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Born Lee Jun-Fan in San Francisco, CA, Bruce Lee would eventually become internationally famous as a film star and martial artist. Even if you put Lee's fighting and acting conquests aside, enough fun facts about Bruce Lee exist that reveal him to be a man of great talent and charisma. Even as a young man, Lee showed amazing resolve and dedication to every action he undertook. Responsible for propelling Hong Kong martial arts films into prominence in the West, he completely changed the stereotypical portrayals of Asians in film, especially in mainstream Hollywood films. When it comes down to it, there are likely many different things you didn't know about Bruce Lee.
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Bruce Lee packed a lot of living in his 32 years on Earth
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Sure, he got a head start as a child actor with his first role being in the 1941 drama Golden Gate Girl
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when he was just an infant. And he was already in 20 movies by the time he was 18
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But acting was just one minor facet of his life. Today we're going to explore the extraordinary life and mysterious death of Bruce Lee
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According to Chinese zodiac tradition, Li was born in the year and during the hour of the dragon
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November 27, 1940, at 7.12 a.m., to be exact. This is a big deal within the world of ancient Chinese folklore
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If you research Chinese mythology a bit, you'll immediately learn that the dragon is the zodiac's most powerful animal
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and an individual born during such chance timing will be strong enough to overcome any of life's obstacles
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It also explains Lee's nickname as a child, the little dragon. Throughout both Lee's life and film career, the dragon would always remain a prominent symbol
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There are two reasons why Lee's parents sent him to live with his sister in California
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First off, he wasn't a very good student. Due to poor grades and poor behavior, Lee hopped from school to school
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When he turned 16, Lee was transferred to St. Francis Xavier College in Hong Kong
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which is where he would meet brother Edward, a teacher and the coach of the school's boxing team
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who would go on to mentor young Bruce. It was around this time at St. Francis that Lee's street fights started to increase
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but it wasn't until 1959 when his fighting got him in serious trouble
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Apparently, Lee beat the stuffing out of a kid whose father was a member of a notorious triad crime syndicate
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Already not very thrilled with his son's underwhelming performance at school, this brush with an organized crime branch was all Lee's father was comfortable tolerating
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So in April 1959, Lee's parents sent him to San Francisco to live with his sister, Agnes
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Lee was a health fanatic, and he was known for his intense diet
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While he enjoyed indulging in Chinese food, he usually stuck to his regime of vitamin supplements and drinking raw, blended hamburger meat
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That said, Lee was no teetotaler. He enjoyed a bottle of sake every now and then, even though he suffered from alcohol flush reaction
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But his main vice was marijuana. It wasn't like he was trying to compete with Cheech and Chong, though
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Lee usually didn't light up until after a vigorous workout. Lee kept a box of pre-rolled joints in his garage he'd smoke to wind down
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It's said that he later transitioned from smoking marijuana to micro-dosing on a particularly potent form of Nepalese hashish he carried around in baggies in his pockets
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He would nibble on chunks of the stuff throughout the day. If you're looking for a first-hand account, Bob Wall, Lee's Enter the Dragon co-star, said Bruce would have to eat two weed brownies before he would calm down into a normal person
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Lee simply said, it raises the consciousness level. Good enough reason for us, Bruce
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This is a controversial one. What was Bruce Lee's heritage? The popular assumption was that he was three-quarters Chinese and one-quarter German
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But recent research shows that might not be completely accurate. While Lee was fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, especially in a time when Hong Kong was under British rule
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and it was normal for Chinese youth to play down their roots, he never shied away from understating his ancestry
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Dozens of unauthorized Bruce Lee biographies mention the German background, but relatives and researchers who are close to Lee's maternal Hong Kong family
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say that's not completely accurate. In recent years, Lee's immediate family has claimed that his mother's European ancestry
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was listed as Caucasian on her birth certificate, which is probably the safest and most accurate way to characterize her nationality
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in light of the uncertainty that exists. But evidence reveals that Lee was actually part Dutch-Jewish
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to his maternal great-grandfather, Moses Hartog Bosman. Bosman had a Chinese mistress named Zetai, with whom he had six children
