On This Day

Birthday of Bruce Lee

November 27th 1940

14:16 27 November 2023

Hong Kong American actor, director, martial artist, martial arts instructor and philosopher Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco on this day in 1940. His parents returned to Hong Kong when Lee was aged 3 months and here he was introduced to the world of cinema by his father Lee Hoi-chuen, a famous Cantonese opera star. He made appearances in twenty films by the time he was 18.

Returning to the U.S. to study philosophy and practice martial arts, he had a chance meeting with television producer William Dozier which led to him playing Kato in the TV series 'The Green Hornet' (1966). More TV work followed as well as a supporting role in 'Marlowe' (1969) before he played his first lead role in the Hong Kong martial arts action film 'The Big Boss' (1971) which was a huge box office hit across Asia and made him an international star.

He completed just three more films: 'Fist of Fury' (1972), 'Way of the Dragon' (1972) and 'Enter the Dragon' (1973), before his tragic and untimely death in July 1973. Bruce Lee is without doubt the most influential martial artist of all time as well as a 20th century pop culture icon who not only bridged the gap between East and West but changed forever the way Asians were portrayed in American films.