Bruce Lee

Just imagine having teenage bullies wandering around the streets waiting to beat a young boy up. Well, that’s what actor and martial artist Bruce Lee’s life was like. He was an everyday victim of abuse. It was hectic and brutal for him to wander around the streets after school. However, without these bullies, he would not have become who he was. Bruce Lee was very famous for what he has achieved in America and China as an actor and martial artist even though he died very young from brain damage in 1973 when he was thirty-seven years old. He deserves the lifetime achievement award because he began his film career when he was six years old, he brought the art of martial arts and film to America, and he also created his own style of martial arts called Jeet Kune Do.

First, he began his acting career when he was six years old. His first screen appearance was at three months old in his father’s movie (Roensch 15-18). “This was the beginning, leading to over twenty motion picture roles and steadily increasing popularity among Hong Kong audiences” (“The Bruce Lee Story” 1). Some of the movies he had made were Enter the Dragon, Fists of Fury and The Return of the Dragon. Even though Bruce Lee died so young, he still had the acting experience because he started acting when he was young.

Second, he brought the art of martial arts and film to America. The martial arts that he brought influenced many people in the U.S (Roensch 7). He also influenced many other Asians to act these days such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan (Roensch 9). When Bruce Lee auditioned for upcoming movies, he was turned down and was rejected because he was too “oriental” (“The Bruce Lee Story 2” 3). Even though he was rejected in American movies, he was still able to make movies in Hong Kong. His goal was to make five movies in Hong Kong but he ended up making four and a half movies because he died during the fifth movie (“The Bruce Lee Story 2” 3). The movie that he didn’t finish was called Game of Death. Bruce Lee practiced the nunchaku with Mr. Dan Inosanto and this also made him famous. The nunchaku is made up of two short wooden or metal rods that are connected by a short chain. Mr. Dan Inosanto was one of Bruce Lee’s closest friends that taught him the art of the nunchaku (“The Bruce Lee Story 2” 1-2).

Before he made the movies in Hong Kong, he made a series of shows in America called “The Green Hornet” starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee (“The Bruce Lee Story 2” 1). Despite popularity, he wanted to be known as an actor rather than a superstar. Bruce Lee had many famous quotes in various movies and interviews. One of them was “‘The word ‘superstar’ really turns me off, and I’ll tell you why because the word ‘star,’ is an illusion, it is something-what the public calls you. You should look upon [yourself] as an actor. I mean you would be very pleased if somebody said, ‘Hey man, you’re a super actor!’ It is much better than ‘superstar’” (Little 132). Because of Bruce Lee’s martial arts influences, many American movies would not have much action and Americans may not have been exposed to martial art films. The movies that he made also made an impact on his martial arts classes as well