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Bruce Lee was born November 27, 1940 – July 20,
1973) was an American-born martial artist, philosopher, instructor,
and martial arts actor widely regarded as the most influential martial
artist of the 20th century.He was the father of deceased actor Brandon
Lee and of actress Shannon Lee. Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco
and raised in Hong Kong.
While in the United States from 1958-1964, Lee
abandoned thoughts of a film career in favor of the martial arts. Fate
would intervene, however, after Lee's high-profile martial arts
demonstration at the 1964 Long Beach Karate Tournament, seen by some
of the nation's most proficient martial artists and, as fate would
have it, by the hairdresser of
Batman
producer William Dozier. Dozier invited Lee for an audition, where the
martial artist so impressed the producers with his lightning-fast
moves that he earned the role of Kato alongside Van Williams in the TV
series
The Green Hornet. The show lasted just one season, from 1966 to
1967. Lee would also play Kato in three episodes of the series Batman,
produced by the same company as The Green Hornet. This was followed by
guest appearances in a host of television series, including Ironside
(1967) and Here Come the Brides (1969).
Lee returned to Hong Kong and was offered a film
contract by legendary director Raymond Chow and his production company
Golden Harvest. Lee played his first leading role in The Big Boss
(1971) which proved a smashing box office success across Asia and
catapulted him to stardom. He soon followed up his success with two
more huge box office successes: Fist of Fury (1972) and Way of the
Dragon (1972). For Way of the Dragon he took complete control over the
film's production as the writer, director, star as well as
choreographer of the fight scenes. In 1964 at a demonstration in Long
Beach, California, Lee had met karate champion Chuck Norris. In Way of
the Dragon Lee introduced
Chuck Norris to moviegoers as his opponent
in the final death fight at the coliseum in Rome, today considered one
of Lee's most legendary fight scenes.
In 1973 Lee starred in the lead role in Enter the Dragon (1973), his
first film to be produced jointly by Golden Harvest and Warner Bros.
This film would shoot Lee to fame in the U.S. and Europe but,
tragically, only a few months after the film's completion and three
weeks before its release, the supremely fit Lee mysteriously died.
Enter the Dragon would go on to become one of the year's highest
grossing films and cemented Lee as a martial arts legend. It was made
for US$850,000 in 1973 (equivalent to $3.74 million adjusted for
inflation as if 2005). To date, Enter the Dragon has grossed over $200
million worldwide. The movie sparked a brief fad in the
martial-arts epitomized in songs like Kung Fu Fighting and TV shows
like Kung Fu.
Bruce Lee Wall Posters, T-shirts, and photos
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