Lee Jun-fan (; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973), commonly known as Bruce Lee (), was a Chinese American martial artist, actor, director, martial arts instructor and philosopher.
He is credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films. The son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-chuen, Lee was born in the Chinatown area of San Francisco, on November 27, 1940, to parents from Hong Kong, and was raised with his family in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Time named Lee one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. ==Early life== Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940, at the Chinese Hospital in Chinatown, San Francisco.
Bruce's father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was Han Chinese, and his mother, Grace Ho (何愛瑜), was of Eurasian ancestry. == Career and education == === 1940–1958: Early roles, schooling and martial arts initiation === Lee's father Lee Hoi-chuen was a famous Cantonese opera star.
Lee had his first role as a baby who was carried onto the stage in the film Golden Gate Girl. As a nine-year-old, he would co-star with his father in The Kid in 1950, which was based on a comic book character and was his first leading role.
By the time he was 18, he had appeared in twenty films.After attending Tak Sun School (德信學校; several blocks from his home at 218 Nathan Road, Kowloon), Lee entered the primary school division of the Catholic La Salle College at the age of 12. In 1956, due to poor academic performance and possibly poor conduct, he was transferred to St.
Lee was 16 years old under the Wing Chun teacher Yip Man, between late 1956 and 1957, after losing to rival gang members.
There was no set pattern to the classes. Lee was also trained in boxing, between 1956 and 1958, by Brother Edward, coach of the St.
Lee was 16 years old under the Wing Chun teacher Yip Man, between late 1956 and 1957, after losing to rival gang members.
In 1958, Bruce won the Hong Kong schools boxing tournament, knocking out the previous champion, Gary Elms, in the final.
In 1958, after students from Choy Li Fut, a rival martial arts school, challenged Lee's Wing Chun school, he engaged in a fight on a rooftop.
There was no set pattern to the classes. Lee was also trained in boxing, between 1956 and 1958, by Brother Edward, coach of the St.
Lee went on to win the Hong Kong schools boxing tournament in 1958, while scoring a knockdown against the previous champion Gary Elms in the final.
That year, Lee was also a cha-cha dancer, winning Hong Kong's Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship. === 1959–1964: Continuous studies and martial arts breakthrough === Until his late teens, Lee's street fights became more frequent and included beating the son of a feared triad family.
Lee's father agreed, as Lee's college prospects were he to remain in Hong Kong were not very promising. In April 1959, Lee's parents decided to send him to the United States to stay with his older sister, Agnes Lee (李秋鳳), who was already living with family friends in San Francisco.
After several months, he moved to Seattle in 1959 to continue his high school education, where he also worked for Ruby Chow as a live-in waiter at her restaurant.
Lee opened his first martial arts school, named the Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute, in Seattle. In December 1960, Lee completed his high school education and received his diploma from Edison Technical School on Capitol Hill in Seattle. In March 1961, Lee enrolled at the University of Washington and studied dramatic arts, philosophy, psychology, and various other subjects.
After moving to the United States, Lee was heavily influenced by [boxing] champion Muhammad Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style in the 1960s. At and weighing at the time, Lee was renowned for his physical fitness and vigor, achieved by using a dedicated fitness regimen to become as strong as possible.
Lee opened his first martial arts school, named the Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute, in Seattle. In December 1960, Lee completed his high school education and received his diploma from Edison Technical School on Capitol Hill in Seattle. In March 1961, Lee enrolled at the University of Washington and studied dramatic arts, philosophy, psychology, and various other subjects.
Lee moved to the United States at the age of 18 to receive his higher education at the University of Washington in Seattle; it was during this time that he began teaching martial arts, later drawing significant attention at the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships.
Despite what Lee himself and many others have stated, Lee's official major was drama rather than philosophy according to a 1999 article in the university's alumni publication. Lee dropped out of college in early 1964 and moved to Oakland to live with James Yimm Lee.
At the invitation of Parker, Lee appeared in the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships and performed repetitions of two-finger push-ups (using the thumb and the index finger of one hand) with feet at approximately shoulder-width apart.
