Bruce Lee: A Complete Chronological Timeline of His Life

Before Bruce Lee could make films, he needed a television series. Before the series, there was a karate tournament in Long Beach. Before the tournament, there was a waiter job in Seattle and a philosophy degree he never finished. The path from Kowloon street fights to “Enter the Dragon” took exactly fourteen years and ran through places and decisions that, at the time, must have looked like wrong turns.

What follows is a year-by-year account of Bruce Lee’s adult life, drawn from verified sources. Dates in some cases remain disputed; where accounts differ materially, the most widely supported version is given.

1940

November 27: Born Lee Jun-fan at Jackson Street Hospital, San Francisco, California, during a tour of the United States by his father Lee Hoi-chuen, a Cantonese opera performer. His mother, Grace Ho, was of Cantonese and German descent. He is the fourth of five children. Within months the family returns to Hong Kong.

1941-1952: Childhood in Hong Kong

Bruce grows up in the Kowloon district. He appears as a child actor in more than twenty Hong Kong films, beginning at age six with a bit role and growing into recognizable parts. The film work gives him screen comfort early. His home neighborhood is rough, and street fighting becomes a recurring problem by his early teens.

1953: Wing Chun Begins

Age 13. After a serious street fight, Bruce’s parents arrange for him to study Wing Chun under Grandmaster Ip Man. Training begins at the Ip Man school in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon. Fellow student Wong Shun-leung becomes a significant training partner and vouches for Bruce when Ip Man’s senior students object to training someone of mixed ancestry.

1956-1958: Escalating Conflicts

Bruce wins the Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship in 1958, demonstrating the range of physical disciplines he was absorbing simultaneously with his Wing Chun training. Street confrontations continue. A fight with a gang connected to a triad organization convinces his parents the situation requires a permanent solution.

1959: Departure for America

April: At age 18, Bruce boards a ship for the United States with approximately one hundred dollars and the address of a family contact. He spends time in San Francisco working for Ruby Chow, a family connection who runs a Cantonese restaurant in Seattle. He teaches cha-cha and works as a waiter while beginning to teach martial arts informally.

1961: University of Washington

Bruce enrolls at the University of Washington as a philosophy major. He opens his first formal martial arts school, teaching what he calls Jun Fan Gung Fu, on the University District. Students include Jesse Glover, his first American student, and Taky Kimura, who will remain one of his most trusted associates for the rest of his life.

1963: First Trip Back to Hong Kong

Bruce visits Hong Kong briefly and begins writing a book on his martial arts approach. The manuscript is not published in his lifetime but forms part of the material later incorporated into “Tao of Jeet Kune Do.”

1964: Long Beach and Linda

August 2: Bruce demonstrates the one-inch punch and two-finger push-ups at the Long Beach International Karate Championships, organized by Ed Parker. Producer William Dozier sees the demonstration (through Jay Sebring) and approaches Bruce about a television project. August 17: Bruce marries Linda Emery in Seattle. He is 23; she is 21. He does not complete his philosophy degree at the University of Washington.

1965: Screen Test and Brandon

Bruce moves to Los Angeles to pursue Hollywood work. He films a screen test for a proposed series called “Number One Son” based on the Charlie Chan character, rewritten to feature a Chinese-American protagonist. The project does not proceed. February 1: Brandon Lee is born in Oakland, California.

1966: The Green Hornet

Bruce is cast as Kato in “The Green Hornet” television series, which premieres in September. He opens a martial arts school in Los Angeles and begins teaching private students including Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and James Garner. His rate for private instruction is 275 dollars per hour, significant money in 1966.

1967: The Green Hornet Ends, JKD Named

“The Green Hornet” is cancelled after one season of 26 episodes. Bruce formally names his evolving martial arts approach Jeet Kune Do and opens the Los Angeles Chinatown school. He takes small television acting roles and continues private instruction while trying unsuccessfully to develop film projects.

1969: Shannon and Longstreet

April 19: Shannon Lee is born in Los Angeles. Bruce continues private instruction and begins appearing in the television series “Longstreet” as a recurring character, martial arts instructor Li Tsung. The Longstreet episodes showcase his screen presence and martial philosophy in dialogue more fully than the Kato role had allowed.

1970: Back Injury

February: Bruce suffers a serious sacral nerve injury during a weights session. Doctors tell him he may not kick again. He spends months bedridden, reading and writing extensively. The notebooks from this period form the core of “Tao of Jeet Kune Do.” He visits Hong Kong and discovers the scale of his celebrity there from “The Green Hornet” reruns.

1971: The Big Boss

Bruce accepts Raymond Chow’s offer from Golden Harvest and films “The Big Boss” in Thailand during the summer. Released in Hong Kong in October, it breaks every existing box office record in the territory. Bruce becomes the most talked-about film star in Hong Kong essentially overnight.

1972: Three Films

“Fist of Fury” is released in March and breaks “The Big Boss” records. “Way of the Dragon,” which Bruce writes, directs, produces, and stars in, is released in December. Filming of “Game of Death” begins, featuring fight sequences against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dan Inosanto, and others. The project is paused when Warner Bros. approaches with the “Enter the Dragon” co-production offer.

1973: Enter the Dragon and Death

January through March: “Enter the Dragon” is filmed at Golden Harvest studios in Hong Kong. May 10: Bruce collapses on a dubbing stage at Golden Harvest and is taken to hospital. Cerebral edema is diagnosed. He recovers and returns to work. July 20: Bruce is at the Kowloon Tong home of actress Betty Ting Pei. He complains of a headache and takes an Equagesic tablet. He lies down and cannot be woken. He is transported to Queen Elizabeth Hospital and pronounced dead. The cause of death is determined to be cerebral edema following hypersensitivity to a component of the Equagesic tablet. He is 32 years old. July 31: He is buried at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle, Washington. August 19: “Enter the Dragon” premieres in Los Angeles.

Posthumous: 1975-Present

1975: “Tao of Jeet Kune Do,” compiled from his notebooks by Linda Lee, is published by Ohara Publications. It becomes the foundational text for JKD practitioners worldwide. 1978: “Game of Death” is released by Golden Harvest in a heavily altered version using a double for most of the film. 1993: Brandon Lee dies on the set of “The Crow” on March 31, aged 28. He is buried beside his father at Lake View Cemetery. 1998: “Enter the Dragon” is selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. 2020: Shannon Lee publishes “Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee.” The Bruce Lee Foundation continues operating the summer camp program based on his philosophy.