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Bruce's daughter,
Shannon, was born on April 19th, 1969. The same year, Bruce
appeared in the film Marlowe, starring James
Garner.
In 1971, Bruce Lee returned to Hong Kong,
where he starred in two Kung Fu movies: The Big Boss
(called Fists of Fury in the US), which is set in an
Ice-Making factory in Thailand, and Fist Of Fury,
(named The Chinese Connection in the US) which is
set in Shanghai back in early 1900s when China was
controlled by foreign powers. In those days, the parks were
reserved for foreigners, and a sign in the movie reads "No
Dogs or Chinese Allowed". Here the worst of the baddies
Bruce must fight are the Japanese, who murder his
Sifu and even tell the Chinese police detectives
what they can and cannot do.
The next year he made Way Of The
Dragon (called Return of the Dragon in the US),
where Bruce Lee plays a country bumpkin working in a
Chinese Restaurant in Rome, Italy. The restaurant is
threatened by gangsters, and Bruce sorts them out. The gang
boss ends up importing a Karate champ from the USA (played
by a young Chuck Norris) to kill him. But our
Bruce beats and then mercy-kills the American champ in a
duel set in Rome's Colosseum, where real gladiators
used to kill and die 2000 years ago. (This fight scene
launched Chuck Norris' career as a movie 'tough guy'.)
Lee also worked on the film Game Of
Death, but it was not finished until many years after
he had died. Game of Death incorporates his
philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. Here, Bruce has to fight
champions from many martial arts styles until he faces the
most dangerous of all - the "Style of 'No-Style'".
In 1973, Bruce Lee starred in Enter the
Dragon, set on a south Chinese island ruled by an evil
drug lord and martial arts master, named Han. Bruce Lee's
character goes to the Island to win a martial arts
competition (and to spy out the baddie's operation so the
Hong Kong authorities can be contacted to raid the island
and arrest the crooks).
Bruce Lee died in the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital, in Kowloon, Hong Kong, on July 20th, 1973. The
coroner's inquest was inconclusive, stating he had a
swollen brain. Bruce Lee's body was so low in fat,
dangerously so, that some specialists believe he had a
reaction to ingested cannabis, which was found in his
stomach during the autopsy. Other doctors believe he had an
adverse reaction to an ordinary pain-killer tablet he had
been given for back pain.
Bruce Lee is buried at the Lakeview
Cemetery, in Seattle. His son, Brandon Lee, shot in
a movie accident some years later, is buried next to him.
Brandon made several movies, including The Crow.
Next article: Kung Fu or Gung-Fu, It's All
Chinese Boxing to me!
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