He also was the first to put Hong Kong on the map in international film. His films continue to be watched in almost every country in the world. Joel Stein wrote in Time, "In an America where the Chinese were still stereotyped as meek house servants and railroad workers, Bruce Lee was all steely sinew, threatening stare and cocky pointy fingersa Clark Kent who didn't need to change outfits He was the redeemer, not only for the Chinese but for all the geeks and dorks and pimpled teenage masses that went up to the theaters to see his action films.
He was David, with spin-kicks and flying leaps more captivating than any slingshot. Lee honed his craft as a martial arts instructor in the U. Struggling to break into Hollywood, he returned to his hometown Hong Kong, where he catapulted to global fame with hits like The Big Boss and Fist of Fury before passing away in at age 32 from swelling of the brain.
Lee was a sickly child with a female name Li Jun Fan given to him by his mother to ward off evil spirits. She also pierced one of his ears in the belief that the spirits would leave him alone if they thought he was a girl. In he moved with his family to Hong Kong.
Beginning at the age of five he appeared as a child star in 20 films and rarely showed up at school. Growing up in Hong Kong he took ballroom dancing classes, trained in the Chinese kung fu style of wing chun, took part in inter-school boxing competitions and was greatly affected by the drug addiction of a childhood friend. Lee was skinny, bespectacled kid.
In , he lost a street fight and began taking kung-fu lessons as a means of protecting himself. He also began a life-long quest to turn his body into a well-tuned fighting machine through diet, exercise, weight training, and meditation. As a teenager Lee was formally trained in the martial arts in the Wing Chin kung fu order under a master teacher in Hong Kong.
In , at the age of 18, Lee returned to the United States to study philosophy at the University of Washington in Seattle. His mother sent him there so he could receive dual citizenship and to keep him away from his local gang. He worked at a Chinese restaurant, met his wife, went to college, and got a job teaching the Wing Chun-style of marital arts. In , Lee opened his first kung-fu school, teaching Jee Kune Do. He taught in both Seattle in Oakland.
In , Lee entered a tournament in Long Beach, Californiathe first major American demonstration of kung fu. He have back belt Dan Inosanto a good fight. Inosanto asked Lee to be his student. Lee moved to Los Angeles and become a physical fitness freak.
He ran, lifted weights and did isometrics. He experimented with electrical impulses which he used to stimulate his muscles while he slept. He consumed vitamins, royal jelly, steroids and even liquid steaks. Lee once wrote: "Research your won experiences for the truth. Absorb what is useful Add what is specifically your won The creating individual In and , Lee played Kato, a Japanese chauffeur, on the Green Hornet, a tongue-and-cheek super hero television series made by the creators of Batman.
The role gave his teaching career a boost. Lee developed the idea for television series that became Kung Fu. David Carradine was selected over Lee for the leading role.
Off screen, he had reputation for arrogance and aggression. Insanto later said, "Although he had a short temper, Bruce Lee was a very humane and multidimensional person.
If you were in his circle of close friends, he was open and joking all the time. One inch punch Lee played a cocky little guy who was not afraid of anything.
He fought against larger, muscle-bound opponents, small armies of fighters, drug dealers and Japanese soldiers. Most crumpled or flew in the air, and collapsed dead or unconscious, after just one of Lee's blow to the face. Lee was is known for the funny sounds he made when he fought and the unusual poses and stances he struck as he prepared to do battle.
And when he whooped like a crane, jumped in the air and simultaneously kicked two bad guys into unconsciousness, all while punching out two others Off screen, you knew the real Lee could do that to. He blamed his lack of opportunities in Hollywood on discrimination against Asians.
In , he signed a contact with the Hong Kong company Golden Harvest. Of these three one was almost unwatchable and other two had only the fight scenes to redeem them. The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby wrote, his films make "the worst Italian western look like the most solemn and noble achievements of the early Soviet Cinema. The plot of Lee's films were all pretty much the same. He plays a Robin-Hood-like good guy who sticks ofr irdnary Chinese who are getting pushed around by criminals and bullies.
At he beginning Lee makes a vow not too fight. Li, who meditates for an hour a day or more, says he is looking for ways to communicate the message of Buddhism and the wisdom behind martial arts to Americans. You kick [butt], blah, blah, blah. If you understand Eastern and Western culture, you will understand the yin-and-yang balance. Maybe you will grow up. The first is physical, making your body a weapon; the second is using psychology to help win battles; the third is achieving an inner peace.
When People named him one of its "men we love," a runner-up in its "Sexiest Man Alive" issue for , it found him meditating and studying Buddhism at his home in San Gabriel Valley, California. The magazine reported that he had recently spent three months in Asia to learn more about Buddhism. But while I was there, I was truly happy. Li was vacationing in the Maldives, a chain of islands in the Indian Ocean, when a massive tsunami struck southern Asia on December 26, He and his four-year-old daughter were in their hotel's lobby when the wave hit, and he injured his foot on a piece of furniture while running for safety.
He later posted a message on his website assuring his fans he was okay, thanking the staff of the hospital for keeping the guests safe, and encouraging his fans to donate to tsunami relief efforts. Thanks to his spiritual beliefs, Li has told interviewers, he does not fear death, and says thoughts of it can make living in the present more precious. Likewise, he can handle either further success or commercial failure. This flower is very beautiful now, but a few months later, no flower," Li told the Los Angeles Times ' Noxon.
He explained that martial arts movies are hot now but there are no guarantees that their popularity will last. Entertainment Weekly, July 13, , p. People, August 3, , p. Video Business, February 25, , p. Toggle navigation. Career Member of Beijing Wushu Team, s.
Sidelights Jet Li is a former martial arts star in his native China and one of Asia's biggest movie stars. Periodicals Entertainment Weekly, July 13, , p. Hollywood Reporter, December 29, , p. Los Angeles Times, July 4, Men's Health, September , p. Newsweek, March 27, , p. Time, April 3, , p. Time International, July 30, , p. User Contributions:. Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: Name:. E-mail: Show my email publicly.
Continuing to move back and forth between Hollywood productions and Chinese language films, Li appeared in two other films. He starred in Ocean Paradise , a Chinese father-son drama.
Li also had a supporting role in Sylvester Stallone film, The Expendables , about mercenaries who work together to overthrow a South American dictator. In and , he went on to star in the subsequent installments of the popular franchise.
He also played the emperor in the live-action remake of Mulan. Interested in charitable causes, Li serves as an ambassador for the Red Cross. The organization works in several different areas, and provides disaster relief to the people of China. Li married his wife Nina in The couple has two daughters together. Previously married to Qiuyan Huang from to , Li has two daughters from his first marriage. We strive for accuracy and fairness.
If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Martial artist and actor Jackie Chan's unique blend of impressive martial arts and screwball physical comedy has helped make him an international film star. Pei was one of the most renowned architects of the 20th and early 21st centuries, known for signature projects such as the Louvre Pyramid and the National Gallery of Art's East Wing.
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese communist leader and the most powerful figure in the People's Republic of China from the late s until his death in Kung Fu master and icon Bruce Lee was one of his students. Mao Tse-tung also spelled Zedong was the principal Chinese Marxist theorist, soldier and statesman who led his nation's Cultural Revolution.
Dalai Lama, Tibet's political leader, has strived to make Tibet an independent and democratic state from China. He and his followers are exiled to India.
Jet Li is a champion martial artist and Chinese film actor. He starred in the 'Once Upon a Time in China' film series and in the critically-praised, international hit 'Hero.
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