Bruce LeeJoin now to read essay Bruce LeeThe greatest icon of martial arts cinema, and a key figure of modern popular culture. Had it not been for the amazing Bruce Lee and his incredible movies in the early 1970s, its arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream western cinema & audiences the way it has over the past three decades.
The influence of Asian martial arts cinema can be seen today in so many other film genres including comedies, action, drama, science fiction, horror and animation..and they all have their roots in the phenomenon that was Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was born “Lee Juan Fan” in November 1940 in San Francisco, the son of Lee Hoi Chuen, a singer with the Cantonese Opera. Approximately, one year later the family returned to Kowloon in Hong Kong and at the age of 5, a young Bruce begins appearing in childrens roles in minor films including The Birth of Mankind (1946) and Fu gui fu yun (1948). At the age of 12, Bruce commenced attending La Salle College, and was later beaten up by a street gang, which inspires him to take up martial arts training under the tuition of “Sifu Yip Man” who schools Bruce in wing chun kung fu for a period of approximately five years (this was the only formalized martial arts training ever undertaken by Lee). The talented & athletic Bruce also took up cha-cha dancing, and at the age of 18 won a major dance championship in Hong Kong.
However, his temper and quick fists saw him fall foul of the HK police on numerous occasions, and his parents suggested that he head off to the United States. Lee landed in San Franciscos Chinatown in 1959 and worked in a relatives restaurant, however he eventually made his way to Seattle, Washington where he enrolled at university to study philosophy, and found the time to practice his beloved kung fu techniques. In 1963, Lee met Linda Emery (later his wife) and in addition he opened his first kung fu school at 4750 University Way. During the early half of the 1960s, Lee became associated with many key martial arts identities in the USA including kenpo karate expert Ed Parker and tae kwon do master Jhoon Rhee. He made guest appearances at notable martial arts events including the Long Beach Nationals. Through one of these tournaments, Bruce met Hollywood hair stylist Jay Sebring who introduced him to TV producer William Dozier. Based on the runaway success of “Batman”, Dozier was keen to bring the cartoon character of “The Green Hornet” to TV and was on the lookout for an Oriental actor to play the Green Hornets sidekick, “Kato”. Around this time, Bruce also opened a second kung fu school in Oakland, California and relocated to Oakland to be closer to Hollywood.
Bruces screen test was successful, and “The Green Hornet” starring Van Williams went to air in early 1966 to mixed success. However, the show was surprisingly terminated after only one season (30 episodes), but by this time he was receiving more fan mail than the shows star. He then opened a third branch of his kung fu school in Los Angeles, and began providing personalized martial arts training to film stars including Steve McQueen and James Coburn. In addition, he refined his prior knowledge of wing chun, plus incorporating aspects of other fighting styles such as traditional boxing and okinawan karate. He also developed his own unique style “Jeet Kune Do” (Way of the Intercepting Fist). Another film opportunity then comes his way, as he landed the small role of a stand over man named “Winslow Wong” intimidating private eye James Garner in Marlowe (1969). Wong paid a visit to Garner and proceeded to demolish the investigators office with his fists and feet, finishing off with a spectacular high kick that shattered the light fitting. With this further exposure of his talents, Bruce then scored several guest appearances as a martial arts instructor to blind private eye James Franciscus on the TV series “Longstreet” (1971).
With his minor success in Hollywood and money in his pockets, Bruce returned for a visit to Hong Kong and was approached by film producer Raymond Chow who had recently started “Golden Harvest” productions. Chow was keen to utilize Lees strong popularity amongst young Chinese fans, and offered him the lead role in _Tang sha da xiong (1971)_ ( aka “Fists of Fury”, aka “The Big Boss”). The film was directed by Wei Lo, shot in Thailand, on a very low budget and in terrible living conditions for cast and crew. However when it opened in Hong Kong, the film was an enormous hit! Young Chinese flocked in their thousands to see this ground breaking film starring a tough, athletic Chinese hero who dispensed justice with his fists and feet. Chow knew he had struck box office gold with Lee,
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Lee was only 16 years old, and he was at an all time high in popularity, but it all culminated in a violent gang member beating a teenage girl, which left him in hiding for a month. It was decided to kill him in front of a massive crowd of people.
Lees had also received such support from fans and celebrities and had begun an intensive marketing campaign, which went into full effect in October 1970. In the days that followed though,
Lee’s reputation and popularity became such that people began to see that even outside of the United States, Lees was still the most popular man in Hong Kong. On his first film at the CUNY Film Festival, his star power was exceeded only by an American actor of the same name, John Wayne (1946).
Lees went on to win several Hollywood awards, including a Golden Globe and a New York Academy Award in 1968,
and was a frequent member of the BAFTA winning and Academy Award winning cast.
also on Oprah and his performance was widely considered by many critics to be one of their best.
Lee then founded his own movie studio, Golden Harvest, later to which he would later expand.
Since 1999 when Leo Lees left Hong Kong for a part on The Great Escape he has been making and producing a number of films in China, and his latest film The Big Boss is based on his work as a young family man in Bangkok, Thailand.
Lees was shot in Thailand while trying to get a car for hire in Bangkok, then he was shot in Hong Kong. Lees, along with his wife and children had just left home to celebrate the anniversary of The Great Escape. During the journey they went to watch a movie at the very location they had been seen at three of the three movies at the time, in a remote mountainous area. Lees was in a car in Bangkok at the time and suddenly he saw a young policeman pull up to him. The policeman asked Lees to look at his shoulder like he was going to die. And as Lees said, he turned around and said, ”Yes, my parents are gone!”. The policeman then fired an arrow at him over the head, which caused him to fall and fall the length of the road. The soldier then proceeded to drive the wounded lee away. They went to a local hospital where the injured soldier was pronounced dead. The family then went to the local Thai hospital, where Mr Lees was rushed to a Royal Children’s Hospital where he recovered the injury and passed away a few months later.
Lees has since made another film in China involving his wife, Lucy, in which he meets a young woman named Xia (