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one being Bruce Lee's grandfather, Ho Kam Tong. Ho Kam Tong eventually became a wealthy businessman with a wife, 13 concubines
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and a British mistress who gave birth to Bruce's mother, Grace Ho. Imagine what Lee's 23andMe family tree might look like
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Bruce Lee had several names and most of them are pretty similar so this is where you want to pay attention Lee Cantonese birth name was Lee Jun Fan
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The name means return again and was given to Lee by his mother. He also had three other Chinese names, Lee Yuan Cham, which was his family name
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Lee Yuan Cam, which was the name he used as a student at LaSalle College, and Lee Siu Long
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his Chinese screen name, which means little dragon. His most common name, Bruce, is said to have been given to him by the attending physician at his birth when his mother was considering a Western name for her newborn
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Of course, he was never called any of these names as he was growing up. Interestingly, Lee's family was very superstitious, so they called him by his nickname, Siphon, or Small Phoenix
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It's actually a girl's name, but it was deliberately chosen by his mother because she believed that evil spirits did not like boys in the Lee family
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This was probably believed because her firstborn son died at infancy. By giving Lee a girl's name and dressing up in girls' clothes, they believed they could fool the demons into sparing his life
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Being as fleet-footed as he was when he was fending off his opponents in the ring and on the screen, it's no surprise that Bruce Lee was one hell of a dancer
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He was so good on the dance floor, he actually won Hong Kong's Crown Colony Cha-Cha Dancing Championship in 1958
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Dancing was a big part of Lee's life in the late 1950s. When he set sail for San Francisco in 1959, Lee's initial idea was to make a living by giving dance lessons while he got settled
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It's said that Lee's first job upon arriving in San Francisco was that of a dance instructor
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but he left the Bay City after several months and relocated in Seattle to continue his high school education
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It was in Seattle where Lee's career as a martial arts instructor blossomed
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but his dancing background is still considered an important part of his formative years
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As a matter of fact, if you visit the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, you'll find one of Lee's journals containing dozens upon dozens of his cha-cha step diagrams
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In 1959, after moving to Seattle, Lee quickly earned a high school diploma from Edison Technical School
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During this period, he lived and worked in a Chinese restaurant owned by Ruby Chow, a friend of Lee's father and the future Washington State Councilwoman
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By 1961, Lee enrolled in the University of Washington, where he took philosophy and drama classes
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He was a horrible student, though. Lee had a 1.84 GPA and scraped by his gymnastics class with a C
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The truth is, Lee was more focused on being a martial arts instructor and opening his own studio
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In fact, while still a student, he was teaching informal martial arts classes on the lawn just outside of the student union
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and writing his first book, Chinese Kung Fu, The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense
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While Lee seemed like the perfect physical specimen, it wasn't perfect enough to pass a United States military exam
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Because of where he was born and with his mixed heritage, Lee was an American citizen, thus making him eligible for the draft
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In 1963, he got his summons to appear before a draft board
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for possible induction into the armed forces. Only he was rejected. Lee was deemed unfit for combat
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but the reason behind their decision varies depending on the source. Some of the reasons for his rejection have been suggested
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that he either had a sinus disorder, poor eyesight, one of his legs was shorter than the other
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or he had an undescended testicle, or a combination of all four. Whatever it was
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Li avoided the possibility of going to Vietnam, and he continued his studies at the University
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of Washington and opened up a martial arts studio in Seattle called the Li Jin Fang Gong Fu Institute
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Here's another odd one. It's been verified that Bruce Li got a circumcision at the age of 22
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when he was in Hong Kong. Why did Lee get such a painful operation so late in life
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According to research by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, men got the procedure uncommonly late in life to improve hygiene
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or because they believed a circumcision looks better. Others do it for reasons related to health, religion, or peer pressure
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Bruce Lee got circumcised to be more like an American. Ouch. Painful, but true
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After years of studying various forms of martial arts as well as accelerating in American boxing
