1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,400 Speaker 1: Hollywood History Officionados, Welcome back for another installment from our archive. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: This week, we're bringing you our episode on Bruce Lee, 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: a man whose story is unlike any other. You're going 4 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: to hear about that in just a minute. Nowadays, when 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: I think about Bruce Lee, I think about the kerfuffle 6 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: that arose from Quentin Tarantino's depiction of Lee in his 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Many people were 8 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: upset how Tarantino showed that his character Cliff Booth was 9 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 1: able to physically best Bruce Lee. There was additional anger 10 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,240 Speaker 1: over the way Tarantino portrayed the attitude of Bruce Lee 11 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: as well. I can't speak to the attitude part. But 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: as for the fight with Cliff Booth, who's to say 13 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: it really happened. Who's to say it all wasn't just 14 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: inside Cliff's head. If you watch the film again, the 15 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: story definitely supports this theory. So Bruce Lee fans, it's 16 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: all good. Your man's badassness has been preserved by me 17 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: right here in Hollywoodland. Hope you guys enjoyed this episode 18 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: on this icon as much as we hear at Double 19 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: Elvis enjoyed putting it together for you. So, without further ado, 20 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: here's Bruce Lee in Hollywoodland. Hollywood Land is a production 21 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: of double Elvis. 22 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 2: Johnny, Get your Guns, Get Jill Gun, Get your Gun, 23 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 2: thank it, on the run, on the run, on the run. 24 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 2: Here They'm calling you enemy every dons from Hurry minea 25 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 2: Way Hold. 26 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: Stories about Bruce Lee are insane. At seventeen, he was 27 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: banished from his hometown of Hong Kong when he couldn't 28 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: stop picking fights. As an adult, he revolutionized martial arts 29 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,239 Speaker 1: with moves like his one inch punch, a move so 30 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: unexpectedly impactful that it could send an opponent literally flying 31 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: backwards through the air. He parlayed his work as a 32 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: martial arts trainer into a martial arts action star, introducing 33 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: millions of Westerners to his rapid style. He made sure 34 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 1: he looked good on screen by having the sweat glands 35 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: and his armpits surgically removed. His fame became problematic in China, 36 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: where he wasn't able to escape obsessive fans and dubious 37 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:46,239 Speaker 1: triad gangs, and he single handedly changed the perception of 38 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: Asian actors in historically white Hollywood. It goes without saying 39 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: that Bruce Lee made great films, some of the most 40 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: groundbreaking and enduring kung fu films of all time. Unlike 41 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,399 Speaker 1: that clip I played you at the top the show. 42 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: That wasn't a clip from a great film. That was 43 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 1: a fair youth sample from the Library of Congress of 44 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:11,079 Speaker 1: Arthur Field's and Billy Murray performing over there from nineteen seventeen. 45 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: I played you that clip because I can't afford the 46 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: rights to Guy Hamilton's Live and Let Die. And why 47 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: would I play you that specific slice of Shaken not 48 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: Stirred cell you Lloyd Cheese. Can I afford it? Because 49 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: that was the number one movie in America on July twentieth, 50 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three, And that was the day that Bruce 51 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: Lee died suddenly at the age of thirty two, a 52 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: death that was wrapped in mystery and lies, and one 53 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: that both authorities and fans are still trying to piece 54 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: together to this day. On this episode, Picking Fights, surgically 55 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: removed sweat glands a one inch punch and Bruce Lee, 56 00:03:52,600 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Hollywood Land. Jay Sebring 57 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: was dead, Stephen Parent was dead, Abigail Folger, Voidchek Freikovsky 58 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: dead and dead, and Sharon, Sharon Tate was dead, and 59 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: so was their unborn baby boy, Their unborn baby boy, 60 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: Sharon's and her husband's Roman Polanski's Roman was distraught. He 61 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: couldn't believe that someone had broken into his Los Angeles 62 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: home on Siello Drive in the middle of the evening 63 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 1: on August eighth, nineteen sixty nine, while he was in 64 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: Europe working on a film and murdered his wife, their 65 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,920 Speaker 1: unborn child, and their friends. What even harder to believe 66 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 1: was that one month later he was still waiting on 67 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 1: the police to arrest the killer. The cops had very 68 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: little to go on so far. Their biggest lead was 69 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: a pair of horn rimmed glasses they had found on 70 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,359 Speaker 1: the floor near the bodies. Roman tried to immerse himself 71 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: in making his latest film, but it was no use. 72 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 1: Roman Polanski, at the time in nineteen sixty nine, was 73 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: one of the hottest directors in Hollywood thanks to his 74 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: devilishly smart thriller Rosemary's Baby, and he couldn't think about movies. 