Bruce Lee

        He was the King of Kung Fu – the deadliesthuman fighting machine that the world had ever seen. Bringing a new level of excitement to the silver screen, he established himself as the first oriental super star. Billed as the fittest man on the planet, hehad the world at his feet. Then, suddenly, he was gone – dead at theage of 32. In the almost 50 years since then, his legendhas propelled Bruce Lee to mythical proportions. In this week’s Biographics we go beyondthe legend to reveal the real Bruce Lee. Early Years The child who the world would know as Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940, in the JacksonStreet Hospital in San Francisco’s China-Town. His mother, Grace Li was accompanying herhusband, the actor Hoi Cheun on a tour of the United States with the Cantonese OperaCompany of Hong Kong. Grace named the child Jun Fan, meaning ‘ReturnAgain’, but the doctor who delivered him nicknamed him ‘Bruce.’ 

         Lee’s stayed in San Francisco for five months before returning to Hong Kong. But the heat and humidity of Asia did not agree with baby Bruce. He became a sickly child, with his mother constantly doting on him. Grace had already lost a child and was determined that she wouldn’t lose a second. As he grew older, Bruce became stronger. In fact, he became so active that his mother nicknamed him ‘Never Sits Still.’ The only time he stopped running, jumping, or striking the air was when he was curled up in a corner with a book in his hands. His long hours of reading into the night caused him to become nearsighted and, at age six, he required reading glasses. Bruce grew up in a crowded little flat. Along with his family, there was that of his late brother, so that nearly twenty people were squashed up in the chaotic household. Still, the Lees were among the wealthiest families in Hong Kong. Along with his Opera income, Hoi Cheun received payments from rental properties. Bruce spent much of his time amusing himself on the streets of Hong Kong. He showed little interest in school and would often cut class to hang out on the streets with local hoods. By the time he was ten, he had developed a penchant for practical jokes. These started out innocent enough but soon took on a more sinister touch.

             Once when he pushed his sis into ahthe be into swimming pool, she retaliated by holding his head under the water promised to promisedto never do it again. From that day on, he promised to never go into a swimming pool again. The Rising Star Bruce’s actingbeganer beg three months three months, thanks to his father’s connections in the local entertainment industry. His first real acting role occur was when hewas six years old. He played a rebellious street kid in the movie beginning of a Boy. I,n that film he had the first of many on-screen fights. He was billed in this and films that filmsthat followed as Lee Siu Lung or Lee Little Dragon. Bruce loved the life of a young actor. Often, he would be picked leaping fromleapingfrom his bed and excitedly rushing out the door. In his l,ater films he played teenage rebels who invariably ended up in a climactic fight scene. From the, very start he developtrademark mannerismskmannerisms which would later become famous – the admonishing finger, wiped acrosswipedacross his nose, the steady, unflinching gaze. By the time he was 18, appeared in appearedin 20 films, the most famous of which was The Orphan, his only leading role. Street Punk At the age of twelve, BattendingattendingLa Salle College, a Catholic Boy’s School. 

              His teachers there found him to be lazy, stubborn and rebellious. The Chinese students of Brucfeltchool felta strong rivalry with the British students who attended King George V school up the hill. Bruce became the leader of a gang that hung out after school behind the playing field of the rival school. The boys would shout tauBritish studentsishstudents – often with the result that fierce fist fights would break out. The rumbles were often broken up by the police. Phone calls and visits by became regularcameregular occurrences at the Lee household. Hoi Cheun was furious at tcourse that coursethat Bruce was taking and imposed strict restrictions on him. But he was not home enough fhave any to haveany real effect. With fighting becoming a regular part of hislife, Bruce began thinking about the subject most of the time. He later recalled that he always fought with his gang behind him, using chains as weapons. But what would happen, he wohe gotd, if hegot caught on his own, without his gang to back him up? Could he protect himself? He decided not to take any chances and becameconvincetoorder to survive, he needed to be trained in the most efthe martial themartial arts; Kung Fu. 

