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Seller: carpal-tunnel-syndrome ✉️ (4,923) 100%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 386925136326 "THE GREEN HORNET" Orig POSTER 11X17 VERNORS SCARCE BRUCE LEE VAN WILLIAMS 60S. AN EXTREMELY 1960'S SCARCE VERNORS THE GREEN HORNET 11X17 INCH POSTER FEATURING BRUCE LEE & VAN WILLIAMS. IN GOOD SHAPE WITH SOME STAINS (SEE PICS) The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media. The Green Hornet appeared in film serials in the 1940s, The Green Hornet television series in the 1960s, (which costarred Bruce Lee in his first adult role), multiple comic book series from the 1940s onwards, and a film in 2011. The franchise is owned by Green Hornet, Inc., which licenses the property across a wide variety of media that includes comics, films, TV shows, radio and books. As of the 2010s, the comic-book rights are licensed to Dynamite Entertainment.









The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media. The Green Hornet appeared in film serials in the 1940s, The Green Hornet television series in the 1960s, (which costarred Bruce Lee in his first adult role), multiple comic book series from the 1940s onwards,[1] and a film in 2011. The franchise is owned by Green Hornet, Inc., which licenses the property across a wide variety of media that includes comics, films, TV shows, radio and books. As of the 2010s, the comic-book rights are licensed to Dynamite Entertainment.[2] History Though various incarnations sometimes change details, in most versions the Green Hornet is the alter ego of Britt Reid (/riːd/), the wealthy young publisher of the Daily Sentinel newspaper. By night, clad in a long green overcoat, gloves, green fedora hat and green mask, Reid fights crime as the mysterious vigilante known as "The Green Hornet". He is accompanied by his loyal and similarly masked partner and confidant, Kato, who drives their technologically advanced car, the "Black Beauty". Though both the police and the general public believe the Hornet to be a wanted criminal, Reid uses that perception to help him infiltrate the underworld, leaving behind for the police the criminals and any incriminating evidence he has found. In the original radio incarnation, Britt Reid is the son of Dan Reid Jr., the nephew of the Lone Ranger (whose first name is never given, contrary to later articles), making the Green Hornet the great-nephew of the Ranger. The relationship is alluded to at least once in the radio shows, when Dan Reid visits his son to question him on why Britt has never captured the Hornet. On learning the truth behind his son's dual identity, Dan Reid recalls his days riding with his uncle, as the William Tell Overture plays briefly and softly in the background. Radio series Main article: The Green Hornet (radio series) The character debuted in The Green Hornet, an American radio program that premiered on January 31, 1936, on WXYZ, the same local Detroit station that originated its companion shows The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon.[3] Beginning on April 12, 1938, the station supplied the series to the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network, and then to NBC Blue and its successors, the Blue Network and ABC, from November 16, 1939, through September 8, 1950. It returned from September 10 to December 5, 1952.[3] It was sponsored by General Mills from January to August 1948, and by Orange Crush in its brief 1952 run.[3] Film Serials The Green Hornet was adapted into two movie serials, 1940's The Green Hornet and, in 1941, The Green Hornet Strikes Again![4] Disliking the treatment Republic gave The Lone Ranger in two serials, George W. Trendle took his property to Universal Pictures, and was much happier with the results. The first serial, titled simply The Green Hornet (1940), stars Gordon Jones in the title role, albeit dubbed by original radio Hornet Al Hodge whenever the hero's mask was in place, while The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1941) stars Warren Hull. Keye Luke, who played the "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan films, plays Kato in both. Also starring in both serials are Anne Nagel as Lenore Case, Britt Reid's secretary, and Wade Boteler as Mike Axford, a reporter for the Daily Sentinel, the newspaper that Reid owns and publishes. Ford Beebe directed both serials, partnered by Ray Taylor on The Green Hornet and John Rawlins on The Green Hornet Strikes Again!, with George H. Plympton and Basil Dickey contributing to the screenplays for both serials. The Green Hornet runs for 13 chapters while The Green Hornet Strikes Again! has 15 installments, with the Hornet and Kato smashing a different racket in each chapter. In each serial, they are all linked to a single major crime syndicate which is itself put out of business in the finale, while the radio program had the various rackets completely independent of each other. The Green Hornet (2006) Main article: The Green Hornet (2006 film) A 10-minute 2006 French short film titled Le frelon vert is based on the Green Hornet.[5] The Green Hornet (2011) Main article: The Green Hornet (2011 film) A film version of the character had been contemplated since the 1990s, with Universal Pictures and Miramax each attempting to develop a film. Sony Pictures announced plans for a feature film of the superhero in 2008. Eventually, Sony Pictures, through its subsidiary Columbia Pictures, released an action-comedy Green Hornet feature on January 14, 2011, starring Jay Chou and Seth Rogen, who co-wrote the script with Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg.[6] It was directed by Michel Gondry. Jay Chou co-starred as Kato. Also starring were Cameron Diaz as Lenore Case, Edward James Olmos as Mike Axford, David Harbour as Frank Scanlon, Christoph Waltz as the main villain Benjamin Chudnofsky, and Tom Wilkinson as James Reid. Reboot In 2016, Paramount Pictures and Chernin Entertainment acquired the rights to The Green Hornet and started preliminary work on developing a reboot with Gavin O'Connor as producer and director of the film and Sean O'Keefe as writer.[7] In 2020, Amasia Entertainment gained the rights of the Green Hornet[8] and officially teamed with Universal Pictures for the reboot titled Green Hornet and Kato with David Koepp writing the script.[9][10] On June 23, 2022, Deadline reported that Leigh Whannell will direct the reboot.[11] Television The Green Hornet (1966–1967) Main article: The Green Hornet (TV series) The Green Hornet is a television series shown on the ABC U.S. television network. It aired for the 1966–1967 television season and stars Van Williams as both the Green Hornet and Britt Reid, and Bruce Lee as Kato.[12][13] With his insistence on using his martial arts skills, Bruce Lee stole the show as Kato. This was the first time Asian martial arts fighting was seen on American TV. The show launched Bruce Lee's career as a popular actor in the US as well as in Hong Kong. Audience interest even led to Van Williams asking to learn some martial art moves.[14] Williams and Lee's Green Hornet and Kato appear as anti-heroes in the second season of the Batman TV series in the two-part episode "A Piece of the Action" / "Batman's Satisfaction". The episode ended with Batman himself questioning whether or not the Green Hornet was really a criminal. Unlike the "campy" version of Batman, this version of The Green Hornet was played more seriously. Animated series In July 2020, Kevin Smith and WildBrain announced plans to develop a Green Hornet animated series set in the present day and focused on a reimagined Green Hornet and female Kato.[15] On February 28, 2023, Smith confirmed in an episode of Fatman Beyond that the series would be 10 episodes.[16] Comic books Early comics Green Hornet comic books began in December 1940. The series, titled Green Hornet Comics published by Helnit Comics with the writing attributed to Fran Striker. The stories were loosely based on episodes of the radio show. This series ended after six issues.[17] Several months later, Harvey Comics launched its own version, beginning with issue #7. This series lasted until issue #47 in 1949; during that time it also changed its title twice: first to Green Hornet Fights Crime (issue #34) and later to Green Hornet, Racket Buster (issue #44). Harvey additionally used the character in the public-service one-shot War Victory Comics in 1942,[18] and gave him one adventure in each of two issues of All-New Comics, #13 (where he was also featured on the cover)[19] and #14,[20] in 1946. In 1953, several months after the radio series ended, Dell Comics published a one-shot with the character (officially entitled Four Color #496).[21] Both stories therein share titles with late-era radio episodes ("The Freightyard Robberies", June 23, 1949; and "[The] Proof of Treason", October 17, 1952) and might be adaptations. In 1967, Gold Key Comics produced a 3-issue series based on the TV show.[22] NOW Comics In 1989, NOW Comics introduced a line of Green Hornet comics, initially written by Ron Fortier and illustrated by Jeff Butler. It attempted to reconcile the different versions of the character into a multigenerational epic. This took into account the character's ancestral connection to The Lone Ranger, though due to the legal separation of the two properties, his mask covered his entire face (as in the Republic serials) and he could not be called by name.[23] In this interpretation, the Britt of the radio series had fought crime as the Hornet in the 1930s and 1940s before retiring. In NOW's first story, in Green Hornet #1 (November 1989), set in 1945, the nationality of the original Kato (named in this comic series Ikano Kato) is given as Japanese, but because of the American policy regarding the Japanese minority during World War II, Reid referred to Kato as Filipino in order to prevent Kato's being sent to an American internment camp. The NOW comics considered the 1960s television character as the namesake nephew of the original, 1930s–1940s Britt Reid, referred to as "Britt Reid II" in the genealogy, who took up his uncle's mantle after a friend is assassinated. Britt Reid II eventually retired due to a heart attack, and Kato—given the first name Hayashi, after that of the first actor to play Kato on radio—goes on to become a star of ninja movies. The NOW comics established Hayashi Kato as Ikano Kato's son. Britt Reid's nephew, Paul Reid, a concert pianist, takes on the role of the Hornet after his older brother Alan, who had first taken on the mantle, is killed on his debut mission. Paul Reid is assisted by Mishi Kato, Hayashi's much-younger half-sister who was trained by Ikano Kato. Her being female caused problems between the publishers and the rights-holders, who withdrew approval of that character and mandated the return of "the Bruce Lee Kato".[24] After Mishi's departure—explained as orders from her father to replace an injured automobile designer at the Zürich, Switzerland, facility of the family corporation, Nippon Today—Hayashi Kato returned to crime fighting alongside the Paul Reid Green Hornet.[25] Mishi Kato returned in volume two as the Crimson Wasp, following the death of her Swiss police-officer fiancé, on orders of a criminal leader. In NOW's final two issues, vol. 2, #39–40, a fourth Kato—Kono Kato, grandson of Ikano and nephew of Hayashi and Mishi—took over as Paul Reid's fellow masked vigilante. The comics also introduced Diana Reid, the original Britt Reid's daughter, who had become district attorney after the TV series' Frank Scanlon had retired. A romantic relationship eventually formed between her and Hayashi Kato. NOW's first series began in 1989 and lasted 14 issues. Volume Two began in 1991 and lasted 40 issues, ending in 1995 when the publisher went out of business. Kato starred solo in a four-issue miniseries in 1991, and a two-issue follow-up in 1992, both written by Mike Baron. He also wrote a third, first announced as a two-issue miniseries, then as a graphic novel, but it was never released due to the company's collapse.[citation needed] Tales of the Green Hornet, consisting of nine issues spread out over three volumes (two, four, and three issues, respectively), presented stories of the two previous Hornets. Volume One featured Green Hornet II, and its story was plotted by Van Williams, star of the 1960s TV series, and scripted by Bob Ingersoll. The follow-ups were written by James Van Hise. Other miniseries included the three-issue The Green Hornet: Solitary Sentinel; the four-issue Sting of the Green Hornet, set during World War II and Clint McElroy's three-issue Dark Tomorrow (June–August 1993), featuring a criminal Green Hornet in 2080 being fought by the Kato of that era.[26][27] Discounting depictions of the cars utilized by the 1940s and 1960s Hornets, there were two versions of the Black Beauty used in the NOW comic series. The first was based on the Pontiac Banshee.[28] The second was a four-door sedan based on the eleventh-generation Oldsmobile 98 Touring Sedan.[citation needed] Dynamite Entertainment Main article: The Green Hornet (comics) In March 2009, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the license to produce Green Hornet comic books.[29] Its first release was a miniseries written by Kevin Smith with pencils by Jonathan Lau.[30][31] Revamped in 2010 as an ongoing series set in modern times, the new Green Hornet stars Britt Reid Jr., the rebellious and spoiled son of Britt Reid Sr., now a retired industrial and family man. When Britt Sr. is slain by the Black Hornet, a yakuza mobster whose family was shamed by the original Green Hornet, the aging but still fit Kato returns. With his daughter, Mulan Kato, who has taken over the costumed identity of her father, he brings Britt Jr. to China for training and safekeeping as he becomes the new Green Hornet. Writer Jai Nitz also wrote Green Hornet: Parallel Lives, a miniseries prequel to the 2011 Green Hornet feature film.[32] In 2013, an eight-issue miniseries called Masks brought together famous heroes from the pulp era. It starred The Shadow, The Green Hornet and Kato, The Spider and a 1930s descendant of Zorro. It was written by Chris Roberson with art by Alex Ross and Dennis Calero.[33] Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman wrote a crossover title, Batman '66 meets the Green Hornet, released in June 2014.[34][full citation needed] Comic strip In 2018, the Green Hornet appeared in newspaper strips as a guest-star in Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis (script) and Joe Staton (art), continuing the trend of Tracy stories reviving characters from defunct strips.[35][36] Prose fiction Western Publishing subsidiary Whitman Books released four works of text fiction based on the character, targeting younger readers. There were three entries in the children's line of profusely illustrated Big Little Books, The Green Hornet Strikes!, The Green Hornet Returns, and The Green Hornet Cracks Down, in 1940, 1941 and 1942, respectively, all attributed to Fran Striker. In 1966, their line for older juveniles included Green Hornet: Case of the Disappearing Doctor by Brandon Keith, a tie-in to the television series. At about the same time, Dell Publishing released a mass-market paperback, The Green Hornet in The Infernal Light by Ed Friend, not only derived from the small-screen production as well, but, "allegedly based on one of the TV episodes".[37] In 2009, Moonstone Books gained the prose license and has released three Green Hornet anthologies as part of its "Chronicles" line: The Green Hornet Chronicles, The Green Hornet Casefiles, and The Green Hornet: Still at Large.[citation needed] Video games The Green Hornet and Kato appears in The Green Hornet: Wheels of Justice (2010) for iPhone, based on the film.[38] Merchandising Few examples of Green Hornet merchandise have appeared since the 1960s. To coincide with the 2011 movie, Factory Entertainment produced six-inch action figures and a die cast Black Beauty, among other collectibles.[citation needed] Hollywood Collectibles has made a full-size prop gas gun replica.[citation needed] Mezco Toyz has made a set of 12-inch action figures, with the prototypes donated to the Museum of the Moving Image.[39] CKE Restaurants, Inc., the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, teamed with the studio on a promotional marketing partnership that included commercials featuring Seth Rogen and Jay Chou in character as the Green Hornet and Kato; a beverage promotion with Dr. Pepper; The Green Hornet food items, kids' meal toys, and employee uniforms; and a contest with the grand prize of the Black Beauty car from the film.[40] In 2012, Factory Entertainment released screen accurate replicas of the Hornet Sting, Gas Gun, and Kato's Dart from the 1960's television series. A plaque signed by Van Williams was included in a limited run of "Signature Edition" replicas.[citation needed] In June 2018, the toy company Funko released a Funko Pop figure of the Green Hornet as a Specialty Series figure.[citation needed] This was later followed up with multiple Funko Pop figures of the Green Hornet and Kato, released as exclusives at San Diego Comic Con and New York Comic Con.[41] In January 2020, Funko announced Green Hornet and Kato figures as part of their initial SODA vinyl figure offerings with a limited run of 6000 each.[42] In late 2021, Diamond Select Toys announced the start of a new line of Green Hornet and Kato collectible merchandise in partnership with The Green Hornet Inc. and the Bruce Lee Family.[43] Their line of collectibles include a mini bust of Kato and various action figures of Kato in different outfits.[44] In 2022, Aurora Plastics Corporation, under their Polar Lights brand, reissued a model of the Black Beauty car from the 1960's television series.[citation needed] Aluminum Model Toys released their own model kit of the Black Beauty in the same year.[citation needed] In other popular culture      This section may contain irrelevant references to popular culture. Please remove the content or add citations to reliable and independent sources. (November 2023) Art, entertainment, and media     Aretha Franklin's 1967 album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You contains the song "Save Me" which includes the lyric "Calling the Caped Crusader, Green Hornet, Kato, too / I'm in so much trouble I don't know what to do".[45]     The 1960s cartoon series Batfink is a parody of both Batman and the Green Hornet. Batfink rides in a pink vehicle called the Battilac, which is driven by his assistant Karate who is a martial artist.[46]     Bill Cosby parodied The Green Hornet in his c. 1970 syndicated five-minute daily radio program, The Brown Hornet, which he revived in the late 1970s for his Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids cartoon show.[citation needed]     In 1973 George Garabedian Productions on MARK56 Records released an LP of two of the radio shows. The cover included a green AMC Hornet.[47]     Inspector Clouseau's valet/houseboy is called Cato (spelled with a "C" instead of a "K"), and his car in the film Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) is a heavily modified Citroën 2CV, "The Silver Hornet".[48]     The 1993 American semi-fictionalized biographical film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, in which Jason Scott Lee portrayed Bruce Lee, features scenes involving the filming of the 1966 Green Hornet television series.[49] Van Williams, who starred in the TV series, appeared in the film as the show's director.[50]     A 1994 Hong Kong film, Qing feng xia, stars Kar Lok Chin as a Kato-like masked hero called the Green Hornet in English subtitles.[51] In one scene, he is reminded of his predecessors, one of whom is represented by a picture of Bruce Lee in his TV Kato costume.[citation needed]     Black Mask is a 1996 Hong Kong action film starring Jet Li. The film is an adaptation of the 1992 manhua Black Mask by Li Chi-Tak. In the film, in homage to The Green Hornet, Black Mask wears a domino mask and chauffeur's cap in the same style as Kato from the series. The Black Mask is even compared to Kato in one scene. In 2002, it was followed by a sequel, Black Mask 2: City of Masks starring Andy On.     The 2003 film Kill Bill: Volume 1 uses Billy May's theme from the 1960s television series in a sequence where the Bride goes to Tokyo in search of O-Ren Ishii. The Crazy 88 wear masks resembling Bruce Lee's Kato mask.     In the film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, released late September 2010 in Asia and early 2011 in the United States, there is a large feature of the Green Hornet. The subplot consist of the main character Chen Zhen (played by Donnie Yen) dressing up as a mask vigilante (based on Kato) to stop Japanese assassinations and to protect the people.[52]     In a 2014 episode of Sesame Street, the Green Hornet was spoofed in their "Numeric Con" segment as "The Green Four-net."     In 2016, Season 6 of The Venture Bros. introduces parody characters of Green Hornet and Kato from 1960s television series in the form of the masked crime-fighter Blue Morpho and his assistant Kano in a flashback, the latter having later become a member of the original Team Venture. It is also revealed that Blue Morpho was the father of the orphaned villain The Monarch, and he and Henchman 21 later take on the roles of the Blue Morpho and Kano respectively.[53]     The 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood depicts a sequence where fictional stuntman Cliff Booth fights Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) on the set of the Green Hornet 1960s television series.     In 2023, Toyota featured Billy May's theme from the 1960s television series in a Prius commercial as a part of their “This is Prius Now” campaign. People     Mark Tennant, a Calgary alderman, was nicknamed "The Green Hornet" during World War II. During his military service with The Calgary Highlanders, it was said he "always knew where the bad guys were" during his tours as an orderly officer.[54][55] Bruce Lee (Chinese: 李小龍; born Lee Jun-fan, 李振藩; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor whose career spanned Hong Kong and the United States.[3][4][5] He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that is sometimes credited with paving the way for modern mixed martial arts (MMA).[6] Lee is considered by some commentators and martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, who bridged the gap between East and West. He is credited with promoting Hong Kong action cinema and helping to change the way Chinese people were presented in American films.[7] Born in San Francisco and raised in British Hong Kong, Lee was introduced to the Hong Kong film industry as a child actor by his father.[8] However, these were not martial arts films. His early martial arts experience included Wing Chun (trained under Yip Man), tai chi, boxing (winning a Hong Kong boxing tournament), and apparently frequent street fighting (neighbourhood and rooftop fights). In 1959, Lee moved to Seattle. In 1961, he enrolled in the University of Washington.[9] It was during this time in the United States that he began considering making money by teaching martial arts, even though he aspired to have a career in acting. He opened his first martial arts school, operated out of home in Seattle. After later adding a second school in Oakland, California, he once drew significant attention at the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships of California by making demonstrations and speaking. He subsequently moved to Los Angeles to teach, where his students included Chuck Norris, Sharon Tate, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In the 1970s, his Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the Hong Kong martial arts films to a new level of popularity and acclaim, sparking a surge of Western interest in Chinese martial arts. The direction and tone of his films dramatically influenced and changed martial arts and martial arts films worldwide.[10] He is noted for his roles in five feature-length Hong Kong martial arts films in the early 1970s: Lo Wei's The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972); Golden Harvest's The Way of the Dragon (1972), directed and written by Lee; and Golden Harvest and Warner Brothers' Enter the Dragon (1973) and The Game of Death (1978), both directed by Robert Clouse.[11] Lee became an iconic figure known throughout the world, particularly among the Chinese, based upon his portrayal of Chinese nationalism in his films,[12] and among Asian Americans for defying Asian stereotypes in the United States.[13] Having initially learnt Wing Chun, tai chi, boxing, and street fighting, he combined them with other influences from various sources into the spirit of his personal martial arts philosophy, which he dubbed Jeet Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist).[14] Lee died in July 1973, aged 32. Since his death, Lee has continued to be a prominent influence on modern combat sports, including judo, karate, mixed martial arts, and boxing, as well as modern popular culture, including film, television, comics, animation, and video games. Time named Lee one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. Early life Bruce Lee as a baby with his parents, Grace Ho and Lee Hoi-chuen Bruce Lee's birth name was Lee Jun-fan. His father Lee Hoi-chuen was a Cantonese opera singer based in Hong Kong. His mother Grace Ho was born in Shanghai, and she was of Eurasian ancestry.[15] In December 1939, his parents traveled to California for an international opera tour in Chinatown, San Francisco.[16] He was born there on November 27, 1940, allowing him to claim U.S. citizenship due to the United States' jus soli citizenship laws.[17] When he was four months old (April 1941), the Lee family returned to Hong Kong.[16] Soon after, the Lee family experienced unexpected hardships over the next four years as Japan, in the midst of World War II, launched a surprise attack on Hong Kong in December 1941 and ruled the city for the next four years.[16] Lee's maternal grandfather was Cantonese, his maternal grandmother was English[18] and his maternal great-uncle, Robert Hotung, was a Hong Kong businessman of Dutch Jewish and Cantonese descent.[19] Career and education 1940–1958: Early roles, schooling and martial arts initiation Lee's father Lee Hoi-chuen was a Cantonese opera star. As a result, the junior Lee was introduced to the world of cinema at a very young age and appeared in several films as a child. Lee had his first role as a baby who was carried onto the stage in the film Golden Gate Girl.[20] He took his Chinese stage name as 李小龍, lit. Lee the Little Dragon, for the fact that he was born in both the hour and the year of the Dragon by the Chinese zodiac.