Lee Jun-fan, best known as Bruce Lee, was born on November 27, 1940, in San Francisco’s Chinatown. After the Japanese rule of Hong Kong ended, he and his parents, Grace Ho and Lee Hoi-chuen, returned to Hong Kong when he was three months old, and he was reared there with relatives. Bruce’s father was a famous Cantonese opera performer, and Lee was introduced to cinema and the arts at an early age through his father.
When Bruce was a baby, he appeared in the film “Golden Gate Girl” (1941). When he was nine years old, he co-starred with his father in the film “The Kid” (1950). He continued to act, and by the age of eighteen, Lee had acted in twenty films.
Lee’s parents decided he needed to study martial arts after he got into multiple street fights as a teenager in Hong Kong in order to develop more discipline and focus his energies elsewhere. He began studying Wing Chun at the age of sixteen, under the Wing Chun teacher Yip Man. He was also an ardent cha-cha dancer, winning the Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship in Hong Kong in 1958.
Lee’s father chose to send him back to the United States to separate him from the violence as his involvement in gang-related street fights escalated in frequency and intensity. He was sent to his elder sister, Agnes, who was living with family friends in San Francisco. After only a few months in California, he went to Seattle in 1959 to finish his high school studies. Lee attended the University of Washington after getting his high school graduation from Edison Technical School in Seattle but quit in 1964 to relocate to Oakland.
He participated in several martial arts shows in California. One of these exhibits in Long Beach in 1964 led to Lee being called to audition for a job by television producer William Dozier. Although the pilot Lee auditioned for was not chosen, Dozier recognised the potential in him and assisted him in getting other auditions.
Personal Life
Lee fainted in May 1973, suffering convulsions and a headache, and was diagnosed with cerebral edoema by physicians. They were able to manage it, but he subsequently had a relapse on the day of his death. On July 20, 1973, he died. Lee was married to Linda Emery, with whom he had two children. They met at the University of Washington, where they were both students.
Director Robert Clause released “Enter the Dragon”, Lee’s unfinished fourth Golden Harvest film, in 1978. Lee had recorded almost 100 minutes of material before his death, and Clause augmented the available footage with historical footage of Lee and the employment of look-alikes to complete the film. However, the finished result only includes fifteen minutes of authentic Lee video. Lee’s unused material from “Enter the Dragon” was finally retrieved and presented in the documentary “Bruce Lee: A Warrior’s Journey” (2000).
Career
Bruce Lee first appeared on American television in 1966, as Kato in the television series “The Green Hornet” (1966-1967). Although it only lasted one season and was created by William Dozier, the show was notable because it was the first widely popular American show to exhibit and promote Asian-style martial arts.
After “The Green Hornet” finished, Lee found himself devoid of a job and returned to martial arts. He established The Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute and devised a set of tactics better suited to street combat than the more rigid and formalised techniques of conventional martial arts. He named his new system Jeet Kune Do (“the way of the intercepting fist”). This martial arts school is widely regarded as having opened the way for the creation of modern mixed martial arts (MMA). He also performed in a variety of tiny parts and odd jobs across Hollywood, including guest appearances on sitcoms such as “Here Come the Brides” and “Blondie” in 1969.
Lee returned to Hong Kong after becoming dissatisfied with the modest supporting roles he was provided in the United States. There, he was well-known as the star of “The Green Hornet,” which had also been a huge success in Hong Kong. He signed a deal with the company Golden Harvest to feature in two films, “The Big Boss” (1971) and “Fist of Fury” (1972). The two films were huge box office successes, and he was able to negotiate a new contract with Golden Harvest as well as establish his own production business, Concord Production Inc. Lee was granted entire control of his third film with Golden Harvest, serving as writer, director, star, and fight scene choreographer, resulting in the film “Way of the Dragon” (1972), which featured American karate champion Chuck Norris as his major antagonist.
From August to October 1972, Lee worked on his fourth Golden Harvest picture, “Game of Death,” but production was halted when he was given the lead part in the film “Enter the Dragon” (1973), which was co-produced by Warner Brothers, Concord, and Golden Harvest. Lee died unexpectedly only six days before “Enter the Dragon” was released; the picture grossed an estimated $350 million worldwide.
Net Worth
Bruce Lee was a Chinese-American martial artist, martial arts instructor, and movie star who died in 1973 with a net worth of $10 million USD (after inflation). He is widely regarded as the most influential martial artist of all time, as well as a cultural icon of the twentieth century.
Facts
| Net Worth | $10 Million |
| Date of Birth | Nov 27, 1940 – Jul 20, 1973 (32 years old) |
| Place of Birth | Chinatown |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.71 m) |
| Profession | Actor, Screenwriter, Film director, Martial Arts Instructor, Philosopher, Film Producer, Martial Artist |
| Nationality | United States of America |
