From Hong Kong's Cha-Cha champion to behind-the-scenes of "Enter The Dragon," these Bruce Lee photos capture the making of a cultural icon.
Bruce Lee with his mother and siblings in the late 1950s. His parents were Chinese opera singers.Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images Bruce Lee with his mother and father. It was his father who recognized Lee's natural talent as a performer and encouraged him to pursue acting as a child.Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images Lee's first big American role was playing superstar sidekick Kato on The Green Hornet, starring Van Williams in the titular role.Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images Bruce Lee fights a dog in a scene from the 1971 classic Fist Of Fury, which was among his first successful movies in Hong Kong.Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images Bruce Lee's role as Kato on The Green Hornet attracted fans in the U.S. and Hong Kong, where the show was cheekily dubbed "The Kato Show."Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives Lee was taught martial arts by Yip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art of wing chun. Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images When asked about his co-star's abilities, actor Van Williams reportedly described Lee as "faster than a speeding bullet," a popular comic book superhero phrase. Archive Photos/Getty Images Bruce Lee fights Bob Wall in a scene from 1973's Enter The Dragon. The movie was a joint production between U.S. studio Warner Bros and Hong Kong studio Golden Harvest — and it garnered Lee international attention.Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images Lee's moves were reportedly so fast that he was forced to shoot them in slow motion so that the camera could clearly capture them. Fotos International/Archive Photos/Getty Images Bruce Lee with his mother and son, Brandon. His son would later grow up to become an actor just like his father — and also like his father, would die young.Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images Bruce Lee's iconic roles paved the way for other Asian action stars to command leading roles in Hollywood, like Jackie Chan and Jet Li.National General Picture/Getty Images Lee with his Green Hornet co-stars Van Williams and Wende Wagner.Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives Williams and Lee reportedly developed a close friendship off the set of Green Hornet.Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Archive Photos/Getty Images Lee began his American acting career after he was spotted at a martial arts tournament in Long Beach, California by celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring, who was friends with Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski.Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images Lee during the filming of the TV series Longstreet. His "be like water" quote from the series remains one of his most memorable lines to date.Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives Bruce Lee and co-star Marilyn Bautista in a scene from Fist Of Fury. Lee's Hollywood roles built him a loyal fanbase in Hong Kong. Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images "The truth is Lee was a formidable opponent with a chiseled physique and technique," Chuck Norris once said of the martial artist.Warner Brothers/Getty Images While the martial artist understood that he needed to incorporate flashier moves in his fighting scenes to appease Hollywood executives, his daughter has alleged that there was always a line he wasn't willing to cross in order to maintain realism.Warner Brothers/Getty Images "The series marked the first time that kung fu had been seen in the West, outside the movie theaters of the Chinatown districts, and younger viewers were astonished by what they saw," wrote actor Bruce Thomas of Green Hornet.Bruce Lee/Instagram Bruce Lee with his wife Linda and their two children, Brandon and Shannon. Bruce Lee/Instagram "My father was up against a difficult system that was not willing to put money behind an Asian as a lead in any way, and not willing to create authentic Asian characters," Shannon Lee said.Bruce Lee/Instagram Lee in front of Ruby Chow's restaurant in Seattle, where he was a live-in waiter during his college years.Bruce Lee/Instagram Bruce Lee was featured in more than 20 films during his childhood in Hong Kong.Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images Bruce Lee and some of his students at the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute he owned. Pro basketball player and later co-star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can be seen in the back.Bruce Lee/Instagram After The Green Hornet ended, Lee landed a few other supporting roles. But it proved difficult for him to find roles that depicted fully-formed Chinese or Asian characters that weren't racialized stereotypes.Getty Images Bruce Lee played a Chinese immigrant in the 1969 Hollywood comedy-slash-western Here Come the Brides.ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images Bruce Lee and Maria Yi in a scene from Fist of Fury. Lee headed to Hong Kong in 1971 after he was unable to land more substantial roles in Hollywood.Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images Bruce Lee tosses a man in a fight scene from his 1972 action flick Fist of Fury. Getty Imags "He didn't love the Chinese kung fu flicks [in the 1960s] where people were flying through the air and sort of having all these magical superhuman qualities... These films didn't really represent what he understood to be martial arts," Shannon Lee said.Bettmann/Getty Images Another intense fight scene of Bruce Lee from Fist of Fury. Getty Images Bruce Lee's first leading role in Hong Kong was the 1971 film The Big Boss, which was followed by Fist of Fury in 1972 and The Way of the Dragon. All these films were commercial successes in countries across Asia.Bettmann/Getty Images Bruce Lee wields a pair of nunchucks during his final film Enter the Dragon. The movie was the first kung fu film to be produced by a major Hollywood studio.Fotos International/Archive Photos/Getty Images American martial artist Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee on the set of his movie Meng Long Guo Jiang or The Way of the Dragon. Concord Productions Inc./Golden Harvest Company/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images Lee fights his former student Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in an iconic scene from the film Game of Death. It was released five years after Lee's death using leftover footage from Enter the Dragon.Concord Productions Inc./Golden Harvest Company/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images Bruce Lee was frustrated after reading the orginal script for Enter the Dragon and rewrote it to include some of the most iconic scenes from the film.Bettmann/Getty Images American studio executives ignored Lee's rewrites to Enter the Dragon at first but relented after the actor refused to shoot the film without his edits.Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images Bruce Lee with his son, Brandon Lee, who found success as an actor like his father through the series The Crow, 20 years after his father's untimely death.Wikimedia Commons Lee's real-life martial arts ideals were about discipline and the philosophical teachings of jeet kune do, an expression of martial arts that was personal to him.Fotos International/Archive Photos/Getty Images Bruce Lee with producer Fred Weintraub on the set of the 1973 film Enter the Dragon. Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images Bruce Lee's signature yellow jumpsuit from Game of Death, which became synonymous with his onscreen legacy.Concord Productions Inc./Golden Harvest Company/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images "The wardrobe department produced two tracksuits to choose from – one yellow and one that was black," said film producer Andre Morgan said. They went with the yellow suit so the footprint on the outfit would be more visible.Concord Productions Inc./Golden Harvest Company/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images The 1970s TV series Kung Fu starring David Carradine was reportedly based on a rejected script that Lee had pitched to studios.ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images Bruce Lee developed his own form of kung fu known as jeet kune do, which means "way of the intercepting fist."Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images "I don't think anyone looked at Asians as full humans that come in every variety under the sun, just like everybody else, because there was no representation of that," Shannon Lee said.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Lee's Enter the Dragon remains one of his most memorable roles to date. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesLike this gallery?
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Bruce Lee is cherished by film buffs and martial arts fans worldwide, but his legacy goes beyond his work as an action movie star.
Lee started his career as a martial arts teacher in Seattle, and his style of instruction attracted celebrities like actor Steve McQueen and basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. His behind-the-scenes work with Hollywood heavyweights soon translated into onscreen roles for himself, though securing these gigs was no easy task for an Asian American in '70s Hollywood.
Indeed, despite his charisma and popularity among celebrities, Lee was constantly denied lead roles in favor of white actors in eye makeup. And when he did find onscreen work, it was usually in a role that exotified his heritage.
In 1973, Lee scored a starring role in the film Enter the Dragon, a joint production between American and Hong Kong studios. The film was a box office success, but Lee was unable to enjoy the fame that came with it.
While on a trip to Hong Kong, where he was reportedly in talks to star in another major film, Lee dropped dead in his hotel room from a brain edema. He was just 32 years old.
In his brief life, Bruce Lee brought a deeper understanding of martial arts to western audiences and changed the way Asians, and especially Chinese Americans, were represented in U.S. films and popular culture.
Bruce Lee Was Raised A Performer
Bruce Lee Family ArchiveA photo of Bruce Lee as a young man in San Francisco.