[21] As a nine-year-old, he co-starred with his father in The Kid in 1950, which was based on a comic book character, "Kid Cheung", and was his first leading role.[22] By the time he was 18, he had appeared in 20 films.[21] After attending Tak Sun School (德信學校; several blocks from his home at 218 Nathan Road, Kowloon), Lee entered the primary school division of the Catholic La Salle College at age 12.[23] Lee and Yip Man in 1958 In 1956, due to poor academic performance and possibly poor conduct, he was transferred to St. Francis Xavier's College, where he was mentored by Brother Edward Muss, F.M.S., a Bavarian-born teacher and coach of the school boxing team.[19][24][25] After Lee was involved in several street fights, his parents decided that he needed to be trained in the martial arts. In 1953, Lee's friend William Cheung introduced him to Ip Man,[26][27] but he was rejected from learning Wing Chun Kung Fu under him because of the long-standing rule in the Chinese martial arts world not to teach foreigners.[28][29][additional citation(s) needed] His one quarter European background from his mother's side was an initial obstacle towards his Wing Chun training. Cheung spoke on his behalf and Lee was accepted into the school.[30] Lee began training in Wing Chun with Yip Man.[31] Yip tried to keep his students from fighting in the street gangs of Hong Kong by encouraging them to fight in organised competitions.[32] After a year into his Wing Chun training, most of Yip Man's other students refused to train with Lee when they had learned of his mixed ancestry, as the Chinese were generally against teaching their martial arts techniques to non-Asians.[33][34] Lee's sparring partner, Hawkins Cheung, states, "Probably fewer than six people in the whole Wing Chun clan were personally taught, or even partly taught, by Yip Man".[35] However, Lee showed a keen interest in Wing Chun and continued to train privately with Yip Man, William Cheung, and Wong Shun-leung.[36][37] In 1958, Lee won the Hong Kong schools boxing tournament, knocking out the previous champion, Gary Elms, in the final.[19] That year, Lee was also a cha-cha dancer, winning Hong Kong's Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship.[38] 1959–1964: Continuous studies and martial arts breakthrough Until his late teens, Lee's street fights became more frequent and included beating the son of a feared triad family.[39] In 1958, after students from a rival Choy Li Fut martial arts school challenged Lee's Wing Chun school, he engaged in a fight on a rooftop. In response to an unfair punch by another boy, Bruce beat him so badly that he knocked out one of his teeth, leading to a complaint by the boy's parents to the police.[40] Lee's mother had to go to a police station and sign a document saying that she would take full responsibility for Bruce's actions if they released him into her custody. Though she did not mention the incident to her husband, she suggested that Bruce return to the United States to claim his U.S. citizenship at the age of 18.[41] Lee's father agreed, as Lee's college prospects were not very promising if he remained in Hong Kong .[40]     The police detective came and he says "Excuse me Mr. Lee, your son is really fighting bad in school. If he gets into just one more fight I might have to put him in jail".     — Robert Lee[42] In April 1959, Lee's parents decided to send him to the United States to stay with his older sister, Agnes Lee (李秋鳳), who was already living with family friends in San Francisco. After several months, he moved to Seattle in 1959 to continue his high school education, where he also worked for Ruby Chow as a live-in waiter at her restaurant. Chow's husband was a co-worker and friend of Lee's father. Lee's elder brother Peter Lee (李忠琛) joined him in Seattle for a short stay, before moving on to Minnesota to attend college.[43] In 1959, Lee started to teach martial arts. He called what he taught Jun Fan Gung Fu (literally Bruce Lee's Kung Fu). It was his approach to Wing Chun.[43] Lee taught friends he met in Seattle, starting with Judo practitioner Jesse Glover, who continued to teach some of Lee's early techniques. Taky Kimura became Lee's first Assistant Instructor and continued to teach his art and philosophy after Lee's death.[44] Lee opened his first martial arts school, named the Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute, in Seattle. Lee completed his high school education and received his diploma from Edison Technical School on Capitol Hill in Seattle.[45] In March 1961, Lee enrolled at the University of Washington and studied dramatic arts, philosophy, psychology, and various other subjects.[46][47] Despite what Lee himself and many others have stated, Lee's official major was drama rather than philosophy, according to a 1999 article in the university's alumni publication.[48] Lee dropped out of university in early 1964 and moved to Oakland to live with James Yimm Lee. James Lee was twenty years senior to Bruce Lee and a well-known Chinese martial artist in the area. Together, they founded the second Jun Fan martial arts studio in Oakland. James Lee was responsible for introducing Bruce Lee to Ed Parker, an American martial artist. At the invitation of Parker, Lee appeared in the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships and performed repetitions of two-finger push-ups, using the thumb and the index finger of one hand, with feet at approximately shoulder-width apart.[49] In the same Long Beach event he also performed the "one inch punch".[49] Lee stood upright, his right foot forward with knees bent slightly, in front of a standing, stationary partner. Lee's right arm was partly extended and his right fist approximately one inch (2.5 cm) away from the partner's chest. Without retracting his right arm, Lee then forcibly delivered the punch to volunteer Bob Baker while largely maintaining his posture. This sent Baker backwards and falling into a chair placed behind Baker to prevent injury, though Baker's momentum caused him to fall to the floor. Baker recalled, "I told Bruce not to do this type of demonstration again. When he punched me that last time, I had to stay home from work because the pain in my chest was unbearable".[50] It was at the 1964 championships that Lee first met Taekwondo master Jhoon Goo Rhee. The two developed a friendship—a relationship from which they benefited as martial artists. Rhee taught Lee the side kick in detail, and Lee taught Rhee the "non-telegraphic" punch.[51] In Oakland's Chinatown in 1964, Lee had a controversial private match with Wong Jack-man, a direct student of Ma Kin Fung, known for his mastery of Xingyiquan, Northern Shaolin, and tai chi. According to Lee, the Chinese community issued an ultimatum to him to stop teaching non-Chinese people. When he refused to comply, he was challenged to a combat match with Wong. The arrangement was that if Lee lost, he would have to shut down his school, while if he won, he would be free to teach white people, or anyone else.[52] Wong denied this, stating that he requested to fight Lee after Lee boasted during one of his demonstrations at a Chinatown theatre that he could beat anyone in San Francisco, and that Wong himself did not discriminate against Whites or other non-Chinese people.[53] Lee commented, "That paper had all the names of the sifu from Chinatown, but they don't scare me".[54] Individuals known to have witnessed the match include Cadwell, James Lee (Bruce Lee's associate, no relation), and William Chen, a teacher of tai chi. Wong and William Chen stated that the fight lasted an unusually long 20–25 minutes.[53][55] Wong claims that although he had originally expected a serious but polite bout, Lee aggressively attacked him with intent to kill. When Wong presented the traditional handshake, Lee appeared to accept the greeting, but instead, Lee allegedly thrust his hand as a spear aimed at Wong's eyes. Forced to defend his life, Wong asserted that he refrained from striking Lee with killing force when the opportunity presented itself because it could have earned him a prison sentence, but used illegal cufflings under his sleeves. According to Michael Dorgan's 1980 book Bruce Lee's Toughest Fight, the fight ended due to Lee's "unusually winded" condition, as opposed to a decisive blow by either fighter.[53] However, according to Bruce Lee, Linda Lee Cadwell, and James Yimm Lee, the fight lasted a mere three minutes with a decisive victory for Lee. In Cadwell's account, "The fight ensued, it was a no-holds-barred fight, it took three minutes. Bruce got this guy down to the ground and said 'Do you give up?' and the man said he gave up".[52] A couple of weeks after the bout, Lee gave an interview claiming that he had defeated an unnamed challenger, which Wong says was an obvious reference to him.[53][55] In response, Wong published his own account of the fight in the Pacific Weekly, a Chinese-language newspaper in San Francisco, with an invitation to a public rematch if Lee was not satisfied with the account. Lee did not respond to the invitation despite his reputation for violently responding to every provocation.[53] There were no further public announcements by either, though Lee continued to teach white people. Lee had abandoned thoughts of a film career in favour of pursuing martial arts. However, a martial arts exhibition on Long Beach in 1964 eventually led to the invitation by television producer William Dozier for an audition for a role in the pilot for "Number One Son" about Lee Chan, the son of Charlie Chan. The show never materialised, but Dozier saw potential in Lee.[56] 1966–1970: American roles and creating Jeet Kune Do A publicity photo of Williams and Lee for The Green Hornet in 1966 From 1966 to 1967, Lee played the role of Kato alongside the title character played by Van Williams in the TV series produced and narrated by William Dozier[57] titled The Green Hornet, based on the radio show by the same name.[58][56] The show ran for one season (26 episodes) from September 1966 to March 1967. Lee and Williams also appeared as their characters in three crossover episodes of Batman, another William Dozier-produced television series.[59][60][61] The Green Hornet introduced the adult Bruce Lee to an American audience, and became the first popular American show presenting Asian-style martial arts. The show's director wanted Lee to fight in the typical American style using fists and punches. As a professional martial artist, Lee refused, insisting that he should fight in the style of his expertise. At first, Lee moved so fast that his movements could not be caught on film, so he had to slow them down.[62] During the show's production, Lee became friends with Gene LeBell, who worked as a stuntman in the show. The two trained together and exchange martial arts knowledge from their respective specialties.[63] After the show was cancelled in 1967, Lee wrote to Dozier thanking him for starting "my career in show business".[62] In 1967, Lee played a role in one episode of Ironside.[64] The Jeet Kune Do emblem is a registered trademark held by the Bruce Lee Estate. The Chinese characters around the Taijitu symbol read: "Using no way as way" and "Having no limitation as limitation". The arrows represent the endless interaction between yang and yin.[65] Jeet Kune Do originated in 1967. After filming one season of The Green Hornet, Lee found himself out of work and opened The Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. The controversial match with Wong Jack-man influenced Lee's philosophy about martial arts. Lee concluded that the fight had lasted too long and that he had failed to live up to his potential using his Wing Chun techniques. He took the view that traditional martial arts techniques were too rigid and formalised to be practical in scenarios of chaotic street fighting. Lee decided to develop a system with an emphasis on "practicality, flexibility, speed, and efficiency". He started to use different methods of training such as weight training for strength, running for endurance, stretching for flexibility, and many others which he constantly adapted, including fencing and basic boxing techniques.[citation needed] Lee emphasised what he called "the style of no style". This consisted of getting rid of the formalised approach which Lee claimed was indicative of traditional styles. Lee felt that even the system he now called Jun Fan Gung Fu was too restrictive, and it eventually evolved into a philosophy and martial art he would come to call Jeet Kune Do or the Way of the Intercepting Fist. It is a term he would later regret, because Jeet Kune Do implied specific parameters that styles connote, whereas the idea of his martial art was to exist outside of parameters and limitations.[66] At the time, two of Lee's martial arts students were Hollywood script writer Stirling Silliphant and actor James Coburn. In 1969, the three worked on a script for a film titled The Silent Flute, and they went together on a location hunt to India. The project was not realised at the time, but the 1978 film Circle of Iron, starring David Carradine, was based on the same plot. In 2010, producer Paul Maslansky was reported to have planned and received funding for a film based on the original script for The Silent Flute.[67] In 1969, Lee made a brief appearance in the Silliphant-penned film Marlowe, where he played a hoodlum hired to intimidate private detective Philip Marlowe, played by James Garner, who uses his martial arts abilities to commit acts of vandalisation to intimidate Marlowe.[68][69] The same year, he was credited as the karate advisor in The Wrecking Crew, the fourth instalment of the Matt Helm comedy spy-fi film starring Dean Martin.[70] Also that year, Lee acted in one episode of Here Come the Brides and Blondie.[71][72] In 1970, Lee was responsible for producing the fight choreography of A Walk in the Spring Rain, starring Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, again written by Silliphant.[73][74] 1971–1973: Hong Kong films and Hollywood breakthrough In 1971, Lee appeared in four episodes of the television series Longstreet, written by Silliphant. Lee played Li Tsung, the martial arts instructor of the title character Mike Longstreet, played by James Franciscus, and important aspects of his martial arts philosophy were written into the script.[75][76] According to statements made by Lee, and also by Linda Lee Cadwell after Lee's death, in 1971 Lee pitched a television series of his own, tentatively titled The Warrior, discussions of which were confirmed by Warner Bros. During a December 9, 1971, television interview on The Pierre Berton Show, Lee stated that both Paramount and Warner Brothers wanted him "to be in a modernized type of a thing, and that they think the Western idea is out, whereas I want to do the Western".[77] According to Cadwell, Lee's concept was retooled and renamed Kung Fu, but Warner Bros. gave Lee no credit.[78] Warner Brothers states that they had for some time been developing an identical concept,[79] created by two writers and producers, Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander in 1969,[80] as stated too by Lee's biographer Matthew Polly.[81] According to these sources, the reason Lee was not cast was because he had a thick accent,[82] but Fred Weintraub attributes that to his ethnicity.[83][84] The role of the Shaolin monk in the Wild West was eventually awarded to then-non-martial-artist David Carradine. In an interview with The Pierre Berton Show, Lee stated he understood Warner Brothers' attitudes towards casting in the series: "They think that business-wise it is a risk. I don't blame them. If the situation were reversed, and an American star were to come to Hong Kong, and I was the man with the money, I would have my own concerns as to whether the acceptance would be there".[85] Producer Fred Weintraub had advised Lee to return to Hong Kong and make a feature film which he could showcase to executives in Hollywood.[86] Not happy with his supporting roles in the US, Lee returned to Hong Kong. Unaware that The Green Hornet had been played to success in Hong Kong and was unofficially referred to as "The Kato Show", he was surprised to be recognised as the star of the show.[87] After negotiating with both Shaw Brothers Studio and Golden Harvest, Lee signed a film contract to star in two films produced by Golden Harvest. Lee played his first leading role in The Big Boss (1971), which proved to be an enormous box office success across Asia and catapulted him to stardom. He followed up with Fist of Fury (1972), which broke the box office records set previously by The Big Boss. Having finished his initial two-year contract, Lee negotiated a new deal with Golden Harvest. Lee later formed his own company, Concord Production Inc., with Chow. For his third film, The Way of the Dragon (1972), he was given complete control of the film's production as the writer, director, star, and choreographer of the fight scenes. In 1964, at a demonstration in Long Beach, California, Lee met karate champion Chuck Norris. In The Way of the Dragon Lee introduced Norris to moviegoers as his opponent. Their showdown has been characterised as "one of the best fight scenes in martial arts and film history".[88][89] The role had originally been offered to American karate champion Joe Lewis.[90] Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon grossed an estimated US$100 million and US$130 million worldwide, respectively.[91] From August to October 1972, Lee began work on his fourth Golden Harvest film, Game of Death. He began filming some scenes, including his fight sequence with 7 ft 2 in (218 cm) American basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a former student. Production stopped in November 1972 when Warner Brothers offered Lee the opportunity to star in Enter the Dragon, the first film to be produced jointly by Concord, Golden Harvest, and Warner Bros. Filming began in Hong Kong in February 1973 and was completed in April 1973.[92] One month into the filming, another production company, Starseas Motion Pictures, promoted Bruce Lee as a leading actor in Fist of Unicorn, although he had merely agreed to choreograph the fight sequences in the film as a favour to his long-time friend Unicorn Chan. Lee planned to sue the production company, but retained his friendship with Chan.[93] However, only a few months after the completion of Enter the Dragon, and six days before its July 26, 1973, release, Lee died.[94] Enter the Dragon went on to become one of the year's highest-grossing films and cemented Lee as a martial arts legend. It was made for US$850,000 in 1973,[95] the equivalent to $4 million adjusted for inflation as of 2007.[96] Enter the Dragon is estimated to have grossed over $400 million worldwide,[94] the equivalent of over $2 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2022.[97][98] The film sparked a brief fad in martial arts, epitomised in songs such as "Kung Fu Fighting" and some TV shows. 1978–present: Posthumous work Bruce Lee's star at the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong Robert Clouse, the director of Enter the Dragon, together with Golden Harvest, revived Lee's unfinished film Game of Death. Lee had shot over 100 minutes of footage, including out-takes, for Game of Death before shooting was stopped to allow him to work on Enter the Dragon. In addition to Abdul-Jabbar, George Lazenby, Hapkido master Ji Han-jae, and another of Lee's students, Dan Inosanto, appeared in the film, which culminated in Lee's character, Hai Tien, clad in a yellow track suit[99][100] taking on a series of different challengers on each floor as they make their way through a five-level pagoda.[101] In a controversial move, Robert Clouse finished the film using a look-alike and archive footage of Lee from his other films with a new storyline and cast, which was released in 1978. However, the cobbled-together film contained only fifteen minutes of actual footage of Lee (he had printed many unsuccessful takes)[101] while the rest had a Lee look-alike, Kim Tai Chung, and Yuen Biao as stunt double. The unused footage Lee had filmed was recovered 22 years later and included in the documentary Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. Bruce Lee's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Apart from Game of Death, other future film projects were planned to feature Lee at the time. In 1972, after the success of The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, a third film was planned by Raymond Chow at Golden Harvest to be directed by Lo Wei, titled Yellow-Faced Tiger. However, at the time, Lee decided to direct and produce his own script for Way of the Dragon instead. Although Lee had formed a production company with Raymond Chow, a period film was also planned from September–November 1973 with the competing Shaw Brothers Studio, to be directed by either Chor Yuen or Cheng Kang, and written by Yi Kang and Chang Cheh, titled The Seven Sons of the Jade Dragon.[102] In 2015, Perfect Storm Entertainment and Bruce Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, announced that the series The Warrior would be produced and would air on the Cinemax. Filmmaker Justin Lin was chosen to direct the series.[103] Production began in October 2017, in Cape Town, South Africa. The first season will contain 10 episodes.[104] In April 2019, Cinemax renewed the series for a second season.[105] In March 2021, it was announced that producer Jason Kothari had acquired the rights to The Silent Flute "to become a miniseries, which would have John Fusco as a screenwriter and executive producer.[106] Unproduced works Lee had also worked on several scripts himself. A tape containing a recording of Lee narrating the basic storyline to a film tentatively titled Southern Fist/Northern Leg exists, showing some similarities with the canned script for The Silent Flute (Circle of Iron).[107] Another script had the title Green Bamboo Warrior, set in San Francisco, planned to co-star Bolo Yeung and to be produced by Andrew Vajna.[93] Photoshoot costume tests were organised for some of these planned film projects. Martial arts and fitness Further information: Jeet Kune Do Bruce Lee Style    Jeet Kune Do (founder) Chinese martial arts (Wing Chun,[108] tai chi),[109] boxing,[19] street fighting,[39] judo,[63] taekwondo,[51] karate, wrestling,[63] arnis,[110] epée fencing, hapkido, various other styles (by personal tutoring and research) Teacher(s)    Ip Man and Wong Shun-leung (wing chun), Brother Edward (boxing),[19] Jhoon Rhee (taekwondo),[51] Fred Sato and Gene LeBell (judo)[111] Dan Inosanto (arnis) Notable students    Jesse Glover, James DeMile, Linda Lee Cadwell, Dan Inosanto, Taky Kimura, Ted Wong, James Yimm Lee, Joe Lewis, Jhoon Rhee, Mike Stone, Gene LeBell, Chuck Norris, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, James Coburn, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Brandon Lee, others Striking Lee's first introduction to martial arts was through his father, from whom he learned the fundamentals of Wu-style tai chi.[109] In his teens, Lee became involved in Hong Kong gang conflicts, which led to frequent street fights.[39] The largest influence on Lee's martial arts development was his study of Wing Chun.[108] Lee was 16 years old under the Wing Chun teacher Yip Man, between late 1956 and 1957, after losing to rival gang members.[31] Yip's regular classes generally consisted of the forms practice, chi sao (sticking hands) drills, wooden dummy techniques, and free sparring. There was no set pattern to the classes.[31] Other Chinese martial arts styles Lee trained in were Northern Praying Mantis, Southern Praying Mantis, Eagle Claw, Tan Tui, Law Hon, Mizongyi, Wa K'ung, Monkey, Southern Dragon, Fujian White Crane, Choy Li Fut, Hung Gar, Choy Gar, Fut Gar, Mok Gar, Yau Kung Moon, Li Gar, and Lau Gar.[112][need quotation to verify][page needed] Lee was trained in boxing, between 1956 and 1958, by Brother Edward, coach of the St. Francis Xavier's College boxing team. Lee went on to win the Hong Kong schools boxing tournament in 1958, while scoring knockdowns against the previous champion Gary Elms in the final.[19] After moving to the United States, Lee was heavily influenced by heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style in the 1960s.[113] Lee demonstrated his Jeet Kune Do martial arts at the Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1964 and 1968, with the latter having higher-quality video footage available. Lee is seen demonstrating quick eye strikes before his opponent can block, and demonstrating the one-inch punch on several volunteers. He demonstrates chi sao drills while blindfolded against an opponent, probing for weaknesses in his opponent while scoring with punches and takedowns. Lee then participates in a full-contact sparring bout against an opponent, with both wearing leather headgear.[114] Lee is seen implementing his Jeet Kune Do concept of economical motion, using Ali-inspired footwork to keep out of range while counter-attacking with backfists and straight punches. He halts attacks with stop-hit side kicks, and quickly executes several sweeps and head kicks. The opponent repeatedly attempts to attack Lee, but is never able to connect with a clean hit. He once manages to come close with a spin kick, but Lee counters it. The footage was reviewed by Black Belt magazine in 1995, concluding that "the action is as fast and furious as anything in Lee's films."[114] It was at the 1964 championships that Lee first met taekwondo master Jhoon Goo Rhee. While Rhee taught Lee the side kick in detail, Lee taught Rhee the "non-telegraphic" punch.[51] Rhee learned what he calls the "accupunch" from Lee and incorporated it into American taekwondo. The "accupunch" is a rapid fast punch that is very difficult to block, based on human reaction time—"the idea is to finish the execution of the punch before the opponent can complete the brain-to-wrist communication."[115] Lee commonly used the oblique kick, made popular much later in mixed martial arts.[116] It is called the jeet tek, "stop kick" or "intercepting kick", in Jeet Kune Do.[117] Grappling Lee favored cross-training between different fighting styles, and had a particular interest in grappling.[111] Lee trained with several judo practitioners in Seattle and California, among them Fred Sato, Jesse Glover, Taky Kimura, Hayward Nishioka and Wally Jay, as well as Gene LeBell.[118][111] Many of his first students were proficient in judo and other arts, and he learned as much as he taught.[119] After befriending LeBell on the set of The Green Hornet, Lee offered to teach him striking arts in exchange for being taught grappling techniques.