The Bruce Lee Biography

The Bruce Lee biography begins on November 27, 1940 born in San Fransisco California as Lee Siu Lung.

Bruce benefited from having his father in the entertainment business. His father was and actor who worked in movies in Hong Kong as well as Hollywood, this is where Bruce, as a little baby, made his start as an actor getting cameo appearances in these movies.

The Bruce Lee biography continued when his family moved to China when he was 3 months old and while growing up as a teenager there, he got involved with a Hong Kong street gang. During this time he began studying Wing Chun from Master Ip Man.

Believe it or not Bruce also studied dance and was a great Cha Cha Dancer back in the day, even winning a competition. I guess that is why he was able to have such great foot movement.

He continued to study Wing Chun KungFu until his involvement with the Hong Kong street gang got him in trouble with the police and it became too much for his mother so she sent him back to America at 18 years old.

As a young man living in Washington, Bruce found it hard to support himself so he worked in restaurants and other odd jobs to pay the bills while he went to school.

Seattle is where he met Linda Emery, his future wife and where he later opened his first KungFu school.

The Bruce Lee biography continues when he moved to California with his wife and opened two more schools. Through the success of his schools, Lee started to have problems with other Kung Fu teachers in the area.

Mainly because he was willing to teach the secret arts to all races. Which didn't sit well with the Chinese Kung Fu Masters.

Around this time Bruce was doing the TV series 'The Green Hornet', and played the character Kato.

Bruce also played bit parts on other TV shows such as 'Longstreet', and 'Ironside'. Because of his race Bruce never felt he could make it as a lead actor.

At that time stereotypes were very much accepted and Bruce never embraced these stereotypes he sought out to destroy them.

Bruce Lee movies were truthful and demonstrated that all men could be more than their color.

He also wanted Americans to view Chinese with a higher standard and that would drive him make famous Bruce Lee movies such as "Enter the Dragon" and "Game of Death" which broke all the Asian stereotypes allowing Americans to redefine their understanding of Chinese.

It was not easy for Bruce in China. Chinese productions were a lot different than Hollywood. Plus Bruce wasn't willing to make period movies that were being done at that time where the characters had to wear the long ponytails and traditional clothing.

Bruce Lee movies are trailblazing, in that he had a vision of what he wanted to do and didn't accept any obstacles in his path.

With his reputation from the States of co-starring in the TV show 'The Green Hornet', Bruce was confident and outspoken. It was either his way or the highway.

The start of Bruce Lee movies(as an adult) was "the Big Boss" aka "Fists of Fury". This movie introduced Bruce Lee to the Chinese market.

Making this movie was not easy for Lee because he and the director had different views on how things should be done.

Some say Bruce was hard to work with but what would you expect when Lee was purposefully trying to break with film traditions that had been in place for decades. This nontraditional attitude was bound to create some tension. "The Big Boss" aka "Fists of Fury"(1971) was a box office hit in china making Lee an instant success in China. He would follow up with "The Chinese Connection" aka "Fist of Fury" (1972)(now that's not confusing at all!) which was one of his best films made in China.

Lee's follow up after "Chinese Connection" was "Return of the Dragon" (1973). The fight scene with Chuck Norris was one of the best one on one fight scenes in Lee's movie catalog if not all KungFu cinema.

Lee's last film "Enter the Dragon" (1973) was his last fully completed movie and his most trying movie to make. Because this was his first Hollywood film, Bruce had a lot of pressure on him. He worked extreme hours. He did everything from choreography, producing, writing the trailer and acting in the film.

This movie put Bruce on the map internationally. "Enter the Dragon" grossed over 200 million and was the top movie that year. This by far was my favorite Bruce Lee movie of all.

Bruce Lee's success from "Enter the Dragon" lead to his next Hollywood film "Game of Death", which could have been a great film had he not died in the middle of shooting on July 20th, 1973. Bruce Lee's death meant he did not get a chance to finish this film so Hollywood tried to patch it up a little bit and ended up doing more harm than good.

The Bruce Lee biography ends with a film career that was short lived but that made a incredible impact setting a new standard for the genre.

The Bruce Lee biography will never be forgotten, his life was lived purposefully and the effect he left behind is truly of epic proportion. The Bruce Lee biography has etched itself in our history.

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Bruce Lee's name is all over the place, I have expressed my admiration for him and how he influenced my life growing up. Did you have the same experience as me? or do you think the world's fascination with Bruce Lee is over rated?

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