75 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: He thought only about the killer. He knew that if 76 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: the killer wasn't caught soon, he'd go crazy. So Roman 77 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: turned into a detective. If the police weren't going to 78 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,039 Speaker 1: find the killer, then he would. Roman Polanski the amateur 79 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,040 Speaker 1: detective deputized by grief, rage and revenge, and he was 80 00:05:53,160 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: pretty sure he knew who did it. Bruce Lee. Roman 81 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: came to this conclusion unexpectedly. He was investigating under the 82 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:07,720 Speaker 1: assumption that the killer was in a circle of friends, 83 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: someone who knew that Sharon had gathered her friends together 84 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: for a festive slumber party. Perhaps it was a crime 85 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: of passion or jealousy. Roman became skeptical of friends and 86 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,279 Speaker 1: enemies alike. Everyone was a suspect at the time. Roman 87 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: was taking private self defense lessons from Bruce Lee. Every 88 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: self respecting martial arts want to be in Hollywood was 89 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: taking private lessons from Bruce, Steve McQueen, James Colburn, Kareem 90 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: Abdul Jabbar. Bruce had Jay Sebring to thank for that. Jay, 91 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,840 Speaker 1: a hairdresser to the stars, was the guy who back 92 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty five, recommended to then unknown Bruce Lead 93 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: to Hollywood producers after he'd seen him compete at the 94 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:52,719 Speaker 1: Long Beach International Karate Championships. Bruce was buds with Jay. 95 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,840 Speaker 1: Bruce was buds with Sharon Bruce was the karate advisor 96 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 1: on the set of Sharon's final movie, The Wrecking Crew. 97 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: Bruce was one of them. Los Angeles, September nineteen sixty nine, 98 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: a month after the murders. It was a hot, late 99 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: summer afternoon. Bruce and Roman were a sparring at a 100 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,679 Speaker 1: gym on the Paramount Lot. Bruce casually mentioned to Roman 101 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: that he'd recently lost a pair of glasses, and these 102 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: training sessions were important to Roman. He could punch through 103 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: the pain and sweat out the rage. The discipline of 104 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: kung fu kept his mind straight. But when Bruce told 105 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: him that he couldn't find his glasses, Roman stopped in 106 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: his tracks. Was Bruce missing the same pair the cops 107 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: had recovered at the Yellow Drive? But what were the odds? 108 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: It could make sense. Roman could make it make sense. 109 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: Bruce's training his skill, and Roman had heard all the 110 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: rumors about Dimmock, the death touch, the vibrating palm. Bruce 111 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: had told him that he was capable of delivering a 112 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: fatal blow with the quick strike of his hand. Sharon 113 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: and the others would have welcomed Bruce with open arms 114 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: at him. They all would have partied as friends until 115 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: something inside Bruce snapped. My god, Roman thought, suddenly paralyzed 116 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: by fear, I'm blocking punches from Sharon's killer. Roman's muscles 117 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: seized up, his nerves were on fire. He tried to 118 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: keep a shit together, focus on his training, maintain that 119 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: poker face. He put his hands up to me Bruce's 120 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: hands like he had been taught to practice. She sawed 121 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: sticky hands, Bewater my friend. After the lesson, Roman had 122 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: an idea. He offered to take Bruce to an eyeglasses 123 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: shop and buy him a new pair. Roman's treat Roman 124 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: didn't mention that Bruce would unknowingly test drive the same 125 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: prescription that was found at the scene of the crime. 126 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: On the ride over, Roman tried to engage in small talk, 127 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: but couldn't stop thinking about what he was going to do. 128 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: If Bruce's prescription was a match what he called the authorities, 129 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: would he confront Bruce right there in the eyeglasses shop? 130 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: And what else was Bruce Lee hiding from him? Who 131 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: was Bruce Lee? Exactly? Clearly, there were two sides to 132 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: Bruce Lee. He was a revolutionary kung fu guru, but 133 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: he was despised by the old guard of classical martial arts. 134 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: He was touted as a family man, but Roman knew 135 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,839 Speaker 1: that Bruce sometimes kept a side piece hidden from his 136 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: old lady. And for every person in Hollywood who sang 137 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: his praises, you could easily find another person who thought 138 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,319 Speaker 1: he was an arrogant asshole. But that could be said 139 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,319 Speaker 1: about everybody in Hollywood. Roman was looking at Bruce a 140 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: little differently than he had before, because Bruce was different. 141 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: Bruce was an outsider. He may have been born in 142 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: San Francisco, but that was sheer happenstance. His father's opera 143 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,680 Speaker 1: troupe was touring the US when his mother went into labor. 144 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: He was raised back in Hong Kong, where he studied 145 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,199 Speaker 1: obscure styles of kung fu at a young age and 146 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: broke into Chinese cinema as a child actor. But Bruce 147 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: wasn't just an outsider to the West. He was an 148 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: outsider in his own land. For some reason that Roman 149 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: was unaware of, Bruce had been cast out of Hong 150 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: Kong when he was only eighteen, exiled to the States 151 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: for what could it be? For something criminal? Did anyone 152 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,559 Speaker 1: in Roman's circle of friends really know who this fucking 153 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: guy was? Sure, Roman himself was an outsider to a 154 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: certain extent, the Holocaust survivor who had gotten his start 155 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: as a film director in Europe before being wooed by Hollywood. 