[63][120] LeBell had been taught catch wrestling by prestigious grapplers Lou Thesz and Ed Lewis, and notable techniques of both judo and catch wrestling can be seen in Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do.[121] He also learned grappling moves from hapkido master Ji Han-jae.[111] According to Glover, Lee only found judo ineffective at the action of getting hold of the opponent.[111] In their first training together, Glover showed Lee an osoto gari, which Lee considered not a bad technique, but he disliked that Glover had needed to hold onto Lee.[122] While in Seattle, Lee developed anti-grappling techniques against opponents trying to tackle him or take him to the ground. Glover recalled Lee "definitely would not go to the ground if he had the opportunity to get you standing up."[111] Nonetheless, Lee expressed to LeBell a wish to integrate judo into his fighting style.[111] He incorporated the osoto gari into Jeet Kune Do, among other throws, armlocks and chokeholds from judo.[123] Although Lee opined that grappling was of little use in action choreography because it was not visually distinctive,[120] he showcased grappling moves in his own films, such as Way of the Dragon, where his character finishes his opponent Chuck Norris with a neck hold inspired by LeBell,[63] and Enter the Dragon, whose prologue features Lee submitting his opponent Sammo Hung with an armbar.[111][124] Game of Death also features Lee and Han-jae exchanging grappling moves, as well as Lee using wrestling against the character played by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[111] Lee was also influenced by the training routine of The Great Gama, an Indian/Pakistani pehlwani wrestling champion known for his grappling strength. Lee incorporated Gama's exercises into his own training routine.[125] Street fighting Another major influence on Lee was Hong Kong's street fighting culture in the form of rooftop fights. In the mid-20th century, soaring crime in Hong Kong, combined with limited Hong Kong Police manpower, led to many young Hongkongers learning martial arts for self-defence. Around the 1960s, there were about 400 martial arts schools in Hong Kong, teaching their own distinctive styles of martial arts. In Hong Kong's street fighting culture, there emerged a rooftop fight scene in the 1950s and 1960s, where gangs from rival martial arts schools challenged each other to bare-knuckle fights on Hong Kong's rooftops, in order to avoid crackdowns by British colonial authorities. Lee frequently participated in these Hong Kong rooftop fights. He combined different techniques from different martial arts schools into his own hybrid martial arts style.[126] When Lee returned to Hong Kong in the early 1970s, his reputation as "the fastest fist in the east" routinely led to locals challenging him to street fights. He sometimes accepted these challenges and engaged in street fights, which led to some criticism from the press portraying him as violent at the time.[127] Fitness At 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) and weighing 64 kg (141 lb),[128] Lee was renowned for his physical fitness and vigor, achieved by using a dedicated fitness regimen to become as strong as possible. After his match with Wong Jack-man in 1965, Lee changed his approach toward martial arts training. Lee felt that many martial artists of his time did not spend enough time on physical conditioning. Lee included all elements of total fitness—muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility. He used traditional bodybuilding techniques to build some muscle mass, though not overdone, as that could decrease speed or flexibility. At the same time, with respect to balance, Lee maintained that mental and spiritual preparation are fundamental to the success of physical training in martial arts skills. In Tao of Jeet Kune Do he wrote:     Training is one of the most neglected phases of athletics. Too much time is given to the development of skill and too little to the development of the individual for participation. ... JKD, ultimately is not a matter of petty techniques but of highly developed spirituality and physique.[129] According to Linda Lee Cadwell, soon after he moved to the United States, Lee started to take nutrition seriously and developed an interest in health foods, high-protein drinks, and vitamin and mineral supplements. He later concluded that achieving a high-performance body was akin to maintaining the engine of a high-performance automobile. Allegorically, as one could not keep a car running on low-octane fuels, one could not sustain one's body with a steady diet of junk food, and with "the wrong fuel", one's body would perform sluggishly or sloppily.[130] Lee avoided baked goods and refined flour, describing them as providing empty calories that did nothing for his body.[131] He was known for being a fan of Asian cuisine for its variety, and often ate meals with a combination of vegetables, rice, and fish. Lee had a dislike for dairy products and as a result, used powdered milk in his diet.[132] Dan Inosanto recalls Lee practised meditation as the first action on his schedule.[118] Artistry Philosophy While best known as a martial artist, Lee studied drama and Asian and Western philosophy, starting while a student at the University of Washington. He was well-read and had an extensive library dominated by martial arts subjects and philosophical texts.[133] His own books on martial arts and fighting philosophy are known for their philosophical assertions, both inside and outside of martial arts circles. His eclectic philosophy often mirrored his fighting beliefs, though he was quick to say that his martial arts were solely a metaphor for such teachings.[134] He believed that any knowledge ultimately led to self-knowledge. He said that his chosen method of self-expression was martial arts.[134] His influences include Taoism, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and Buddhism.[135] Lee's philosophy was very much in opposition to the conservative worldview advocated by Confucianism.[136] John Little states that Lee was an atheist. When asked in 1972 about his religious affiliation, he replied, "none whatsoever".[137] When asked if he believed in God, he said, "To be perfectly frank, I really do not."[134] Poetry Aside from martial arts and philosophy, which focus on the physical aspect and self-consciousness for truths and principles,[138] Lee also wrote poetry that reflected his emotion and a stage in his life collectively.[139] Many forms of art remain concordant with the artist creating them. Lee's principle of self-expression was applied to his poetry as well. His daughter Shannon Lee said, "He did write poetry; he was really the consummate artist."[140] His poetic works were originally handwritten on paper, then later on edited and published, with John Little being the major author (editor), for Bruce Lee's works. Linda Lee Cadwell (Bruce Lee's wife) shared her husband's notes, poems, and experiences with followers. She mentioned "Lee's poems are, by American standards, rather dark—reflecting the deeper, less exposed recesses of the human psyche".[141] Most of Bruce Lee's poems are categorised as anti-poetry or fall into a paradox. The mood in his poems shows the side of the man that can be compared with other poets such as Robert Frost, one of many well-known poets expressing himself with dark poetic works. The paradox taken from the Yin and Yang symbol in martial arts was also integrated into his poetry. His martial arts and philosophy contribute a great part to his poetry. The free verse form of Lee's poetry reflects his quote "Be formless ... shapeless, like water."[142] Personal life Names Lee's Cantonese birth name was Lee Jun-fan (李振藩).[143] The name homophonically means "return again", and was given to Lee by his mother, who felt he would return to the United States once he came of age.[144] Because of his mother's superstitious nature, she had originally named him Sai-fon (細鳳), which is a feminine name meaning "small phoenix".[42] The English name "Bruce" is thought to have been given by the hospital attending physician, Dr. Mary Glover.[145] Lee had three other Chinese names: Lee Yuen-cham (李源鑫), a family/clan name; Lee Yuen-kam (李元鑒), which he used as a student name while he was attending La Salle College, and his Chinese screen name Lee Siu-lung (李小龍; Siu-lung means "little dragon").[citation needed] Lee's given name Jun-fan was originally written in Chinese as 震藩; however, the Jun (震) Chinese character was identical to part of his grandfather's name, Lee Jun-biu (李震彪).[citation needed] Hence, the Chinese character for Jun in Lee's name was changed to the homonym 振 instead, to avoid naming taboo in Chinese tradition.[citation needed] Family Lee and his family Lee's father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was one of the leading Cantonese opera and film actors at the time and was embarking on a year-long opera tour with his family on the eve of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong. Lee Hoi-chuen had been touring the United States for many years and performing in numerous Chinese communities there. Although many of his peers decided to stay in the US, Lee Hoi-chuen returned to Hong Kong after Bruce's birth. Within months, Hong Kong was invaded and the Lees lived for three years and eight months under Japanese occupation. After the war ended, Lee Hoi-chuen resumed his acting career and became a more popular actor during Hong Kong's rebuilding years. Lee's mother, Grace Ho, was from one of the wealthiest and most powerful clans in Hong Kong, the Ho-tungs. She was the half-niece of Sir Robert Ho-tung,[146][147] the Eurasian patriarch of the clan. As such, the young Bruce Lee grew up in an affluent and privileged environment. Despite the advantage of his family's status, the neighbourhood in which Lee grew up became overcrowded, dangerous, and full of gang rivalries due to an influx of refugees fleeing communist China for Hong Kong, at that time a British Crown Colony.[42] Grace Ho is reported as either the adopted or biological daughter of Ho Kom-tong (Ho Gumtong, 何甘棠) and the half-niece of Sir Robert Ho-tung, both notable Hong Kong businessmen and philanthropists.[146] Bruce was the fourth of five children: Phoebe Lee (李秋源), Agnes Lee (李秋鳳), Peter Lee, and Robert Lee. Bruce Lee with his son Brandon in 1966 Grace's parentage remains unclear. Linda Lee, in her 1989 biography The Bruce Lee Story, suggests that Grace had a German father and was a Catholic.[88] Bruce Thomas, in his influential 1994 biography Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit, suggests that Grace had a Chinese mother and a German father.[148] Lee's relative Eric Peter Ho, in his 2010 book Tracing My Children's Lineage, suggests that Grace was born in Shanghai to a Eurasian woman named Cheung King-sin.[148] Eric Peter Ho said that Grace Lee was the daughter of a mixed race Shanghainese woman and her father was Ho Kom Tong. Grace Lee said her mother was English and her father was Chinese.[149] Fredda Dudley Balling said Grace Lee was three-quarters Chinese and one-quarter British.[150] In the 2018 biography Bruce Lee: A Life, Matthew Polly identifies Lee's maternal grandfather as Ho Kom-tong, who had often been reported as his adoptive grandfather. Ho Kom-tong's father, Charles Maurice Bosman,[151] was a Dutch Jewish businessman from Rotterdam.[152] He moved to Hong Kong with the Dutch East India Company and served as the Dutch consul to Hong Kong at one time. He had a Chinese concubine named Sze Tai with whom he had six children, including Ho Kom Tong. Bosman subsequently abandoned his family and immigrated to California.[153] Ho Kom Tong became a wealthy businessman with a wife, 13 concubines, and a British mistress who gave birth to Grace Ho.[154][155][156] His younger brother Robert Lee Jun-fai is a musician and singer; he performed in the Hong Kong group The Thunderbirds.[157][158][159] A few singles were sung mostly or all in English. Also released was Lee singing a duet with Irene Ryder.[160] Lee Jun-fai lived with Lee in Los Angeles in the United States and stayed. After Lee's death, Lee Jun-fai released an album and the single by the same name dedicated to Lee called "The Ballad of Bruce Lee".[161] While studying at the University of Washington he met his future wife Linda Emery, a fellow student studying to become a teacher. As relations between people of different races was still banned in many US states, they married in secret in August 1964.[162] Lee had two children with Linda: Brandon (1965–1993) and Shannon Lee (born 1969). Upon's Lee passing in 1973, she continued to promote Bruce Lee's martial art Jeet Kune Do. She wrote the 1975 book Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, on which the 1993 feature film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story was based.[163] In 1989, she wrote the book The Bruce Lee Story. She retired in 2001 from the family estate. Lee died when his son Brandon was eight years old. While alive, Lee taught Brandon martial arts and would invite him to visit sets. This gave Brandon the desire to act and went on to study the craft. As a young adult, Brandon Lee found some success acting in action-oriented pictures such as Legacy of Rage (1986), Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991), and Rapid Fire (1992). In 1993, at the age of 28, Brandon Lee died after being accidentally shot by a prop gun on the set of The Crow. Lee died when his daughter Shannon was four. In her youth she studied Jeet Kune Do under Richard Bustillo, one of her father's students; however, her serious studies did not begin until the late 1990s. To train for parts in action movies, she studied Jeet Kune Do with Ted Wong.[164] Friends, students, and contemporaries Lee's brother Robert with his friends Taky Kimura, Dan Inosanto, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and Peter Chin were his pallbearers.[165] Coburn was a martial arts student and a friend of Lee. Coburn worked with Lee and Stirling Silliphant on developing The Silent Flute. Upon Lee's early death, at his funeral Coburn gave a eulogy.[165] Regarding McQueen, Lee made no secret that he wanted everything McQueen had and would stop at nothing to get it.[166][167][168] Inosanto and Kimura were friends and disciple of Lee. Inosanto who would go on to train Lee's son Brandon.[169][170] Kimura continued to teach Lee's craft in Seattle.[171] According to Lee's wife, Chin was a lifelong family friend and a student of Lee.[172] James Yimm Lee (no relation) was one of Lee's three personally certified 3rd rank instructors and co-founded the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute in Oakland where he taught Jun Fan Gung Fu in Lee's absence. James was responsible for introducing Lee to Ed Parker, the organiser of the Long Beach International Karate Championships, where Lee was first introduced to the martial arts community.[173] Hollywood couple Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate studied martial arts with Lee. Polanski flew Lee to Switzerland to train him. Tate studied with Lee in preparation for her role in The Wrecking Crew. After Tate was murdered by the Manson Family, Polanski initially suspected Lee.[174] Screenwriter Stirling Silliphant was a martial arts student and a friend of Lee.[175][176] Silliphant worked with Lee and James Coburn on developing The Silent Flute.[177] Lee acted and provided his martial arts expertise in several projects penned by Silliphant, the first in Marlowe (1969) where Lee plays Winslow Wong a hoodlum well versed in martial arts. Lee also did fight choreographies for the film A Walk in the Spring Rain (1970), and played Li Tsung, a Jeet Kune Do instructor who teaches the main character in the television show Longstreet (1971). Elements of his martial arts philosophy were included in the script for the latter.[68][69][73][74][75][76] Basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar studied martial arts and developed a friendship with Lee.[73] Actor and karate champion Chuck Norris was a friend and training partner of Lee's.[178] After Lee's death, Norris said he kept in touch with Lee's family.[179] Judoka and professional wrestler Gene LeBell became a friend of Lee on the set of The Green Hornet. They trained together and exchanged their knowledge of martial arts.[63][120] Death Bruce Lee is buried next to his son Brandon at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle. On May 10, 1973, Lee collapsed during an automated dialogue replacement session for Enter the Dragon at Orange Sky Golden Harvest film studio in Hong Kong. Because he was having epileptic seizures and headaches, he was rushed to Hong Kong Baptist Hospital, where doctors diagnosed cerebral edema. They were able to reduce the swelling through the administration of mannitol.[180] On Friday, July 20, 1973, Lee was in Hong Kong to have dinner with actor George Lazenby, with whom he intended to make a film. According to Lee's wife Linda, Lee met producer Raymond Chow at 2 p.m. at home to discuss the making of the film Game of Death. They worked until 4 p.m. and then drove together to the home of Lee's colleague Betty Ting Pei, a Taiwanese actress. The three went over the script at Ting's home, and then Chow left to attend a dinner meeting.[181][182] Lee took a nap and when he did not arrive at the dinner, Chow came to the apartment, but he was unable to wake Lee up. A doctor was summoned, and spent ten minutes attempting to revive Lee before sending him by ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Lee was declared dead on arrival at the age of 32.[183] Lee was buried in Lake View Cemetery in Seattle.[184][185] Pallbearers at Lee's funeral on July 25, 1973, included Taky Kimura, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Dan Inosanto, Peter Chin, and Lee's brother Robert.[186] Possible causes of death Lee's iconic status and untimely death fed many wild rumours and theories. These included murder involving the triads and a supposed curse on him and his family.[187][188] Donald Teare, a forensic scientist recommended by Scotland Yard who had overseen over 1,000 autopsies, was assigned to perform an autopsy on Lee. His conclusion was "death by misadventure" caused by cerebral edema due to a reaction to compounds present in the combination medication Equagesic. According to autopsy reports, Lee's brain had swollen from 1,400 to 1,575 grams, a 13% increase. Lee had taken Equagesic on the day of his death, which contained both aspirin and the tranquiliser meprobamate, although he had taken it many times before.[189][190][191] Although there was initial speculation that cannabis found in Lee's stomach may have contributed to his death, Teare said it would "be both 'irresponsible and irrational' to say that [cannabis] might have triggered either the events of Bruce's collapse on May 10 or his death on July 20". Dr. R. R. Lycette, the clinical pathologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, reported at the coroner hearing that the death could not have been caused by cannabis.[192] In a 2018 biography, author Matthew Polly consulted with medical experts and theorised that the cerebral edema that killed Lee had been caused by over-exertion and heat stroke; heat stroke was not considered at the time because it was then a poorly understood condition. Furthermore, Lee had his underarm sweat glands removed in late 1972, in the apparent belief that underarm sweat was unphotogenic on film. Polly further theorised that this caused Lee's body to overheat while practising in hot temperatures on May 10 and July 20, 1973, resulting in heat stroke that in turn exacerbated the cerebral edema that led to his death.[193][194] In an article in the December 2022 issue of Clinical Kidney Journal, a team of researchers examined the various theories regarding Lee's cause of death, and concluded that his fatal cerebal edema was brought on by hyponatremia, an insufficient concentration of sodium in the blood. The authors noted that there were several risk factors which predisposed Lee to hyponatremia, including excessive water intake, insufficient solute intake, alcohol consumption, and use or overuse of multiple drugs which impair the ability of the kidneys to excrete excess fluids. Lee's symptoms prior to his death were also found to closely match known cases of fatal hyponatremia.[195][196][197] Legacy and cultural impact Further information: Bruceploitation and Jeet Kune Do Bruce Lee statue in Hong Kong Lee is considered by some commentators and martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time,[198][199][200] and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, who bridged the gap between East and West.[201][202] Time named Lee one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century.[203] A number of biography books have been written about Lee. A biography had sold more than 4 million copies by 1988.[204] Action films See also: Chopsocky and Hong Kong action cinema Lee was largely responsible for launching the "kung fu craze" of the 1970s.[205][206] He initially introduced kung fu to the West with American television shows such as The Green Hornet and Kung Fu,[206] before the "kung fu craze" began with the dominance of Hong Kong martial arts films in 1973.[205] Lee's success inspired a wave of Western martial arts films and television shows throughout the 1970s–1990s (launching the careers of Western martial arts stars such as Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris), as well as the more general integration of Asian martial arts into Western action films and television shows during the 1980s–1990s.[206] Enter the Dragon has been cited as one of the most influential action films of all time. Sascha Matuszak of Vice said Enter the Dragon "is referenced in all manner of media, the plot line and characters continue to influence storytellers today, and the impact was particularly felt in the revolutionizing way the film portrayed African-Americans, Asians and traditional martial arts."[207] Kuan-Hsing Chen and Beng Huat Chua cited fight scenes in Lee's films such as Enter the Dragon as being influential for the way they pitched "an elemental story of good against evil in such a spectacle-saturated way".[208] A number of action filmmakers around the world have cited Bruce Lee as a formative influence on their careers, including Hong Kong action film directors such as Jackie Chan[209] and John Woo,[210][211] and Hollywood filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino[212] and Brett Ratner.[211] Martial arts and combat sports Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that was founded by Lee, is sometimes credited with paving the way for modern mixed martial arts (MMA).[6][213][214][215] The concept of mixed martial arts was popularised in the West by Bruce Lee via his system of Jeet Kune Do. Lee believed that "the best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style, to be formless, to adopt an individual's own style and not following the system of styles."[216] In 2004, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) founder Dana White called Lee the "father of mixed martial arts" and stated: "If you look at the way Bruce Lee trained, the way he fought, and many of the things he wrote, he said the perfect style was no style. You take a little something from everything. You take the good things from every different discipline, use what works, and you throw the rest away".[216] Lee was largely responsible for many people taking up martial arts.[215] These include numerous fighters in combat sports who were inspired by Lee; boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard said he perfected his jab by watching Lee, boxing champion Manny Pacquiao compared his fighting style to Lee, and UFC champion Conor McGregor has compared himself to Lee and said that he believes Lee would have been a champion in the UFC if he were to compete in the present day.[217] Lee inspired the foundation of American full-contact kickboxing tournaments by Joe Lewis[215] and Benny Urquidez in the 1970s.[215][218] American taekwondo pioneer Jhoon Goo Rhee learned from Lee what he calls the "accupunch", which he incorporated into American taekwondo. Rhee later coached heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and taught him the "accupunch", which Ali used to knockout Richard Dunn in 1975.[115] According to heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, "everyone wanted to be Bruce Lee" in the 1970s.[219] UFC pound-for-pound champion Jon Jones cited Lee as inspiration,[220] with Jones known for frequently using the oblique kick to the knee, a technique that was popularised by Lee.[116] UFC champions Uriah Hall and Anderson Silva cited Lee as an inspiration.[209] Numerous other UFC fighters have cited Lee as their inspiration, with several referring to him as a "godfather" or "grandfather" of MMA.[221] Racial barriers and stereotypes Lee is credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films.[7] He defied Asian stereotypes, such as the emasculated Asian male stereotype.[13] In contrast to earlier stereotypes which depicted Asian men as emasculated, childlike, coolies, or domestic servants, Lee demonstrated that Asian men could be "tough, strong and sexy" according to University of Michigan lecturer Hye Seung Chung. In turn, Lee's popularity inspired a new Asian stereotype, the martial artist.[222] In North America, his films initially played largely to black, Asian and Hispanic audiences. Within black communities, Lee's popularity was second only to heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali in the 1970s. As Lee broke through to the mainstream, he became a rare non-white movie star in a Hollywood industry dominated by white actors at the time.[223] According to rapper LL Cool J, Lee's films were the first time many non-white American children such as himself had seen a non-white action hero on the big screen in the 1970s.[211] Popular culture Numerous entertainment and sports figures around the world have cited Lee as a major influence on their work, including martial arts actors such as Jackie Chan[209] and Donnie Yen,[211] actor-bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger,[211] actor-comedians such as Eddie Murphy[224] and Eddie Griffin,[209] actresses such as Olivia Munn and Dianne Doan,[209] musicians such as Steve Aoki and Rohan Marley,[209] rappers such as LL Cool J and Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA,[210][211] bands such as Gorillaz,[211] comedians such as W. Kamau Bell[209] and Margaret Cho,[211] basketball players Stephen Curry and Jamal Murray, skaters Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi, and American footballer Kyler Murray, among others.