Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee (1940-1973) - Hong Kong and American film actor, director, screenwriter, producer, philosopher, popularizer and reformer in the field of Chinese martial arts, stage director, philosopher, founder of the Jeet Kune Do style.

There are many interesting facts in the biography of Bruce Lee, which we will talk about in this article.

So, here is a short biography of Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee biography

Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940 in the city of San Francisco. He grew up and was raised in a wealthy family.

His father, Lee Hoi Chuan, worked as a comic artist. Mother, Grace Lee, was the daughter of a wealthy Hong Kong entrepreneur and philanthropist Robert Hothun.

Childhood and youth

In East Asian countries, it was customary to give children unofficial names, used only within the family. As a result, the parents gave their son a baby name - Li Xiaolong.

Bruce Lee began acting in films literally after his birth. He first appeared on the big screen at the age of 3 months.

An interesting fact is that in his first film, "The Girl's Golden Gate", the baby played - a baby girl.

As a child, Lee was not in good health. He was a rather weak child. At that moment in his biography, he already showed an interest in martial arts, but he had not yet seriously studied them.

At school, Bruce was a very mediocre student, who did not stand out in anything against the background of his peers.

When Lee was 14 years old, he began to study the cha-cha-cha dance. After four years of studying at a dance school, he managed to win the Hong Kong Cha Cha Cha Championship.

At the age of 19, Bruce settled in America. He originally came to San Francisco and then to Seattle, where he worked as a waiter at a local restaurant. At this time, the guy graduated from the Edison Technical School, after which he continued his studies at the University of Washington at the Department of Philosophy.

Sport

As a teenager, Bruce Lee became seriously interested in kung fu. The young man wanted to master the martial art in order to be able to stand up for himself.

Parents reacted positively to their son's hobby, as a result of which they took him to study the art of Wing Chun to the master Ip Man.

Since Bruce was an excellent dancer, he quickly mastered the technique of movements and the very philosophy of fighting. The guy liked the training so much that he spent almost all his free time in the gym.

The style studied by Lee assumed an unarmed method of fighting. However, later, he was able to actually perfectly master different types of weapons. Especially well he was able to comprehend the handling of nunchaku.

Over time, Bruce mastered judo, jiu-jitsu and boxing. Having become a good fighter, he developed his own style of kung fu - Jeet Kune Do. This style was relevant in the study of any martial arts of all their diversity.

Later, Lee began teaching Jeet Kune Do to his students at his own school, which he opened in the United States in 1961. At the same time, students had to pay as much as $ 275 per hour for training.

Bruce Lee never stopped there. He always strived to perfect his body and kung fu technique. He "polished" his every movement, trying to bring it to perfection.

Lee even founded his own nutritional system and training method, which have gained immense popularity around the world.

Films

As mentioned earlier, Bruce Lee's acting biography began at the age of 3 months.

When the boy was 6 years old, he took part in the filming of the film The Origin of Humanity. Before becoming an adult, Lee starred in over 20 films.

During his stay in the United States, Bruce appeared in various TV series and films, playing fighters. However, then no one trusted him in the main roles, which made the guy very upset.

This led to Bruce Lee's decision to return to Hong Kong, which recently opened the Golden Harvest film studio. At home, he managed to persuade the director to try himself in the lead role.

It is worth noting that absolutely all the battle scenes were staged by Bruce himself. As a result, in 1971 the premiere of the film "Big Boss" took place, which was enthusiastically received by both critics and ordinary viewers.

Gaining worldwide fame, Lee starred in the films "Fist of Fury" and "Return of the Dragon", which brought him even more popularity. He has a huge army of fans eager to imitate his idol.

In 1972, Bruce Lee worked on the film "Entering the Dragon", which was released on the big screen a week after the death of the great master. This film was the last completed film with his participation.

Another work in which Lee managed to star is "Game of Death". It premiered in 1978.

An interesting fact is that the final shooting of the picture took place without the participation of the actor. Instead of Bruce, his double played.

Personal life

At the age of 24, Bruce Lee married Linda Emery. He met his future wife at the university.

The couple later had a son, Brandon, and a daughter, Shannon. In the future, Brandon Lee also became an actor and martial artist. When he was 28 years old, he died tragically right on the set.

The pistol that was used during the filming turned out to be loaded with live bullets by fatal accident.

Death

Bruce Lee died on July 20, 1973 at the age of 32. The death of the great fighter came as a shock to the whole world.

According to the official version, Li's death was caused by cerebral edema, allegedly caused by a headache pill. At the same time, no relevant tests were taken (although an autopsy was carried out), which raised doubts that Bruce Lee died from taking drugs.

Bruce was buried in Seattle. The fans did not believe in such a ridiculous death of the actor and the warrior, which gave rise to many different rumors about the "true" reasons for his death.

There is a version that Lee was killed by a certain martial arts master who did not want him to teach martial arts to Europeans and Americans. However, such rumors are not supported by reliable facts.

Interesting facts and achievements of Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee could hold his legs in a corner on his hands for more than half an hour.
For several seconds, Lee managed to hold a 34-kilogram kettlebell on his outstretched arm.
According to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce's physique can be considered the standard of the complete absence of excess body fat.
About 30 films have been made about the biography of Bruce Lee.
Lee struck so fast that a 24-frame-per-second camera, conventional for that time, could not capture them. As a result, directors were forced to use a TV camera with the ability to shoot 32 frames per second.
A man could do push-ups only on the index and thumb of one hand, and also pull up on only one little finger.
Bruce Lee managed to throw rice grains into the air and catch them with chopsticks.
The favorite flowers of the master were chrysanthemums.