A Chronology of the Life of Bruce Lee

SAN FRANCISCO

■  November 27, 1940. Bruce “Jun Fan” Lee is born in the “hour of the dragon” (between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.) and the “year of the dragon.”

■  February, 1941. Appears in his first film. He is three months old.

HONG KONG

■  1946. Begins to film the first of what will total 18 Chinese-language films before the age of 18.

■  1952. Enters La Salle College, a Catholic boys school.

■  1953. Begins to study Gung Fu under the venerated grandmaster Yip Man, of the Wing Chun system.

■  1958. Wins the “Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship.”

■  March 29, 1958. Enters St. Francis Xavier high school.

■  April 29, 1959. Departs Hong Kong for America.

U.S.A.

■  May 17, 1959. Arrives by ship in San Francisco.

■  September 3, 1959. Arrives in Seattle, Washington. Enters Edison Technical School—Fall quarter.

■  December 2, 1960. Graduates from Edison Technical School.

■  May 27, 1961. Enters the University of Washington—Spring quarter.

HONG KONG

■  March 26, 1963. Returns to visit his family for the first time in four years.

U.S.A.

■  August, 1963. Returns from Hong Kong. Leaves the University of Washington after Spring quarter 1964.

■  July 19, 1964. Leaves Seattle to establish a Gung Fu Institute in Oakland, California.

■  August 2, 1964. Performs at the International Karate Tournament in Long Beach, California.

■  August 3, 1964. Starts Gung Fu instruction in Oakland.

■  August 17, 1964. Seattle. Marries Linda Emery.

■  February 1, 1965. Oakland. Bruce and Linda’s son, Brandon Bruce Lee, is born on Chinese New Year’s Eve day in the “year of the dragon.”

■  February 8, 1965. Bruce’s father, Lee Hoi Chuen, dies in Hong Kong.

■  March, 1966. The Lee family moves to Los Angeles, California.

■  June 6, 1966. The shooting of The Green Hornet television series begins.

■  February 5, 1967. Officially opens the Los Angeles chapter of the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute.

■  July 1967. Names his way of martial art “Jeet Kune Do.”

■  May 6, 1967. Performs at National Karate Championships in Washington, D.C.

■  June 24, 1967. Appears at All-American Open Karate Championship at Madison Square Garden in New York.

■  July 14, 1967. Hired to appear in one episode of the Ironside television series.

■  July 30, 1967. Performs at the Long Beach International Karate Tournament.

■  June 23, 1968. Attends the National Karate Championships in Washington, D.C.

■  July 5, 1968. Hired as the technical director for the movie The Wrecking Crew.

■  August 1, 1968. Hired to play a bad guy in MGM’s Little Sister (later renamed Marlowe).

■  October 1, 1968. Moved into Bel Air.

■  November 12, 1968. Films an episode of the television series Blondie for Universal.

■  April 19, 1969. Santa Monica. Bruce and Linda’s daughter, Shannon Emery Lee, is born.

HONG KONG

■  1970. Returns to Hong Kong with his son, Brandon, to visit his family.

U.S.A.

■  1970-1971. Works with actor James Coburn and screenwriter Stirling Silliphant on a screenplay about the philosophy of the martial arts entitled The Silent Flute.

■  June 27, 1971. Films the premiere episode of the television series Longstreet for Paramount.

■  1971. Begins to collaborate with Warner Bros. on developing a television series called The Warrior (later renamed Kung Fu).

THAILAND

■  July 1971. Films The Big Boss (called Fists of Fury in North America), which breaks all previous box office records in Hong Kong, for Golden Harvest Studios.

HONG KONG

■  December 7, 1971. Receives official word that he will not star in The Warrior and that the part has been given to American Caucasian David Carradine.

■  December 9, 1971. Records what will prove to be his only surviving on-camera interview with Canadian journalist, Pierre Berton. Portions of this interview are incorporated into the documentary film Bruce Lee: In His Own Words.

■  1972. Films second film for Golden Harvest, Fist of Fury (called The Chinese Connection in North America), which breaks all records set by his last film, The Big Boss.

■  1972. Forms his own production company, Concord, and makes his directorial debut in The Way of the Dragon (called Return of the Dragon in North America), which, again, shatters all previous box office records in Hong Kong.

■  October-November, 1972. Begins preliminary filming of fight sequences for his next film, The Game of Death.

■  February, 1973. Interrupts filming of The Game of Death to begin filming Enter the Dragon for Warner Bros.

■  July 20, 1973. Bruce Lee passes away in Hong Kong, his death the result of a cerebral edema caused by hypersensitivity to a prescription medication.

U.S.A.

■  July 31, 1973. Laid to rest in Lakeview Cemetery, Seattle. His pallbearers are friends and students Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Dan Inosanto, Peter Chin, Taky Kimura, and his younger brother, Robert Lee.