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Bruce Lee is a revered name in the martial arts community, and Bruce Lee movies are classics among action and martial arts fans. Lee was more than actor, he actually developed a martial art form called Jeet Kune Do, and popularized the sport in various films and television appearances in the 1960s and 1970s. Born in California in 1940 in both the Year of the Dragon and the hour of the dragon, according the Chinese Zodiac, Lee ended up being raised in Hong Kong when the family moved back to China when Lee was 3 months old. But Bruce was sent back to the United States when he was 18 because he’d recently been in trouble after getting into a fight. He held two small boxing championships at the time. He met his wife at the University of Washington and married her in 1964.

They had two children, Brandon born in 1965 and Shannon born in 1969. Both became actors like their father. Shannon retired from acting after some low-budget film appearances in the mid 90s, and Brandon Lee, perhaps at the peak of his popularity, died during the filming of his film The Crow at the age of only 28. The parallels between his death and his father were a source of interest and speculation at the time, because Bruce Lee died young as well, at age 33. And of all the Bruce Lee movies, the final one was completed after his death, just as Brandon’s movie, The Crow, had to be finished.

The first Bruce Lee movies were actually black-and-white short films he appeared in while very young. By age 18, he’d appeared in 20 films. His early introduction to the world of acting and films was thanks to his father, Hoi-Cheun, who was a famous opera star in China.

After a demonstration in a Karate Tournament in 1964, he impressed the other martial artists and ended up landing small roles on television in shows like Batman. He went on to appear in films and television shows, even pitching his own show called The Warrior which many, including Lee, believed was later changed to become the popular series Kung Fu with David Carradine. Lee even auditioned for the lead role, but the studios didn’t believe that the viewing public would be won over by a Chinese lead actor. Upset at his treatment in the US, the first Bruce Lee movies were made in Hong Kong.

Bruce Lee went back to Hong Kong and became a box office sensation, going on to write, direct and choreograph. He gave Chuck Norris his start in films by casting him in Way of the Dragon and fighting him a legendary martial arts sequence. Bruce Lee movies and his martial arts philosophies went on to change the way Kung Fu and all of China were viewed in the west. His movies are available on DVD and still enjoyed today, and he is still seen as one of the most amazing martial artists that ever lived.

Originally posted 2008-11-16 05:00:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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