156 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 1: But Roman could pass for the rest of them. He 157 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: was white. Bruce Lee was not. It was a bias 158 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: that Bruce had endured since he landed back in the 159 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: place of his birth in the late fifties in the States. 160 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: Every time he walked down the street, he was reminded 161 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: that he didn't look like the others, whether or not 162 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,439 Speaker 1: he had a white girl on his arm, and the 163 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:45,320 Speaker 1: mouth breathing trodlidyites following him made that clear, and Bruce 164 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:47,440 Speaker 1: walked down the street like a guy with something to prove, 165 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: like the cock of the walk a walk of want. 166 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,439 Speaker 1: He had no posse, and the troglodyte saw as confident 167 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 1: walk and interpreted it as a challenge. They called him 168 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: a pussy, a pansy, and way worse. They egged him 169 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,559 Speaker 1: all with their racial epithets until he had had If 170 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: he didn't have a girl on his arm that particular evening, 171 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,319 Speaker 1: he would stop walking, slowly, turn around and asked them 172 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:09,959 Speaker 1: to repeat their slurs to his face. None of the 173 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: dumb fuck white boys quite understood that this outsider was 174 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: about to make them regret opening their big fat moles 175 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: in the first place. They all wanted to fight him. 176 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: They really really wanted to fight him, and more times 177 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: than not, Bruce Lee would gladly oblige. Roman Polanski did 178 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,559 Speaker 1: not want to fight Bruce Lee. He just wanted to 179 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: watch him try on a pair of horn rimmed frames 180 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: with a near sight of prescription in the lenses. He 181 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,439 Speaker 1: looked up at Bruce next to him in the eyeglasses 182 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,439 Speaker 1: shot Bruce with the extra five inches height on the 183 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: diminutive Roman. Bruce slid the frames slowly over his nose 184 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,719 Speaker 1: and nestled them behind his ears. He adjusted them so 185 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: that they were straight, blinked his eyes a few times, 186 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: and then looked right at Roman. Shit Man. Bruce said, 187 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: I can't see a fucking thing. Roman breathe a huge 188 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: sigh of relief. The tension in his shoulders went limp. 189 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,679 Speaker 1: He felt a fleeting wave of regret for unfairly profiling 190 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: his Chinese friend. You're never going to believe what I thought, 191 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:14,839 Speaker 1: he said to Bruce. But Bruce could believe it. He 192 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: knew it before Roman even explained himself. He had been 193 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,719 Speaker 1: fighting this fight for most of his adult life. The 194 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: outsider fight, the scapegoat fight, the fight fought by the 195 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:27,559 Speaker 1: confident in the cocky. It was a fight that Bruce 196 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: Lee wouldn't win without at least one casualty along the way. 197 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,679 Speaker 1: Bruce Lee shattered the glass ceiling for Asian actors in Hollywood. 198 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: For decades, Asian roles were tossed to white actors who 199 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:10,600 Speaker 1: used sticky tape to make their eyes appear slanted blackface 200 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: by a different name. Even the popular Chinese American detective 201 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: Charlie Chan was portrayed in no less than sixteen films 202 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: in the nineteen thirties by Warner Olan, a white actor 203 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: of very Swedish descent. When Oland quit the role, it 204 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: was handed down to a number of other actors James 205 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 1: Bond style, and just like James Bond, all of them 206 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 1: were white. Even later, in the nineteen seventies, the Shaolin 207 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,960 Speaker 1: monk at the center of the popular TV series Kung 208 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: Fu was played by David Carradine, a white dude. Bruce 209 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: Lee said, fuck that. Bruce Lee single handedly smashed through 210 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:50,839 Speaker 1: every barrier, just like he smashed his way through a 211 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: room full of mirrors and the climax of his best 212 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,679 Speaker 1: and final film to Enter the Dragon. But before he 213 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: did that, he was just a teenage fuck up with 214 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 1: a big chip on it shoulder and too many street 215 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: fights under his belt, and his life would have gone 216 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:06,839 Speaker 1: a little differently if he hadn't picked on the wrong kid. 217 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 1: Nineteen fifty nine, Hong Kong. The cops were familiar with 218 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 1: the Lee family house. Bruce assumed they were there for 219 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: his father, Lee Hoi Chen, just like last time, the 220 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: last time a British officer made himself at home while 221 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: his Chinese underlings did his dirty work, and the place 222 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: was tossed. They brought Hois Chen's stash into the light, 223 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: opium pipes, paraphernalia. The cops didn't actually give a shit 224 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: about hoys Chen's addiction. They just wanted money to walk away, 225 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: and they wouldn't leave that day until Bruce's mom coughed 226 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: up the Hong Kong equivalent of five hundred dollars. Now, 227 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: the cops were back a second time, and Bruce just 228 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: assumed that they were there to shake down his old man. 229 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: But this time was different. This time they were after him. 230 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: They were after Bruce. Bruce had ganged a reputation around 231 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: the city, and it was just for the small movie 232 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: roles he was able to eke out as a sometimes 233 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: child