Bruce Lee

A Biography

Zofia Stone

• Publisher: Alpha Editions
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9789386834355
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Historia
• Subtopic: Biografías históricas

Bruce Lee was a revered martial artist, actor and filmmaker known for movies like 'Fists of Fury' and 'Enter the Dragon, ' and the technique Jeet Kune Do. This book gives an account of his life, career in Martial Arts, Filmography and Death. A must read for any Bruce Lee Fan.

Bruce Lee

A Biography

Zofia Stone

Alpha Editions

Copyright © 2017

ISBN : 9789386367280

Design and Setting By

Alpha Editions

email : [email protected]

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The views and characters expressed in the book are of the author and his/her imagination and do not represent the views of the Publisher.

Contents

Early life & Family

Martial arts career

Acting Career

Death and Legacy

Awards and honours

About the Author

Introduction

Lee Jun-fan (November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973), known professionally as Bruce Lee, was a Hong Kong and American actor, martial artist, philosopher, filmmaker, and founder of the martial art Jeet Kune Do. Lee was the son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-Chuen. He is widely considered by commentators, critics, media, and other martial artists to be one of the most influential martial artists of all time, and a pop culture icon of the 20th century. He is often credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films.

Lee was born in Chinatown, San Francisco on November 27, 1940 to parents from Hong Kong and was raised in Kowloon, Hong Kong with his family until his late teens. He was introduced to the film industry by his father and appeared in several films as a child actor. Lee moved to the United States at the age of 18 to receive his higher education, at the University of Washington, at Seattle and it was during this time that he began teaching martial arts. His Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, sparking a surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West in the 1970s. The direction and tone of his films changed and influenced martial arts and martial arts films in the US, Hong Kong and the rest of the world.

He is noted for his roles in five feature-length films: 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; Golden Harvest and Warner Brothers' Enter the Dragon (1973) and The Game of Death (1978), both directed by Robert Clouse. Lee became an iconic figure known throughout the world, particularly among the Chinese, as he portrayed Chinese nationalism in his films. He trained in the art of Wing Chun and later combined his other influences from various sources, in the spirit of his personal martial arts philosophy, which he dubbed Jeet Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist). Lee held dual nationality of Hong Kong and the US. He died in Kowloon Tong on July 20, 1973 at the age of 32.

Early life & Family

Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940, at the Chinese Hospital, in San Francisco's Chinatown. According to the Chinese zodiac, Lee was born in both the hour and the year of the Dragon, which according to tradition is a strong and fortuitous omen.

Bruce's father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was Han Chinese, and his mother, Grace Ho , was of half-Chinese and half-Caucasian descent. Grace Ho was the adopted daughter of Ho Kom-tong (Ho Gumtong) and the half-niece of Sir Robert Ho-tung, both notable Hong Kong businessmen and philanthropists, and was a reportedly a half-German Catholic. Bruce was the fourth child of five children: Phoebe Lee , Agnes Lee , Peter Lee , and Robert Lee . Lee and his parents returned to Hong Kong when he was three months old.

Lee's Cantonese birth name was Lee Jun-fan . The name homophonically means "return again", and was given to Lee by his mother, who felt he would return to the United States once he came of age. Because of his mother's superstitious nature, she had originally named him Sai-fon , which is a feminine name meaning "small phoenix". The English name "Bruce" is thought to have been given by the hospital attending physician, Dr. Mary Glover.

Lee had three other Chinese names: Li Yuanxin , a family/clan name; Li Yuanjian , which he used as a student name while he was attending La Salle College, and his Chinese screen name Li Xiaolong (Xiaolong means "little dragon"). Lee's given name Jun-fan was originally written in Chinese as , however, the Jun Chinese character was identical to part of his grandfather's name, Lee Jun-biu . Hence, the Chinese character for Jun in Lee's name was changed to the homonym instead, to avoid naming taboo in Chinese tradition.

Lee's father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was one of the leading Cantonese opera and film actors at the time, and was embarking on a year-long opera tour with his family on the eve of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong. Lee Hoi-chuen had been touring the United States for many years and performing at numerous Chinese communities there.

Although many of his peers decided to stay in the US, Lee Hoi-chuen returned to Hong Kong after Bruce's birth. Within months, Hong Kong was invaded and the Lees lived for three years and eight months under Japanese occupation. After the war ended, Lee Hoi-chuen resumed his acting career and became a more popular actor during Hong Kong's rebu...