[209] Bruce Lee influenced several comic book writers, notably Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee,[210] who considered Bruce Lee to be a superhero without a costume.[211] Shortly after his death, Lee inspired the Marvel characters Shang-Chi (debuted 1973) and Iron Fist (debuted 1974) as well as the comic book series The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (debuted 1974). According to Stan Lee, any character that is a martial artist since then owes their origin to Bruce Lee in some form.[211] Bruce Lee was a formative influence on the development of breakdancing in the 1970s. Early breakdancing pioneers such as the Rock Steady Crew drew inspiration from kung fu moves, as performed by Lee, inspiring dance moves such as the windmill among other breaking moves.[225][211] In India, Lee films had an influence on Hindi masala films.[226] After the success of Lee films such as Enter the Dragon in India,[227] Deewaar (1975) and later Hindi films incorporated fight scenes inspired by 1970s Hong Kong martial arts films up until the 1990s.[228] According to Indian film star Aamir Khan, when he was a child, "almost every house had a poster of Bruce Lee" in 1970s Bombay.[229] In Japan, the manga and anime franchises Fist of the North Star (1983–1988) and Dragon Ball (1984–1995) were inspired by Lee films such as Enter the Dragon.[230][231] In turn, Fist of the North Star and especially Dragon Ball are credited with setting the trends for popular shōnen manga and anime from the 1980s onwards.[232][233] Spike Spiegel, the protagonist from the 1998 anime Cowboy Bebop, is seen practising Jeet Kune Do and quotes Lee.[234] Bruce Lee films such as Game of Death and Enter the Dragon were the foundation for video game genres such as beat 'em up action games and fighting games.[235][236][237] The first beat 'em up game, Kung-Fu Master (1984), was based on Lee's Game of Death.[238] The Street Fighter video game franchise (1987 debut) was inspired by Enter the Dragon, with the gameplay centered around an international fighting tournament, and each character having a unique combination of ethnicity, nationality and fighting style; Street Fighter went on to set the template for all fighting games that followed.[239] Since then, nearly every major fighting game franchise has had a character based on Bruce Lee.[211] In April 2014, Lee was named a featured character in the combat sports video game EA Sports UFC, and is playable in multiple weight classes.[240] In France, the Yamakasi cited the martial arts philosophy of Bruce Lee as an influence on their development of the parkour discipline in the 1990s, along with the acrobatics of Jackie Chan.[241][242] The Yamakasi considered Lee to be the "unofficial president" of their group.[242] The Legend of Bruce Lee (2008), a Chinese television drama series based on the life of Bruce Lee, has been watched by over 400 million viewers in China, making it the most-watched Chinese television drama series of all time, as of 2017.[243][244] In November 2022, it was announced that Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee was directing a biopic on Bruce Lee. Ang Lee's son Mason Lee was cast to star in the movie, while Bruce Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, is set to produce the film.[245] In 2024, there was a proposal made to erect a statue of Bruce Lee in San Francisco. Lee's daughter is in favor of erecting it stating, "the Bay Area is a very rich and vital part of our legacy."[246] Commercials Though Bruce Lee did not appear in commercials during his lifetime, his likeness and image has since appeared in hundreds of commercials around the world.[211] Nokia launched an Internet-based campaign in 2008 with staged "documentary-looking" footage of Bruce Lee playing ping-pong with his nunchaku and also igniting matches as they are thrown toward him. The videos went viral on YouTube, creating confusion as some people believed them to be authentic footage.[247] Honors Further information: List of awards and honors received by Bruce Lee Awards     1972: Golden Horse Awards Best Mandarin Film     1972: Fist of Fury Special Jury Award[248]     1994: Hong Kong Film Award for Lifetime Achievement[248]     1999: Named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century[7]     2004: Star of the Century Award[249]     2013: The Asian Awards Founders Award[250] Statues     Statue of Bruce Lee (Los Angeles): unveiled June 15, 2013,[251] Chinatown Central Plaza, Los Angeles, California     Statue of Bruce Lee (Hong Kong): 2.5 m (8.2 ft) bronze statue of Lee was unveiled on November 27, 2005, on what would have been his 65th birthday.[252]     Statue of Bruce Lee (Mostar): The day before the Hong Kong statue was dedicated, the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina unveiled its own 1.68 m (5.5 ft) bronze statue; supporters of the statue cited Lee as a unifying symbol against the ethnic divisions in the country, which had culminated in the 1992–95 Bosnian War.[253] Places A theme park dedicated to Lee was built in Jun'an, Guangdong. Mainland Chinese only started watching Bruce Lee films in the 1980s, when videos of classic movies like Fist of Fury became available. On January 6, 2009, it was announced that Lee's Hong Kong home (41 Cumberland Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong) would be preserved and transformed into a tourist site by Yu Pang-lin.[254][255] Yu died in 2015 and this plan did not materialise.[256] In 2018, Yu's grandson, Pang Chi-ping, said: "We will convert the mansion into a centre for Chinese studies next year, which provides courses like Mandarin and Chinese music for children."[257] Filmography Main article: Bruce Lee filmography Books     Chinese Gung-Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self Defense (Bruce Lee's first book) – 1963     Tao of Jeet Kune Do (Published posthumously) – 1973     Bruce Lee's Fighting Method (Published posthumously) – 1978 See also     Media about Bruce Lee     Bruce Lee (comics)     Bruce Lee Library     Bruceploitation     Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story     List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – Bruce Lee at 6933 Hollywood Blvd     The Legend of Bruce Lee Footnotes Although he was born in the United States, he never claimed his birthright U.S. citizenship until 1959.Bruce Lee (Chinese: 李小龍; born Lee Jun-fan, 李振藩; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor whose career spanned Hong Kong and the United States.[3][4][5] He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that is sometimes credited with paving the way for modern mixed martial arts (MMA).[6] Lee is considered by some commentators and martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, who bridged the gap between East and West. He is credited with promoting Hong Kong action cinema and helping to change the way Chinese people were presented in American films.[7] Born in San Francisco and raised in British Hong Kong, Lee was introduced to the Hong Kong film industry as a child actor by his father.[8] However, these were not martial arts films. His early martial arts experience included Wing Chun (trained under Yip Man), tai chi, boxing (winning a Hong Kong boxing tournament), and apparently frequent street fighting (neighbourhood and rooftop fights). In 1959, Lee moved to Seattle. In 1961, he enrolled in the University of Washington.[9] It was during this time in the United States that he began considering making money by teaching martial arts, even though he aspired to have a career in acting. He opened his first martial arts school, operated out of home in Seattle. After later adding a second school in Oakland, California, he once drew significant attention at the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships of California by making demonstrations and speaking. He subsequently moved to Los Angeles to teach, where his students included Chuck Norris, Sharon Tate, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In the 1970s, his Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the Hong Kong martial arts films to a new level of popularity and acclaim, sparking a surge of Western interest in Chinese martial arts. The direction and tone of his films dramatically influenced and changed martial arts and martial arts films worldwide.[10] He is noted for his roles in five feature-length Hong Kong martial arts films in the early 1970s: Lo Wei's The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972); Golden Harvest's The Way of the Dragon (1972), directed and written by Lee; and Golden Harvest and Warner Brothers' Enter the Dragon (1973) and The Game of Death (1978), both directed by Robert Clouse.[11] Lee became an iconic figure known throughout the world, particularly among the Chinese, based upon his portrayal of Chinese nationalism in his films,[12] and among Asian Americans for defying Asian stereotypes in the United States.[13] Having initially learnt Wing Chun, tai chi, boxing, and street fighting, he combined them with other influences from various sources into the spirit of his personal martial arts philosophy, which he dubbed Jeet Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist).[14] Lee died in July 1973, aged 32. Since his death, Lee has continued to be a prominent influence on modern combat sports, including judo, karate, mixed martial arts, and boxing, as well as modern popular culture, including film, television, comics, animation, and video games. Time named Lee one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. Early life Bruce Lee as a baby with his parents, Grace Ho and Lee Hoi-chuen Bruce Lee's birth name was Lee Jun-fan. His father Lee Hoi-chuen was a Cantonese opera singer based in Hong Kong. His mother Grace Ho was born in Shanghai, and she was of Eurasian ancestry.[15] In December 1939, his parents traveled to California for an international opera tour in Chinatown, San Francisco.[16] He was born there on November 27, 1940, allowing him to claim U.S. citizenship due to the United States' jus soli citizenship laws.[17] When he was four months old (April 1941), the Lee family returned to Hong Kong.[16] Soon after, the Lee family experienced unexpected hardships over the next four years as Japan, in the midst of World War II, launched a surprise attack on Hong Kong in December 1941 and ruled the city for the next four years.[16] Lee's maternal grandfather was Cantonese, his maternal grandmother was English[18] and his maternal great-uncle, Robert Hotung, was a Hong Kong businessman of Dutch Jewish and Cantonese descent.[19] Career and education 1940–1958: Early roles, schooling and martial arts initiation Lee's father Lee Hoi-chuen was a Cantonese opera star. As a result, the junior Lee was introduced to the world of cinema at a very young age and appeared in several films as a child. Lee had his first role as a baby who was carried onto the stage in the film Golden Gate Girl.[20] He took his Chinese stage name as 李小龍, lit. Lee the Little Dragon, for the fact that he was born in both the hour and the year of the Dragon by the Chinese zodiac.[21] As a nine-year-old, he co-starred with his father in The Kid in 1950, which was based on a comic book character, "Kid Cheung", and was his first leading role.[22] By the time he was 18, he had appeared in 20 films.[21] After attending Tak Sun School (德信學校; several blocks from his home at 218 Nathan Road, Kowloon), Lee entered the primary school division of the Catholic La Salle College at age 12.[23] Lee and Yip Man in 1958 In 1956, due to poor academic performance and possibly poor conduct, he was transferred to St. Francis Xavier's College, where he was mentored by Brother Edward Muss, F.M.S., a Bavarian-born teacher and coach of the school boxing team.[19][24][25] After Lee was involved in several street fights, his parents decided that he needed to be trained in the martial arts. In 1953, Lee's friend William Cheung introduced him to Ip Man,[26][27] but he was rejected from learning Wing Chun Kung Fu under him because of the long-standing rule in the Chinese martial arts world not to teach foreigners.[28][29][additional citation(s) needed] His one quarter European background from his mother's side was an initial obstacle towards his Wing Chun training. Cheung spoke on his behalf and Lee was accepted into the school.[30] Lee began training in Wing Chun with Yip Man.[31] Yip tried to keep his students from fighting in the street gangs of Hong Kong by encouraging them to fight in organised competitions.[32] After a year into his Wing Chun training, most of Yip Man's other students refused to train with Lee when they had learned of his mixed ancestry, as the Chinese were generally against teaching their martial arts techniques to non-Asians.[33][34] Lee's sparring partner, Hawkins Cheung, states, "Probably fewer than six people in the whole Wing Chun clan were personally taught, or even partly taught, by Yip Man".[35] However, Lee showed a keen interest in Wing Chun and continued to train privately with Yip Man, William Cheung, and Wong Shun-leung.[36][37] In 1958, Lee won the Hong Kong schools boxing tournament, knocking out the previous champion, Gary Elms, in the final.[19] That year, Lee was also a cha-cha dancer, winning Hong Kong's Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship.[38] 1959–1964: Continuous studies and martial arts breakthrough Until his late teens, Lee's street fights became more frequent and included beating the son of a feared triad family.[39] In 1958, after students from a rival Choy Li Fut martial arts school challenged Lee's Wing Chun school, he engaged in a fight on a rooftop. In response to an unfair punch by another boy, Bruce beat him so badly that he knocked out one of his teeth, leading to a complaint by the boy's parents to the police.[40] Lee's mother had to go to a police station and sign a document saying that she would take full responsibility for Bruce's actions if they released him into her custody. Though she did not mention the incident to her husband, she suggested that Bruce return to the United States to claim his U.S. citizenship at the age of 18.[41] Lee's father agreed, as Lee's college prospects were not very promising if he remained in Hong Kong .[40]     The police detective came and he says "Excuse me Mr. Lee, your son is really fighting bad in school. If he gets into just one more fight I might have to put him in jail".     — Robert Lee[42] In April 1959, Lee's parents decided to send him to the United States to stay with his older sister, Agnes Lee (李秋鳳), who was already living with family friends in San Francisco. After several months, he moved to Seattle in 1959 to continue his high school education, where he also worked for Ruby Chow as a live-in waiter at her restaurant. Chow's husband was a co-worker and friend of Lee's father. Lee's elder brother Peter Lee (李忠琛) joined him in Seattle for a short stay, before moving on to Minnesota to attend college.[43] In 1959, Lee started to teach martial arts. He called what he taught Jun Fan Gung Fu (literally Bruce Lee's Kung Fu). It was his approach to Wing Chun.[43] Lee taught friends he met in Seattle, starting with Judo practitioner Jesse Glover, who continued to teach some of Lee's early techniques. Taky Kimura became Lee's first Assistant Instructor and continued to teach his art and philosophy after Lee's death.[44] Lee opened his first martial arts school, named the Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute, in Seattle. Lee completed his high school education and received his diploma from Edison Technical School on Capitol Hill in Seattle.[45] In March 1961, Lee enrolled at the University of Washington and studied dramatic arts, philosophy, psychology, and various other subjects.[46][47] Despite what Lee himself and many others have stated, Lee's official major was drama rather than philosophy, according to a 1999 article in the university's alumni publication.[48] Lee dropped out of university in early 1964 and moved to Oakland to live with James Yimm Lee. James Lee was twenty years senior to Bruce Lee and a well-known Chinese martial artist in the area. Together, they founded the second Jun Fan martial arts studio in Oakland. James Lee was responsible for introducing Bruce Lee to Ed Parker, an American martial artist. At the invitation of Parker, Lee appeared in the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships and performed repetitions of two-finger push-ups, using the thumb and the index finger of one hand, with feet at approximately shoulder-width apart.[49] In the same Long Beach event he also performed the "one inch punch".[49] Lee stood upright, his right foot forward with knees bent slightly, in front of a standing, stationary partner. Lee's right arm was partly extended and his right fist approximately one inch (2.5 cm) away from the partner's chest. Without retracting his right arm, Lee then forcibly delivered the punch to volunteer Bob Baker while largely maintaining his posture. This sent Baker backwards and falling into a chair placed behind Baker to prevent injury, though Baker's momentum caused him to fall to the floor. Baker recalled, "I told Bruce not to do this type of demonstration again. When he punched me that last time, I had to stay home from work because the pain in my chest was unbearable".[50] It was at the 1964 championships that Lee first met Taekwondo master Jhoon Goo Rhee. The two developed a friendship—a relationship from which they benefited as martial artists. Rhee taught Lee the side kick in detail, and Lee taught Rhee the "non-telegraphic" punch.[51] In Oakland's Chinatown in 1964, Lee had a controversial private match with Wong Jack-man, a direct student of Ma Kin Fung, known for his mastery of Xingyiquan, Northern Shaolin, and tai chi. According to Lee, the Chinese community issued an ultimatum to him to stop teaching non-Chinese people. When he refused to comply, he was challenged to a combat match with Wong. The arrangement was that if Lee lost, he would have to shut down his school, while if he won, he would be free to teach white people, or anyone else.[52] Wong denied this, stating that he requested to fight Lee after Lee boasted during one of his demonstrations at a Chinatown theatre that he could beat anyone in San Francisco, and that Wong himself did not discriminate against Whites or other non-Chinese people.[53] Lee commented, "That paper had all the names of the sifu from Chinatown, but they don't scare me".[54] Individuals known to have witnessed the match include Cadwell, James Lee (Bruce Lee's associate, no relation), and William Chen, a teacher of tai chi. Wong and William Chen stated that the fight lasted an unusually long 20–25 minutes.[53][55] Wong claims that although he had originally expected a serious but polite bout, Lee aggressively attacked him with intent to kill. When Wong presented the traditional handshake, Lee appeared to accept the greeting, but instead, Lee allegedly thrust his hand as a spear aimed at Wong's eyes. Forced to defend his life, Wong asserted that he refrained from striking Lee with killing force when the opportunity presented itself because it could have earned him a prison sentence, but used illegal cufflings under his sleeves. According to Michael Dorgan's 1980 book Bruce Lee's Toughest Fight, the fight ended due to Lee's "unusually winded" condition, as opposed to a decisive blow by either fighter.[53] However, according to Bruce Lee, Linda Lee Cadwell, and James Yimm Lee, the fight lasted a mere three minutes with a decisive victory for Lee. In Cadwell's account, "The fight ensued, it was a no-holds-barred fight, it took three minutes. Bruce got this guy down to the ground and said 'Do you give up?' and the man said he gave up".[52] A couple of weeks after the bout, Lee gave an interview claiming that he had defeated an unnamed challenger, which Wong says was an obvious reference to him.[53][55] In response, Wong published his own account of the fight in the Pacific Weekly, a Chinese-language newspaper in San Francisco, with an invitation to a public rematch if Lee was not satisfied with the account. Lee did not respond to the invitation despite his reputation for violently responding to every provocation.[53] There were no further public announcements by either, though Lee continued to teach white people. Lee had abandoned thoughts of a film career in favour of pursuing martial arts. However, a martial arts exhibition on Long Beach in 1964 eventually led to the invitation by television producer William Dozier for an audition for a role in the pilot for "Number One Son" about Lee Chan, the son of Charlie Chan. The show never materialised, but Dozier saw potential in Lee.[56] 1966–1970: American roles and creating Jeet Kune Do A publicity photo of Williams and Lee for The Green Hornet in 1966 From 1966 to 1967, Lee played the role of Kato alongside the title character played by Van Williams in the TV series produced and narrated by William Dozier[57] titled The Green Hornet, based on the radio show by the same name.[58][56] The show ran for one season (26 episodes) from September 1966 to March 1967. Lee and Williams also appeared as their characters in three crossover episodes of Batman, another William Dozier-produced television series.[59][60][61] The Green Hornet introduced the adult Bruce Lee to an American audience, and became the first popular American show presenting Asian-style martial arts. The show's director wanted Lee to fight in the typical American style using fists and punches. As a professional martial artist, Lee refused, insisting that he should fight in the style of his expertise. At first, Lee moved so fast that his movements could not be caught on film, so he had to slow them down.[62] During the show's production, Lee became friends with Gene LeBell, who worked as a stuntman in the show. The two trained together and exchange martial arts knowledge from their respective specialties.[63] After the show was cancelled in 1967, Lee wrote to Dozier thanking him for starting "my career in show business".[62] In 1967, Lee played a role in one episode of Ironside.[64] The Jeet Kune Do emblem is a registered trademark held by the Bruce Lee Estate. The Chinese characters around the Taijitu symbol read: "Using no way as way" and "Having no limitation as limitation". The arrows represent the endless interaction between yang and yin.[65] Jeet Kune Do originated in 1967. After filming one season of The Green Hornet, Lee found himself out of work and opened The Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. The controversial match with Wong Jack-man influenced Lee's philosophy about martial arts. Lee concluded that the fight had lasted too long and that he had failed to live up to his potential using his Wing Chun techniques. He took the view that traditional martial arts techniques were too rigid and formalised to be practical in scenarios of chaotic street fighting. Lee decided to develop a system with an emphasis on "practicality, flexibility, speed, and efficiency". He started to use different methods of training such as weight training for strength, running for endurance, stretching for flexibility, and many others which he constantly adapted, including fencing and basic boxing techniques.[citation needed] Lee emphasised what he called "the style of no style". This consisted of getting rid of the formalised approach which Lee claimed was indicative of traditional styles. Lee felt that even the system he now called Jun Fan Gung Fu was too restrictive, and it eventually evolved into a philosophy and martial art he would come to call Jeet Kune Do or the Way of the Intercepting Fist. It is a term he would later regret, because Jeet Kune Do implied specific parameters that styles connote, whereas the idea of his martial art was to exist outside of parameters and limitations.[66] At the time, two of Lee's martial arts students were Hollywood script writer Stirling Silliphant and actor James Coburn. In 1969, the three worked on a script for a film titled The Silent Flute, and they went together on a location hunt to India. The project was not realised at the time, but the 1978 film Circle of Iron, starring David Carradine, was based on the same plot. In 2010, producer Paul Maslansky was reported to have planned and received funding for a film based on the original script for The Silent Flute.[67] In 1969, Lee made a brief appearance in the Silliphant-penned film Marlowe, where he played a hoodlum hired to intimidate private detective Philip Marlowe, played by James Garner, who uses his martial arts abilities to commit acts of vandalisation to intimidate Marlowe.[68][69] The same year, he was credited as the karate advisor in The Wrecking Crew, the fourth instalment of the Matt Helm comedy spy-fi film starring Dean Martin.[70] Also that year, Lee acted in one episode of Here Come the Brides and Blondie.[71][72] In 1970, Lee was responsible for producing the fight choreography of A Walk in the Spring Rain, starring Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, again written by Silliphant.[73][74] 1971–1973: Hong Kong films and Hollywood breakthrough In 1971, Lee appeared in four episodes of the television series Longstreet, written by Silliphant. Lee played Li Tsung, the martial arts instructor of the title character Mike Longstreet, played by James Franciscus, and important aspects of his martial arts philosophy were written into the script.[75][76] According to statements made by Lee, and also by Linda Lee Cadwell after Lee's death, in 1971 Lee pitched a television series of his own, tentatively titled The Warrior, discussions of which were confirmed by Warner Bros. During a December 9, 1971, television interview on The Pierre Berton Show, Lee stated that both Paramount and Warner Brothers wanted him "to be in a modernized type of a thing, and that they think the Western idea is out, whereas I want to do the Western".[77] According to Cadwell, Lee's concept was retooled and renamed Kung Fu, but Warner Bros. gave Lee no credit.[78] Warner Brothers states that they had for some time been developing an identical concept,[79] created by two writers and producers, Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander in 1969,[80] as stated too by Lee's biographer Matthew Polly.[81] According to these sources, the reason Lee was not cast was because he had a thick accent,[82] but Fred Weintraub attributes that to his ethnicity.[83][84] The role of the Shaolin monk in the Wild West was eventually awarded to then-non-martial-artist David Carradine. In an interview with The Pierre Berton Show, Lee stated he understood Warner Brothers' attitudes towards casting in the series: "They think that business-wise it is a risk. I don't blame them. If the situation were reversed, and an American star were to come to Hong Kong, and I was the man with the money, I would have my own concerns as to whether the acceptance would be there".