Bruce Lee Biography

Bruce Lee (November 27, 1940 — July 20, 1973) was a Chinese American martial artist and martial arts actor who is widely regarded as one of the most influential martial artists of the 20th century. Lee's movies, especially his performance in the Hollywood-produced Enter the Dragon, elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of popularity, paving the way for future martial artists and martial arts actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat, and Chuck Norris
Lee was named Lee Jun Fan in Cantonese literally means invigorate San Francisco, paying homage to the Chinese name of his birthplace, San Francisco, California.
At birth, Lee was given the English name Bruce by nurses at the hospital[1], a name he retained.
*

*
Lee's mother initially gave him a name, since Lee's father was away on a Chinese opera tour at the time. When Lee's father returned after some months, the name was abandoned due to a conflict with the name of Lee's grandfather; in Chinese culture, it is considered a taboo to give a child a name that is the same as an ancestor's. Lee was then renamed Jun Fan.
Lee was also given a feminine name throughout his early childhood, Sai Feng literally Slender Phśnix, a typical feminine name, commonly used to hide the child from evil spirits.
Bruce Lee's screen name was Lee Siu Lung in Cantonese or Li Xiao Long in Mandarin which literally means Lee Little Dragon, first named by a director in the 1950 Cantonese movie which Lee performed in.
Bruce Lee was born at the Chinese Hospital[2] in San Francisco to his Chinese father, Lee Hoi-Chuen and mother Grace Lee. He received his early education and Kung Fu training in Hong Kong. Because of his father's fame as a Chinese opera actor, Lee had the opportunity to appear in several Chinese movies as a child. He studied the Wing Chun style of martial arts at a young age and picked up the languages of English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

In 1959, Bruce Lee went to Seattle, to complete his high school education. He received his diploma from Edison Technical School and enrolled at the University of Washington as a Philosophy major. It was at the University of Washington that he met his future wife, Linda Emery, whom he would marry in 1964. Lee has two children- a daughter, Shannon, and a son, Brandon, who was tragically killed during a film set accident.

Although he made only a handful of films and television shows, Bruce Lee has become an iconic figure as a personification of a Asian man who became the epitome of what many see as the mental and physical perfection in martial arts, fitness, and health.

BRUCE LEE PICTURES

1 - 2 - 3

BRUCE LEE BIOGRAPHY