Biographic - Sunday January 8, 2006 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Bruce Lee was not only the greatest, most innovative and influential martial artist in movie history, he was also a talented dancer- he won a major Hong Kong cha-cha championship in 1958! Born Lee Juan Fan, the son of a touring opera singer, in San Francisco in 1940, Bruce Lee appeared in a string of movies while growing up in Hong Kong. At 18, the martial arts-obsessed youngster moved back to the states, working in a relative's restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown, before enrolling at the University of Washington, Seattle, to study philosophy. In 1963, he opened his own martial arts school. By the time he opened a second school, in Oakland, California, he had been cast as the judo-chopping Kato, in "The Green Hornet" Tv series. Opening a martial arts school in Los Angeles, he was soon training Hollywood superstars Steve McQueen and James Coburn and appearing in the movie "Marlowe" and the tv series "Longstreet" Bruce Lee Frustrated by Hollywood's reluctance to cast him in more substantial roles, Bruce returned to Hong Kong to star in movies such as "Fists of Fury" The movies showcased his incredible skills in Jeet Kune Do, a martial arts technique he had perfected. Within a short space of time, he was a superstar in Asia and a global box office draw. Hollywood was forced to take notice- Warner Brothers backed "enter the dragon." a bigger-budget action flick that teamed Bruce with a host of karate champions. The movie would make over 200 million dollars... but "The Little Dragon" didn't live to savor his triumph. Just weeks before the premiere, the 32-year-old star collapsed and died of brain edema. Thousands of fans filed past his coffin in Hong Kong before his body was flown back to the U.S. for burial in Seattle. In 1994, tragedy struck once more when Bruce's 28-year-old son, Brandon Lee, was accidentally killed on the set of the movie "The Crow"

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