The son of a Cantonese opera star, Bruce Lee was born Jun Fan Lee on November 27, 1940, in San Francisco, California while his parents were on a performance tour through the U.S.
Lee was reportedly nicknamed Bruce by a nurse at the hospital where he was born, and even though his parents didn't use the nickname while he was growing up, the moniker eventually stuck.
After their tour, Lee's parents returned to Hong Kong where they enrolled him in martial arts classes under the tutelage of Yip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art of wing chun. He also took dance lessons and even won the 1958 Hong Kong cha-cha Championship.
Lee also acted as a child star in a number of movies, appearing in his first role at just three months. He went on to appear in more than 20 films while growing up.
At 18, Bruce Lee moved to the U.S. to pursue a degree in philosophy at the University of Washington in Seattle. With $100 in his pocket, the martial artist boarded a steamship to Seattle where he was able to find employment and housing with a family friend who owned a restaurant in the city. He also briefly worked as a dance instructor.
National General Picture/Getty ImagesThis photo of Bruce Lee shows him demonstrating his gung fu skills in the film The Chinese Connection.
While he finished his degree, Bruce Lee began to teach wing chun gung fu. "Gung fu" is also the Cantonese pronunciation of kung fu.
He started out teaching small groups of students outside in the city park, but as his lessons became more popular, he was eventually able to open a proper studio. Lee named the studio Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute — and it would be the first of many martial arts studios that he owned.
Bruce Lee relocated to California where he opened two other branches of the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute in Oakland and Los Angeles. Then in 1964, the young martial artist settled down with his wife Linda and the couple had two children together, Shannon and Brandon Lee.
By this time, Bruce Lee had focused his full attention on his martial arts teachings and expanding his schools. But as fate would have it, his path would take a turn back onto familiar terrain.
Pursuing His Acting Career
Archive Photos/Getty ImagesA photo of Bruce Lee in a fighting stance.
Bruce Lee's reputation as a talented martial artist culminated in a fateful invitation from Ed Parker, the father of American kenpo karate, who wanted him to give a demonstration at the International Karate Tournament in Long Beach.
Lee's agile movements there caught the attention of Jay Sebring, a celebrity hairstylist who was well-connected in Hollywood. Sebring was the ex-boyfriend of starlet Sharon Tate, who Lee later trained for a film, and with whom Sebring was brutally murdered by the Manson family in 1969.
Sebring was so impressed by Bruce Lee's demonstration that he raved about it to his client William Dozier, the producer of Batman. After reviewing a recording of Lee's performance at the tournament, Dozier invited the martial artist for a screen test.
"To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity."
Lee scored his first major acting part on the 1966 American TV series The Green Hornet, where he played Kato, the superhero's sidekick. Lee's prowess in martial arts and his natural charisma quickly made him popular with viewers and Hollywood executives alike.
Meanwhile, Lee developed his own martial art, Jeet Kune Do, which translates to "the way of the intercepting fist."
Bruce Lee's role on The Green Hornet did more than catapult his career, it also made cultural history in America. According to Bruce Thomas, a fellow actor and martial artist who wrote the biography Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit, "The series marked the first time that kung fu had been seen in the West, outside the movie theaters of the Chinatown districts, and younger viewers were astonished by what they saw."
The series' writers even wrote in more screentime for Lee due to his popularity. But there were some difficulties offscreen with the production. Bruce Lee was often told to downplay his abilities to avoid outshining his co-star Van Williams, who played the titular role on the show. He was also forced to shoot his fight scenes in slow motion because his moves were too fast for the camera to pick up clearly.
The series only lasted a season, but it was popular enough to reach audiences in Hong Kong, where it was cheekily referred to as "The Kato Show."
After the series ended, Bruce Lee landed a few other supporting roles. But it was 1960s Hollywood and so it was difficult for Lee to find roles that depicted fully-formed Chinese or Asian characters without racial stereotypes.
Wikimedia CommonsA picture of Bruce Lee as Kato in The Green Hornet.
