Bruce Lee
Sent to America at 18 with $100 after street fights; changed how the world saw martial arts on film.
- Born
- 1940 · San Francisco, US (raised in Hong Kong)
- Roots
- Hong Kong Cantonese; part-European ancestry through his mother
- Family
- Middle class
- His father was a Cantonese opera and film star; comfortable but not wealthy.
- Education
- University of Washington (philosophy, did not finish)
- Started with
- $100
- What his parents gave him when they sent him back to America at 18.
- Affiliations & societies
- None documented.
- Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.
The pathway
- 1946 · age 6Child actor
Appears in some twenty Hong Kong films before adulthood.
- 1953 · age 13Wing Chun under Ip Man
Starts formal training after street fights.
- 1959 · age 18Shipped to America$100
Works as a waiter and dance instructor in Seattle; opens a kung fu school.
- 1966 · age 25Kato in The Green Hornet
US fame, but Hollywood keeps him in sidekick roles.
- 1971 · age 31Returns to Hong Kong
The Big Boss breaks local box-office records; two more hits follow.
- 1973 · age 32Enter the Dragon$850K budget
The Warner co-production grosses hundreds of times its budget — he dies six days before the premiere.
Sources
Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.