              Fighting Crazy Bruce’s father had taught hiChi movesai Chimoves, but the slow flowing movements were little help in a street fight. At the age of thirteenlearning WengearningWing Chun under trainer William Yeung. Bruce threw himself into hipracticing constantlygconstantly and making rapid progress. Yeung was so impressed with his young student that he introduced him to his master, a revered older man named Yip Man. The master decided to take on personal studentonalstudent. At first, Bruce was only intlearning howlearninghow to street fight but, as the lessons continued, Yip Man introduced him topoints ofer pointsof the art – meditation, b,reathing and balance. While training under Yip, Brunot onlyned notonly to master the physical techniques, but also to quell the interemotions suchmotionssuch as fear and anger. Despite his developing smartial artistrtialartist, Bruce was still a trouble maker at school. At age fifteen, he was expelled from La SalleCollege, ending up at St. Francis Xavier College on the other side of town. One of his teachers there – brother Edward– encouraged Bruce to release his energies by entering the 1Championships heldonshipsheld between his new school and King George V School. Bruce liked the idea avigorously forgorouslyfor the upcoming challenge. 

                 When the competition finally took place, Brucebreezed his way through the preliminary rounds, knocking out three opponefirst round firstround. I,n the final he faced Gary Elmheld thehad heldthe title for the last three years. Bruce was able to use the bloche hadmoves hehad learnedChunm wing chun to negate the power of his opponent. Then in the t, hird round hdevastating blowstatingblow which put Elms on the canvas. Bruce had won the title. Despite have the prestige of being the interschool boxing champ, Bruce continued to get into trouble, both with his teachers and thepolice. Finally, his mother suggested that he returnto the country of his birth to claim citizenship before he turned 18, at which time it wouldbe too late. His father agreed, knowing that Bruce’sfuture depended on him getting away from his peers. Coming to AmericaOn April 15, 1959, Bruce gathermeagerhis meager belongings and set off for his three-weekPacific journey. Before he left, his mother slipped $100 intohis pocket. His father gave him a further $15. He was booked onto the ship as a third classpassenger, but spent most of his time in first class by giving dance lessons to other passengers. On May 17th, he fulfilled his mother’s prophecywhen she had named him when he was born. 

                  He returned again to the place of his birth,San Francisco. Bruce stayed with a friend of his fathemeagerng a meager income by giving dance lessons. During his first few months in San  Francisco, he met several local karate students who encouraged him to teach kung fu. But Bruce was not yet ready to make that leap. A few months after arriving he moved intothe boarding house of Ruby Chow, a family friend and began work as a waiter in her restaurant. He also enrolled in Edison Technical HighSchool. When Seattle held an Asian Culture Day, teachersat the school asked Bruce to give a kung fu demonstration. In the audience that day was Jam es DeMille, former US Army Heavyweight Boxing Champ. Scanning the audience, Bruce noticed DeMilleand invited him up to spar with him. DeMille thought he could easily take out theslight China man but was surprised to discover that he was unable to lay a finger o n Bruce, who was able to block and counter with deadly efficiency. After the demonstration, DeMille asked Bruceto teach him some moves. Before long, Bruce had a devoted core of seriousstudents. Bruce applied himself to his education forthe first time, earning his diploma from Edison Tech with high enough grades to be admittedto the University of Washington in Seattle.

                 While at college he kept up his kung f u training, but he would not let his teaching come before his own learning. He would train for up to 40 hours each week,developing new techniques and borrowing fromtoin order to create the most functionalfigting style. In October, 1963, twenty-two-year old Brucequit his job at Ruby Chow’s restaurant and opened his own training academy – the JunFan Gung Fu Institute. He lived at the back in a small, windowlessroom. It was around this time that Bruce also meta fellow student at Washington by the name of Linda Emery. They began dating, though Linda hid the buddingromance from her parents. The Institute did well and, by  June, 1964,Bruce was ready to open up a larger Kwoon in Oakland, California. He closed the doors of the first academy andtold his assistant Taky Kimura to reopen the school in Chinatown as a private club forhis regular students. Before opening his Oakland Kwoon, Bruce attendedthe International Karate Tournament in Long Beach, where he had been invited to give ademonstration. Here he wowed the crowds with his soon tobe famous one-inch punch. It was here that Bruce also met Filipino MartialArtist Dan Inosanto, who would become his number one student. 