[85] Producer Fred Weintraub had advised Lee to return to Hong Kong and make a feature film which he could showcase to executives in Hollywood.[86] Not happy with his supporting roles in the US, Lee returned to Hong Kong. Unaware that The Green Hornet had been played to success in Hong Kong and was unofficially referred to as "The Kato Show", he was surprised to be recognised as the star of the show.[87] After negotiating with both Shaw Brothers Studio and Golden Harvest, Lee signed a film contract to star in two films produced by Golden Harvest. Lee played his first leading role in The Big Boss (1971), which proved to be an enormous box office success across Asia and catapulted him to stardom. He followed up with Fist of Fury (1972), which broke the box office records set previously by The Big Boss. Having finished his initial two-year contract, Lee negotiated a new deal with Golden Harvest. Lee later formed his own company, Concord Production Inc., with Chow. For his third film, The Way of the Dragon (1972), he was given complete control of the film's production as the writer, director, star, and choreographer of the fight scenes. In 1964, at a demonstration in Long Beach, California, Lee met karate champion Chuck Norris. In The Way of the Dragon Lee introduced Norris to moviegoers as his opponent. Their showdown has been characterised as "one of the best fight scenes in martial arts and film history".[88][89] The role had originally been offered to American karate champion Joe Lewis.[90] Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon grossed an estimated US$100 million and US$130 million worldwide, respectively.[91] From August to October 1972, Lee began work on his fourth Golden Harvest film, Game of Death. He began filming some scenes, including his fight sequence with 7 ft 2 in (218 cm) American basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a former student. Production stopped in November 1972 when Warner Brothers offered Lee the opportunity to star in Enter the Dragon, the first film to be produced jointly by Concord, Golden Harvest, and Warner Bros. Filming began in Hong Kong in February 1973 and was completed in April 1973.[92] One month into the filming, another production company, Starseas Motion Pictures, promoted Bruce Lee as a leading actor in Fist of Unicorn, although he had merely agreed to choreograph the fight sequences in the film as a favour to his long-time friend Unicorn Chan. Lee planned to sue the production company, but retained his friendship with Chan.[93] However, only a few months after the completion of Enter the Dragon, and six days before its July 26, 1973, release, Lee died.[94] Enter the Dragon went on to become one of the year's highest-grossing films and cemented Lee as a martial arts legend. It was made for US$850,000 in 1973,[95] the equivalent to $4 million adjusted for inflation as of 2007.[96] Enter the Dragon is estimated to have grossed over $400 million worldwide,[94] the equivalent of over $2 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2022.[97][98] The film sparked a brief fad in martial arts, epitomised in songs such as "Kung Fu Fighting" and some TV shows. 1978–present: Posthumous work Bruce Lee's star at the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong Robert Clouse, the director of Enter the Dragon, together with Golden Harvest, revived Lee's unfinished film Game of Death. Lee had shot over 100 minutes of footage, including out-takes, for Game of Death before shooting was stopped to allow him to work on Enter the Dragon. In addition to Abdul-Jabbar, George Lazenby, Hapkido master Ji Han-jae, and another of Lee's students, Dan Inosanto, appeared in the film, which culminated in Lee's character, Hai Tien, clad in a yellow track suit[99][100] taking on a series of different challengers on each floor as they make their way through a five-level pagoda.[101] In a controversial move, Robert Clouse finished the film using a look-alike and archive footage of Lee from his other films with a new storyline and cast, which was released in 1978. However, the cobbled-together film contained only fifteen minutes of actual footage of Lee (he had printed many unsuccessful takes)[101] while the rest had a Lee look-alike, Kim Tai Chung, and Yuen Biao as stunt double. The unused footage Lee had filmed was recovered 22 years later and included in the documentary Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. Bruce Lee's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Apart from Game of Death, other future film projects were planned to feature Lee at the time. In 1972, after the success of The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, a third film was planned by Raymond Chow at Golden Harvest to be directed by Lo Wei, titled Yellow-Faced Tiger. However, at the time, Lee decided to direct and produce his own script for Way of the Dragon instead. Although Lee had formed a production company with Raymond Chow, a period film was also planned from September–November 1973 with the competing Shaw Brothers Studio, to be directed by either Chor Yuen or Cheng Kang, and written by Yi Kang and Chang Cheh, titled The Seven Sons of the Jade Dragon.[102] In 2015, Perfect Storm Entertainment and Bruce Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, announced that the series The Warrior would be produced and would air on the Cinemax. Filmmaker Justin Lin was chosen to direct the series.[103] Production began in October 2017, in Cape Town, South Africa. The first season will contain 10 episodes.[104] In April 2019, Cinemax renewed the series for a second season.[105] In March 2021, it was announced that producer Jason Kothari had acquired the rights to The Silent Flute "to become a miniseries, which would have John Fusco as a screenwriter and executive producer.[106] Unproduced works Lee had also worked on several scripts himself. A tape containing a recording of Lee narrating the basic storyline to a film tentatively titled Southern Fist/Northern Leg exists, showing some similarities with the canned script for The Silent Flute (Circle of Iron).[107] Another script had the title Green Bamboo Warrior, set in San Francisco, planned to co-star Bolo Yeung and to be produced by Andrew Vajna.[93] Photoshoot costume tests were organised for some of these planned film projects. Martial arts and fitness Further information: Jeet Kune Do Bruce Lee Style    Jeet Kune Do (founder) Chinese martial arts (Wing Chun,[108] tai chi),[109] boxing,[19] street fighting,[39] judo,[63] taekwondo,[51] karate, wrestling,[63] arnis,[110] epée fencing, hapkido, various other styles (by personal tutoring and research) Teacher(s)    Ip Man and Wong Shun-leung (wing chun), Brother Edward (boxing),[19] Jhoon Rhee (taekwondo),[51] Fred Sato and Gene LeBell (judo)[111] Dan Inosanto (arnis) Notable students    Jesse Glover, James DeMile, Linda Lee Cadwell, Dan Inosanto, Taky Kimura, Ted Wong, James Yimm Lee, Joe Lewis, Jhoon Rhee, Mike Stone, Gene LeBell, Chuck Norris, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, James Coburn, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Brandon Lee, others Striking Lee's first introduction to martial arts was through his father, from whom he learned the fundamentals of Wu-style tai chi.[109] In his teens, Lee became involved in Hong Kong gang conflicts, which led to frequent street fights.[39] The largest influence on Lee's martial arts development was his study of Wing Chun.[108] Lee was 16 years old under the Wing Chun teacher Yip Man, between late 1956 and 1957, after losing to rival gang members.[31] Yip's regular classes generally consisted of the forms practice, chi sao (sticking hands) drills, wooden dummy techniques, and free sparring. There was no set pattern to the classes.[31] Other Chinese martial arts styles Lee trained in were Northern Praying Mantis, Southern Praying Mantis, Eagle Claw, Tan Tui, Law Hon, Mizongyi, Wa K'ung, Monkey, Southern Dragon, Fujian White Crane, Choy Li Fut, Hung Gar, Choy Gar, Fut Gar, Mok Gar, Yau Kung Moon, Li Gar, and Lau Gar.[112][need quotation to verify][page needed] Lee was trained in boxing, between 1956 and 1958, by Brother Edward, coach of the St. Francis Xavier's College boxing team. Lee went on to win the Hong Kong schools boxing tournament in 1958, while scoring knockdowns against the previous champion Gary Elms in the final.[19] After moving to the United States, Lee was heavily influenced by heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style in the 1960s.[113] Lee demonstrated his Jeet Kune Do martial arts at the Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1964 and 1968, with the latter having higher-quality video footage available. Lee is seen demonstrating quick eye strikes before his opponent can block, and demonstrating the one-inch punch on several volunteers. He demonstrates chi sao drills while blindfolded against an opponent, probing for weaknesses in his opponent while scoring with punches and takedowns. Lee then participates in a full-contact sparring bout against an opponent, with both wearing leather headgear.[114] Lee is seen implementing his Jeet Kune Do concept of economical motion, using Ali-inspired footwork to keep out of range while counter-attacking with backfists and straight punches. He halts attacks with stop-hit side kicks, and quickly executes several sweeps and head kicks. The opponent repeatedly attempts to attack Lee, but is never able to connect with a clean hit. He once manages to come close with a spin kick, but Lee counters it. The footage was reviewed by Black Belt magazine in 1995, concluding that "the action is as fast and furious as anything in Lee's films."[114] It was at the 1964 championships that Lee first met taekwondo master Jhoon Goo Rhee. While Rhee taught Lee the side kick in detail, Lee taught Rhee the "non-telegraphic" punch.[51] Rhee learned what he calls the "accupunch" from Lee and incorporated it into American taekwondo. The "accupunch" is a rapid fast punch that is very difficult to block, based on human reaction time—"the idea is to finish the execution of the punch before the opponent can complete the brain-to-wrist communication."[115] Lee commonly used the oblique kick, made popular much later in mixed martial arts.[116] It is called the jeet tek, "stop kick" or "intercepting kick", in Jeet Kune Do.[117] Grappling Lee favored cross-training between different fighting styles, and had a particular interest in grappling.[111] Lee trained with several judo practitioners in Seattle and California, among them Fred Sato, Jesse Glover, Taky Kimura, Hayward Nishioka and Wally Jay, as well as Gene LeBell.[118][111] Many of his first students were proficient in judo and other arts, and he learned as much as he taught.[119] After befriending LeBell on the set of The Green Hornet, Lee offered to teach him striking arts in exchange for being taught grappling techniques.[63][120] LeBell had been taught catch wrestling by prestigious grapplers Lou Thesz and Ed Lewis, and notable techniques of both judo and catch wrestling can be seen in Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do.[121] He also learned grappling moves from hapkido master Ji Han-jae.[111] According to Glover, Lee only found judo ineffective at the action of getting hold of the opponent.[111] In their first training together, Glover showed Lee an osoto gari, which Lee considered not a bad technique, but he disliked that Glover had needed to hold onto Lee.[122] While in Seattle, Lee developed anti-grappling techniques against opponents trying to tackle him or take him to the ground. Glover recalled Lee "definitely would not go to the ground if he had the opportunity to get you standing up."[111] Nonetheless, Lee expressed to LeBell a wish to integrate judo into his fighting style.[111] He incorporated the osoto gari into Jeet Kune Do, among other throws, armlocks and chokeholds from judo.[123] Although Lee opined that grappling was of little use in action choreography because it was not visually distinctive,[120] he showcased grappling moves in his own films, such as Way of the Dragon, where his character finishes his opponent Chuck Norris with a neck hold inspired by LeBell,[63] and Enter the Dragon, whose prologue features Lee submitting his opponent Sammo Hung with an armbar.[111][124] Game of Death also features Lee and Han-jae exchanging grappling moves, as well as Lee using wrestling against the character played by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[111] Lee was also influenced by the training routine of The Great Gama, an Indian/Pakistani pehlwani wrestling champion known for his grappling strength. Lee incorporated Gama's exercises into his own training routine.[125] Street fighting Another major influence on Lee was Hong Kong's street fighting culture in the form of rooftop fights. In the mid-20th century, soaring crime in Hong Kong, combined with limited Hong Kong Police manpower, led to many young Hongkongers learning martial arts for self-defence. Around the 1960s, there were about 400 martial arts schools in Hong Kong, teaching their own distinctive styles of martial arts. In Hong Kong's street fighting culture, there emerged a rooftop fight scene in the 1950s and 1960s, where gangs from rival martial arts schools challenged each other to bare-knuckle fights on Hong Kong's rooftops, in order to avoid crackdowns by British colonial authorities. Lee frequently participated in these Hong Kong rooftop fights. He combined different techniques from different martial arts schools into his own hybrid martial arts style.[126] When Lee returned to Hong Kong in the early 1970s, his reputation as "the fastest fist in the east" routinely led to locals challenging him to street fights. He sometimes accepted these challenges and engaged in street fights, which led to some criticism from the press portraying him as violent at the time.[127] Fitness At 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) and weighing 64 kg (141 lb),[128] Lee was renowned for his physical fitness and vigor, achieved by using a dedicated fitness regimen to become as strong as possible. After his match with Wong Jack-man in 1965, Lee changed his approach toward martial arts training. Lee felt that many martial artists of his time did not spend enough time on physical conditioning. Lee included all elements of total fitness—muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility. He used traditional bodybuilding techniques to build some muscle mass, though not overdone, as that could decrease speed or flexibility. At the same time, with respect to balance, Lee maintained that mental and spiritual preparation are fundamental to the success of physical training in martial arts skills. In Tao of Jeet Kune Do he wrote:     Training is one of the most neglected phases of athletics. Too much time is given to the development of skill and too little to the development of the individual for participation. ... JKD, ultimately is not a matter of petty techniques but of highly developed spirituality and physique.[129] According to Linda Lee Cadwell, soon after he moved to the United States, Lee started to take nutrition seriously and developed an interest in health foods, high-protein drinks, and vitamin and mineral supplements. He later concluded that achieving a high-performance body was akin to maintaining the engine of a high-performance automobile. Allegorically, as one could not keep a car running on low-octane fuels, one could not sustain one's body with a steady diet of junk food, and with "the wrong fuel", one's body would perform sluggishly or sloppily.[130] Lee avoided baked goods and refined flour, describing them as providing empty calories that did nothing for his body.[131] He was known for being a fan of Asian cuisine for its variety, and often ate meals with a combination of vegetables, rice, and fish. Lee had a dislike for dairy products and as a result, used powdered milk in his diet.[132] Dan Inosanto recalls Lee practised meditation as the first action on his schedule.[118] Artistry Philosophy While best known as a martial artist, Lee studied drama and Asian and Western philosophy, starting while a student at the University of Washington. He was well-read and had an extensive library dominated by martial arts subjects and philosophical texts.[133] His own books on martial arts and fighting philosophy are known for their philosophical assertions, both inside and outside of martial arts circles. His eclectic philosophy often mirrored his fighting beliefs, though he was quick to say that his martial arts were solely a metaphor for such teachings.[134] He believed that any knowledge ultimately led to self-knowledge. He said that his chosen method of self-expression was martial arts.[134] His influences include Taoism, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and Buddhism.[135] Lee's philosophy was very much in opposition to the conservative worldview advocated by Confucianism.[136] John Little states that Lee was an atheist. When asked in 1972 about his religious affiliation, he replied, "none whatsoever".[137] When asked if he believed in God, he said, "To be perfectly frank, I really do not."[134] Poetry Aside from martial arts and philosophy, which focus on the physical aspect and self-consciousness for truths and principles,[138] Lee also wrote poetry that reflected his emotion and a stage in his life collectively.[139] Many forms of art remain concordant with the artist creating them. Lee's principle of self-expression was applied to his poetry as well. His daughter Shannon Lee said, "He did write poetry; he was really the consummate artist."[140] His poetic works were originally handwritten on paper, then later on edited and published, with John Little being the major author (editor), for Bruce Lee's works. Linda Lee Cadwell (Bruce Lee's wife) shared her husband's notes, poems, and experiences with followers. She mentioned "Lee's poems are, by American standards, rather dark—reflecting the deeper, less exposed recesses of the human psyche".[141] Most of Bruce Lee's poems are categorised as anti-poetry or fall into a paradox. The mood in his poems shows the side of the man that can be compared with other poets such as Robert Frost, one of many well-known poets expressing himself with dark poetic works. The paradox taken from the Yin and Yang symbol in martial arts was also integrated into his poetry. His martial arts and philosophy contribute a great part to his poetry. The free verse form of Lee's poetry reflects his quote "Be formless ... shapeless, like water."[142] Personal life Names Lee's Cantonese birth name was Lee Jun-fan (李振藩).[143] The name homophonically means "return again", and was given to Lee by his mother, who felt he would return to the United States once he came of age.[144] Because of his mother's superstitious nature, she had originally named him Sai-fon (細鳳), which is a feminine name meaning "small phoenix".[42] The English name "Bruce" is thought to have been given by the hospital attending physician, Dr. Mary Glover.[145] Lee had three other Chinese names: Lee Yuen-cham (李源鑫), a family/clan name; Lee Yuen-kam (李元鑒), which he used as a student name while he was attending La Salle College, and his Chinese screen name Lee Siu-lung (李小龍; Siu-lung means "little dragon").[citation needed] Lee's given name Jun-fan was originally written in Chinese as 震藩; however, the Jun (震) Chinese character was identical to part of his grandfather's name, Lee Jun-biu (李震彪).[citation needed] Hence, the Chinese character for Jun in Lee's name was changed to the homonym 振 instead, to avoid naming taboo in Chinese tradition.[citation needed] Family Lee and his family Lee's father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was one of the leading Cantonese opera and film actors at the time and was embarking on a year-long opera tour with his family on the eve of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong. Lee Hoi-chuen had been touring the United States for many years and performing in numerous Chinese communities there. Although many of his peers decided to stay in the US, Lee Hoi-chuen returned to Hong Kong after Bruce's birth. Within months, Hong Kong was invaded and the Lees lived for three years and eight months under Japanese occupation. After the war ended, Lee Hoi-chuen resumed his acting career and became a more popular actor during Hong Kong's rebuilding years. Lee's mother, Grace Ho, was from one of the wealthiest and most powerful clans in Hong Kong, the Ho-tungs. She was the half-niece of Sir Robert Ho-tung,[146][147] the Eurasian patriarch of the clan. As such, the young Bruce Lee grew up in an affluent and privileged environment. Despite the advantage of his family's status, the neighbourhood in which Lee grew up became overcrowded, dangerous, and full of gang rivalries due to an influx of refugees fleeing communist China for Hong Kong, at that time a British Crown Colony.[42] Grace Ho is reported as either the adopted or biological daughter of Ho Kom-tong (Ho Gumtong, 何甘棠) and the half-niece of Sir Robert Ho-tung, both notable Hong Kong businessmen and philanthropists.[146] Bruce was the fourth of five children: Phoebe Lee (李秋源), Agnes Lee (李秋鳳), Peter Lee, and Robert Lee. Bruce Lee with his son Brandon in 1966 Grace's parentage remains unclear. Linda Lee, in her 1989 biography The Bruce Lee Story, suggests that Grace had a German father and was a Catholic.[88] Bruce Thomas, in his influential 1994 biography Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit, suggests that Grace had a Chinese mother and a German father.[148] Lee's relative Eric Peter Ho, in his 2010 book Tracing My Children's Lineage, suggests that Grace was born in Shanghai to a Eurasian woman named Cheung King-sin.[148] Eric Peter Ho said that Grace Lee was the daughter of a mixed race Shanghainese woman and her father was Ho Kom Tong. Grace Lee said her mother was English and her father was Chinese.[149] Fredda Dudley Balling said Grace Lee was three-quarters Chinese and one-quarter British.[150] In the 2018 biography Bruce Lee: A Life, Matthew Polly identifies Lee's maternal grandfather as Ho Kom-tong, who had often been reported as his adoptive grandfather. Ho Kom-tong's father, Charles Maurice Bosman,[151] was a Dutch Jewish businessman from Rotterdam.[152] He moved to Hong Kong with the Dutch East India Company and served as the Dutch consul to Hong Kong at one time. He had a Chinese concubine named Sze Tai with whom he had six children, including Ho Kom Tong. Bosman subsequently abandoned his family and immigrated to California.[153] Ho Kom Tong became a wealthy businessman with a wife, 13 concubines, and a British mistress who gave birth to Grace Ho.[154][155][156] His younger brother Robert Lee Jun-fai is a musician and singer; he performed in the Hong Kong group The Thunderbirds.[157][158][159] A few singles were sung mostly or all in English. Also released was Lee singing a duet with Irene Ryder.[160] Lee Jun-fai lived with Lee in Los Angeles in the United States and stayed. After Lee's death, Lee Jun-fai released an album and the single by the same name dedicated to Lee called "The Ballad of Bruce Lee".[161] While studying at the University of Washington he met his future wife Linda Emery, a fellow student studying to become a teacher. As relations between people of different races was still banned in many US states, they married in secret in August 1964.[162] Lee had two children with Linda: Brandon (1965–1993) and Shannon Lee (born 1969). Upon's Lee passing in 1973, she continued to promote Bruce Lee's martial art Jeet Kune Do. She wrote the 1975 book Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, on which the 1993 feature film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story was based.[163] In 1989, she wrote the book The Bruce Lee Story. She retired in 2001 from the family estate. Lee died when his son Brandon was eight years old. While alive, Lee taught Brandon martial arts and would invite him to visit sets. This gave Brandon the desire to act and went on to study the craft. As a young adult, Brandon Lee found some success acting in action-oriented pictures such as Legacy of Rage (1986), Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991), and Rapid Fire (1992). In 1993, at the age of 28, Brandon Lee died after being accidentally shot by a prop gun on the set of The Crow. Lee died when his daughter Shannon was four. In her youth she studied Jeet Kune Do under Richard Bustillo, one of her father's students; however, her serious studies did not begin until the late 1990s. To train for parts in action movies, she studied Jeet Kune Do with Ted Wong.[164] Friends, students, and contemporaries Lee's brother Robert with his friends Taky Kimura, Dan Inosanto, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and Peter Chin were his pallbearers.[165] Coburn was a martial arts student and a friend of Lee. Coburn worked with Lee and Stirling Silliphant on developing The Silent Flute. Upon Lee's early death, at his funeral Coburn gave a eulogy.[165] Regarding McQueen, Lee made no secret that he wanted everything McQueen had and would stop at nothing to get it.[166][167][168] Inosanto and Kimura were friends and disciple of Lee. Inosanto who would go on to train Lee's son Brandon.[169][170] Kimura continued to teach Lee's craft in Seattle.[171] According to Lee's wife, Chin was a lifelong family friend and a student of Lee.[172] James Yimm Lee (no relation) was one of Lee's three personally certified 3rd rank instructors and co-founded the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute in Oakland where he taught Jun Fan Gung Fu in Lee's absence. James was responsible for introducing Lee to Ed Parker, the organiser of the Long Beach International Karate Championships, where Lee was first introduced to the martial arts community.[173] Hollywood couple Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate studied martial arts with Lee. Polanski flew Lee to Switzerland to train him. Tate studied with Lee in preparation for her role in The Wrecking Crew. After Tate was murdered by the Manson Family, Polanski initially suspected Lee.[174] Screenwriter Stirling Silliphant was a martial arts student and a friend of Lee.[175][176] Silliphant worked with Lee and James Coburn on developing The Silent Flute.[177] Lee acted and provided his martial arts expertise in several projects penned by Silliphant, the first in Marlowe (1969) where Lee plays Winslow Wong a hoodlum well versed in martial arts. Lee also did fight choreographies for the film A Walk in the Spring Rain (1970), and played Li Tsung, a Jeet Kune Do instructor who teaches the main character in the television show Longstreet (1971). Elements of his martial arts philosophy were included in the script for the latter.