actor. He was a punk. More specifically, he was 234 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: a bully. He walked the city with a knife or 235 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: sometimes chains hidden up a sleeve, looking for someone who 236 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: wanted a piece, or someone who wanted some protection. He 237 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: just needed an excuse. He pulled a knife on his 238 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: pe teacher. He cracked the ribs of an older man 239 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: practicing tai chi simply because the man's slow tai chi 240 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,800 Speaker 1: moves bugged the shit out of him. Slow wasn't Bruce 241 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: Lee's style, and neither was traditional tai chi. Bruce was 242 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: an early convert to wing chung, an obscure brand of 243 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: kung fu that was reintroduced through the teachings of a 244 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 1: grandmaster martial artist named Ip Man. This was at a 245 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 1: time when the martial arts kung fu in particular, was 246 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: rejected by Hong Kong's polite society as a pastime for 247 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: hicks and criminals. Wing Chung came in handy for Bruce's 248 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: back alley tussles, tight quarters, kick, low punch, high hands, 249 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: always moving. It was like fighting with short bursts of 250 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: punctuation rather than with run on sentences. Bruce felt like 251 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: he always had the advantage, but this time the odds 252 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 1: were on the other kid. Not that Bruce hadn't won 253 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: that fight, he had easily, but he went after the 254 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: wrong kid. The kid's parents were connected, and those connected 255 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: parents went to the school, and the school went to 256 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: the authorities, and thus there were cops in the Lee 257 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 1: house again. Bruce was staring down a second expulsion, but 258 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: the cops didn't want to bribe this time, and they 259 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: were there to do the bidding of a powerful family 260 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: that kid's family, and that family wanted Bruce gone. The 261 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: deal was Bruce Lee could stop picking fights or spend 262 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 1: his eighteenth birthday in jail. His parents panicked. Hoytschien had 263 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: quit opium cold turkey after the cops last visit, but 264 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: that didn't stave off the ensuing public humiliation. If Bruce 265 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:52,960 Speaker 1: went to jail, his family was staring down another crushing embarrassment. 266 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: He needed to graduate high school somewhere, but no schools 267 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: in Hong Kong would now have him. The only thing 268 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: Bruce had had working to his advantage at that moment 269 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 1: was his dual citizenship. Born in San Francisco, raised in 270 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,080 Speaker 1: Hong Kong. At America, Bruce could start all over again, 271 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 1: clean slate, clean record, And that's how Bruce Lee found 272 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: himself headed to the West coast of the United States 273 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,920 Speaker 1: to unfuck himself and the path he was on in 274 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: Hong Kong was obviously a dead end path. America had 275 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,160 Speaker 1: to provide a better opportunity like America was used to doing, 276 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 1: and Bruce had to seize it. At America, Bruce Lee 277 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:33,360 Speaker 1: didn't want to fight everyone, but everyone wanted to fight 278 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: Bruce Lee. After a few years bouncing around minimum wage 279 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 1: jobs from California to Washington State, securing his high school diploma, 280 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: and meeting the Seattle woman who would become his wife, 281 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,520 Speaker 1: Bruce found himself teaching his kung fu moves to white 282 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 1: Americans who desperately wanted to learn bewater. He told his students, 283 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 1: water is formless. Water is shapeless. Your opponent cannot grasp 284 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: you or water. Your opponent cannot hurt you if you 285 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 1: were water. Bruce followed his own advice. He dedicated himself 286 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 1: to becoming the best kung fu artist in the world, 287 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: and he did so by being water, the coldest splash 288 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 1: of water ever thrown at the face of traditional martial arts. 289 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 1: He tore down conventional norms and poked holes in the 290 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: teachings of classical kung fu styles, first at a published 291 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: book and then in his kun Or, a martial arts 292 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 1: training hall that he opened in Oakland, and then in 293 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: a series of controversial talks and demonstrations that he gave 294 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:37,640 Speaker 1: in Long Beach in San Francisco. Those demonstrations were meant 295 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:40,399 Speaker 1: to woo new students, but they had the opposite effect. 296 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: Imagine going to see someone give a demonstration on the 297 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 1: thing you had dedicated your life to, only to listen 298 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: to that person tell you in a hundred different ways 299 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 1: how everything you had done for years was wrong. And 300 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,200 Speaker 1: they lined up to fight Bruce Lee, not because he 301 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 1: had the stones to say it was the best, but 302 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 1: because he had insulted them all. And no one wanted 303 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 1: to fight Bruce Lee more than Wang jack Man. November 304 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty four, Oakland. Wang jack Man, a disciple of 305 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:14,640 Speaker 1: Northern Shaolin kung fu straight out of Hong Kong, rolled 306 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 1: up to Bruce Lee's coon, insulted and threatened and shamed 307 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: his san Francisco Posse was in tow. He was there 308 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: to answer for all the shit Bruce talked at his 309 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: demonstration in San Francisco's Chinatown. Bruce got nervous. He thought 310 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: about the handgun he kept hidden in a drawer at 311 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: the back of his studio. Bruce accepted Wang jack Man's challenge. 