It was at the 1964 championships that Lee first met Taekwondo master Jhoon Goo Rhee.
Rhee taught Lee the side kick in detail, and Lee taught Rhee the "non-telegraphic" punch. In Oakland's Chinatown in 1964, Lee had a controversial private match with Wong Jack-man, a direct student of Ma Kin Fung, known for his mastery of Xingyiquan, Northern Shaolin, and T'ai chi ch'uan.
However, a martial arts exhibition on Long Beach in 1964 eventually led to the invitation by television producer William Dozier for an audition for a role in the pilot for "Number One Son" about Lee Chan, the son of Charlie Chan.
In 1964, at a demonstration in Long Beach, California, Lee met karate champion Chuck Norris.
Lee was also influenced by the training routine of The Great Gama (Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt), an Indian/Pakistani pehlwani wrestler known for his grappling strength; Lee incorporated Gama's exercises into his own training routine. Lee demonstrated his Jeet Kune Do martial arts at the Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1964 and 1968, with the latter having higher-quality video footage available.
The fight footage was reviewed by Black Belt magazine in 1995, concluding that "the action is as fast and furious as anything in Lee's films." It was at the 1964 championships that Lee first met taekwondo master Jhoon Goo Rhee.
After his match with Wong Jack-man in 1965, Lee changed his approach toward martial arts training.
The show never materialized, but Dozier saw potential in Lee. === 1966–1970: American roles and creating Jeet Kune Do === From 1966 to 1967, Lee played the role of Kato alongside the title character played by Van Williams in the TV series produced and narrated by William Dozier titled The Green Hornet, based on the radio show by the same name.
The show lasted only one season (26 episodes) from September 1966 to March 1967.
The show never materialized, but Dozier saw potential in Lee. === 1966–1970: American roles and creating Jeet Kune Do === From 1966 to 1967, Lee played the role of Kato alongside the title character played by Van Williams in the TV series produced and narrated by William Dozier titled The Green Hornet, based on the radio show by the same name.
The show lasted only one season (26 episodes) from September 1966 to March 1967.
After the show was cancelled in 1967, Lee wrote to Dozier thanking him for starting "my career in show business". In 1967, Lee played a role in one episode of Ironside. Jeet Kune Do originated in 1967.
Lee was also influenced by the training routine of The Great Gama (Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt), an Indian/Pakistani pehlwani wrestler known for his grappling strength; Lee incorporated Gama's exercises into his own training routine. Lee demonstrated his Jeet Kune Do martial arts at the Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1964 and 1968, with the latter having higher-quality video footage available.
In 1969, the three worked on a script for a film called The Silent Flute, and went together on a location hunt to India.
In 1969, Lee made a brief appearance in the Silliphant-penned film Marlowe, where he played a hoodlum hired to intimidate private detective Philip Marlowe, (played by James Garner), who uses his martial arts abilities to commit acts of vandalization to intimidate Marlowe.
Warner Brothers states that they had for some time been developing an identical concept, created by two writers and producers, Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander in 1969, as stated too by Lee's biographer Matthew E.
In the 1970s, his Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the traditional martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, sparking a surge of interest in the Chinese nation and Chinese martial arts in the West.
The direction and tone of his films dramatically influenced and changed martial arts and martial arts films worldwide. He is noted for his roles in five feature-length martial arts films in the early 1970s: Lo Wei's The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972); Golden Harvest's Way of the Dragon (1972), directed and written by Lee; and Golden Harvest and Warner Brothers' Enter the Dragon (1973) and The Game of Death (1978), both directed by Robert Clouse.
Also that year, Lee acted in one episode of Here Come the Brides and Blondie. In 1970, he was responsible for fight choreography for A Walk in the Spring Rain starring Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, again written by Silliphant. === 1971–1973: Hong Kong films and Hollywood breakthrough === In 1971, Lee appeared in four episodes of the television series Longstreet, written by Silliphant.