[68][69][73][74][75][76] Basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar studied martial arts and developed a friendship with Lee.[73] Actor and karate champion Chuck Norris was a friend and training partner of Lee's.[178] After Lee's death, Norris said he kept in touch with Lee's family.[179] Judoka and professional wrestler Gene LeBell became a friend of Lee on the set of The Green Hornet. They trained together and exchanged their knowledge of martial arts.[63][120] Death Bruce Lee is buried next to his son Brandon at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle. On May 10, 1973, Lee collapsed during an automated dialogue replacement session for Enter the Dragon at Orange Sky Golden Harvest film studio in Hong Kong. Because he was having epileptic seizures and headaches, he was rushed to Hong Kong Baptist Hospital, where doctors diagnosed cerebral edema. They were able to reduce the swelling through the administration of mannitol.[180] On Friday, July 20, 1973, Lee was in Hong Kong to have dinner with actor George Lazenby, with whom he intended to make a film. According to Lee's wife Linda, Lee met producer Raymond Chow at 2 p.m. at home to discuss the making of the film Game of Death. They worked until 4 p.m. and then drove together to the home of Lee's colleague Betty Ting Pei, a Taiwanese actress. The three went over the script at Ting's home, and then Chow left to attend a dinner meeting.[181][182] Lee took a nap and when he did not arrive at the dinner, Chow came to the apartment, but he was unable to wake Lee up. A doctor was summoned, and spent ten minutes attempting to revive Lee before sending him by ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Lee was declared dead on arrival at the age of 32.[183] Lee was buried in Lake View Cemetery in Seattle.[184][185] Pallbearers at Lee's funeral on July 25, 1973, included Taky Kimura, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Dan Inosanto, Peter Chin, and Lee's brother Robert.[186] Possible causes of death Lee's iconic status and untimely death fed many wild rumours and theories. These included murder involving the triads and a supposed curse on him and his family.[187][188] Donald Teare, a forensic scientist recommended by Scotland Yard who had overseen over 1,000 autopsies, was assigned to perform an autopsy on Lee. His conclusion was "death by misadventure" caused by cerebral edema due to a reaction to compounds present in the combination medication Equagesic. According to autopsy reports, Lee's brain had swollen from 1,400 to 1,575 grams, a 13% increase. Lee had taken Equagesic on the day of his death, which contained both aspirin and the tranquiliser meprobamate, although he had taken it many times before.[189][190][191] Although there was initial speculation that cannabis found in Lee's stomach may have contributed to his death, Teare said it would "be both 'irresponsible and irrational' to say that [cannabis] might have triggered either the events of Bruce's collapse on May 10 or his death on July 20". Dr. R. R. Lycette, the clinical pathologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, reported at the coroner hearing that the death could not have been caused by cannabis.[192] In a 2018 biography, author Matthew Polly consulted with medical experts and theorised that the cerebral edema that killed Lee had been caused by over-exertion and heat stroke; heat stroke was not considered at the time because it was then a poorly understood condition. Furthermore, Lee had his underarm sweat glands removed in late 1972, in the apparent belief that underarm sweat was unphotogenic on film. Polly further theorised that this caused Lee's body to overheat while practising in hot temperatures on May 10 and July 20, 1973, resulting in heat stroke that in turn exacerbated the cerebral edema that led to his death.[193][194] In an article in the December 2022 issue of Clinical Kidney Journal, a team of researchers examined the various theories regarding Lee's cause of death, and concluded that his fatal cerebal edema was brought on by hyponatremia, an insufficient concentration of sodium in the blood. The authors noted that there were several risk factors which predisposed Lee to hyponatremia, including excessive water intake, insufficient solute intake, alcohol consumption, and use or overuse of multiple drugs which impair the ability of the kidneys to excrete excess fluids. Lee's symptoms prior to his death were also found to closely match known cases of fatal hyponatremia.[195][196][197] Legacy and cultural impact Further information: Bruceploitation and Jeet Kune Do Bruce Lee statue in Hong Kong Lee is considered by some commentators and martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time,[198][199][200] and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, who bridged the gap between East and West.[201][202] Time named Lee one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century.[203] A number of biography books have been written about Lee. A biography had sold more than 4 million copies by 1988.[204] Action films See also: Chopsocky and Hong Kong action cinema Lee was largely responsible for launching the "kung fu craze" of the 1970s.[205][206] He initially introduced kung fu to the West with American television shows such as The Green Hornet and Kung Fu,[206] before the "kung fu craze" began with the dominance of Hong Kong martial arts films in 1973.[205] Lee's success inspired a wave of Western martial arts films and television shows throughout the 1970s–1990s (launching the careers of Western martial arts stars such as Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris), as well as the more general integration of Asian martial arts into Western action films and television shows during the 1980s–1990s.[206] Enter the Dragon has been cited as one of the most influential action films of all time. Sascha Matuszak of Vice said Enter the Dragon "is referenced in all manner of media, the plot line and characters continue to influence storytellers today, and the impact was particularly felt in the revolutionizing way the film portrayed African-Americans, Asians and traditional martial arts."[207] Kuan-Hsing Chen and Beng Huat Chua cited fight scenes in Lee's films such as Enter the Dragon as being influential for the way they pitched "an elemental story of good against evil in such a spectacle-saturated way".[208] A number of action filmmakers around the world have cited Bruce Lee as a formative influence on their careers, including Hong Kong action film directors such as Jackie Chan[209] and John Woo,[210][211] and Hollywood filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino[212] and Brett Ratner.[211] Martial arts and combat sports Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that was founded by Lee, is sometimes credited with paving the way for modern mixed martial arts (MMA).[6][213][214][215] The concept of mixed martial arts was popularised in the West by Bruce Lee via his system of Jeet Kune Do. Lee believed that "the best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style, to be formless, to adopt an individual's own style and not following the system of styles."[216] In 2004, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) founder Dana White called Lee the "father of mixed martial arts" and stated: "If you look at the way Bruce Lee trained, the way he fought, and many of the things he wrote, he said the perfect style was no style. You take a little something from everything. You take the good things from every different discipline, use what works, and you throw the rest away".[216] Lee was largely responsible for many people taking up martial arts.[215] These include numerous fighters in combat sports who were inspired by Lee; boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard said he perfected his jab by watching Lee, boxing champion Manny Pacquiao compared his fighting style to Lee, and UFC champion Conor McGregor has compared himself to Lee and said that he believes Lee would have been a champion in the UFC if he were to compete in the present day.[217] Lee inspired the foundation of American full-contact kickboxing tournaments by Joe Lewis[215] and Benny Urquidez in the 1970s.[215][218] American taekwondo pioneer Jhoon Goo Rhee learned from Lee what he calls the "accupunch", which he incorporated into American taekwondo. Rhee later coached heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and taught him the "accupunch", which Ali used to knockout Richard Dunn in 1975.[115] According to heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, "everyone wanted to be Bruce Lee" in the 1970s.[219] UFC pound-for-pound champion Jon Jones cited Lee as inspiration,[220] with Jones known for frequently using the oblique kick to the knee, a technique that was popularised by Lee.[116] UFC champions Uriah Hall and Anderson Silva cited Lee as an inspiration.[209] Numerous other UFC fighters have cited Lee as their inspiration, with several referring to him as a "godfather" or "grandfather" of MMA.[221] Racial barriers and stereotypes Lee is credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films.[7] He defied Asian stereotypes, such as the emasculated Asian male stereotype.[13] In contrast to earlier stereotypes which depicted Asian men as emasculated, childlike, coolies, or domestic servants, Lee demonstrated that Asian men could be "tough, strong and sexy" according to University of Michigan lecturer Hye Seung Chung. In turn, Lee's popularity inspired a new Asian stereotype, the martial artist.[222] In North America, his films initially played largely to black, Asian and Hispanic audiences. Within black communities, Lee's popularity was second only to heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali in the 1970s. As Lee broke through to the mainstream, he became a rare non-white movie star in a Hollywood industry dominated by white actors at the time.[223] According to rapper LL Cool J, Lee's films were the first time many non-white American children such as himself had seen a non-white action hero on the big screen in the 1970s.[211] Popular culture Numerous entertainment and sports figures around the world have cited Lee as a major influence on their work, including martial arts actors such as Jackie Chan[209] and Donnie Yen,[211] actor-bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger,[211] actor-comedians such as Eddie Murphy[224] and Eddie Griffin,[209] actresses such as Olivia Munn and Dianne Doan,[209] musicians such as Steve Aoki and Rohan Marley,[209] rappers such as LL Cool J and Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA,[210][211] bands such as Gorillaz,[211] comedians such as W. Kamau Bell[209] and Margaret Cho,[211] basketball players Stephen Curry and Jamal Murray, skaters Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi, and American footballer Kyler Murray, among others.[209] Bruce Lee influenced several comic book writers, notably Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee,[210] who considered Bruce Lee to be a superhero without a costume.[211] Shortly after his death, Lee inspired the Marvel characters Shang-Chi (debuted 1973) and Iron Fist (debuted 1974) as well as the comic book series The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (debuted 1974). According to Stan Lee, any character that is a martial artist since then owes their origin to Bruce Lee in some form.[211] Bruce Lee was a formative influence on the development of breakdancing in the 1970s. Early breakdancing pioneers such as the Rock Steady Crew drew inspiration from kung fu moves, as performed by Lee, inspiring dance moves such as the windmill among other breaking moves.[225][211] In India, Lee films had an influence on Hindi masala films.[226] After the success of Lee films such as Enter the Dragon in India,[227] Deewaar (1975) and later Hindi films incorporated fight scenes inspired by 1970s Hong Kong martial arts films up until the 1990s.[228] According to Indian film star Aamir Khan, when he was a child, "almost every house had a poster of Bruce Lee" in 1970s Bombay.[229] In Japan, the manga and anime franchises Fist of the North Star (1983–1988) and Dragon Ball (1984–1995) were inspired by Lee films such as Enter the Dragon.[230][231] In turn, Fist of the North Star and especially Dragon Ball are credited with setting the trends for popular shōnen manga and anime from the 1980s onwards.[232][233] Spike Spiegel, the protagonist from the 1998 anime Cowboy Bebop, is seen practising Jeet Kune Do and quotes Lee.[234] Bruce Lee films such as Game of Death and Enter the Dragon were the foundation for video game genres such as beat 'em up action games and fighting games.[235][236][237] The first beat 'em up game, Kung-Fu Master (1984), was based on Lee's Game of Death.[238] The Street Fighter video game franchise (1987 debut) was inspired by Enter the Dragon, with the gameplay centered around an international fighting tournament, and each character having a unique combination of ethnicity, nationality and fighting style; Street Fighter went on to set the template for all fighting games that followed.[239] Since then, nearly every major fighting game franchise has had a character based on Bruce Lee.[211] In April 2014, Lee was named a featured character in the combat sports video game EA Sports UFC, and is playable in multiple weight classes.[240] In France, the Yamakasi cited the martial arts philosophy of Bruce Lee as an influence on their development of the parkour discipline in the 1990s, along with the acrobatics of Jackie Chan.[241][242] The Yamakasi considered Lee to be the "unofficial president" of their group.[242] The Legend of Bruce Lee (2008), a Chinese television drama series based on the life of Bruce Lee, has been watched by over 400 million viewers in China, making it the most-watched Chinese television drama series of all time, as of 2017.[243][244] In November 2022, it was announced that Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee was directing a biopic on Bruce Lee. Ang Lee's son Mason Lee was cast to star in the movie, while Bruce Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, is set to produce the film.[245] In 2024, there was a proposal made to erect a statue of Bruce Lee in San Francisco. Lee's daughter is in favor of erecting it stating, "the Bay Area is a very rich and vital part of our legacy."[246] Commercials Though Bruce Lee did not appear in commercials during his lifetime, his likeness and image has since appeared in hundreds of commercials around the world.[211] Nokia launched an Internet-based campaign in 2008 with staged "documentary-looking" footage of Bruce Lee playing ping-pong with his nunchaku and also igniting matches as they are thrown toward him. The videos went viral on YouTube, creating confusion as some people believed them to be authentic footage.[247] Honors Further information: List of awards and honors received by Bruce Lee Awards     1972: Golden Horse Awards Best Mandarin Film     1972: Fist of Fury Special Jury Award[248]     1994: Hong Kong Film Award for Lifetime Achievement[248]     1999: Named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century[7]     2004: Star of the Century Award[249]     2013: The Asian Awards Founders Award[250] Statues     Statue of Bruce Lee (Los Angeles): unveiled June 15, 2013,[251] Chinatown Central Plaza, Los Angeles, California     Statue of Bruce Lee (Hong Kong): 2.5 m (8.2 ft) bronze statue of Lee was unveiled on November 27, 2005, on what would have been his 65th birthday.[252]     Statue of Bruce Lee (Mostar): The day before the Hong Kong statue was dedicated, the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina unveiled its own 1.68 m (5.5 ft) bronze statue; supporters of the statue cited Lee as a unifying symbol against the ethnic divisions in the country, which had culminated in the 1992–95 Bosnian War.[253] Places A theme park dedicated to Lee was built in Jun'an, Guangdong. Mainland Chinese only started watching Bruce Lee films in the 1980s, when videos of classic movies like Fist of Fury became available. On January 6, 2009, it was announced that Lee's Hong Kong home (41 Cumberland Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong) would be preserved and transformed into a tourist site by Yu Pang-lin.[254][255] Yu died in 2015 and this plan did not materialise.[256] In 2018, Yu's grandson, Pang Chi-ping, said: "We will convert the mansion into a centre for Chinese studies next year, which provides courses like Mandarin and Chinese music for children."[257] Filmography Main article: Bruce Lee filmography Books     Chinese Gung-Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self Defense (Bruce Lee's first book) – 1963     Tao of Jeet Kune Do (Published posthumously) – 1973     Bruce Lee's Fighting Method (Published posthumously) – 1978 See also     Media about Bruce Lee     Bruce Lee (comics)     Bruce Lee Library     Bruceploitation     Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story     List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – Bruce Lee at 6933 Hollywood Blvd     The Legend of Bruce Lee Footnotes Although he was born in the United States, he never claimed his birthright U.S. citizenship until 1959. The Green Hornet is an American action television series broadcast on ABC during the 1966–1967 television season, starring Van Williams as the Green Hornet/Britt Reid and Bruce Lee as Kato. It was produced and narrated by William Dozier, and filmed by 20th Century-Fox. The single-season series premiered September 9, 1966, and ran through March 17, 1967, lasting 26 episodes; ABC repeated the series after its cancellation by the network, until July 14, 1967, when The Green Hornet had its last broadcast on network television.[3] With the later success of Lee as a premiere star of the martial arts film genre, the series has become a cult favorite. Unfortunately for fans and collectors, the Van Williams-Bruce Lee The Green Hornet remains unavailable for home video because of licensing issues. 20th Century-Fox has always had the broadcast rights, so the series can be shown today on broadcast and cable television. The rights beyond television were controlled by the owner of the character, George W. Trendle (as licensing agent The Green Hornet, Inc.); this entity survived Trendle's death in 1972 and still functions today. Plot Playboy bachelor and media mogul Britt Reid is the owner and publisher of the Daily Sentinel newspaper but, as the masked vigilante Green Hornet, he fights crime with the assistance of his martial arts expert partner, Kato, and his weapons-enhanced car, a custom Imperial called the "Black Beauty".[4] On police records, the Green Hornet is a wanted criminal, but, in reality, the Green Hornet is masquerading as a criminal so that he can infiltrate and battle criminal gangs, leaving them and the incriminating evidence for police arrival. Beyond Kato, Britt's dual identity is known only to his secretary Lenore "Casey" Case and District Attorney Frank P. Scanlon.[4] Britt's motive for fighting crime was explained on-screen:[5] his father had died in prison after having been framed for a crime he did not commit. Origin The character had originated as the star of a radio series[6] (1930s to 1950s), and it had previously been adapted to movie serials, comic books, and other media. Owing in part to George W. Trendle and Fran Striker having created all the central characters and developed the core formats of both radio shows, Britt Reid shares the same family name as the Lone Ranger, as Britt's father had been the Lone Ranger's nephew Dan Reid. Cast     Van Williams as Britt Reid/Green Hornet – the owner and publisher of The Daily Sentinel and masked fighting hero, who masquerades as a villain.     Bruce Lee as Kato – Britt Reid's valet and partner, who is also the Green Hornet's aide.     Wende Wagner as Lenore "Casey" Case – Reid's secretary at the Daily Sentinel, one of only two other people who know the true identities of the Green Hornet and Kato.     Lloyd Gough as Mike Axford – a police reporter for the Daily Sentinel.     Walter Brooke as District Attorney Frank P. Scanlon, the other one of only two other people who know the true identities of the Green Hornet and Kato and knows the Green Hornet is a good guy.     William Dozier as The Narrator.[7] Production Van Williams and Bruce Lee, 1966. Despite character co-creator George W. Trendle's failed efforts to generate interest in a Green Hornet TV series in 1951 and 1958, it was not until the success of ABC's 1960s Batman series that the network decided to adapt the venerable radio and movie-serial character. The task was taken on by William Dozier who produced and narrated the series. The series stars Van Williams as the Green Hornet and introduced martial artist Bruce Lee to American television audiences as his partner, Kato.[3] Unlike the campy and humorous Batman series, The Green Hornet was played straight. Though it was canceled after one season, Lee became a major star of martial arts movies. Lee's popularity in Hong Kong, where he was raised, was such that the show was marketed there as The Kato Show.[8] It was Lee's insistence that Kato be played as a martial artist—rather than an American-style fisticuffs fighter—that pushed the directors to rethink the character's portrayal. The Green Hornet was the first time broad swaths of the American public saw true martial arts fighting and this led to its increasing popularity. Indeed, Van Williams took lessons from Lee so that he could do some of the increasingly popular moves as well.[9] The Green Hornet & Kato also appear in three episodes of Batman; "The Spell of Tut" (as a brief cameo) and "A Piece of the Action"/"Batman's Satisfaction", with Reid mentioning that he and Bruce Wayne had been acquaintances and rivals since childhood.[10] Though other characters in the story are all led to believe wrongly that the Green Hornet & Kato are villains, as on The Green Hornet, Roger C. Carmel played the real villain, who called himself Colonel Gumm. Differences from radio version As with the later years of the radio version, secretary Lenore "Casey" Case (played by Wende Wagner) is again aware of Reid's secret, and the Hornet also has a confidant within the law enforcement community, but now he is District Attorney Frank P. Scanlon (played by Walter Brooke).[3] This character was changed from the original's police commissioner because the Batman TV series was already using a man in that post as the hero's official contact, and William Dozier, the executive producer of both programs, wanted to downplay comparisons between the two shows. Michael Axford (Lloyd Gough), the bodyguard turned reporter of the radio series, is now solely a police reporter for The Daily Sentinel, the newspaper owned by Britt Reid/the Green Hornet.[3] The first episode, "The Silent Gun", provides a connection between the radio and the TV series, as Axford reminds Reid of the "old days" when he lived in the same apartment with Reid's father, which hints that Reid's father may have been the Green Hornet of the radio series. In this series, Reid owned a television station as well.[3] There were visual differences as well. Promotional artwork for the radio program and the comic books of the day depicted the Hornet wearing a mask that covered all of his face below the eyes (the two Universal Studios Saturday matinee serials contained a full face mask with eye holes) while Kato wore goggles. Here, both men wear masks that cover only the upper portions of their faces. These masks initially had a stylized angularity that soon proved problematic: neither man could see much. They were soon replaced with masks molded to the performers' faces.[11] In a technological update, the Hornet carried a telescoping device called the Hornet's Sting, which projected ultrasonic soundwaves. He most frequently used it to open locked doors, although he was also seen using it to set things on fire (presumably by vibrating them and causing heat through friction) and to threaten criminals to get information. In the episode "The Secret of the Sally Bell", the Hornet used it to explode the thug's gun, causing the thug to fall and suffer a concussion, resulting in the criminal's being hospitalized. He also had a Hornet knockout gas gun. In the television version, Kato used green "sleeve darts" to give him a ranged attack he could use to counter enemies both at a distance and in hand-to-hand combat. The impression Bruce Lee made at the time is demonstrated by Kato's Revenge Featuring the Green Hornet, a TV series tie-in coloring book produced by Watkins & Strathmore.[12] Theme music and opening Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral interlude, "Flight of the Bumblebee", used for the radio series, was so strongly identified with The Green Hornet that a similar, jazz-styled theme modeled after the Rimsky-Korsakov piece was used for the series, arranged by Billy May, who also composed the background scores, and conducted by Lionel Newman, with trumpet solo performed by Al Hirt. Hirt recorded a longer, stereo version of the theme with a somewhat different arrangement for his album "The Horn Meets The Hornet". A similar recording titled "The Green Bee" recorded by trombonist Urbie Green that appears on Green's 21 Trombones album has also been considered as the TV series theme. Each episode begins with the following monologue, narrated by producer William Dozier[9]     Another challenge for the Green Hornet, his aide Kato, and their rolling arsenal, the Black Beauty. On police records a wanted criminal, the Green Hornet is really Britt Reid, owner-publisher of the Daily Sentinel; his dual identity is known only to his secretary, and to the district attorney. And now, to protect the rights and lives of decent citizens, rides The Green Hornet! Years later, the version of the theme from "The Horn Meets The Hornet" was featured in the 2003 film Kill Bill, Vol. 1, in which director Quentin Tarantino paid tribute to Kato by featuring the dozens of sword-fighting members of "The Crazy 88" wearing Kato-style masks during one of the film's fight sequences.[13][14] Episodes      This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)      This section's factual accuracy is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced. (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) No.    Title    Directed by    Written by    Original air date    Prod. code 1    "The Silent Gun"    Leslie H. Martinson    Ken Pettus    September 9, 1966    9804 In this premiere episode, Dave Bannister is shot at a funeral with 20 witnesses present, and not a shot is heard, not even by the Green Hornet's friend, District Attorney Frank P. Scanlon, who was also attending. A messenger from a Brokerage House, carrying $5000 in negotiable bonds, is the Silent Gun's second victim. The Green Hornet & Kato respond in the famous Black Beauty and hit the streets to track down the villainous culprit. Lloyd Bochner guests. 