6 Amazing Facts About Bruce Lee李小龙六奇事

Bruce Lee is one of pop culture’s most multifaceted icons. Legions of fans admire him for his movies， his martial arts prowess， his incomprehensible physical fitness， his championing of Chinese culture， and even his philosophies on life. Yet for all the new ground Lee broke， most of his recognition only came after his death at the age of 32. Read on to learn more about the life of this profound， if enigmatic， superstar.

1. Bruce Lee’s first starring role in a movie came when he was just 10 years old.

In 1950’s The Kid， a pre-teen Bruce Lee played the role of Kid Cheung， a streetwise orphan and wry troublemaker， based on a comic strip from the time. Starring opposite Lee， playing a kindly factory owner， was his father， Lee Hoi-chuen， who also happened to be a famous opera singer. （Bruce Lee was actually born in San Francisco while his father was there on tour; Lee would move back to the U.S. in 1959.）

According to Lee’s biographer Matthew Polly， the movie was a big enough success in China to earn sequel consideration. There was just one problem： A young Bruce Lee was getting into fights at school and out on the streets， so his father forbid him from acting again until he straightened up—which， of course， didn’t wind up happening.

2. Bruce Lee was an exquisite cha-cha dancer.

Long before he was known for breakneck fight choreography， Bruce Lee’s physical skills were focused on the dance floor. More specifically， the cha-cha. In Polly’s book， Bruce Lee： A Life， the author explains that the dance trend made its way from Cuba through the Philippines and soon landed in China. And once the cha-cha settled into the Hong Kong social scene， it didn’t take long for youth dance competitions to spring up. Lee had been taking part in cha-cha dancing since the age of 14， and in 1958， he won the Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship. Foreshadowing his later dedication to martial arts， Lee would keep crib notes of all 108 different cha-cha steps in his wallet so that he could obsessively memorize them.

3. Bruce Lee trained numerous Hollywood stars.

As Bruce Lee worked to become a big-screen heavyweight， he made a living as a martial arts trainer to the stars. Among Lee’s students were Steve McQueen， James Coburn， James Garner， Roman Polanski， and Sharon Tate. For his services， Lee was known to charge about $275 per hour or $1000 for 10 courses. McQueen and Coburn grew so enamored with Lee over the years that they remained close friends until his death in 1973， with both men serving as pallbearers at Lee’s funeral （alongside Chuck Norris）.

4. Bruce Lee had his sweat glands removed.

Bruce Lee brought an impeccable physique to the screen that was decades ahead of its time. But because his roles required so much physicality， he would be drenched with sweat while filming. And apparently， the martial arts pioneer loathed the sweat stains that would show up on his clothing as a result. His solution？ In 1973， Lee actually underwent a procedure to surgically remove the sweat glands from his armpits to avoid the fashion faux pas from showing up on camera.

5. Bruce Lee’s cause of death still raises questions.

Bruce Lee’s death at the age of 32 on July 20， 1973， was officially ruled the result of a cerebral edema， or swelling of the brain. Lee had complained about headaches on the day of his death， and was given a painkiller by Betty Ting Pei—an actress who claimed to be Lee’s mistress—before lying down for a nap. He never woke up.

Though many reports at the time suggested Lee had an allergic reaction to an ingredient in the painkiller， Polly points to a mystery that began on May 10， 1973， when the star previously collapsed in a hot recording studio while dubbing new dialogue for Enter the Dragon.

In Polly’s opinion， Lee’s collapse had to do with heatstroke， since his stint in an overheated recording studio was compounded by a lack of sweat glands that prevented his body from cooling off naturally. Heatstroke can also cause swelling in the brain， much like was found during Lee’s autopsy. And Dr. Lisa Leon， an expert in hyperthermia at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine， told Polly， “A person who has suffered one heatstroke is at increased risk for another” and that there may be long-term complications after the initial incident.

6. Footage from Bruce Lee’s funeral was used in 1978’s Game of Death.

At the time of his death， Bruce Lee was involved in numerous projects， including the movie that would become Game of Death， his next directorial effort. According to Vice， there wasn’t much completed on the film by the time of Lee’s passing—there were some notes， a story outline （which simply read “The big fight. An arrest is made. The airport. The end.”）， and 40 minutes of footage， including Lee’s now-iconic fight against NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Usually， a project in that situation would just be a lost cause， but production company Golden Harvest wanted to salvage what they could， so they hired Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse to put together... something. The result was a Frankenstein’s monster of a film， comprised of 11 minutes of existing footage Lee shot， overdubbed clips from his previous movies， and stand-ins to fill out certain scenes. The director even resorted to using an unfortunate Bruce Lee cardboard cutout to complete one shot.