THIS DAY IN HISTORY...

27 November, 1940: Bruce Lee is born

On 27 November, 1940, actor and martial arts expert Bruce Lee is born in San Francisco, California. Lee became a film star in Asia and later a pop culture icon in America.

Lee was born while his father was on tour in America. The Lee family moved back to Hong Kong in 1941. Growing up, Lee was a child actor who appeared in about 20 Chinese films. He studied dancing and trained in the wing chun style of gung fu (also known as kung fu). In 1959, Lee returned to America, where he attended the University of Washington and opened a martial arts school in Seatt le. In 1964, he married Linda Emery, who in 1965 gave birth to Brandon Lee, the first of the couple’s two children. In 1966, the Lees moved to Los Angeles and Bruce appeared on the television programme The Green Hornet (1966-1967), playing the Hornet’s acrobatic sidekick, Kato. Lee also appeared in karate tournaments around the United States and continued to teach martial arts to private clients, including the actor Steve McQueen.

Lee died on 20 July, 1973, in Hong Kong after suffering a brain oedema believed to have been caused by an adverse reaction to pain medication.

Lee’s body was returned to Seattle, where he was buried. His sudden death at the age of 32, led to rumours and speculation about the cause of his demise. One theory was that Lee had been murdered by Chinese gangsters, while another rumour circulated that the actor had been the victim of a curse. The family curse theory resurfaced when Lee’s 28-year-old son Brandon, who had followed in his father’s footsteps to become an actor, died in an accidental shooting on the set of the movie The Crow on 31 March, 1993. The younger Lee was buried next to his father at Seatt le’s Lake View Cemetery.