Lee Jun Fan
November 27, 1940
San Francisco, CA
*Parents
Hoi Chuen Lee
Grace Lee
*Siblings
Peter Lee
Robert Lee
Agnes Lee Chan
Phoebe Lee Ho
*Wife
Linda Lee
*Children
Brandon Lee
Shannon Lee
Golden Gate Girl
*age 3 months
The Beginning of A Boy
*age 6 years
The Orphan
*age 18
*The Green Hornet
*age 26
*Marlowe
*age 27
*Longstreet
*age 31
*The Big Boss (Fists of Fury)
*age 30
*Fists Of Fury (The Chinese Connection)
*age 31
*Game of Death
*age 31
*Return of the Dragon
*32
*Enter the Dragon
*age 32
In 1941 the Lee family returns to Hong Kong. Living at 218 Nathan Road in Kowloon. It was Bruce's father that got him into the film industry. Bruce used to hang around the set when his father was working on a film. Bruce started his film career at the age of three months, in San Francisco. From then up to he was eighteen, he appeared in over twenty other Chinese films.
At the age of fifteen Bruce took an avid interest in martial arts. Bruce was first exposed to the tai chi style of martial arts. But over time he became bored with tai chi. And so he began studying Kung Fu. Bruce then went on to study under Yip Man who taught wing-chun. According to Bruce, Yip Man was the hardest puncher he had ever met. Bruce was one of Yip Man's promising students.
In 1958 Bruce was the Cha-Cha Champion. He kept a list of 108 different dance steps in his wallet. In the fall of this year Bruce was nearing his eighteenth birthday, it was time to go back to the place of his birth. Only given $100 US dollars, Bruce left Hong Kong on the steamship, taking eighteen days to reach San Francisco. He stayed with a friend of his father's while in San Francisco. Earning money by giving dance lessons. Then Ruby Chow, owner of a Seattle restaurant, offered Bruce a room above her restaurant and in return he would wait tables. While in Seattle, Bruce attended Edison Technical School during the days to earn his diploma. At nights he would wait tables. In gaining his diploma, he went onto the University of Washington.
Beginning in the late 1950's, Bruce began teaching kung-fu to a small group of students. Within a small period of time Bruce stepped up his schedule of public demonstrations and, as a result, student enrollment increased. With the added moneys, Bruce signed a commercial lease on a small building that soon became the home of the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute.
For Bruce, America at first proved no tougher than it had been for millions of immigrants before him. On his arrival he was better equipped than most to begin with, and he was a citizen.
In 1964 Bruce and Linda were married. On their way to Oakland lay an exciting period of struggle, hard work and frustration. There were times when money was scarce, times when it seemed that Bruce's success was just around the corner. They had their years of struggle, but for Linda it was a welcomed struggle. Bruce had goals, ambitions and achievements to be realized and knew that for these to become realities he had to put as much into life as he expected to gain from it. In August of 1964 Bruce performs a demonstration at Ed Parker's Long Beach International Karate Tournament. Parker tapes footage of Bruce's performance and gives it to Jay Sebring and William Dozier who is looking for someone to cast in a new TV series. Later, Bruce is given a screen test for this part.
Later in 1964 Bruce is challenged by the Chinese martial artists for teaching it to non-Chinese. Bruce accepted the challenge, but under his rules. The challenger was Wong Jack Man, who when arrived and presented a scroll to Bruce gave him an ultimatum. If Bruce lost this challenge he was to close down his Institute or to stop teaching non-Chinese. Bruce said, "Is this what you want." "No, this is not what I want-but I am representing these people." Bruce replies, "Ok then." Wong Jack told Bruce before the fight, "Let's not make this a match-let's spar, try out our techniques." Bruce replied with "No you challenged me, let's fight." Wong Jack tried to negotiate some rules but Bruce would not allow it. "I am not standing for any of that, you've come here with an ultimatum, trying to scare me off. You've made the challenge I am making the rules. So as far as I am concerned it's no holds barr. It's all out." Bruce bet Wong Jack man, but it also caused Bruce to intensify his training methods. He also tried to develop equipment that would increase his reaction speed. It also causes Bruce to re-examine his traditional appraoch after being annoyed that the fight took longer than it should have.
On February 1, 1965 Bruce and Linda become the proud parents of a son, Brandon Bruce Lee. On February 8th after the birth of his son, Bruce's father Hoi Chuen Lee passes. Later in 1965 Bruce takes his family, and baby Brandon to Hong Kong to visit his family.
On June 6, 1966 Bruce begins filming the TV Series THE GREEN HORNET. In this Series Bruce was able to give American Fans their first glimpse at Kung Fu. Unfortuately, the show only lasted 6 months during the 1966-67 season. But Bruce gained a entire new audience from this Series. Through the Green Hornet Bruce learned what it was like to become a idol.