His death was considered to be under 'extraordinarily bizarre' circumstances by many experts. Many people claimed that it was the work of 'Oni' (Japanese for Demons or evil spirits), while others claimed he was cursed. The theory of the 'Curse of Bruce Lee' carried over to the extremely bizarre death of his son, Brandon Lee, who was shot and killed during the filming of The Crow (1994) in 1993.
His development of Jeet Kune Do came partially out of an incident with his school. A rival martial artist challenged him to a duel over his decision to teach non-Chinese students. Lee accepted the challenge and won the duel, but later thought that the fight took too long because his martial art technique was too rigid and formalistic. Thus he decided to develop a better system with an emphasis on practicality and flexibility.
His father, Lee Hoi Chuen (b. February 1901, died 8 February 1965) was a popular stage actor, and died 8 days after Brandon Lee was born.
His first major U.S. project was the role of Kato in the television series "The Green Hornet" (1966). He joked that he got this role because he was the only Oriental actor who could properly pronounce the lead character's name: "Britt Reid.".
His last movie, The Game of Death (1978), was his first film to be shot with sound, unlike most of his earlier films which were filmed without sound and later dubbed in by the actors. Some of the lost footage was later shown in Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (2000) (V). You can hear his own voice speaking English and Cantonese. Had he not died, his character's name in this movie would have been Hai Tien.
His students in Jeet Kune Do martial arts included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Steve McQueen and James Coburn.
In an interview he gave a few years before his death, he revealed that he was an atheist.
In his first and only meeting with Enter the Dragon (1973) composer Lalo Schifrin, Bruce told him that he often trains to the "Mission: Impossible" (1966) theme.
In the popular Nintendo game series, Pokémon, the fighting type monster Hitmonlee is based on Lee.
Interred at Lake View Cemetery, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Is often honored in video games. In "Mortal Kombat" games, the character Liu Kang was an obvious tribute to Lee. Then, in Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (1993) (VG), a character named Fei Long was introduced, bearing an uncanny resemblance in both looks and fighting style to Lee. A lesser game, World Heroes (1993) (VG), also copied Lee as Kim Dragon. Lastly, the "Tekken" games did the tribute to him not once, but twice. First with Marshall Law, then with his son Forrest Law for the third installment of Tekken. Along with this, his fighting style was honored in Virtua Fighter Remix (1993) (VG) with Jacky Bryant, in Dead or Alive (1997) (VG) with Jann Lee and in the "Soul Calibur" series as Maxi.
Lee knocked out Uechi in 10 seconds in a 1962 Full-Contact match in Seattle. It was refereed by Jesse Glover.
Lee knocked out Wong Jack-Man in Oakland, CA, in a 1965 no-holds-barred challenge match. It was Lee's last official fight. It lasted three minutes.
Lee knocked-out Chung, a Choy Li Fut fighter, in Hong Kong in a 1958 Full-Contact match. The match was refereed by Sheun-Leung Wong.
Lee was trained by Yip Man from 1954-1957 & Wong Shun-Leung from 1957-58.
Left for Seattle in 1958 with $100. Gave cha cha cha lessons to first-class passengers to earn extra money during ship ride to US.
Mastered a technique called "The One Inch Punch", in which he could deliver a devastating blow yet have his fist travel a mere one inch (2.54 cm) in distance before striking an opponent.
Mortal Kombat character "Liu Kang" was inspired by him, complete with the characteristic animal noises.
Once performed a kick so fast it had be slowed down by editors for fear it would look like it was sped up.
One of his martial arts students was James Bond star George Lazenby.