Bruce Lee

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Biography of Bruce Lee

Bruce Jun Fan Lee (Lee Siu Loong) was born in 1940 in San Francisco, CA while his parents were on tour with the Chinese Opera. Ultimately raised in Hong Kong, Bruce Lee was a child actor appearing in more than 20 films. At the age of 13, Bruce took up the study of wing chun gung fu under renowned wing chun master, Yip Man.

Bruce left Hong Kong at the age of 18, came to the United States and made his way to Seattle, Washington where he worked in the restaurant of a family friend. He soon enrolled in the University of Washington where he pursued a degree in philosophy. Bruce began to teach gung fu in Seattle and soon opened his first school, the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. Two more schools followed in Oakland and Los Angeles. Concurrently Bruce married his wife, Linda and had his two children, Brandon and Shannon. In the mid sixties, Bruce was discovered while doing an exhibition at the Long Beach Internationals and a role as Kato in the tv series The Green Hornet soon followed. During this time, Bruce was also developing his own martial art, which he ultimately named Jeet Kune Do (translated: the way of the intercepting fist).

Bruce's art was steeped in a philosophical foundation and did not follow long held martial traditions. Instead it had at its core the ideas of simplicity, directness and personal freedom. After The Green Hornet series was canceled, Bruce encountered resistance while working in Hollywood and so headed to Hong Kong to pursue a film career. In Hong Kong he made 3 films, which consecutively broke all box office records and showcased martial arts in an entirely new way. Hollywood took notice and soon Bruce was making the first Hollywood / Hong Kong coproduction with a film called Enter the Dragon. Unfortunately, Bruce Lee died in 1973 before this film was released. This film catapulted him to international fame. Today Bruce Lee’s legacy of self expression, equality, and pioneering innovation continues to inspire people all around the world.