Also that year, Lee acted in one episode of Here Come the Brides and Blondie. In 1970, he was responsible for fight choreography for A Walk in the Spring Rain starring Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, again written by Silliphant. === 1971–1973: Hong Kong films and Hollywood breakthrough === In 1971, Lee appeared in four episodes of the television series Longstreet, written by Silliphant.
According to statements made by Lee, and also by Linda Lee Cadwell after Lee's death, in 1971 Lee pitched a television series of his own tentatively titled The Warrior, discussions of which were also confirmed by Warner Bros.
During a December 9, 1971 television interview on The Pierre Berton Show, Lee stated that both Paramount and Warner Brothers wanted him "to be in a modernized type of a thing, and that they think the Western idea is out, whereas I want to do the Western".
Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon went on to gross an estimated and worldwide, respectively. From August to October 1972, Lee began work on his fourth Golden Harvest film Game of Death.
Production stopped in November 1972 when Warner Brothers offered Lee the opportunity to star in Enter the Dragon, the first film to be produced jointly by Concord, Golden Harvest, and Warner Bros.
In 1972, after the success of The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, a third film was planned by Raymond Chow at Golden Harvest to be directed by Lo Wei, titled Yellow-Faced Tiger.
When asked in 1972 about his religious affiliation, he replied, "none whatsoever", and when asked if he believed in God, he said, "To be perfectly frank, I really do not." ===Poetry=== Aside from martial arts and philosophy, which focus on the physical aspect and self-consciousness for truths and principles, Lee also wrote poetry that reflected his emotion and a stage in his life collectively.
Lee Jun-fan (; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973), commonly known as Bruce Lee (), was a Chinese American martial artist, actor, director, martial arts instructor and philosopher.
Lee had residences in Hong Kong and Seattle. Lee died on July 20, 1973, at the age of 32.
Filming began in Hong Kong in February 1973 and was completed in April 1973.
However, only a few months after the completion of Enter the Dragon, and six days before its July 26, 1973 release, Lee died.
It was made for US$850,000 in 1973 (equivalent to $4 million adjusted for inflation as of 2007).
The project was not realised at the time, but the 1978 film Circle of Iron, starring David Carradine, was based on the same plot.
The film sparked a brief fad in martial arts, epitomised in songs such as "Kung Fu Fighting" and some TV shows. === 1978–present: Posthumous work === Robert Clouse, the director of Enter the Dragon, together with Golden Harvest, revived Lee's unfinished film Game of Death.
In a controversial move, Robert Clouse finished the film using a look-alike and archive footage of Lee from his other films with a new storyline and cast, which was released in 1978.
According to Michael Dorgan's 1980 book Bruce Lee's Toughest Fight, the fight ended due to Lee's "unusually winded" condition, as opposed to a decisive blow by either fighter.
The fight footage was reviewed by Black Belt magazine in 1995, concluding that "the action is as fast and furious as anything in Lee's films." It was at the 1964 championships that Lee first met taekwondo master Jhoon Goo Rhee.
Despite what Lee himself and many others have stated, Lee's official major was drama rather than philosophy according to a 1999 article in the university's alumni publication. Lee dropped out of college in early 1964 and moved to Oakland to live with James Yimm Lee.
It was made for US$850,000 in 1973 (equivalent to $4 million adjusted for inflation as of 2007).
In 2010, producer Paul Maslansky was reported to have planned and received funding for a film based on the original script for The Silent Flute.
Production began on October 22, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa.
In April 2019, Cinemax renewed the series for a second season. On March 25, 2021, it was announced that producer Jason Kothari has acquired the rights to The Silent of Flute "to become a miniseries, which will have John Fusco as a screenwriter and executive producer. === Unproduced works === Lee had also worked on several scripts himself.
In April 2019, Cinemax renewed the series for a second season. On March 25, 2021, it was announced that producer Jason Kothari has acquired the rights to The Silent of Flute "to become a miniseries, which will have John Fusco as a screenwriter and executive producer. === Unproduced works === Lee had also worked on several scripts himself.
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