            Bruce gave further demonstrations and soonhad a thriving business in Oakland. His plan was to build up a nest-egg and thenbring Linda from Seattle where they would marry. But those plans were swept aside when Lindawrote that she was pregnant. Bruce was delighted. Despite the protestations of Lind a’s family,they were married in a small ceremony on August 17, 1964. Bruce and his new bride moved in with JamesLee and his family. James was a traditionally trained Kung Fuman who was looking for a more practically efficient style. He worked with Bruce to build up his OaklandKowloon. They offered their skills to anyone who wasseriously interested in learning how to fight. In early 1965, a traditional Chinese KungFu instructor named Wong Jack Man heard that the pair were teaching Chinese ‘secret’fighting arts to Westerners. He was enraged and, largely to build his ownreputation, he challenged Bruce to a fight – with a wager; the loser would have toclose his school. When Wong turned up for the fight he halfexpected Bruce to back down. But Bruce was hyped and ready for action. A surprised Wong tried to throw in some last-minuterules – no eye jabs, no groin kicks, etc. But Bruce rejected them, saying, “I’mnot standing for any of that! You’ve made the challenge. It’s all out. It’s no holds barred.” The match was sloppy. After a few weak punches, Wong turned to run.

             Bruce ran after him and punched him in theback of the head, but he couldn’t land a finishing punch. Wong finally gave up, and his entourage draggedhim off without a word. Bruce was not happy with his showing. The fight had been too messy and he had becomewinded. It spurred him on to begin an intense regimenof physical training which he would keep up for the rest of his life. Return to the Silver ScreenOn February 1, 1965, Linda gave birth to a son, Brandon. Three days later Bruce was given his firstHollywood screen test. Hairstylist to the stars, Jay Sebring, hadbeen in attendance at the Long Beach Karate Tournament where Bruce had demonstrated hisone-inch punch and had mentioned him to producers who were casting roles in a new Charlie Chanmovie. He didn’t get that role, but he was offeredanother role – as Kato, the side-kick to the Green Hornet in a projected TV series. The series premiered on September  9, 1966,introducing American audiences to kung fu for the first time. Young viewers were amazed at what they sawand Kato, the side-kick, soon became the real star of the show. Bruce began making personal appearances allover the country. Unfortunately, the Green Hornet wasn’t sucha hit with adult audiences, who saw it as too unrealistic and too much of a copycatof Batman. After 26 weekly episocanceleds canceled.   

                Despite his popularity as Kato, no new rolespopped up for Bruce. He did manage to make a little cash with guestappearances on Longstreet, Blondi and Here Come the Brides. Once again, he turned his energies to teachingKung Fu. Although he never intended it, his techniquessoon developed into a new fighting style. He called it Jeet Kune Do – the way of theintercepting fist. In February, 1967, Bruce opened his thirdKwoon, in L. A’s China-Town, just a few blocks from Dodger Stadium. At the suggestion of the Green Hornet’sassistant producer, he raised his fees from $22 per month to as much as $50 per hour. Eventually his rates went up to $25 0 an hour,with director Roman Polanski even flying him out to Switzerland for private lessons. Celebrity students included Ste ve McQueen, Lee Coburn, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He also trained established martial arts mastersincluding Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis and Mike Stone. Between them, those three had won every majorkarate championship in the United States. On April 19, 1969 Linda gave birth to daughterShannon. A few weeks later, Bruce suffered a severeback injury while lifting a 125-pound barbell. 

              The doctor told him to forget kung fu – hewould never kick again! For three months he lay flat on his back – andfell into a deep depression. After six months he finally began trainingagain. Working through his pain, he was soon backto his old self. It was at this time that Bruce was workingwith screenwriter Stirling Siliphant and actor Lee Marvin on what was to be his breakoutfilm, The Silent Flute. The film never got to the shoot ng stage, but Siliphant did get Bruce a cameo on the TV series Longstreet. Shortly after shooting the Longstreet episode, Bruce flew to Hong Kong to arrange for his now widowed mother to come live in the UnitedStates. When he stepped off the plane he was shockedat the reaction. The Green Hornet ahd been playing in movietheatres and it had made Bruce a Chinese hero. He was bombarded by reporters and spent thenext two weeks doing the rounds of the local TV talk shows. Bruce’s fame did not escape the attentionof the key players in the Hong Kong film industry – the Shaw brothers. They produced two thirds of the Chinese filmsin the world. Theirs was a film production ass embly line, with actors and crew being grossly underpaid. They offered Bruce a seven-year contract forjust $2000 per film. He turned them down.