312 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: In this corner old fashioned shaolin science and in this 313 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:44,880 Speaker 1: corner new fangled heresy that moved like water. The two 314 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 1: faced each other, and for a moment there was nothing silence. 315 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: Bruce left forward and struck. First, he went for the 316 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 1: shins and then the eyes. Wang jack Man stumbled backwards. 317 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 1: He thought he'd been blinded. Bruce dug in. He threw short, 318 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: forceful punches one, two, three, another, and another. A Wan 319 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,920 Speaker 1: jack Man kept stumbling backwards, hands up, trying to fend 320 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: off the relentless onslaught. Bruce went for the groin, and 321 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:12,159 Speaker 1: then the head, and then the groin again, and then 322 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: the head. Every close quarter hit was another validation of 323 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:19,800 Speaker 1: Bruce's dominance. Every unstoppable punch said I'm the best. Wang 324 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 1: jack Man knew it, His crew knew it. Bruce's kung 325 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 1: fu partner and his wife both standing by They also 326 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,640 Speaker 1: knew it. Bruce Lee was the motherfucking greatest. Wang jack 327 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 1: Man fled, he turned around and ran, but Bruce was 328 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:35,480 Speaker 1: far from done. He followed in close pursuit, his arms 329 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: windmills a series of rapid punches, nipping at his opponent's back, 330 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,119 Speaker 1: and then wangjack Man stopped running. He dug his heels 331 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: into the floor, quickly turned around and delivered a karate child. 332 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: It landed on Bruce's neck. Bruce felt that blood running 333 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 1: down his neck. He touched his hand to the pain 334 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 1: and saw that it was coated in dark red. His 335 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: eyes shifted to Wong jack Man's arm and saw the 336 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: leather wrist bracelet hiding beneath the long sleeves of his shirt. 337 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,680 Speaker 1: The metal spike studs were coated with Bruce's blood. The 338 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 1: dirtiest of dirty tricks. Bruce went ballistic. He got Wong 339 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:13,159 Speaker 1: jack Man stumbling backwards again, up against the window at 340 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:15,680 Speaker 1: the front of the Coon's storefront. On the ground, nowhere 341 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,440 Speaker 1: to run, Bruce towered over him, blood running down his neck, 342 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: holding back his rage the best he could, and Bruce 343 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,400 Speaker 1: ordered his opponent to admit defeat. Wong jack Man knew 344 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,040 Speaker 1: that Bruce Lee didn't need illegal wrist bracelets to end 345 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,560 Speaker 1: him right then and there. But Bruce didn't want to 346 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 1: end him. He wanted his opponent to acknowledge that he 347 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:35,879 Speaker 1: was wrong, and that Bruce was right, that Bruce was 348 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: the best. Say it, Say it, motherfucker deep down, though 349 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: Bruce was nervous. The more famous he became, the more 350 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:47,040 Speaker 1: people were going to want to challenge him. Today was 351 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: a metal spiked wrist bracelet, and who knew what tomorrow 352 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: would bring. Being the best made him a target. Being 353 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:59,880 Speaker 1: the best could get him killed. We'll be right back 354 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: after this. Were were were yo man in Hong Kong. 355 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: I'm bigger than the fucking Beatles. It was nineteen seventy one, 356 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: and Bruce Lee could hardly believe what he was saying. 357 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,399 Speaker 1: He was talking with friends back in LA about his 358 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:18,119 Speaker 1: new found fame in China. In America, he remained a 359 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 1: cult star to a select few primetime TV households and 360 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: by martial arts fans who knew him as the architect 361 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:28,080 Speaker 1: of j Kundo, a new system that improved upon the 362 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: concise tenets of kung fu. To everyone else, though he 363 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:36,720 Speaker 1: was a nobody, Hong Kong was different he only truly 364 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 1: appreciated his fame. While walking down a Hong Kong side 365 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: street one afternoon, he was keeping to himself, whistling absent mindedly, 366 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: hands in his pockets, with out of nowhere, the mob 367 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,120 Speaker 1: appeared at his back. His walk quickly turned into a run. 368 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: He pulled his hands from his pockets and swung them 369 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: like pendulums at his side. He ran. He ducked into 370 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 1: a nearby phone and let the mob scree by, oblivious 371 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 1: that he was standing there with a receiver in his hand. 372 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 1: And the mob found him again later, this time hiding 373 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 1: out in a cafe. He jumped and fled on the 374 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: back door. He scurried down a dead end alley. He 375 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:11,920 Speaker 1: scaled a fence with ease, jumped over to the other 376 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 1: side with grace, and landed on a wagonful of newspaper bundles. 377 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,399 Speaker 1: He took one of the papers, held it up to 378 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: his face like he was reading it, and let the 379 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:25,040 Speaker 1: mob pass him by. He was safe for now, not 380 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,640 Speaker 1: as safe as he was in America, though, where people 381 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: remained indifferent to his potential as an actor. Bruce's reputation 382 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: as the best kung fu artist had helped get his 383 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:36,640 Speaker 1: foot in the door in Hollywood in the mid sixties, 384 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:41,159 Speaker 1: William Doser, the producer behind the camp Be Batman TV series, 385 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,400 Speaker 1: cut Bruce his first major role in nineteen sixty six. 386 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 1: It wasn't on the big screen, but on TV, and 387 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,360 Speaker 1: it wasn't the lead, but as a martial arts expert 388 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,679 Speaker 1: and partner to a white masked vigilante, The Green Hornet. 