According to Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee's daughter, the performer wrote a TV script in the late 1960s about a Buddhist monk that was ultimately rejected because "a Chinese actor's accent will be hard for people to understand."
But just months later, studio executives made the 1970s show Kung Fu, which was awfully similar to the script Lee had pitched, with white actor David Carradine cast in the lead role.
"My father was up against a difficult system that was not willing to put money behind an Asian as a lead in any way, and not willing to create authentic Asian characters," Shannon Lee said. "I don't think anyone looked at Asians as full humans that come in every variety under the sun, just like everybody else, because there was no representation of that."
Briefly disenchanted by Hollywood, Bruce Lee headed back East to Hong Kong in 1971 where a legion of adoring fans and a booming film industry awaited him.
Finally Finding Some Success — And Dying Suddenly
Bruce Lee/InstagramA photo of Bruce Lee with his wife Linda and their two children.
While his career stalled in the States, the success of Bruce Lee's role on The Green Hornet had turned the actor into a sensation in Hong Kong.
Lee landed his first leading role in Hong Kong in the film The Big Boss in 1971, which was followed by Fist of Fury in 1972. In The Way of the Dragon, also released in 1972, Bruce Lee acted alongside a budding American martial artist-turned-actor named Chuck Norris. The films were a commercial success in multiple countries across Asia.
"Bruce Lee learned from everybody," Norris later said of the martial artist's ability. "He had a very open mind... He believed that everything had strengths and weaknesses and that we should find the strengths in each method."
Soon Hollywood came knocking with earnest at Bruce Lee's door and offered him the leading role in a film produced by American studio Warner Bros and Hong Kong studio Golden Harvest. The film began shooting in January 1973 and was released in theaters several months later — thought Lee would not live to see it.
A scene from Enter the Dragon. Pictures of Bruce Lee showcasing his martial arts ability in this film can be viewed in the gallery above.The film, Enter the Dragon, cemented Bruce Lee's status as a martial arts icon. But Lee never got to see any of that fame. Lee had collapsed in the midst of filming the movie in May and was subsequently diagnosed with cerebral edema, a condition in which excess fluid in the brain creates swelling and pain. Lee was treated without incident and continued with his intense training and diet.
Then, just six weeks before the film's opening on July 20, 1973, Bruce Lee collapsed during a business trip to Hong Kong. This time the actor never woke up. An autopsy revealed that Lee had a buildup of fluid which had increased his brain size by 13 percent.
It's believed that Bruce Lee's death was brought on by a reaction to a pain medication that he had taken before his collapse. But the sudden and inexplicable nature of his demise has spurred conspiracy theories ever since.
Remembering Bruce Lee In Pictures
Warner Brothers/Getty ImagesLee's 1973 film Enter The Dragon was released six weeks following his death.
Enter the Dragon was a box office hit and it catapulted Bruce Lee to international stardom following his death. Bruce Lee's legacy of self-expression, philosophy, innovation, and equality continues to inspire people everywhere, decades after his untimely passing.
The late actor's filmography has become an archive of iconic scenes, as seen in these pictures of Bruce Lee above, and his persona — including his signature yellow jumpsuit in Enter the Dragon — has been immortalized in pop culture. He's also paved the way for other Asian actors like Jackie Chan and Jet Li to secure leading roles in blockbuster movies.
In 2020, the most recent Bruce Lee documentary Be Water debuted on ESPN. His daughter released a book about his martial arts philosophies in Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee and contributed as an executive producer on the Cinemax martial arts series Warrior. The show's script was based on an original concept by Bruce Lee, and its second season premiered in October 2020.
"His words are timeless, really," Shannon said, "and I just feel like when I read his words, I feel soothed. I feel hopeful. I feel energized. Those are all things that we will always need and, in some ways, now more than ever."
Now that you've explored these pictures of Bruce Lee, absorb some of the martial artist's teachings through these famous Bruce Lee quotes. Then, read about what happened when Bruce Lee fought a real kung fu master.