2    "Give 'Em Enough Rope"    Seymour Robbie    Gwen Bagni, & Paul Dubov    September 16, 1966    9806 Joe Sweek, waiting to meet Daily Sentinel reporter Mike Axford to sell him photos proving an insurance claim to be fraudulent, is manipulated into a nearby warehouse and murdered by a man in black swinging from a rope. The Green Hornet plans a surprise visit to the claimant, Alex Colony, to propose a partnership with him in his "accident" racket. 3    "Programmed for Death"    Larry Peerce    Lewis Reed (story) Jerry Thomas (teleplay)    September 23, 1966    9802 After reporter Pat Allen is killed in the Daily Sentinel's eighth-floor city room by a leopard, Britt Reid finds a transmitter in a cigarette box. Later, D.A. Scanlon informs Britt of the discovery of a perfect diamond on Allen's desk. Digging around, Reid suspects that the gemologist had been working on producing synthetic diamonds, and the Green Hornet takes an interest in him. Although the third episode aired by ABC, this is generally believed to be the series' original pilot, in part due to the fact that stars Van Williams and Bruce Lee wear angularly stylized masks rather than those molded to their faces seen in other episodes.[15] This episode was also released as a Sawyers' ViewMaster stereoscopic set. 4    "Crime Wave"    Larry Peerce    Sheldon Stark    September 30, 1966    9803 A scientist predicts crimes with a computer that implicates the Green Hornet. 5    "The Frog Is a Deadly Weapon"    Leslie H. Martinson    William L. Stuart    October 7, 1966    9805 Private investigator Nat Pyle informs Britt that he has proof, for a fee, that presumed-dead racketeer Glen Connors is still alive. Shortly later, Nat is found floating dead in the harbor from a possible boating accident. Reid thinks otherwise and has a special interest in proving Pyle was murdered because it was Connors who had framed Reid's father, leading to the father's imprisonment and death. Hollywood veteran Victor Jory plays the villain.[16] 6    "Eat, Drink, and Be Dead"    Murray Golden    Richard Landau    October 14, 1966    9807 An illegal bootleg liquor ring devised by Henry Dirk forces a stronghold on bars in the town to buy from them. As reporter Mike Axford tries to follow a lead to the racketeers, he becomes kidnapped. To get in and save Axford, the Green Hornet approaches Dirk for a cut of his action. The bootlegger and his helicopter, from which he drops bombs on his non-conformists, is a challenge to the Black Beauty. 7    "Beautiful Dreamer: Part 1"    Allen Reisner    Lorenzo Semple, Jr., & Ken Pettus    October 21, 1966    9808 Seems that wealthy and prominent members of the community have been executing crimes and then forgetting that they ever happened - including Miss Case, who's hypnotized into nearly killing Britt. Eventually, the District Attorney and the Green Hornet find that Peter Eden, owner of the very high-class spa called the Vale of Eden, has been implanting "suggestions" into his clients's subconscious minds via his treatments. 8    "Beautiful Dreamer: Part 2"    Allen Reisner    Lorenzo Semple, Jr., & Ken Pettus    October 28, 1966    9809 Part two picks up with a Green Hornet visit and proposition for Peter Eden, owner of the Vale of Eden. After Peter uses Vanessa Vane in an almost successful attempt to double-cross the Hornet, the Hornet re-visits Eden and uses his own dream machine on Peter to foil the last crime for the evening and get him to confess everything to the police. 9    "The Ray Is for Killing"    William Beaudine    Lee Loeb    November 11, 1966    9801 A charity art auction of fine paintings at Britt Reid's home is interrupted on live television by three masked, gun-toting criminals. The police, nearby, manage to wound one of the thieves, but before they can arrest the other two, a laser ray is unleashed on their squad car with devastating results. The Green Hornet & Kato find themselves in quite a confrontation against this portable killing machine - especially after Miss Case, whom the Hornet sent to track them with a secret device, becomes their hostage. 10    "The Preying Mantis"    Norman Foster    Charles Hoffman & Ken Pettus (teleplay) Charles Hoffman (story)    November 18, 1966    9810 Organized crime's "Protection" Boss Duke Slate decides it's time to acquire "the city's Chinatown district" and uses Low Sing's tong to handle his influence. Low Sing, a martial arts professional, instructs his craft to his gang using the actions of a caged Praying Mantis, analogizing its intricate moves to proper Kung-Fu application. After a kidnapping that Low Sing engineers, a challenge between Low Sing and Kato is inevitable. Keye Luke, the man who previously played Kato in the 1940s film serials and would later appear in Kung Fu as Caine's master in some flashback segments of the show, has an uncredited role as Mr. Chang. 11    "The Hunters and the Hunted"    William Beaudine    Jerry Thomas    November 25, 1966    9811 Big-game hunters are using mobsters as quarry—but their next target may be their most dangerous game yet, the Green Hornet. 12    "Deadline for Death"    Seymour Robbie    Ken Pettus    December 2, 1966    9812 After a rash of wealthy homes are burglarized shortly after reporter Mike Axford writes a feature on them, he becomes so suspicious that he places himself at the next possible home to be targeted, only to find himself being arrested and put behind bars, for suspicion of murder when the home's butler is killed in the robbery. D. A. Scanlon is so convinced of Axford's guilt that only the Green Hornet is willing to investigate Mike's photographer. 13    "The Secret of the Sally Bell"    Robert L. Friend    William L. Stuart    December 9, 1966    9813 The Sally Bell, a cargo ship with $2 million in narcotics en route to the United States from Hong Kong, after initially being lost at sea with all hands of her crew, mysteriously shows up at a salvage yard. The only survivor, Gus Wander, knows "The Secret" of her special cargo with only one big problem: he is currently unconscious due to a blast from the Hornet Sting. 14    "Freeway to Death"    Allen Reisner    Ken Pettus    December 16, 1966    9815 Britt Reid orders Mike Axford to team up with the Green Hornet to uncover the ringleader in an insurance scam. Mike reluctantly agrees, but later tries to expose the ringleader alone, leaving it up to the Green Hornet and Kato to save him before it is too late. Guest starring Jeffrey Hunter. 15    "May the Best Man Lose"    Allen Reisner    Judith Barrows & Robert Guy Barrows    December 23, 1966    9814 At election time, District Attorney Scanlon is running for another term, but someone wants to remove him from the ballot - his challenger's brother, whom the challenger doesn't realize is willing to commit high crime as well as murder to help him win. 16    "The Hornet and the Firefly"    Allen Reisner    William L. Stuart    December 30, 1966    9817 An arsonist wreaks havoc setting fire to buildings at the stroke of midnight. The Green Hornet and the District Attorney work behind the scenes to aid the Commissioner to put a stop to this hot situation. The Commissioner refuses to enlist the aid of a retired top arson investigator because his work had previously cost him an eye, but reporter Mike Axford suggests to Britt Reid that the Daily Sentinel can put him to work. Mike is in for a very big surprise. 17    "Seek, Stalk and Destroy"    George Waggner    Jerry Thomas    January 6, 1967    9816 A tank crew who served together in Korea steals a tank to free their former captain from prison before he is executed for the murder of their ex-commanding officer. It falls to the Green Hornet & Kato both to stop them before they can accomplish their goal and to uncover the real killer. 18    "Corpse of the Year: Part 1"    James Komack    Ken Pettus    January 13, 1967    9818 A carbon copy of the Green Hornet's Black Beauty attacks a Daily Sentinel delivery truck and terminates its driver right in front of Britt Reid. Then the Daily Sentinel offices have an explosive visit from a Green Hornet impostor, leading the real Green Hornet on a cat-and-mouse chase of his shadow car disrupting Daily Sentinel deliveries. Celia Kaye guest stars as Melissa Neal. 19    "Corpse of the Year: Part 2"    James Komack    Ken Pettus    January 27, 1967    9819 After another death—of Simon Neal, publisher/owner of the Daily Express, at the hands of the phony Green Hornet, part 2 begins with Britt Reid bringing one of the Daily Express's previous employees, Dan Scully, into the Daily Sentinel's staff to help investigate Simon's termination. After finding out from Sabrina Bradley, Managing Editor of the Daily Express, that Simon had had a copy of the Black Beauty produced for the Press Club's Masquerade Ball, the real Green Hornet sets a trap with her help. 20    "Ace in the Hole"    William Beaudine    Stan Silverman, & Robert Lees    February 3, 1967    9820 When Mike Axford unexpectedly shows up at a meeting of mobsters Phil Trager, Steve Gant, and the Green Hornet, he gets shot. The Hornet fools the other two into believing Mike has been killed and tries to manipulate them into taking each other out. The plan may fail and cost Axford, the Green Hornet, and Kato all their respective lives when the reporter reveals that he is still very much alive. Guest starring Richard Anderson and Richard X. Slattery. 21    "Bad Bet on a 459-Silent"    Seymour Robbie    Judith Barrows & Robert Guy Barrows    February 10, 1967    9821 Britt Reid must figure out how to get medical attention for a wound he received as the Green Hornet, as well as how to stop two cops who are using silent alarm calls for their own profit. 22    "Trouble for Prince Charming"    William Beaudine    Ken Pettus    February 17, 1967    9822 After the Green Hornet prevents the assassination of Prince Rafil, his blonde American fiancée, Janet Prescott is kidnapped, and the prince is ordered to abdicate in order to save her. 23    "Alias The Scarf"    Allen Reisner    William L. Stuart    February 24, 1967    9823 When a wax museum's figure of The Scarf, an infamous strangler from 20 years ago, is replaced in the center display spot by effigies of the Green Hornet and Kato, the waxen form of the Scarf seemingly comes to life and starts attacking people. Using the museum researcher's manuscript about the Scarf, the Green Hornet and Kato attempt to snare the killer before he claims any more victims. Horror film star John Carradine plays the researcher.[17] 24    "Hornet Save Thyself"    Seymour Robbie    Don Tait    March 3, 1967    9824 As a surprise birthday party begins for Britt, a handgun given as a present to Britt seemingly discharges itself, fatally shooting ex-employee Eddie Rech. In reverse of his usual situation, Britt Reid hides from the police by becoming the Green Hornet. There is no "Produced by..." credit on this episode.[18] 25    "Invasion from Outer Space: Part 1"    Darrell Hallenbeck    Arthur Weingarten    March 10, 1967    9825 The arrival of visitors from outer space seemingly coincides with an Air Force convoy transporting top-secret electronic equipment and an H-Bomb missile warhead. Having Britt's secretary, Lenore "Casey" Case, taken hostage makes the situation very touchy. Brett King guest stars in this episode, his last screen role, as Major Jackson. 26    "Invasion from Outer Space: Part 2"    Darrell Hallenbeck    Arthur Weingarten    March 17, 1967    9826 Part 2 begins with the Green Hornet using his tracking signal to close in on the visitors from outer space and their mystery. This is the last episode of the series. Crossover with Batman TV series Main article: Batman (TV series) There were several comparisons and crossovers from Batman to Green Hornet, both on TV and in movies.[19] The Green Hornet and Kato on Batman Van Williams & Bruce Lee make a cameo appearance as the Green Hornet & Kato in "window cameos" while Batman & Robin were climbing a building. This was in part one of a two-part second-season episode of the Batman TV series: "The Spell of Tut", which aired on September 28, 1966.[20]: 70  There is also mention of The Green Hornet TV series on the Batman two-part episode "The Impractical Joker", transmitted on November 16, 1966, as Alfred, Dick Grayson, and Bruce Wayne are watching television, and Bruce Wayne says, "It's time to watch The Green Hornet!" Later that same season, the Green Hornet & Kato appeared in the two-part second-season episodes "A Piece of the Action"[21] and "Batman's Satisfaction", which aired on March 1–2, 1967.[10] In the two episodes, the Green Hornet & Kato are in Gotham City to bust a counterfeit stamp ring run by Colonel Gumm (portrayed by Roger C. Carmel).[20]: 114–115  "Batman's Satisfaction" leads up to a mixed fight, with both Batman & Robin and The Green Hornet & Kato fighting Colonel Gumm and his gang. Once Gumm's crew is defeated, Batman & Robin square off against The Green Hornet & Kato, resulting in a stand-off interrupted by the police. In this episode, Batman, Robin, and the police consider the Green Hornet & Kato criminals, though Batman & Robin were cordial to the duo in the earlier window appearance. Batman and Robin on The Green Hornet In the December 9, 1966 The Green Hornet episode "The Secret Of The Sally Bell"[22] the Batmobile is seen on a television receiver, turning around inside the Batcave. In the February 3, 1967, Green Hornet episode "Ace in the Hole", which was transmitted between the September 1966 and March 1967 Batman appearances (mentioned above), an unidentified episode of Batman is seen playing on a television set, showing Batman and Robin climbing a building. One other appearance of The Green Hornet, Kato, and Batman was broadcast in the Autumn of 1966 on a Milton Berle Hollywood Palace television variety show.[23] Black Beauty A Black Beauty used in the series. The TV series featured the Green Hornet's car, The Black Beauty, a 1966 Imperial Crown sedan customized by Dean Jeffries[24] at a cost of US$13,000. Two cars were built for the show and both exist today. Black Beauty 1 is located in the Petersen Automotive Museum collection and Black Beauty 2 has been fully restored and is located in a private collection in South Carolina. Storage and deployment The Black Beauty was stored underneath Britt Reid's garage.[25] A set of switches on a secret control panel behind a tool wall would sequentially set the lights to green, attach clamps to the bumpers of Reid's personal car, rotate the floor of the garage – hiding Reid's car (a Chrysler 300 convertible), and bringing up the Black Beauty – finally unclamping the Black Beauty's bumpers.[4] The Black Beauty would then exit the garage through a hidden rear door, and enter the street from behind a billboard advertising the fictitious product Kissin' Candy Mint (with the slogan "How sweet they are") designed to separate down the middle and rejoin. Weaponry, surveillance, and security features The Black Beauty, which carried rear license plate number V194,[26] could fire explosive charges from tubes hidden behind retractable panels below the headlights, which were said to be rockets with explosive warheads; it had concealed-when-not-in-use, drop-down knock-out gas nozzle in the center of the front grille, and the vehicle could launch a small flying video/audio surveillance device (referred to as the scanner) through a small rectangular panel in the middle of the trunk lid. It was a foreshadowing of today's small helicopter-like drones. Working rockets and gas nozzles were incorporated into the trunk lid as well.[27] Other appearances Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story Main article: Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story The 1993 American semi-fictionalized film biography of Bruce Lee depicts Lee (Jason Scott Lee) meeting fictional producer Bill Krieger (Robert Wagner) after a martial arts tournament and being hired to play Kato in The Green Hornet series. The movie shows the fictionalized shooting of the first episode, where the cast and crew are impressed by Lee's martial arts skills. Van Williams plays the director of the episode.[28] Batman '66 Meets the Green Hornet Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman are co-writers of a Batman and Green Hornet team-up titled Batman '66 Meets the Green Hornet.[29] The issues were drawn by artist Ty Templeton, with covers by Alex Ross. The six-issue miniseries was co-produced by DC Comics (publishers of Batman) and Dynamite Entertainment (current publishers of the Green Hornet titles). The overall story is a sequel to the above-mentioned Batman/Green Hornet two-part TV crossover episodes, reuniting Hornet & Kato with Batman & Robin, and pitting both teams against the now "General Gumm" and his new criminal cohort, the Joker. The series was published both in physical comic book form and in an extended 12-part digital format, splitting each regular issue's material into two digital issues.[30] The full series has since been published in a collected volume, both in hardcover and "trade paperback" editions. Garman and Smith have performed dramatized readings of all 6 issues on podcast episodes hosted on Smith's SModcast webpage. The first issue was dramatized in an episode of Smith's Fatman on Batman podcast (episode #66), and the remaining five as episodes of Hollywood Babble-On, co-hosted by Garman and Smith, as special "Hollywood Babble-On Comic-Con Theater" episodes (episodes 175, 180, 184, 188 & 193). Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Main article: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood The 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has a scene in which stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) has a confrontation with Bruce Lee (played by Mike Moh in full Kato gear) on the set of The Green Hornet. In the scene, an impromptu two-out-of-three martial arts match between Booth and Lee takes place, with both men winning one match, but the fight is broken up before the deciding match can finish. Comics The series was adapted into a comic strip by Dan Spiegle, distributed by Gold Key Comics.[31] Kato[a] is a fictional character from The Green Hornet franchise. This character has appeared with the Green Hornet in radio, film, television, book and comic book versions. Kato is the Green Hornet's crime-fighting sidekick, and Britt Reid's manservant in civilian life, and has been played by a number of actors. On radio, Kato was initially played by Raymond Hayashi, then Roland Parker who had the role for most of the run, and in the later years Mickey Tolan and Paul Carnegie.[3] Keye Luke took the role in the movie serials, and in the television series, he was portrayed by Bruce Lee. Jay Chou played Kato in the 2011 Green Hornet film. Character history Kato is Britt Reid's valet, who doubles as The Green Hornet's masked driver and partner to help him in his vigilante adventures, disguised as the activities of a racketeer and his chauffeur/bodyguard/enforcer. According to the storyline, years before the events depicted in the series, Britt Reid saved Kato's life while traveling in the Far East. Depending on the version of the story, this prompts Kato to become Reid's assistant or friend. In the anthology book, The Green Hornet Chronicles from Moonstone Books, author Richard Dean Starr's story "Nothing Gold Can Stay: An Origin Story of Kato" explores the character's background and how he ends up living in America, suggesting that Kato met Britt Reid on a later trip back to his homeland while in search of his mother. Radio program and nationality George W. Trendle, the owner of radio station WXYZ in Michigan first created and produced "The Green Hornet" show in 1936, with the scripts being written by Fran Striker. The show became so popular it ran for nearly two decades and spun off at least two films. This was Trendle and Striker's second big radio hit; their first was "The Lone Ranger". In the 1936 premiere of the radio program, Kato was presented as being Japanese. By 1939, the invasion of China by the Empire of Japan made this bad for public relations, and from that year until 1945 "Britt Reid's Japanese valet" in the show's opening was then simply identified by the announcer as his "faithful valet".[citation needed] The first of Universal's two movie serials, produced in 1939 but not released to theaters until early 1940, referred in passing to Kato being "a Korean". By 1941, Kato had begun to be referred to as Filipino.[4] A long-standing, but false, urban legend maintained that the switch from one to the other occurred immediately after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. In serials, Kato was played by Chinese-born American actor Keye Luke.[5] In the 2011 film, Kato (played by Taiwanese Jay Chou) tells Britt Reid that he was born in the Chinese city of Shanghai; Reid replies by saying that he "love[s] Japan". Television series Main article: The Green Hornet (TV series) The televised series of "The Green Hornet" was created and produced by William Dozier, the owner of Greenway Productions, for ABC. It ran from September 1966 to March 1967 and was then canceled after that one season. Van Williams played the Green Hornet and Bruce Lee played Kato. Dozier was also the creator of the more popular "Batman" television series. Even though he had the Green Hornet and Kato appear on "Batman" three times, they never acquired a large audience. It was due in part to Bruce Lee's portrayal of this character that the Green Hornet became more well-known, and that martial arts became more popular in the United States in the 1960s.[6] Indeed, Lee refused to follow the American director's expectation of fisticuff fights and insisted that he be allowed to use his martial arts skills.[7] They became so popular with the audience that Van Williams, who played the Green Hornet, asked to be taught some moves. In a crossover episode of Batman from the same time and companies, Kato has a battle with Robin that ends in a draw (the same thing happens simultaneously with their senior partners). This was in part because Lee refused to participate in a fight that showed Asian-style martial arts being defeated; the original script had the Green Hornet and Kato being beaten by Batman and Robin. The popular impression Lee made at the time is demonstrated by one of the TV series tie-in coloring books produced by Watkins & Strathmore. It is titled Kato's Revenge Featuring the Green Hornet.[8] The Green Hornet's success in Hong Kong, where it was popularly known as The Kato Show, led to Lee starring in the feature films that would make him a pop culture icon. This show launched Bruce Lee's adult television and film career. In the TV series, Kato (portrayed by Bruce Lee) is not at all a mechanic but a professional servant, a highly skilled driver, and a master of the art of war. In all other versions of the story, he is also a mechanic, with the creations of both the special automobile, the Black Beauty, and the Hornet's trademark sleeping gas and the gun that delivers it attributed to him. In the television series, he also becomes an expert in martial arts, which was implied in the first film serial with his use of a tranquilizing "chop" to the back of a thug's neck. Comic book adaptations All Green Hornet comic book adaptations have included Kato. These were produced by Helnit (later Holyoke), Harvey, Dell and, tied into the television version, Gold Key. Beginning in 1989 one, published by NOW Comics, established a continuity between the different versions of the story. In this comic, the TV/Bruce Lee version of Kato is the son of the Kato from the radio stories and has the given name Hayashi as an homage to the character's first radio actor.[9] The comic also establishes a new Kato, a much younger half-sister of the television-based character, Mishi. This female Kato also insists on being treated as the Hornet's full partner rather than a sidekick. However, the Green Hornet, Inc., soon withdrew approval and this character was replaced with the 1960s version after Vol. 1, #10.[10] Her removal was explained by having the Kato family company, Nippon Today, needing her automotive designing services at its Zurich, Switzerland facility. Mishi returns in Volume 2, appearing sporadically in the new costumed identity of the Crimson Wasp, on a vendetta against the criminal, Johnny Dollar. She eventually reveals (in The Green Hornet Vol. 2, #s 12 & 13, August & September 1992) that he had been an embezzling executive at the Swiss plant, whose actions she unwittingly began to expose. Consequently, he had murdered her fiancé and his daughter in an attack that also caused the unknowingly pregnant Mishi, the main target, to miscarry. In #34, July 1994 issue of that run, she appears in her "Hornet's partner" guise one additional time, as the masked Paul Reid attends a gangland meeting; the rules stated that each "boss" is allowed two "boys". During this period, Hayashi becomes romantically involved with District Attorney Diana Reid, daughter of the original Hornet, who even thinks for a while that she conceived his child. In the final issue, Diana discusses their wedding plans with Mishi. In the last two issues, yet another Kato, a nephew to both of these named Kono, is brought in to allow the aging Hayashi to retire from crime-fighting, but the publisher's ceasing of operations prevents much of him being seen. The Bruce Lee-based Kato is also featured in two of his own spin-off miniseries, written by Mike Baron. The first has him defending a Chinese temple, where he studied kung fu, from the Communist government, while in the second he takes the job of bodyguarding a heroin-addicted rock star. A third solo adventure, also by Baron, was announced and promoted first as another miniseries, then as a graphic novel (now subtitled "Dragons in Eden"), but was left unpublished when NOW folded. The line featured one other version of the character. The three-issue mini-series The Green Hornet: Dark Tomorrow (June–August 1993) is set approximately one hundred years in the future, and has an Asian-American Green Hornet, real name Clayton Reid, who is corrupted by power and truly becomes the crime boss he is supposed to only pretend to be, fighting a Caucasian Kato. Beyond the reversal of ethnicities, the latter adds the claim that he and the future Hornet are cousins, and the art's depiction of this Hornet's unnamed paternal grandparents resembles Paul Reid and Mishi Kato. Although the future Kato is not further identified here, a later "Reid/Kato Family Trees" feature (in The Green Hornet, Vol. 2, #26, October 1993) gives him the first name Luke. This comic book incarnation gives a degree of official status to a long-standing error about the character, that in his masked identity he is known as Kato. The name is restricted to his private persona in the original radio series, the two movie serials, and most of the television version (there are two slips in this last medium, one on the Batman appearance, the other in the last filmed episode of the Hornet series itself, "Invasion from Outer Space, Part 2"; this story is well out of sync with the rest of the run, and the writer, director, and even the line producer are people with no other credits on the program). But the NOW comic version made a big point of having the masked assistants called Kato, with the woman at one early point telling the equally new Hornet during their first adventure, "While I'm in this funky get-up, call me Kato. It's part of the tradition".