389 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: Bruce played the role of Cato, and the show aired 390 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: for one season on ABC before it was canceled, and 391 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: during that time, Bruce never learned that he was getting 392 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 1: paid five times less than his white co star Van Williams. 393 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,199 Speaker 1: After The Green Hornet, Bruce focused his efforts to make 394 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: the first Kung Fu movie in Hollywood. It would be authentic, thrilling, groundbreaking. 395 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,920 Speaker 1: But at the end of the sixties, even with clients 396 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,800 Speaker 1: like Steve McQueen training on the regular and friends like 397 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: Roman Polanski crossing him off a shit list, Hollywood still 398 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,399 Speaker 1: resisted the notion of an Asian star on the big screen. 399 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: Bruce knew he'd have to put up a fight. It 400 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: was a fight that wouldn't be easy to win, and 401 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:37,399 Speaker 1: Bruce was used to winning fights easily. Meanwhile, China couldn't 402 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,879 Speaker 1: get enough of the Green Hornet. By the start of 403 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,720 Speaker 1: the seventies, the show was airing in Hong Kong under 404 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 1: the title The Cato Show, thus making Bruce bigger than 405 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,480 Speaker 1: the Fucking Beatles, and the Hong Kong movie studios wanted 406 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,800 Speaker 1: the prodigal son back. Bruce, desperate for money to support 407 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,760 Speaker 1: his wife and two small children, moved his family back 408 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 1: to Hong Kong, where he signed with Raymond Chiles's production company, 409 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: Golden Harvest for three kung fu films. The Big Boss, 410 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:05,959 Speaker 1: which opened in China in nineteen seventy one, was an 411 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 1: instant hit to the tune of three point five million dollars, 412 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,399 Speaker 1: but nineteen seventy two's Fist of Fury was even bigger, 413 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: making over four million in its first month alone. The 414 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: third film, also released in nineteen seventy two, was The 415 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: Way of the Dragon, with Chuck Norris's to Harry Nemesis. 416 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,560 Speaker 1: That one made a million bucks in its first weekend, 417 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,680 Speaker 1: but the level of fame and attention Bruce received was frightening. 418 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: Hong Kong didn't just love him, Hong Kong wanted to 419 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:39,800 Speaker 1: fight him. One afternoon, when Bruce's children, Brandon and Shannon, 420 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,000 Speaker 1: were playing in the backyard of their mansion in Kowloon Tong, 421 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: one of the most expensive residential areas in the city. 422 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: A crazed fan climbed over the protective wall. His eyes 423 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,200 Speaker 1: were wide, his motions were erratic. The kids shrieked. He 424 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:56,680 Speaker 1: called for Bruce by his Chinese childhood nickname, Bring me Lee, 425 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: little Dragon. Let's see just how good you really are. 426 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 1: Bruce appeared, still reeling from the not so distant murders 427 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:07,680 Speaker 1: of Sharing Tate and Jay sebring head full of fear 428 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 1: and paranoia and anger. A protective father looking to ensure 429 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 1: the safety of his children, A proud husband aiming to 430 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: preserve the sanity of his American wife. He thrust a 431 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 1: supercharged heel straight into the chest of the strange man. 432 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: He never kicked anyone harder. To complicate matters, other strangers 433 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: began showing up at Bruce's door, theyd Grease's palm with 434 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 1: thousands of dollars, a mere token of appreciation, they promised, 435 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 1: But Bruce was no dummy. The strangers were gang members 436 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: of China's organized crime syndicate, the Triad. They were moving 437 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:46,119 Speaker 1: in on Hong Kong film just like with the cops, 438 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: when Bruce was a kid. It was a bribe, a 439 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: favor that they would expect returned at some unspecified time 440 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:56,680 Speaker 1: down the road. Stalkers, fans, bloodthirsty amateurs, triad gangs. It 441 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: was all too much. Bruce feared for his life in 442 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: the lives of his wife and children. He needed to 443 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,400 Speaker 1: double down on creating roles and opportunities for himself in Hollywood. 444 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,200 Speaker 1: The promise to land or one of the many promises, 445 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:11,639 Speaker 1: was that he would be kept safe, and little did 446 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,719 Speaker 1: he know it, but Bruce had already created such an opportunity. 447 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: The box office smash trio of Kung Fu movies in 448 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: Hong Kong did not go unnoticed by Hollywood producer Fred Weintrot, 449 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:26,639 Speaker 1: already proving his Zeitgei's medal with the big screen documentary Woodstock. 450 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,119 Speaker 1: He was a fan, and he convinced Warner Brothers that 451 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 1: it was a market they had to tap into. But 452 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 1: the time was now. Kung Fu was the rage ask anyone. 453 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,880 Speaker 1: Bruce Lee was the motherfucking master. Bruce Lee's hard work 454 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: had paid off. He was the best in America was 455 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:47,399 Speaker 1: finally yielding to the best, just like Wong jack Man 456 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty four entered The Dragon, an action flick 457 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,920 Speaker 1: about three heroes who infiltrate the den of a deadly 458 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: narcotics dealer, made history as the first motion picture co 459 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:03,720 Speaker 1: production ever between Hollywood and Hong Kong. Warner Brothers in 460 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:07,360 Speaker 1: Golden Harvest would co produce, Bruce would star and oversee 461 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: all the fight scenes. This was the opportunity to land America. 