Bruce Lee^[b] (born Lee Jun-fan;^[c] November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong-American martial artist, actor, and filmmaker. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from Lee’s experiences in unarmed fighting and self-defense—as well as eclectic, Zen Buddhist and Taoist philosophies—as a new school of martial arts thought.^[3][4] With a film career spanning Hong Kong and the United States,^[5][6][7] Lee is regarded as the first global Chinese film star and one of the most influential martial artists in the history of cinema.^[8] Known for his roles in five feature-length martial arts films, Lee is credited with helping to popularize martial arts films in the 1970s and promoting Hong Kong action cinema.^[9][10]

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 Lee Hoi-chuen.^[11] His early martial arts experience included Wing Chun (trained under Ip Man), tai chi, boxing (winning a Hong Kong boxing tournament), and frequent street fighting (neighborhood and rooftop fights). In 1959, Lee moved to Seattle, where he enrolled at the University of Washington in 1961.^[12] 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 his 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.

His roles in America, including playing Kato in The Green Hornet, introduced him to American audiences. After returning to Hong Kong in 1971, Lee landed his first leading role in The Big Boss, directed by Lo Wei. A year later he starred in Fist of Fury, in which he portrayed Chen Zhen, and The Way of the Dragon, directed and written by Lee. He went on to star in the American-Hong Kong co-production Enter the Dragon (1973) and The Game of Death (1978).^[13] His Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films, all of which were commercially successful, elevated 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, including their fight choreography and diversification,^[14] dramatically influenced and changed martial arts and martial arts films worldwide.^[15] With his influence, kung fu films began to displace the wuxia film genre—fights were choreographed more realistically, fantasy elements were discarded for real-world conflicts, and the characterisation of the male lead went from simply being a chivalrous hero to one that embodied the notion of masculinity.^[16]

Lee’s career was cut short by his sudden death at age 32 from a brain edema, the causes of which remain a matter of dispute.^[17] Nevertheless, his films remained popular, gained a large cult following,^[9] and became widely imitated and exploited. He became an iconic figure known throughout the world, particularly among the Chinese, based upon his portrayal of Cantonese culture in his films,^{[18][page needed]} and among Asian Americans for defying Asian stereotypes in the United States.^[19] 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.

Bruce Lee’s birth name was Lee Jun-fan.^[20]

His father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was a Cantonese opera singer based in Hong Kong. His mother Grace Ho was born in Shanghai.^[21] In December 1939, his parents traveled to California for an international opera tour in Chinatown, San Francisco.^[22] Bruce was born there on November 27, 1940.^[23] His birth in the U.S. allowed him to claim U.S. citizenship due to the United States’ jus soli citizenship laws.^[24] When he was four months old (April 1941), the Lee family returned to Hong Kong.^[25] Soon after, the Lee family experienced unexpected hardships as Japan, amid World War II, launched a surprise attack on Hong Kong in December 1941 and ruled the city for the next four years.^[26]

The ethnicity of Bruce Lee’s mother, Grace Ho, is contested. The traditional consensus is that Grace Ho’s father was a German immigrant, and that her mother was Chinese, as attested by biographers Robert Clouse and Bruce Thomas. Bruce Lee’s wife, Linda Lee Cadwell, wrote that Bruce Lee’s grandfather was a German Catholic.^[27][28]

A new alternative theory argues that Grace Ho’s father was actually the son of a Dutch Jew, Charles Maurice Bosman, and his Chinese concubine.^[29] Charles Russo has questioned this origin story entirely, suggesting that Grace Ho’s father might have been Chinese or mixed-Chinese, and that her mother might have been English.^[28] Matthew Polly concedes that Grace Ho’s paternal grandfather was a Dutch Jew, but likewise asserts that her mother was English.^[30]

However, according to Doug Palmer, the claim that Grace Ho had an English mother is only speculation.^[31] Palmer also notes that family records suggest that the Dutch-Jewish Bosman family had originated from Germany, which may account for the assumption that Grace Ho was part German.^[31]

Lee’s father was a Cantonese opera star. As a result, 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.^[32] 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.^[33]

At age seven, Lee began practicing tai chi together with his father.^[34] 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.^[35] By the time he was 18, he had appeared in 20 films.^[33] 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.^[36]

In the early 1950s, Lee’s father became an opium addict.^[37] In 1956, due to poor academic performance (and possibly poor conduct), Lee was transferred to St. Francis Xavier’s College.^[38] He was mentored by Brother Edward Muss, F.M.S., a Bavarian-born teacher and coach of the school boxing team.^[39][40][41]

In 1953, Lee’s friend William Cheung introduced him to Ip Man.^[42][43] According to Cheung, Lee’s European background on his mother’s side led him to be rejected, initially, from learning Wing Chun kung fu under Ip Man because of the long-standing rule in the Chinese martial arts world not to teach foreigners.^[44][45][46] Cheung spoke on his behalf and Lee was accepted into the school and began training in Wing Chun with Ip Man.^[47][48] Ip tried to keep his students from fighting in the street gangs of Hong Kong by encouraging them to fight in organized competitions.^[49]

After a year of his training with Ip Man, most of the other students refused to train with Lee. They had learned of his mixed ancestry, and the Chinese were generally against teaching their martial arts techniques to non-Asians.^[50][51] 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 Ip Man“.^[52] However, Lee showed a keen interest in Wing Chun and continued to train privately with Ip Man, William Cheung, and Wong Shun-leung.^[53][54]

In 1958, Lee won the Hong Kong schools boxing tournament, knocking out the previous champion, Gary Elms, in the final.^[39] That year, Lee was also a cha-cha dancer, winning Hong Kong’s Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship.^[55]