[11] In the Kevin Smith's 2010 revamp of the continuity, Kato is depicted, in modern times, as the elderly but still physically fit valet of the late Britt Reid, killed by a yakuza mobster going by the Black Hornet sobriquet. The elder Kato, in this version a Japanese, forced to act Filipino to avoid the suspicions and the racist charges against his people during WWII, retires his identity along with Britt Reid, and both men decide to devote themselves to their families, respectively raising their offspring Britt Reid Jr. and Mulan Kato. After Britt Reid's death, Kato returns in America with Mulan, now the second Kato, to act out the Secret Testament of Britt Reid Sr., who wished, in the event of his death, Kato to destroy every Green Hornet paraphernalia still in his possession and whisk Britt Reid Jr. to Japan, for his safety. However, both offspring refuse Reid's and Kato's will: Mulan Kato, now clad in a close variation of her father's original outfit, storms off to confront the Yakuza, and Britt Reid Jr. manages to steal a Green Hornet costume to help her, despite having little training on his own.[12] As the new Kato, Mulan is a strong, physically fit, silent warrior woman, able to perform amazing feats with uncanny strength and precision.[13] Despite having been shown, in her late teens, as a peppy, lively, cheery social butterfly,[14] the adult Mulan Kato is a darker, brooding character who never speaks (despite physically able to do so, Mulan prefers speaking as little as she can to prevent the much talkative Britt Reid Jr., and seemingly everyone else, from talking back[15]) and shows little, if no interest at all, for any form of socialization, a thing that seems to distress the second Green Hornet, every bit the suave socialite his father was. In addition, the limited series Green Hornet: Parallel Lives by writer Jai Nitz, served as a prequel to the 2011 Green Hornet film, exploring the backstory for the film's version of Kato.[16] In 2013, an eight-issue miniseries called Masks brought together famous heroes from the pulp era. It stars The Shadow, the Green Hornet, Kato, The Spider and Zorro, and was written by Chris Roberson with art by Alex Ross and Dennis Calero.[17] Films In 1975, the Taiwanese actor Bruce Li played Kato in Bruce Lee Against Supermen.[18] A 1994 Hong Kong film, Qing feng xia, starred Kar Lok Chin as a Kato-like masked hero called the Green Hornet (in English subtitles).[19] In one scene, he is reminded of his predecessors, one of whom is represented by a picture of Bruce Lee in his TV Kato costume.[citation needed]. Main article: The Green Hornet (2011 film) Sony Pictures announced plans for a feature film of the superhero in 2008. Released on January 14, 2011,[20] the film starred Seth Rogen, who took on writing duties along with Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg. Stephen Chow had originally signed to play Kato,[21] but then dropped out.[22] Taiwanese actor Jay Chou replaced Chow as Kato for the film.[23] In this version, Kato is Chinese and grew up as a poor runaway from his orphanage in Shanghai. He was originally employed by Britt Reid's father James as a car mechanic (also making his coffee with a specially-designed machine he had created for the purpose) before joining Britt on the steps that lead to him becoming the Green Hornet as Britt concluded that they had both been wasting their potential. Kato's martial art skills in this version of the series are so exceptional that he claims that time literally slows down for him when he gets an adrenaline rush in a dangerous situation, as well as his traditional role as mechanic and driver. Although he and Britt have a temporary falling-out when they argue over their respective importance to the "Green Hornet" concept - Kato acting as the actual action man of the Hornet while Britt is the public face as Kato is too fast for any cameras to see him - they patch up their differences in time to destroy the gang of crime lord Chudnofsky. In 2016, Paramount Pictures and Chernin Entertainment acquired the rights to The Green Hornet and started preliminary work on developing a reboot with Gavin O'Connor attached to produce and direct the film and Sean O'Keefe as writer.[24] In 2020, Amasia Entertainment has gained the rights of the Green Hornet[25] and officially teamed with Universal Pictures for the reboot titled Green Hornet and Kato.[26] Video games Kato appears in The Green Hornet: Wheels of Justice (2010) for iPhone, based on the film.[27] In other popular culture Art, entertainment, and media     Aretha Franklin's 1967 album "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You" contains the song "Save Me" which includes the lyric "Calling the Caped Crusader, Green Hornet, Kato, too / I'm in so much trouble I don't know what to do".[28]     The 1960s cartoon series Batfink is a parody of both Batman and the Green Hornet. Batfink rides in a pink vehicle called the Battilac, which is driven by his assistant Karate who is a martial artist.[29]     Bill Cosby parodied The Green Hornet in his c. 1970 syndicated five-minute daily radio program, The Brown Hornet, which he revived in the late 1970s for his Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids cartoon show.[citation needed]     The 1993 American semi-fictionalized film biography Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, in which Jason Scott Lee (no relation) portrayed Bruce Lee, featured scenes involving the filming of the TV series The Green Hornet.[30] Van Williams, who starred in that TV series, appeared in the film as the show's director.[31]     A 1994 Hong Kong film, Qing feng xia, stars Kar Lok Chin as a Kato-like masked hero called the Green Hornet in English subtitles.[32] In one scene, he is reminded of his predecessors, one of whom is represented by a picture of Bruce Lee in his TV Kato costume.[citation needed]     Black Mask is a 1996 Hong Kong action film starring Jet Li. The film is an adaptation of the 1992 manhua Black Mask by Li Chi-Tak.[33] In the film, in homage to The Green Hornet, Black Mask wears a domino mask and chauffeur's cap in the same style as Kato from the series.[34] The Black Mask is even compared to Kato in one scene. In 2002, it was followed by a sequel, Black Mask 2: City of Masks starring Andy On.     The 2003 film Kill Bill: Volume 1 uses Billy May's theme from the 1960s television series in a sequence where the Bride goes to Tokyo in search of O-Ren Ishii. The Crazy 88 wear masks resembling Bruce Lee's Kato mask.     In the film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, released late September 2010 in Asia and early 2011 in the United States, there is a large feature of the Green Hornet. The subplot consist of the main character Chen Zhen (played by Donnie Yen) dressing up as a mask vigilante (based on Kato) to stop Japanese assassinations and to protect the people.[35] The director has mentioned that since Bruce Lee played both Chen Zhen (in the 1972 film Fist of Fury) and Kato (in the 1960s television series The Green Hornet) before, the film was a tribute and dedication to Lee.[36]     In 2016, Season 6 of The Venture Bros. introduces parody characters of Green Hornet and Kato from 1960s television series in the form of the masked crime-fighter Blue Morpho and his assistant Kano in a flashback, the latter having later become a member of the original Team Venture. It is also revealed that Blue Morpho was the father of the orphaned villain The Monarch, and he and Henchman 21 later take on the roles of the Blue Morpho and Kano respectively.[37]     The 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has a flashback scene in which stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) has a confrontation with Bruce Lee (played by Mike Moh in full Kato gear) on the set of The Green Hornet. In the scene, an impromptu two-out-of-three martial arts match between Booth and Lee takes place, with both men winning one match, but the fight is broken up before the deciding match can finish. The Green Hornet is a 1940 black-and-white 13-chapter movie serial from Universal Pictures, produced by Henry MacRae, directed by Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor, starring Gordon Jones, Wade Boteler, Keye Luke, and Anne Nagel. The serial is based on The Green Hornet radio series by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. Plot Britt Reid, the new publisher of The Sentinel newspaper, secretly becomes the vigilante crime fighter The Green Hornet. Backing him up is his Korean valet and inventor Kato. Together, they investigate and expose several separate underworld rackets. During the course of 13 serial chapters, these high-profile events lead the Hornet and Kato into continued conflict with the henchmen of "The Chief", the hidden mastermind behind a 12-person criminal syndicate controlling those rackets. Cast     Gordon Jones as Britt Reid and The Green Hornet[1]     Al Hodge as the (uncredited) voice of the Green Hornet     Wade Boteler as Michael Axford     Keye Luke as Kato. Kato is Korean in the serial rather than being the original Japanese character of the radio series, due to rising anti-Japanese sentiment around the world. This was two years prior to Japan's December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into World War II. The radio show dropped Kato's nationality from the introductory sequence, included passing references in dialogue to his character being Filipino, and years later, after the war, returned to the standard show introduction.[2]     Anne Nagel as Leonore Case     Phillip Trent as Jasper Jenks     Cy Kendall as Curtis Monroe aka 'The Chief'     Stanley Andrews as Police Commissioner [Chs.1,5,8,9,13]     Selmer Jackson as District Attorney [Chs.4,10]     Joseph Crehan as Judge Stanton [Chs.1,9,10,13]     Walter McGrail as Dean     Gene Rizzi as Corey     John Kelly as Pete Hawks     Eddie Dunn as D.H. Sligby [Ch.7]     Edward Earle as Felix Grant [Ch.1]     Ben Taggart as Phil Bartlett [Chs.3-4]     Clyde Dilson as Meadows [Ch.5]     Jerry Marlowe as Bob Stafford [Chs.7,11]     Frederick Vogeding as Max Gregory [Ch.11] (as Fredrik Vogeding)     Raymond Bailey as Mr. West Chapter titles Source:[3]     The Tunnel of Terror     The Thundering Terror     Flying Coffins     Pillar of Flame     The Time Bomb     Highways of Peril     Bridge of Disaster     Dead or alive     The Hornet Trapped     Bullets and Ballots     Disaster Rides the Rails     Panic in the Zoo     Doom of the Underworld Alternative versions In 1990, under the same title, GoodTimes Home Video released a feature-length version of the serial on VHS tape, re-edited from the footage in the last six chapters.[citation needed] Under the title The Green Hornet: Movie Edition, VCI Entertainment released its version of the serial on DVD, January 11, 2011, which includes the first and last chapter and selected other chapters.[4] Influence The 1960s Batman television series was created because of the popularity of a re-release of Columbia's Batman serial. The success of both led to the production of a Green Hornet TV series, which was played as a straight action crime series, "in the tradition of its former presentations", rather than the campy Batman series. It was cancelled after only one season.[5] Van Zandt Jarvis Williams (February 27, 1934 – November 28, 2016) was an American actor best known for his leading role as Kenny Madison in both Warner Bros. television detective series Bourbon Street Beat (1959–1960) and its sequel, Surfside 6 (1960–1962). He teamed for one season with Bruce Lee as his partner Kato, in the television series The Green Hornet, which was broadcast during the 1966–1967 season.[1] Early life Williams grew up on a ranch outside Fort Worth and later studied animal husbandry and business at Texas Christian University. He moved to Hawaii in 1956 after differences with his father on how the ranch should be run.[2] Career A diving instructor in Hawaii in 1956, Williams was discovered there in 1957 by producer Mike Todd, who urged him to come to Hollywood.[3][4] Williams recalled, "Todd liked the look of me and said I should try the acting business, but added, 'First, boy, go back to college and get your degree.' I followed his advice, took my degree in business administration and then wandered into Hollywood."[5] Todd died in a plane crash in 1958, but Williams took vocal and acting lessons. He managed to get cast in an episode of General Electric Theatre and was seen by executives from Warner Bros., who signed him to a contract in 1959. "I stumbled into the business, unknown and untrained," he says. "I was really lucky."[5] Bourbon Street Beat Margarita Sierra, Troy Donahue, Lee Patterson, Diane McBain and Williams in Surfside 6 Williams guest starred on episodes of General Electric Theater, Lawman, and Colt .45.[6] His big break came as co-star of the television series Bourbon Street Beat, which was set in New Orleans. The show aired during the 1959–1960 season;[7] his co-stars were Andrew Duggan, Richard Long,[8] and Arlene Howell. Williams appeared in Tall Story (1960), in which he stepped naked out of the men's locker room shower in front of Jane Fonda's character and comically said "If it is alright with you, it is alright with me".[8] Surfside Six Bourbon Street Beat was axed after one season, but Williams' character, Kenny Madison, was recycled into the new Surfside 6 television series in the same time slot, with Miami Beach colleagues played by Troy Donahue, Lee Patterson, Diane McBain, and Margarita Sierra.[7] Williams received second billing after Donahue. The series lasted until 1962.[8] During the run of these series, Williams occasionally guest-starred on other Warners shows, such as Cheyenne, 77 Sunset Strip, and Hawaiian Eye. He appeared in a Warners anti-communist propaganda short Red Nightmare (1962). Williams also starred in a World War II television pilot titled The Leathernecks that was shown as an episode of The Gallant Men.[7] Williams had a supporting role in The Caretakers (1963).[8] The Tycoon After his Warner Brothers contract lapsed in 1964, Williams was cast as Pat Burns, series regular in The Tycoon with Walter Brennan. The show lasted one season. He worked in television commercials and guest appearances on various television series such as The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Preview Tonight, and The Milton Berle Show.[9] The Green Hornet Van Williams and Bruce Lee in The Green Hornet In 1966, ABC-TV had William Dozier revive George W. Trendle's famous radio character in a new series, The Green Hornet. Van Williams signed with 20th Century-Fox to portray the mysterious masked hero and his alter ego, newspaper editor Britt Reid (son of Dan Reid, Jr. who was the nephew of John Reid, a.k.a. The Lone Ranger although The Lone Ranger was not given that as his official true identity name).[10] Williams played the role straight, unlike the comedy approach of the same producer's Batman show. He and co-star Bruce Lee also made three guest appearances, in character, on Batman, first in a "batclimb" cameo, ("The Spell of Tut", 9/28/1966), and later in a two-part episode ("A Piece of the Action", 3/1/1967 and "Batman's Satisfaction", 3/2/1967).[11] By the time he starred in The Green Hornet, Williams had become successful investing in various commercial ventures; a TV Guide profile of 1966, titled "Banker with a Sting", characterized him as "your friendly neighborhood tycoon."[12][13][14] Williams later said "By the time The Green Hornet came along, I had pretty well decided to get out of the television business. About the only thing I enjoyed about those years was the location work. Basically I'm a shy person. I know that public appearances and autographs and all that are a necessary part of the business, but it wasn't for me."[5] Later career and retirement Surfside 6 cast: Troy Donahue, Lee Patterson, Van Williams and Diane McBain After The Green Hornet ended, Williams guest starred on shows such as The Big Valley, Mannix, Love, American Style, Nanny and the Professor, Ironside, Mission: Impossible, Apple's Way, Gunsmoke, and The Manhunter. Williams returned to the lead in a regular series with Westwind (1975), a children's adventure series.[15] He was in a TV movie The Runaways (1975), and guest-starred on Bert D'Angelo/Superstar, The Red Hand Gang , Barnaby Jones, A Twist in the Tale, The Streets of San Francisco, How the West Was Won, Colorado C.I., Centennial, The Night Rider, Mrs. Columbo and The Rockford Files.[6] In 1981, he turned down the offer of a role in Falcon Crest, because it involved too much location shooting.[5] Williams retired from acting in 1982 to open a communications company in Santa Monica, California that leases time on six two-way radio repeater stations. Williams was also a longtime reserve deputy sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and worked at the substation in Malibu, California.[1] In 1993, Williams made a cameo in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story as the director of The Green Hornet television program.[16] In 2010, the filmmakers of the 2011 Green Hornet film adaptation had wanted him to make a cameo appearance as a cemetery guard, but Williams turned it down.[17][6] Williams stated he did not care much for acting, citing some reasons being his resentment toward the people in the industry and their unfair method of going about things. He was also wary of typecasting, pointing to examples of failures it caused in people's acting careers, such as the case of George Reeves when he became too affiliated with his portrayal of Superman. This also became one of his concerns when playing The Green Hornet. Another concern was its strong similarity to Batman, but he claimed that because William Morris, his agent, wanted him to do it, he did it. He also stated that his only interest in acting was taking it up as a business rather than to gain celebrity status.[6] Personal life and death Williams married Vicki Flaxman in 1959.[6] Together they had two children, and one from Vicki's prior marriage to Jeff Richards.[18] He had nine grandchildren.[4] He had twin daughters from a previous marriage to Drucilla Greenhaw, which also included four grandchildren. In 1988, Williams owned houses in Sun Valley, Idaho, Fort Worth (which included a ranch he inherited from his parents), and Hawaii. He said it was the fruits of good investments.[2] Pat Priest (The Munsters), Williams's longtime friend and neighbor, said he was her mentor.[4] Outside his acting career, Williams was also closely affiliated with co-star Adam West. The two of them were neighbors in Sun Valley and spent much leisure time together. West also claimed when people saw them together outdoors, they would comment about Batman and The Green Hornet being on a secret case together.[19] Producer Kevin Burns revealed on December 5, 2016, that Williams died on November 28, 2016, from kidney failure at the age of 82 in Scottsdale, Arizona.[4][20] Filmography Film Year     Title     Role     Notes 1960     Tall Story     Young Man in Shower     Uncredited 1962     Red Nightmare     Air Force Sergeant     Short film / Uncredited 1963     The Caretakers     Dr. Larry Denning     1966     Our Man Flint     President Lyndon B. Johnson (voice)     Uncredited Batman 1993     Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story     Green Hornet Director     Television Year     Title     Role     Notes 1954     King Richard II     Exton's Servant     Television film 1958–1959     General Electric Theater     Charlie / Ben     2 episodes 1959     Lawman     Zachary Morgan     Episode: "The Young Toughs" 1959     Colt .45     Tom Rucker     Episode: "The Sanctuary" 1959–1960     Bourbon Street Beat     Kenny Madison     36 episodes 1960–1962     Surfside 6     Ken Madison     69 episodes 1961–1963     77 Sunset Strip     Wade Saunders / Ken Madison     2 episodes 1962     Cheyenne     Ray Masters     Episode: "Vengeance Is Mine" 1963     The Gallant Men     Lt. Dave Cameron     Episode: "The Leathernecks" 1963     Hawaiian Eye     Don Munroe     Episode: "Two Million Too Much" 1964     Temple Houston     Joey Baker     Episode: "Ten Rounds for Baby" 1964–1965     The Tycoon     Pat Burns     32 episodes 1965     The Dick Van Dyke Show     Clark Rice     Episode: "No Rice at My Wedding" 1965     The Beverly Hillbillies     Dean Peters     Episode: "The Courtship of Elly" 1966     Preview Tonight     Commander Russ Enright     Episode: "Pursue and Destroy" 1966     The Milton Berle Show     The Green Hornet / Britt Reid     Episode: #1.2 1966–1967     The Green Hornet     26 episodes 1966–1967     Batman     3 episodes 1968     The Big Valley     Sheriff Dave Barrett     Episode: "Rimfire" 1970     Mannix     Executive #1     Episode: "The Search for Darrell Andrews" 1970     Love, American Style     Bill     Segment: "Love and the Minister" 1970     Nanny and the Professor     Mr. Parsons     Episode: "The Visitor" 1971     Ironside     Sgt. Artie Hawkins     Episode: "The Gambling Game" 1972     Mission: Impossible     Arnold Sanders     Episode: "The Deal" 1974     Apple's Way     Ritchie Case     Episode: "The Lamb" 1974     Gunsmoke     Quincy     Episode: "Thirty a Month and Found" 1975     The Manhunter         Episode: "To Kill a Tiger" 1975     The Runaways     Joe Ringer     Television film 1975     Westwind     Steve Andrews     13 episodes 1976     Bert D'Angelo/Superstar     Junior Danvers     Episode: "Scag" 1976     The Streets of San Francisco     Officer Morton     2 episodes 1977     Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected     Sheriff     Episode: "Devil Pack" 1977     Barnaby Jones     Munson     Episode: "Circle of Treachery" 1977     The Red Hand Gang     OK Okins     4 episodes 1977     You Gotta Start Somewhere         Television film 1978     How the West Was Won     Captain MacAllister     3 episodes 1978     Colorado C.I.     Captain Cochran     Television film 1979     Centennial     George     Episode: "The Scream of Eagles" 1979     The Night Rider     Jim Hollister     Television film 1979     Mrs. Columbo     Fielding     Episode: "The Valley Strangler" 1979     The Rockford Files     Lt. Dwayne Kefir     Episode: "Love Is the Word" Bruce lee kato green hornet Summary     The Green Hornet gave Bruce Lee a platform to showcase his martial arts skills, allowing him to stand out in a time with limited Asian representation in the media.     Despite its similarities to Batman and inclusion of martial arts, The Green Hornet failed to attract high ratings and was canceled after one season.     While the show didn't immediately lead to major Hollywood roles, The Green Hornet's popularity in Hong Kong helped launch Bruce Lee's career in martial arts films. In spite of still having a place in the public consciousness even today, Bruce Lee’s The Green Hornet was actually just a single-season series. Starring Van Williams as Britt Reid a.k.a. the Green Hornet, the 1966 ABC series is mostly remembered as the show that exposed Bruce Lee to American audiences ahead of his claim to fame in kung fu movies. Years before fighting Chuck Norris in Way of the Dragon or infiltrating a secret martial arts tournament in Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee fought crime alongside the Green Hornet as the superhero’s costumed sidekick, Kato. A big part of The Green Hornet’s legacy, and what made it special for its time, was its willingness to elevate Bruce Lee. Asian representation was rare at this time, which helped allow The Green Hornet stand out from other shows. Not only that, but it boasted something else that few American movies and shows had: martial arts. The Green Hornet’s fight scenes may not be comparable with what Lee later put together for Enter the Dragon and his other movies, but they still offered a type of action that wasn’t often shown on TV. Why ABC Cancelled The Green Hornet After Season 1 Bruce Lee Kato Robin Batman fight Although Bruce Lee certainly helped make The Green Hornet unique from other TV shows, it wasn’t enough to turn the series into the success ABC hoped it would be. Originally created as a response to Batman, The Green Hornet was intended to provide more of the same entertainment found in Batman and Robin’s show. ABC even arranged a two-part crossover between the two shows so that The Green Hornet would further benefit from Batman’s popularity. But in the end, ratings were still disappointing nonetheless. As it turns out, being similar to Batman and including martial arts didn’t help ratings enough to make Bruce Lee’s show a hit. In fact, ABC reportedly had concerns about its future as early as midseason. According to Bruce Lee: A Life by Matthew Polly, ABC considered cancelling the show at midseason but decided to see if ratings would eventually improve – hence the point of The Green Hornet's crossover with Batman. Unfortunately, the crossover didn’t amount to a significant ratings boost. As a result, the network announced in April, shortly after season 1 wrapped up, that it wouldn’t renew the series. The Green Hornet Made Bruce Lee A Success (But Not In Hollywood) Bruce Lee as Kato in The Green Hornet Since The Green Hornet greatly lacked in popularity, it didn’t contribute much to Lee’s efforts to land major roles in Hollywood movies. All it did was grant Lee opportunities for guest appearances on TV shows and other minor gigs. However, The Green Hornet eventually did do its part in making Lee famous; a few years later, reruns of the show brought Lee a great deal of attention in Hong Kong. With it becoming a favorite of Hong Kong viewers, kung fu movie studio Golden Harvest took a chance on the actor, setting in motion the martial arts films that ultimately made him an international superstar.
  • Industry: Television
  • Type: POSTER 11X17 INCHES
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States

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