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Lee founded his own style of martial arts on July 9 1967 Lee called it Jeet Kune Do or the way of the intercepting fist in Cantonese Though it tactically fits under the category of a martial arts style Jeet Kune Do really isn a fighting technique at all It more of a philosophy
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This is how Lee described it in 1971 to Black Belt magazine. I have not invented a new style, composite, modified or otherwise
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that is set within distinct form as apart from this method or that method
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On the contrary, I hope to free my followers from clinging to styles, patterns, or molds
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Remember that Jeet Kune Do is merely a name used, a mirror in which we see ourselves
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Jeet Kune Do is not an organized institution that one can be a member of. Considering Lee is thought of as a hardcore ass-kicking fighter
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his Jeet Kune Do is a surprisingly non-violent form of fighting. The practice is a combination of minimalism and simplicity with as little wasted movement as possible
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It has no rules, no reactionary patterns, or definable moves. Lee stressed that Jeet Kune Do is fluid
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It constantly changes and fluctuates depending on what one's opponent does in live combat
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When the producers of the 1966-1967 version of Batman, you know, the best one with Adam West
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were asked to develop an additional live-action TV series based on a comic book
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they went to work on an adaptation of The Green Hornet. At the time, Lee recently wowed audiences at the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships
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Footage of the event, in which Lee can be seen performing two-finger push-ups and his famous one-inch punch
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led to the invitation by TV producer William Dozier for an audition to play Kato, the Green Hornet's aide
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Although the show was canceled after one season, it made Lee a star, and he was so popular in Hong Kong that 20th Century Fox remarketed the series as The Kato Show
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Despite being a relative newcomer to the entertainment industry, Lee trained some of the biggest stars of the era
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As Lee's profile rose, his services as instructor were in high demand around Hollywood
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A short list of celebrity students Lee taught and coached included Steve McQueen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Coburn, James Gardner, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, and George Lazenby
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Eventually, Lee became quite close with his students. Kimura was Lee's best man when he got married
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and when he died, McQueen, Coburn, and Lazenby served as three of the eight pallbearers during his funeral
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In The Wrecking Crew, Lee was listed as the movie's karate advisor
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but he probably could have gotten a casting credit for getting his friend Chuck Norris a bit part with dialogue as a well-dressed henchman
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On August 13, 1970, Lee was performing an exercise drill known as Good Mornings
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a weightlifting routine that has one place a barbell on their shoulders, behind the head
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and then lower himself in a series of squats. In the middle of his first set of eight dips and without a proper warm-up
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Lee heard a cracking noise from his back. He was in severe pain for the next few days
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and he used a combination of heating pads and massages to treat the discomfort
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but he soon found out that he had severely damaged his fourth sacral nerve
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The damage was so bad, it was unlikely that Lee would ever be able to kick again
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much less walk without the aid of a cane or walker. He was forced to rest for the next six months, but eventually he resumed teaching and training
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not because he felt better, but because he thought he'd given himself enough time to heal
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He wasn't healed, though. Lee would suffer chronic back pain for the remainder of his life
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and this is about the time he began relying on hashish to help numb his back pain
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This is also the period of his life when he was forced to use stunt doubles for certain moves
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like his somersaults as noticeable in Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon
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Back in early 1971, Bruce Lee pitched a TV series idea to Warner Brothers
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Lee called the series The Warrior, and it would follow the ongoing story of a Shaolin monk
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played by himself, who traveled through the American Old West with nothing but his spiritual training
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and his martial arts skills to guide him. Sound familiar? Warner Brothers didn't want to take the chance on Lee or his idea
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They couldn't envision a series becoming successful with an Asian lead. Cut to February 22 1972 when ABC broadcast the Warner Brothers produced Kung Fu as its Tuesday night movie of the week The movie was a hit and ABC ordered up three seasons of Kung Fu starring the American actor David Carradine Bruce wife Linda Codwell went public in her book Bruce Lee The Man Only I Knew