462 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 1: It could very well be as one shot. He worked 463 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,680 Speaker 1: his ass off to get it right. He worked so 464 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: hard that words spread like wildfire. Bruce Lee was the 465 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: next hit man. He had the X factor. He worked 466 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:27,160 Speaker 1: so hard that his chiseled body became harder, faster, stronger, better. 467 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:29,479 Speaker 1: He worked so hard that he didn't stop to think 468 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: twice about rekindling a secret affair with Taiwanese actress Betty Timpei. 469 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:36,280 Speaker 1: He knew it was wrong, the family man that he was, 470 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: but it was one of his weaknesses. Plus he was 471 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: careful no one would ever know. Another weakness was his 472 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: fondness for getting hot. He worked so hard that he 473 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 1: began to rely more on the Napalese hash he'd become 474 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 1: partial to in order to tame his overdriven work ethic. 475 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 1: He ate it raw, He ate it in brownies. He 476 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: ate it when Steve McQueen wasn't around with one of 477 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: his hot rods, splits thee with some of the most 478 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 1: potent hash on the street, created by allowing the plants 479 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: to literally sweat out pure resin one hundred percent hash concentrate. 480 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: It mellowed Bruce out and slowed him down. When he 481 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,240 Speaker 1: wasn't mellowed out, he sweat like a pig. He worked 482 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: so hard that he swept through his clothes at every take. 483 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 1: The thought of sweat seeping through his shirts on screen 484 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,240 Speaker 1: disgusted him, so he had the sweat glands and his 485 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 1: armpits surgically removed, and he worked so hard that on 486 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: May tenth, nineteen seventy three, in an overheated room at 487 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: Golden Harvest Studios in Hong Kong, while overdubbing lines, for 488 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: entered the dragon, waiting for the hash to take effect. 489 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: Thinking of a visit to Betty's apartment. His armpits hot 490 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 1: and abnormally dry, Bruce gave in to the demands of gravity, 491 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: fell to the floor unconscious, where he emptied the contents 492 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 1: of his lunch from his stomach and began to shake 493 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: in violent convulsions, and in that moment, Bruce Lee couldn't 494 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: help but wonder if he had worked himself to death. 495 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: He ate the hash brownie for dessert. It was hot 496 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: as fuck, ninety degrees, sticky Hong Kong humidity, and Bruce 497 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:28,000 Speaker 1: Lee wasn't feeling all that great to begin with. He 498 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 1: had another headache, and he hoped the hash brownie would help. 499 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: July twentieth, nineteen seventy three, he paced the flat of 500 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: Betty ting Pey, his mistress, and sat on her bed. 501 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,240 Speaker 1: Bruce had a lot on his mind. The finishing touches 502 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: were being put on Enter the Dragon. Warner Brothers wanted 503 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: Bruce under contract for more films, had a barbera wanted 504 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,680 Speaker 1: to make a cartoon based on his life. George Lasanbie, 505 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 1: the only actor to play James Bond for only one film, 506 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:56,560 Speaker 1: wanted to star Bruce's next film, Game of Death. But 507 00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 1: it was hard to think about everything else on his 508 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: mind when the most pressed thing on his mind was 509 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 1: literally pressing this vice like goddamn headache. And the headache 510 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,200 Speaker 1: was similar to the one he suffered in the overheated 511 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,720 Speaker 1: studio at Golden Harvest back in May. He didn't die 512 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: that day, even if it felt like he did. Instead, 513 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,640 Speaker 1: he was rushed to the hospital convulsing a metal spoon 514 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: between his teeth, where it was determined that he had 515 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 1: suffered from a cerebral edema flewid around the brain that 516 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: one doctor said he had a Grandma seizure, another blamed 517 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,960 Speaker 1: the hash, and none of the doctors from Hong Kong 518 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 1: to La thought twice about heat stroke or about Bruce's 519 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: surgically altered armpits. In nineteen seventy three, hard as it 520 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,400 Speaker 1: may be to believe, many doctors were still in the 521 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: dark when it came to heatstroke, even though many athletes 522 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: routinely experienced its debilitating, even fatal effects. In the hot 523 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 1: summer months, the pain in Bruce's head worsened. Betty gave 524 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:56,560 Speaker 1: him some equagesic prescription pain med that was part aspirin 525 00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 1: and part tranquilizer. Bruce took one. He told Betty that 526 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: he had to lie down, and then when Betty next 527 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 1: checked on him around nine point thirty that evening, Bruce 528 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: Lee was dead. There was no warning, no build up, 529 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 1: no fight. One minute he was there and the next 530 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:21,600 Speaker 1: he was gone. Golden Harvest couldn't risk word getting out 531 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,959 Speaker 1: about his mistress Betty or the hash. As news hit 532 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:27,640 Speaker 1: the wires, the studio rushed out of press release that 533 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: said Bruce Lee died unexpectedly while walking through his garden 534 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 1: with his wife by his side. Cause of death TBD. 535 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:39,160 Speaker 1: The press smelled something besides Daisy's in that garden, and 536 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 1: they kept sniffing. A few days later, the morning of 537 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 1: Bruce's Hong Kong funeral, the ambulance driver who brought Bruce's 538 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:49,400 Speaker 1: body to the hospital squealed. The Golden Harvest party line 539 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,520 Speaker 1: was bullshit. Bruce died in the flat of another actress. 