional martial artist, insisted on fighting in his own style. At first, Lee moved so fast that the cameras couldn't capture his movements clearly, so he had to slow them down for filming.
In 1967, after The Green Hornet was canceled, Lee started his own martial arts school called The Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. He decided to create a new system that focused on being "practical, flexible, fast, and efficient." He used different training methods, like weight training for strength, running for endurance, and stretching for flexibility. He also included techniques from fencing and boxing.
Lee called his new style "the style of no style." He felt that traditional martial arts were too strict. His system eventually became a philosophy and martial art called Jeet Kune Do, or the Way of the Intercepting Fist. He later regretted the name because it sounded like a fixed style, but his idea was to be free from limits.
Lee also made brief appearances in other films and TV shows during this time. He was a fight choreographer for some movies, helping to design the fight scenes.
Hong Kong Films and Hollywood Success
In 1971, Lee appeared in four episodes of the TV series Longstreet. He played Li Tsung, a martial arts instructor. His ideas about martial arts were included in the show's script.
Lee wanted to create his own TV series called The Warrior. However, Warner Bros. decided to make a similar show called Kung Fu without him. They said he had a strong accent, but some believe it was because of his ethnicity. The main role went to David Carradine, who was not a martial artist.
A producer named Fred Weintraub suggested Lee go back to Hong Kong and make a movie there. Lee was not happy with his small roles in the U.S., so he returned to Hong Kong. He was surprised to find that The Green Hornet had been very popular there, known as "The Kato Show."
Lee signed a contract to make two films with Golden Harvest. His first main role was in The Big Boss (1971). It was a huge success in Asia and made him a star. He then made Fist of Fury (1972), which broke the box office records set by The Big Boss.
Lee then formed his own company, Concord Production Inc. For his third film, Way of the Dragon (1972), he had full control. He was the writer, director, star, and fight choreographer. In Way of the Dragon, Lee introduced Chuck Norris to moviegoers as his opponent. Their fight scene is considered one of the best in film history. Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon earned a lot of money worldwide.
From August to October 1972, Lee started working on his fourth Golden Harvest film, Game of Death. He filmed some scenes, including a fight with the tall American basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was a former student of his.
Production on Game of Death stopped in November 1972. This was because Warner Brothers offered Lee the chance to star in Enter the Dragon. This was the first film made together by Concord, Golden Harvest, and Warner Bros. Filming began in Hong Kong in February 1973 and finished in April 1973.
Just a few months after Enter the Dragon was completed, and six days before its release on July 26, 1973, Bruce Lee died. Enter the Dragon became one of the highest-grossing films of the year. It made Lee a martial arts legend. The film cost about US$850,000 to make in 1973. It is estimated to have earned over US$400 million worldwide. The movie also started a brief interest in martial arts, inspiring songs like "Kung Fu Fighting" and some TV shows.
After His Death
After Bruce Lee's death, the director of Enter the Dragon, Robert Clouse, decided to finish Lee's unfinished film Game of Death. Lee had filmed over 100 minutes of footage for Game of Death. This included scenes with Abdul-Jabbar, George Lazenby, and Dan Inosanto. The film was supposed to show Lee's character fighting challengers on each floor of a five-level pagoda.
In a controversial decision, Robert Clouse finished the film using a look-alike for Lee and old footage from his other movies. A new story and cast were added. The film was released in 1978. However, it only contained about fifteen minutes of actual footage of Bruce Lee. The rest used a look-alike, Kim Tai Chung, and a stunt double, Yuen Biao. The original footage Lee had filmed was found 22 years later and included in a documentary called Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey.
Other film projects were planned for Lee before he died. In 2015, Bruce Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, announced that the TV series The Warrior would finally be produced. It began filming in 2017 and aired on Cinemax.
Images for kids
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Bruce Lee statue in Hong Kong
See also
In Spanish: Bruce Lee para niños