Bruce Lee Timeline

• 1940 - November 27 - San Francisco- The Year of the Dragon, Lee Jun Fan is born at the Jackson Street Hospital in the Chinatown section of San Francisco. Later to be known as Bruce Lee. His father, Lee Hoi Chuen, a performer with the Cantonese Opera Company, was touring in America at the time.
• 1941 - Hong Kong - Bruce and his parents return to Kowloon, their family home.
• 1946 - Hong Kong - At the age of six, he makes his professional screen debut in The Beginning of a Boy. During the later years of his chilhood, Bruce appears in 20 more films in Southeast Asia. Lastly, being the film The Orphan at age 18.
• 1953 - Hong Kong - After being involved in numerous street fights in Hong Kong, Bruce begins training under Sifu Yip Man, a master of the wing chun system of gung fu.
• 1958 - Hong Kong - Being an expert dancer, Bruce wins the Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship.
• 1959 - Hong Kong - After more fierce street fighting ending in police involvement, Mr. and Mrs. Lee decide that Bruce should exercise his American citizenship and return to San francisco.
• 1959 - San Francisco - Seattle - Bruce arrives in the U.S. and stays with an old friend of his father's. He works odd jobs around the various chinese communities. Later moves to Seattle to work for Ruby Chow, another friend of his father's. He lives in a room above her restaurant while working as a waiter downstairs. Eventually enrolls at Edison Technical School and earns his high school diploma. Starts teaching gung fu in backyards and city parks.
• 1961 - Spring - Seattle - Enrolls at the University of Washington. Major - Philosophy. Teachs gung fu to students at school.
• 1963 - Summer - Hong Kong - Returns to Hong Kong for the first time since his arrival in the U.S. Returns to Seattle at the end of summer to continue school.
• 1963 - October 25 - Seattle - Bruce takes out Linda Emery (the future Mrs. Linda Lee) for their first date. Dinner at the Space Needle.
• 1963 - Fall - Seattle - Moves the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute into a building (4750 University Way) near the university campus.
• 1964 - Summer - Oakland - Bruce leaves Seattle to start a second school in Oakland. His good friend, Taky Kimura, takes over as head instructor.
• 1964 - August 17 - Seattle - Bruce returns to Seattle to marry Linda Emery. Residing afterwards back in Oakland.
• 1964 - Oakland - Several months after he begins teaching, he is challenged by a leading gung fu practitioner in the Chinatown community. If Bruce lost the challenge, he was either to close his school or stop teaching Caucasians. At that time, the Chinese were reluctant to teach Caucasians their martial arts. Bruce accepts and dispatches his opponent in only a couple of minutes. Later he is bothered on why the fight took so long and begins to re-evaluate his style. Thus, the early concepts of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee's own style, are born.
• 1964 - August 2 - Long Beach, Ca - Ed Parker, known as the Father of American Karate (Kenpo), invites Bruce to give a demonstation at his first International Karate Championships. In the audience is Jay Sebring, the hair stylist for Batman producer William Dozier who is looking to cast a part in a TV series he was developing. Sebring then gives a film of Bruce's demo to Dozier who is empressed at what he sees. Bruce later flys down to Los Angeles for a screen test.
• 1965 - February 1 - Oakland, CA - Brandon Bruce Lee is born.
• 1965 - February 8 - Hong Kong - Bruce's father passes away.
• 1966 - Los Angeles - Bruce and family move to Los Angeles where he begins working on a new TV series called The Green Hornet as Kato. Later opens third branch of the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute in Los Angeles' Chinatown.
• 1967-1971 - Hollywood - During this time, Bruce lands bit parts in various films and T.V. series (Marlowe, Longstreet). He also gives private lessons for up to $250 an hour to the likes of Steve McQueen, James Coburn, James Garner, Lee Marvin, Roman Polanski, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
• 1969 - April 19 - Santa Monica, CA - Daughter Shannon Lee is born.
• 1970 - Los Angeles - Bruce injures his back while training. The following period of inactivity he starts to document his training methods and his philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. Later after his death, The Tao of Jeet Kune Do is published by his wife.
• 1971 - Hong Kong. - Takes a short trip back to Hong Kong to arrange for his mother to live in the U.S..Unknowingly to him, he had become a superstar for The Green Hornet was one of the most popular TV shows in Hong Kong. Later is approached by Raymond Chow, owner of a new production company, and offered the lead role in a new film called The Big Boss. He accepts.
• 1971- July - Thailand - Filming begins for The Big Boss (released as Fists of Fury in U.S.). Opens in Hong Kong to great reviews and mobs of fans. Proceeds to gross more than $3.5 million in little than three weeks.
• 1972 - Hong Kong - Fist of Fury (called The Chinese Connection in the U.S.) is released. Grosses more than The Big Boss and further establishes Bruce as a Hong Kong superstar.
• 1972 - Rome, Italy - Location shots are made for Bruce's third film The Way of the Dragon (later called The Return of the Dragon), which he writes, directs, and stars in. Chuck Norris is Bruce's adversary in the final fight scene. Again, this film surpasses all records set by his previous two films.
• 1972 - Hong Kong - Bruce begins work on Game of Death and films several fight scenes including Danny Inosanto and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
• 1973 - February - Hong Kong- Filming of Enter the Dragon begins. It is the first-ever production between the U.S. and Hong Kong film industries. Game of Death is never completed. (Later completed after his death using a stand-in for Bruce's un-shot scenes.)
• 1973 - April - Hong Kong - Filming of Enter the Dragon is completed.
• 1973 - July 20 - Hong Kong - Bruce Lee dies in Hong Kong of an apparent cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). Enter the Dragon premieres a month later to much success.
• 1973 - July 25 - Hong Kong - A funeral ceremony is held for friends and fans in Hong Kong consisting of over 25,000 people. Bruce is dressed in the Chinese outfit he wore in Enter the Dragon.
• 1973 - July 30 - Seattle - After a smaller second ceremony, Bruce Lee is buried at Lake View Cemetery. His pallbearers included Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Danny Inosanto, Taky Kimura, and his brother, Robert Lee.