540 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: The public could come to their own scandalous conclusions. Bruce's 541 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 1: camp scrambled. They had to protect Bruce's image. Entered the 542 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,880 Speaker 1: Dragon was weeks away from wide release, so they acknowledged 543 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,479 Speaker 1: that Bruce was in Betty's apartment, but they put him 544 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:09,440 Speaker 1: there with Raymond Chow. It was a business meeting, not 545 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,400 Speaker 1: a romantic tryst. Bruce felt ill while he was there, 546 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:14,600 Speaker 1: had to lie down to capill. A being but a 547 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 1: dead Bruce. Coroner's inquest set the wheel's of motion for 548 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: an official investigation. Medical experts said the hash was to blame, 549 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,720 Speaker 1: or maybe the equajesik or maybe a second cerebral edema, 550 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:28,959 Speaker 1: and the three man jury didn't know what to make 551 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 1: of it and simply declared Bruce Lee's untimely passing death 552 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 1: by misadventure. In later years became more obvious that the 553 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:41,160 Speaker 1: heat stroke was more than likely to blame the fans, 554 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,320 Speaker 1: though not just the longtime fans, but the new worshippers 555 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:47,000 Speaker 1: at the altar of Bruce Lee thanks to the phenomenal 556 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,640 Speaker 1: success of Entered the Dragon, which immediately launched a Kung 557 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 1: fu renaissance in America. They weren't buying it. It was 558 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,280 Speaker 1: hard for them to believe that Bruce Lee, a larger 559 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: than life superhuman, a man who disposed of a dough's 560 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 1: worth of disbelievers with his bare hands, a man whose 561 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: fists moved faster than your eyes could even process, could 562 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:11,240 Speaker 1: die from getting too hot. You're telling me that Bruce 563 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 1: Lee died from heat exhaustion. Bruce Lee deserved a more 564 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:19,839 Speaker 1: dramatic death. He deserved to have been heroically beaten by 565 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 1: a fatal punch, the death touch or vibrating palm. They 566 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:26,279 Speaker 1: called it dim mock in Cantonese, the same one that 567 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,760 Speaker 1: Roman Polanski conjured up when he suspected Bruce was a killer. 568 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,960 Speaker 1: It's a precise attack on pressure points in the body 569 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:36,200 Speaker 1: that doesn't kill its victim for days, months, even years. 570 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,520 Speaker 1: Whether or not it's actually real depends on who you ask. 571 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 1: The famous record producer Phil Spector, for one, did his 572 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,960 Speaker 1: part to spread the rumor around town that Bruce Lee 573 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:50,240 Speaker 1: was a victim of Dimmock and who would have delivered 574 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 1: dem mock to Bruce Ninja assassins, triad gangs, Golden Harvest hitmen, 575 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:59,799 Speaker 1: and obsessed fans scaling the walls in Kyloun Tong Wong, 576 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:04,319 Speaker 1: a man back for revenge. The possibilities were endless. Could 577 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:06,680 Speaker 1: have been any one of them, maybe someone else entirely, 578 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:09,839 Speaker 1: just as long as it was thrilling, just as long 579 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: as the fantasy outmatched the legend of Bruce Lee. Because 580 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:16,000 Speaker 1: if it wasn't, if Bruce Lee was dead from an 581 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:18,479 Speaker 1: allergic reaction from a hash brown, he from a fucking 582 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 1: heat stroke from plain old stress, then those fans would 583 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:25,680 Speaker 1: be forced to ask themselves just who was Bruce Lee? 584 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: Well he wasn't who or what they all thought he was. 585 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:31,839 Speaker 1: They thought he was a family man, Well he had 586 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:34,200 Speaker 1: a mistress. They thought he was a nice guy. His 587 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,560 Speaker 1: ego worked twice as hard as his body, and they 588 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:38,800 Speaker 1: thought he was invincible. In a way he was. But 589 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: even invincible people have a spot somewhere on their body, 590 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 1: unknown to all us vincible types, an area of weakness, 591 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:48,040 Speaker 1: a pressure point perhaps that, when struck, can nullify said invincibility. 592 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,279 Speaker 1: All it takes is a two fingered death touch, a pill, 593 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:56,320 Speaker 1: a pinch of hash, some exhaustion, a change in body temperature, 594 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 1: something unexpected that finds its way in. And when it 595 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:04,520 Speaker 1: finds its way in, something unexpected happens, something so unexpected 596 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:09,480 Speaker 1: that it ought to be in pictures. I'm Jake Brennan 597 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:26,719 Speaker 1: and this is hollywood Land. Hollywood Land was created by 598 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:29,960 Speaker 1: Years Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. 599 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:33,520 Speaker 1: Follow like, rate and review hollywood Land wherever you get 600 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:35,480 Speaker 1: your podcasts, and get in touch with us on social 601 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:39,000 Speaker 1: media at double Elvis. If you like hollywood Land, check 602 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,919 Speaker 1: out my other show, the award winning Disgraceland, which looks 603 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:44,040 Speaker 1: at the world of music through the lens of true crime. 604 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:46,960 Speaker 1: Just search for Disgraceland or wherever you get your podcasts. 605 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:53,839 Speaker 1: Good dos Al