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that the concept for Kung Fu was an idea stolen from her husband who pitched the idea a year earlier, but Warner Brothers denied everything
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The studio even threatened legal action over Codwell's allegations, but no suit was ever filed
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probably because the studio didn't have a leg to stand on. Bruce spoke extensively about his idea of a television series of a traveling monk set in the Old West during a Canadian television interview
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Carradine even went on record on a televised interview in 1989 that Lee was passed over for the role
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Furthermore, Kung Fu's creator, Ed Spielman, confirmed that documents exist confirming Lee's involvement in the creation of the show
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The popular story, after dozens of variations as to what happened, is that on the afternoon of July 20, 1973
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Lee visited the Hong Kong apartment of actress Betty Ting, supposedly to offer her the role of his love interest in Game of Death
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which was already in production. In actuality, Lee, who was married to Linda Emery for nine years
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dropped by Betty's apartment for a quick nooner before he went to the office of Golden Harvest Movie Studio
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to go over the fine details of Game of Death. Betty admitted that she was his girlfriend
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Lee arrived at Ting's apartment at 1 p.m., and the two spent the next several hours together
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There was some sex and some hash, but no alcohol or harder drugs, she said. Sometime around 7.30 p.m., Lee felt dizzy and complained of a headache
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Betty gave him a mild painkiller known as equagesic, a pill she gave him several times before, and had him rest in her bedroom
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Betty entered her bedroom to check up on Lee around 9.30. When she tried to nudge him awake, he didn't respond
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Betty immediately called Raymond Chow, the head of Golden Harvest, who rushed over, found Lee's lifeless body, and called for a physician
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He realized that he could not allow Lee to be found dead in his mistress's bed
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so Chow arranged for an ambulance to transport him to Queen Elizabeth Hospital
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At 10.30 p.m., the ambulance raced Lee's body to the hospital, but by 11.30, the press was already trying to confirm the rumors that he was dead
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Although an autopsy would declare Lee's death an accidental reaction to the painkiller
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and subsequent brain edema, conspiracy theories still persist. Lee's death has been attributed to everything from a martial arts brain injury to assassination as punishment for revealing martial arts secrets to the white man
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Because small traces of cannabis were found in his stomach, Dr. R.R. Lysette, the doctor who conducted Lee's autopsy, suggested that the cerebral edema could have been brought on by the result of some drug intoxication
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Although Lee achieved a great amount of fame in Asia, where he remains a cultural icon
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his grave is located at Lake Valley Cemetery in Capitol Hill, about three miles north of downtown Seattle
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Lee initially met his wife, Linda Codwell, when she was attending Garfield High School
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when he came to give the school a kung fu demonstration. Eventually, she became one of his kung fu students while she was attending the University of Washington
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studying to become a teacher. Linda decided to bury Bruce in Seattle because it was home
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It was where they met, where they fell in love, and it's where their family was raised
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She said it's where the two were happiest together. Eager to cash in on his wild popularity at the time
15:44
Golden Harvest Studios, the production company that Lee worked with in Hong Kong, wanted to finish Bruce's partially completed Game of Death
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but only possessed limited footage to work with. At the time of his death, Lee only shot around 100 minutes of footage
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and most of it was coverage for the film's climactic ending. so the final cut contained a lot of shady editing and tasteless deception
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All in all, it took five years after Lee's death for Golden Harvest to release the movie
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most likely because of the studio's challenges in assembling a film that wasn't even roughly coherent
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Golden Harvest reshot numerous scenes of Lee's character, Billy Lowe, using body doubles, disguised stand-ins, and even a wild plot change incorporating plastic surgery
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to explain the main character's different appearance. Though such antics are used by plenty of production companies
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Golden Harvest went one step further. They actually sent a cameraman to Seattle to film Lee's corpse during his open casket funeral proceedings
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Golden Harvest then used the footage in the movie as a plot device. In the final cut, viewers see Billy Loeb faking his own death
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In reality, it was a vulgar stunt that left a bad taste in the mouth of every fan who saw the movie