Bruce Lee’s daughter debunks conspiracy theories about martial arts icon
It’s been over 50 years since Bruce Lee passed away unexpectedly at age 32 – and his only daughter is determined to set the record straight.
Shannon Lee has been protecting her father’s legacy since she was in her 30s. The 54-year-old is co-founder of the Bruce Lee Foundation alongside her mother, Linda.
She’s now partnering up with Genesis Publications to publish "In My Own Process," which she said is the official book documenting her father’s life and work. It features rare photographs, workout regimes, martial arts drawings and philosophical observations made by the late star.
"Lately, there’s been this narrative popping up that my father was angry all the time and arrogant and an a-----e," Shannon explained to Fox News Digital. "Look, everybody can be angry sometimes. I’m not saying he was never angry. I know, especially when he was younger, he could have a temper. But his temper and his anger were a lot of times born out of frustration. Frustration with the way he was treated, or frustration with people promising things and then not following through. . . . But through his self-work, he came to understand that."
"He has many . . . writings about it, how it’s easy to be cocky and arrogant," Shannon shared. "It’s harder to be honest and express who you really are. [But] there’s this narrative being spread now that he was this angry, arrogant, cocky person.
"He was extremely confident, which I think can be mistaken for arrogance sometimes. He cared intensely about doing things well. . . . We tend to want to put people in a box and say, ‘This is what this person was like.’ But the truth is, those people didn’t know him, or they only crossed paths with him very, very briefly."
"That’s something I’m trying to correct," Shannon added.
Lee died in 1973 at the height of his fame, due to an allergic reaction to painkillers. Over the years, Shannon has heard numerous conspiracy theories surrounding the circumstances of her father’s passing.
Some have alleged that Lee’s death was covered up and instead, that he had taken a drug overdose. Some claimed he was poisoned by a jealous lover. Others insisted he was assassinated by rival gangs. And for some, he was simply a victim of a family curse.
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The theory of a so-called curse intensified when Shannon’s brother, Brandon Lee, died in 1993 after an accidental shooting while filming "The Crow." He was 28.
In response to those rumors, Shannon said that it only speaks to "the greatness of my father's life."
Shannon, who was four when her father died, admitted that her memories of Lee are hazy. But his presence never left her.
"The thing that I remember the most about him is how he felt to me," said Shannon. "I have a very strong feeling of a sense of warmth, a sense of attention, a sense of playfulness, a sense of strength. He instilled in me a sense of safety and a sense of love that I get to carry with me throughout my whole life.
"For a long time, when I was growing up, I was really confused about why I felt like I knew this person so well, so strongly, given that my mental memories, my visual memories, are not that strong. But it’s because of the feeling he gave me."
Her mother, 79, has continued to share many stories about the patriarch.
"When my parents had my brother, my dad was really excited, because he had a son," said Shannon. "For Chinese men, a firstborn son is really important. So he was really proud and excited. And then my mom was like, ‘I think we should have another child.’ He was like, ‘If I could have another son that would be great.’ Then I came along. My mom was like, ‘Oh my God, you had him wrapped around your little finger.'"
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"He became a girl dad, like hardcore," Shannon chuckled.
Shannon described her household as one filled with love. Linda told her that she had never laughed so much in her life as when she was married to Lee.
"Most people tend to think of my father’s life as starting in the United States," said Shannon. "That’s where he met my mother, that’s where he opened his schools, and that’s where he was discovered by Hollywood. His career took off from there.
"But he had such a full life as a child. He acted in 20 movies. He was the cha-cha champion of Hong Kong. He was the . . . boxing champion in his high school. He was fighting in rooftop matches and training . . . he was a kid with a lot of energy. And used that energy to the very end."
And Lee never took a day off.
"There’s a picture we have of my father where he’s in this old-school matching pajama top and bottom, and he’s in the chair . . . passed out asleep," Shannon laughed. "I remember I told my mom, ‘I love this picture, because it shows that he got tired and lazy, too.’ She just started laughing hysterically. She said, ‘That picture is staged! Honey, your father never stopped.'"
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"He rested, he believed in the power of sleep . . . he slept eight hours a day, but when he was awake, he was always going, always moving," said Shannon. "Even if he was reading a book, he would be stretching. If he was watching a boxing match, he would be practicing some punches."
"The apple fell really far from that tree," she laughed.
Lee, who was born in San Francisco but raised in the Asian financial hub, began his career as a child actor in the 1940s. He started learning Chinese Kung Fu when he was 13. He moved back to the U.S. in 1959 and studied philosophy at the University of Washington.
He skyrocketed to fame in Hollywood for his martial arts talents. But when cameras stopped rolling in the '60s and '70s, he fought against racist portrayals of Asians on the big and small screens. He combated racist stereotypes in the U.S. entertainment industry where Asian men were often portrayed as servants, unskilled workers or evil geniuses in Hollywood.
Lee eventually went back to Hong Kong and made hits like "The Big Boss" and "Fist of Fury." His last film, "Enter the Dragon," was released six days after his death and became his most popular movie. He was one of the first Asian actors to attain Hollywood mega-stardom and fanned a Kung Fu craze that swept the world.
In putting her book together, Shannon discovered new stories about her father.
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"My martial arts instructor, who was one of my father’s students . . . told me this story about this guy, Ted Wong, my father’s only student [when he started]. Ted told my dad, ‘I really wish I could find a girlfriend.’ My dad was like, ‘Well Ted, we got to get you together.’ He took Ted to buy new clothes, get a haircut. He designed a weight regimen for him, so he could get in shape. My dad was like, ‘Come on, let’s get some energy in your body. Let’s get you feeling good.’ Ted soon met his wife."
"When my dad’s assistant instructor at his Oakland school fell ill, my dad helped him to finish writing his book so that he could get the proceeds for his medical treatments," Shannon continued. "That’s a side a lot of people don’t see. They just see the martial arts guy, the action hero, the teacher and the philosopher. But he was also a heart-centered human being."
Today, Shannon is determined to keep her father’s legacy alive for a new generation of fans discovering his work – and lessons.
"When you encounter Bruce Lee, you feel your energy lift," she reflected. "You feel invigorated. And that’s what I want to celebrate."