History Creator / BruceLee

* RealMenWearPink: He was one of the most famous martial arts actors in history and a accomplished dancer who won contests with his wife.

Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan, November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) is the quintessential martial arts film star, particularly for action films set in contemporary times, a breakthrough star for Asian actors in Hollywood and is widely considered one of the most influential martial artists of the 20th century.

Born in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco on the 27th of November 1940 (in a Year of and at the hour of the Dragon, appropriately), he was raised in Kowloon, Hong Kong. His father Lee Hoi Chuen was a famous Cantonese opera performer, while his mother was the adopted daughter of Ho Kom-tong, the maternal half-brother of Ho Fook [[note]]grandfather of casino and shipping magnate Stanley Ho[[/note]]and Robert Ho Tung. He had a strong command of English that helped him break away from the "halted Asian accent" stereotype and had the lean good looks to match any action star. He was trained in martial arts first by his father, and then by the Wing Chun grandmaster UsefulNotes/IpMan.

Born in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco on the 27th of November 1940 (in a Year of and at the hour of the Dragon, appropriately), he was raised in Kowloon, Hong Kong. He had a strong command of English that helped him break away from the "halted Asian accent" stereotype and had the lean good looks to match any action star. He was trained in martial arts first by his father, and then by the Wing Chun grandmaster UsefulNotes/IpMan.

Born in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco on the 27th of November 1940 (in a Year of and at the hour of the Dragon, appropriately), he was raised in Kowloon, Hong Kong. He had a strong command of English that helped him break away from the "halted Asian accent" stereotype and had the lean good looks to match any action star. He was trained in martial arts first by his father, and then by the Wing Chun grandmaster Yip Man.

* ''Film/WayOfTheDragon'': Tang Lung [[note]] Lee directed this film, and it's the only one he fully directed. He was also the original director of ''Game of Death'', but his AuthorExistenceFailure prompted Robert Clouse, the director of ''Enter the Dragon'', to finish it. [[/note]]

His first real break came when he was cast as Kato in ''Series/TheGreenHornet'' TV series as a HypercompetentSidekick. Kato became a BreakoutCharacter; in Asia, the show was [[MarketBasedTitle renamed]] ''The Kato Show''. Lee co-developed a television series, ''The Warrior'', that he intended to star in, but the producers modified into ''Series/KungFu'' starring Creator/DavidCarradine, but his original concept would finally be produced in 2019 as ''[[Series/Warrior2019 Warrior]]'' on Creator/{{Cinemax}}. Returning to Hong Kong, Lee proceeded a series of acclaimed and extremely popular martial arts films there that foster a strong international fanbase for Asian MartialArtsMovie films until he was made an international star with the (internationally-produced) ''Film/EnterTheDragon''.

* RaceLift: Bruce Lee had originally developed a concept for a television series called ''The Warrior'', meant to star himself, and was pitching it to various studios. Warner Bros eventually took the plot of ''The Warrior'' and reimagined it as ''Series/KungFu'', but starring Creator/DavidCarradine instead because they didn't want an Asian cast in a lead role on American TV. In 2019, {{Creator/Cinemax}} launched a series based on Lee's project, ''Series/Warrior2019''.

* A fictional version of a young Lee Jun-fan "Siu Lung" (Lee) appears in the ''Film/{{Ip Man|Film Series}}'' film series, which is {{very loosely based|on a true story}} on the life of Lee's martial arts master, Yip Man. He's played by Jiang Daiyan as a child in ''Film/IpMan2'' (2010) and by [[invoked]][[DawsonCasting 40-something year old]] Danny Chan Kwok-Kwan as a young man in ''Film/IpMan3'' (2013) and ''Film/IpMan4'' (2019).

* He is played by Aarif Rahman in ''Bruce Lee, My Brother'' (2010), which was produced by his younger brother Robert.

* He's portrayed by Jason Scott Lee (no relation) in ''Film/DragonTheBruceLeeStory'' (1993). His daughter Shannon had a cameo.

* Philip Ng Wan-lung played him in ''Birth of the Dragon'' (2016).

Born in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco on the 27th of November 1940 (in a Year of and at the hour of the Dragon, appropriately), he was raised in Kowloon, Hong Kong. He had a strong command of English that helped him break away from the "halted Asian accent" stereotype. He was trained in martial arts first by his father, and then by the Wing Chun grandmaster Yip Man.

Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan, November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) is the quintessential martial arts film star, particularly for action films set in contemporary times, and is widely considered one of the most influential martial artists of the 20th century.

He is the TropeNamer for BruceLeeClone, DontThinkFeel and FunnyBruceLeeNoises.

* ''Series/Ironside1967'': Leon Soo

* ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}'': Mr. Yoto, Karate Instructor
* ''Series/HereComeTheBrides'': Lin
* ''Series/{{Longstreet}}'': Li Tsung

* Danny Lee Sau-yin (no relation) played Bruce in the 1976 Shaw Brothers film ''Bruce Lee and I'' (also known as ''Bruce Lee: His Last Days, His Last Nights'').

* ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}: Mr. Yoto, Karate Instructor

Lee was, and still is, a revered figure in the world of martial arts. He espoused a CombatPragmatist fighting style and created his own approach, Jeet Kune Do (Way of the Intercepting Fist), in order to create more practical martial arts. This style and the philosophy behind it (the most well-known tenet being "Absorb what is useful") has led some to call him the founding father of UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, though the sentiment is hardly unanimous. The popularity of ''[[FightingWithChucks nunchaku]]'' ("nunchuks") is directly tied to his use of them in several films, including ''Enter the Dragon''. And his skill as a martial artist doesn't mean he was a slouch in intellectual matters: Lee studied drama at the University of Washington and also studied philosophy extensively. He used the knowledge gleamed from those philosophical studies to write a book about the philosophy behind his martial art. In short, this Asian man embodied the Greek ideal of having a sound mind in a sound body. He trained several people in Jeet Kune Do, including basketball star Creator/KareemAbdulJabbar, Creator/GeorgeLazenby, Creator/JamesCoburn, and Creator/LeeMarvin.

Lee died tragically young (32 years old) on the 20th of July 1973, reportedly from a cerebral edema caused by an allergic reaction to an ingredient in an equagesic painkiller. He was on his way to have dinner with his friend George Lazenby when he decided to take a nap, but he never woke up and was pronounced dead in the hospital. His sudden death combined with his young age sparked urban legends about the "true" cause of his death -- these range from suicide to his being a target of the [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triads]]. Much like Music/ElvisPresley, there are those who believe he [[ElvisLives faked his own death]]. His death devastated the Hong Kong film industry to the point where producers began casting numerous {{Bruce Lee Clone}}s in their movies; they hoped that audiences starved for more Bruce Lee would simply accept the poor imitations. [[EpicFail While, by and large, it didn't work]], there are a few renowned martial arts stars who managed to get their first break during this period (notably Creator/JetLi and Creator/JackieChan, the latter of which worked as a stuntman in ''The Fist of Fury'' and ''Enter the Dragon'').

As a tragic postscript to his life, his son, [[Creator/BrandonLee Brandon]], [[FatalMethodActing died from a prop gun accident]] on the set of ''Film/TheCrow''.

* ''Series/Batman1966'': Kato (in a {{Crossover}} episode with the Green Hornet)

* He's portrayed by Jason Scott Lee (no relation) in ''Film/DragonTheBruceLeeStory'' (1993).
* He is played by Aarif Rahman in ''Bruce Lee, My Brother'' (2010).

Bruce Lee is the quintessential martial arts film star, particularly for action films set in contemporary times, and is widely considered one of the most influential martial artists of the 20th century.

As a tragic postscript to his life, Lee's son, Brandon, [[FatalMethodActing died from a prop gun accident]] on the set of ''Film/TheCrow''.

Born in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco on the 27th of November 1940 (in a Year of and at the hour of the Dragon, appropriately), he was raised in Kowloon, Hong Kong. He had a strong command of English that helped him break away from the "halted Asian accent" stereotype. He was trained in martial arts first by his father, and then by [[Film/IpManFilmSeries Yip Man]].

* He's played by Mike Moh in ''Film/OnceUponATimeInHollywood'' (2019). His scene proved [[https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2019-08-14/why-is-the-bruce-lee-scene-in-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-controversial/ quite controversial]].

->''"I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once. [[QualityOverQuantity But I fear the man]] [[BoringButPractical who has practiced one kick ten thousand times]]."''

He is the TropeNamer or BruceLeeClone, DontThinkFeel and FunnyBruceLeeNoises.

** His shirtless tang suit pants and kung fu shoes combo from ''Film/FistOfFury'', easily comes in as a close second.