Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco California to a Chinese father Lee Hoi-Chuen and a German-Chinese mother Grace Lee , Bruce Lee was raised in Hong Kong, where his parents lived.
Biography and Career :
His parents were film actors, hence he had the opportunity to appear in several Chinese movies as a child. Bruce Lee also studied the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu.
In 1959, Bruce Lee went to Seattle to complete his high school education. He received his diploma from Edison Technical School and went on to enroll in the University of Washington as a philosophy major. It was at the UW that he would meet his wife Linda Emery.
After leaving University, Bruce Lee went on to star as Kato in the television series The Green Hornet. On his return to Hong Kong,
he starred in the movies that would cement his fame.
After studying and becoming dissatisfied with existing classical schools of martial arts, Bruce Lee began the process of creating his own style: Jun Fan Gung Fu, a modification of Wing Chun blended with Western Boxing, and Fencing. His schools were called Jun Fan Gung Fu Institutes. Later, in order to apply a more descriptive name, he renamed it Jeet Kune Do. JKD was a further refinement of his style which incorporated elements from many styles to create a more streamlined and practical martial art, as well as a comprehensive system of fitness training. JKD is also defined as his personal philosophy of how martial arts should be effectively practiced (and according to others also as a self-help philosophy).
Bruce Lee frequently gave demonstrations of his two-finger pushups and his famous "one inch punch". He was a very well rounded man, being well educated both academically (he was a philosophy major at the University of Washington) and in the field of martial arts. His studies of Wing Chun Gung Fu sparked his enthusiasm and understanding of martial arts. In fact, Wing Chun was the only martial art Lee formally studied, under the guidance of Yip Man. Throughout his life Lee studied many styles of martial arts through an extensive literature research and contacts with other martial artists. Many contemporary martial arts instructors, in an effort to promote themselves or their schools, make dubious claims about learning from or teaching Bruce Lee. This was a major reason why he put rigid standards forth to earn certification in his arts.
On July 20 1973 when Bruce Lee was 33 years old being in Hong Kong - Early in the morning Bruce types a letter to his attorney, Adrian Marshall, detailing business ventures he wants to discuss on his upcoming trip to Los Angeles. Bruce had tickets already set to return to the United States for a publicity tour and was scheduled to appear on the Johnny Carson show.
Raymond Chow goes by Bruce Lee`s house and the two discuss plans for their upcoming movie Game of Death. Linda kisses Bruce Lee good-bye and says she is going out to run some errands and will see him later that night. Raymond and Bruce Lee visit Betty Ting Pei at her apartment to discuss her role in Game of Death. That evening plans had been made for them all to meet George Lazenby over dinner and enlist him for a part. Bruce Lee explains that he has a headache, takes a prescription pain killer offered by Betty, and lies down on her bed to rest prior to dinner. Raymond Chow departs and says that he will meet them later.
Raymond Chow and George Lazenby meet at a restaurant and await Bruce Lee and Betty`s arrival, but the two never show up. At 9:00 p.m. Chow receives a call from Betty; she said that she has tried to wake Bruce Lee up but he won`t
come to.
Betty summons her personal physician who fails to revive Bruce Lee and who has Bruce Lee taken to the hospital. Bruce Lee does not revive and is pronounced dead. The doctor`s are surprised that he had lasted as long as he did that night but unfortunately Betty did not get him help as soon as she could have.
Bruce Lee dies in Hong Kong of an apparent cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). After much confusion and debate, doctors declared the death of Bruce Lee as "death by misadventure". Enter the Dragon was delayed from its initial premieres by four day because of the actors death.