Guide Note

Bruce Lee was an American/Chinese actor and a famed martial artist. After a prolific but brief film career, he died in 1973, at age 32, from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Fast Facts

1. Birth name: Lee Jun Fan
2. Date of Birth: November 27, 1940
3. Birthplace: San Francisco, California
4. Died: July 20, 1973
5. Notable Roles: Himself in Enter the Dragon, "Chen Zhen" in Fist of Fury, "Kato" in The Green Hornet

Lee was born in San Francisco in 1940. His father, Lee Hoi Chuen, was a Chinese opera star, and the family returned to Hong Kong when Lee was still an infant. His first film role followed in 1941, when he played an infant in the Cantonese-language film, Golden Gate Girl. Several child roles followed, until Lee, already an accomplished boxer and Kung Fu practitioner, returned to the U.S. in 1958, where he finished high school and enrolled in the University of Washington as a drama major. In 1964 he was cast as Cato in the short-lived TV series, The Green Hornet -- a role which also led to guest appearances on the Batman series. Other guest appearances followed.

Lee returned to Hong Kong in order to take larger roles, and in 1971 starred in The Big Boss, a major Asian-market film that brought him considerable star-power. Fists of Fury and Way of the Dragon followed in 1972, while 1973 brought Enter the Dragon, a crossover hit that launched him as a major star in the U.S. market.

On May 10, 1973, Lee was hospitalized for seizures and cerebral swelling during post-production work for Enter the Dragon. On July 20, he died in his sleep after complaining of a headache. The cause was officially sited as "death by misadventure," and controversy has ever since surrounded the circumstances of Lee's death. Speculation was only fueled when Lee's son Brandon Lee died in 1993, aged 28, from an accidental gunshot wound during filming of the movie, The Crow.