In 1964, Lee was invited to a karate tournament in Long Beach, Calif., organized by a Native Hawaiian kenpo master named Ed Parker. His appearance—where he demonstrated his “one-inch punch”—caused a stir. His style divided the martial arts community (which he would criticize for its insularity and conformity) but also secured him an audition for a TV show playing Charlie Chan’s “number one son.”
Thankfully, the remake never got made. Instead, Lee won a role as Kato, the black-masked chauffeur for “The Green Hornet,” a television remake of the popular radio serial. For the first several episodes Lee was given almost no lines. But eventually, his stunning physicality began to be felt on the show, then noticed. Soon Kato dolls were selling as briskly as Green Hornets. The show was canceled after just one season, during which Lee was never paid more than a stuntman’s wages. For the next several years he pivoted between being a gung fu master to the stars and attempting to break through Hollywood’s bamboo ceiling.
Five years later, after mostly living at the edge of poverty, he left for Hong Kong. There he achieved breakaway success with his first three films, “The Big Boss,” “Fist of Fury” and “The Way of the Dragon.” (Confusingly distributors in the U.S. released them under different names—“Fists of Fury,” “The Chinese Connection” and “Return of the Dragon.”)
But Lee was not satisfied to simply out-punch, out-kick and outleap his opponents. He also wanted to be regarded as a poet-philosopher. He had taken philosophy classes at the University of Washington, read widely and wrote poetry. He was especially drawn to the writings of Zen Buddhism popularizers like Alan Watts and Daisetz Suzuki and to the Chinese Taoist classics. He pressured the producers and the studio to include these ideas in “Enter The Dragon,” which gave the action film an unexpected gravitas.
At a time when it was rare to see a Chinese-American actor in a major film, “Enter The Dragon” opened up new ways for Asians to be seen. No longer inscrutable, evil and alien, Bruce was David in a world of Goliaths, securing justice with his bare hands and sometimes nunchakus.