              Then Bruce was approached by Raymond Chowof Golden Harvest Studios, who offered $15,000 for two movies. Bruce signed on the dotted line and the rest,as they say, is history. Bruce’s first major role as an adult wasin The Big Boss. The film was shot in Bangkok in the middleof a heat wave. With no air conditioning, pollut ed water, and no fresh food, it was hardly the star’s life that Bruce had dreamed of. But it was all worth it – he was finallyon his way. The Big Boss premiered in October, 1971. Bruce and Linda sat in the audience in nervousanticipation. The movie ended to complete silence. Then utter chaos broke out. The ecstatic crowd practically mobbed Bruceas he tried to leave the theatre. Within 3 weeks the film took in more than$3 million in Hong Kong, smashing all records. Bruce’s second film for Golden  Harvest, Fists of Fury, was even more popular, smashing the records set by The Big Boss. On the streets sold out tickets went for $50a pop. Bruce had become a superstar almost overnight. Suddenly he was unable to walk down the streetwithout drawing a crowd. Returning to the United Sates, Bruce was excitedabout a new TV series that was in production tentatively titled The Warrior. It was the story of a Chinese Shaolin monkwho gets transplanted in the American West. Bruce desperately wanted the part. Yet, he was shocked and disappointed to learnthat he was considered too Chinese for the part – remember, he was to play the roleof a Chinese man. 

           The part was given to American actor DavidCarradine and retitled Kung Fu. Bruce dealt with this rejection by throwinghimself into his next project, a film he wrote himself called The Way of the Dragon. He decided to do this one completely by himself. He would produce, direct, cast, chor eograph, scout locations and star in the movie. He even played percussion for the movie soundtrack. The movie was shot on a $130,000 budget onlocation in Rome. In the climactic scene Bruce recreated a one-on-onegladiatorial contest with Chuck Norris. Way of the Dragon was a smash hit, takingin $5.5 million in Hong Kong alone. In the wake of it’s release, Bruce had plannedto take some time off to recover fgruelingruelling schedule. But in October 1972 he heard that basketballstar Kareem Abdul Jabbar was in Hong Kong. He quickly arranged some action sequenceswith his seven-foot two-inch former student that could be used in his next project, Gameof Death. Having shot twenty minutes of footage forGame of Death, Bruce got the call from Hollywood that he had been waiting for for so long. Warner Brothers now saw Bruce as a bankablecommodity. They wanted him to star in a US martial artsfilm and were willing to give him complete control over the fight scenes. 

                  The feature was called Enter the Dragon. The entering of Enter the Draenormous demands moms demands on Bruce’s physical energy. He couldn’t sleep at night, lost weight, his skin paled and he started to look ill. With filming wrapped up, Bructiny dubbing tiny dubbing room on May 10th, 1973 looping Ton order to achieve complete silence, the air conditioning was shut off. Bruce went to the bathroom to wash his face– and collapsed. He was seized with a fit of vomiting and struggled to breathe. the  Rushed to hospital, he was diagnosed with cerebral edema and then released. Around noon on July 20th, 1973, Bruce satin his Hong Kong study, hunched over his books and papers. Around 2pm Raymond Chow arrived at discussscript ideas for Game of Death, staying for two hours. In the early evening, Bruce drove over to the apartment of Betty Ting Pei, an actress who he wanted to play a lead role in the film. Around 7:30, Bruce complheadache andheadacheand asked Betty if he could lie on her bed. The pair had planned to meet Raymond Chowat a restaurant for dinner. But when Betty went in to rshe wasruce shewas unable to wake him. She called Chow who rushed over. Unable to wake Bruce they called a doctor. The martial arts superstar was rushed to hospital– but nothing could be done. Bruce Lee was dead. The world was shocked. On the cusp of worldwide dominworlds fittestld’sfittest man was gone. But the legend of Bruce Lee was just beginning.