Lee Jun Fan or Bruce Lee was born November 27, 1940 I San Francisco, California. He is an icon of martial arts films and a man figure of modern media. The martial arts film genre is big because of Bruce Lee. His family moved to Hong Kong when Bruce was five and he appeared in minor films including The Birth of Mankind and Fu gui fu yun in 1948. When Bruce was 12 he attended La Salle College. He was beaten up by a street gang which caused him to take up marital arts. He learned wing chun kung fu over a five year period. Lee moved back to San Francisco in 1959 and worked in a relative's restaurant. He then moved to Seattle where he studied philosophy. In 1963 he and his wife Linda Emergy opened the first king fu school and he became associated with martial arts figures. He opened a second kung fu school in Oakland and began testing for movie roles.
He won a part in The Green Hornet, opened a third school in Los Angeles, and began training Steve McQueen and James Coburn in the martial arts. Lee then landed a role in Marlowe in 1969. He also had a brief part in Longstreet in 1971. He returned to Hong Kong and made The Chinese Connection. His second film broke box office records in Hong Kong and Concord Productions was born. He made Way of the Dragon in Hong Kong and his production company moved to Italy. His new film starred karate legend Robert Wall and seven time U.S. karate champion Chuck Norris.
His film with John Saxon being made in Hong Kong in 1973 was incredible. However Lee was not feeling well and went to a friend's apartment to lie down. He took a headache table and never woke up. His film Enter the Dragon in 1973 was released in the United States and proved to be a huge hit. Lee was highly charismatic, an accomplished dancer and father of Brandon and Shannon Lee. His lightning fast moves and reflexes plus well defined body and muscles are still high regarded. He was only 32 when he died.
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