Lee had his first role as a baby who was carried onto the stage. By the time he was 18, he had appeared in twenty films.
While in the United States from 1959–1964, Lee abandoned thoughts of a film career in favour of pursuing martial arts.
However, a martial arts exhibition on Long Beach in 1964 eventually led to the invitation by William Dozier for an audition for a part in the pilot for Number One Son.
The show never aired, but Lee was invited for the role of Kato alongside Van Williams in the TV series The Green Hornet. The show lasted just one season, from 1966 to 1967.
Lee also played Kato in three crossover episodes of Batman. This was followed by guest appearances in three television series: Ironside (1967), Here Come the Brides (1969), and Blondie (1969).
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Source From Bruce Foundation
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- 1958 – recognized as the “Crown Colony Cha-Cha Champion” in Hong Kong – 18 years old.
- 1964 – Karate Championship Award presented at the 1964 International Karate Championships for his “contribution to karate.”
- May 2, 1964 – Commemorative Exhibition Award presented by Wally Jay and the Island Judo Jujitsu Club of Alameda, California in appreciation for his gung fu exhibition.
- January 28, 1967 – Appears on the United Cerebral Palsy Telethon to help raise money for victims of the disease.
- May 1967 – National Karate Championship Appreciation Award presented in appreciation of his participation.
- 1967 – Appreciation Award presented by Wally Jay and the Island Judo Jujitsu Club of Alameda, California.
- June 1968 – National Karate Championship Award in appreciation of his participation as a guest judge.
- May 1969 – National Karate Championship Appreciation Award in appreciation of his participation as a special guest.
- May 1970 – National Karate Championship Appreciation Award in appreciation of his participation as the guest of honor.
- October 30, 1970 – Awarded a “Golden Horse Award” for Best Mandarin Movie for the film Fist of Fury.
- 1972 – Inducted into Black Belt magazine’s Black Belt Hall of Fame.
- 1972 – Receives an award for being selected by the Hong Kong “Evening” Newspaper as one of the top ten movie stars.
- June 1972 – Appears with son, Brandon, on Hong Kong TVB Operation Relief telethon to help raise funds to aid victims of a recent typhoon in Hong Kong; makes a personal donation of $10,000 Hong Kong dollars.
- March 12, 1973 – St. Francis trophy presented by the students of his Hong Kong alma mater for participation in St. Francis Xavier’s College Sports Day.
- 1974 – Inducted into Black Belt magazine’s Black Belt Hall of Fame for the second time as the Man of the Year / Martial Artist of the Year.
- April 28, 1993 – Hollywood Chamber of Commerce honors Bruce with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 1994 – Honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 13th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards.
- November 15, 1995 – Hong Kong post office releases a postage stamp in honor of Bruce Lee.
- August 4, 1998 – The Honorable Pedro Rossello, Governor of Puerto Rico, and the Government of Puerto Rico bestow a recognition award to the memory of Bruce Lee.
- August 5-25, 1998 – Honored in Tokyo, Japan with the “Bruce Lee Exhibition: Memory of the Dragon.”
- November 16, 1998 – Honored by the Chinese Wushu Association with a “Supreme Movie Star Award.”
- Carlos Mendez Martinez, Mayor of Aguadillo, Puerto Rico, bestows a recognition award to the legacy of Bruce Lee and declares Aguadillo City the home of Bruce Lee in Puerto Rico.
- U.S. Senator Milton R. Young, President of U.S.T.A. and Jhoon Rhee, Vice President of U.S.T.A., honor Bruce for his international contribution to the martial arts.
- June 14, 1999 - Profiled in Time magazine’s Time 100: The Most Important People of the 20th Century under Heroes and Icons of the 20th Century
- 1999 - Listed in The Movie Book as one of five hundred people who have made a landmark contribution to the medium of film.
- 1999 – Inducted into the “Martialinfo.com Martial Arts Hall of Fame.”
- October 21, 2000 – Declared “Bruce Lee Day in San Francisco” by Mayor Willie L. Brown in honor and recognition of the “Little Dragon” in the year of the Golden Dragon.
- November 20 – December 17, 2000 – Hong Kong Film Archive honors Bruce with an exhibition, “Bruce Lee Retrospective”, and a festival of 20 Bruce Lee films “The Immortal Bruce Lee: From the Kid to Kung Fu Dragon.”
- October 22, 2000 – February 18, 2001 – Honored in San Francisco with the exhibition, “Bruce Lee: A Retrospective” at the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco.
- May 2001 – Named by Premiere Magazine as the 3rd most influential deceased show business talent (Walt Disney was named as #1 and Stanly Kubrick was named as #2).
- 2003 - Bruce Lee named by People Magazine / VH1 Special Collector’s Edition Magazine as one of 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons.
- December 7, 2003 – Latin American Martial Arts Society Worldwide inducts Sijo Bruce Lee into the Hall of Fame as a Martial Arts Legend.
- May 24, 2004 – Receives the EMMA (Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy) Legacy Award in London for his humanitarian achievement through the spiritual philosophy of martial arts which challenged racism and added substance to our lives; other recipients include Ghandi and Martin Luther King.
- March 6, 2004 – Receives Citation for Outstanding Achievement and Contribution for his contributions to the martial arts at the Arnold Martial Arts World Games at the Battle of Columbus in Ohio; Governor Schwarzenegger bestows the award.
- 2004 – Receives a star on the Hong Kong Avenue of the Stars.
- March 27, 2005 – Receives the Star of the Century Award from the Hong Kong Film Awards.
- September 25, 2005 – Receives a Lifetime Achievement Award during the International Forum on Chinese Martial Arts Cultural Industry in Datong, China bestowed by the National General Administration of Sports and the All China Youth Federation for his special contribution to Chinese Gung Fu movies and to the world.\
- November 17, 2005 – Named as one of Variety Magazine’s Icons of the Century.
- November 19-20, 2005 – UCLA Film and Television Archive screen Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon as part of their “Heroic Grace: the Chinese Martial Arts Film Part II” at the James Bridge Theater at UCLA.
- November 26, 2005 – A life size statue of Bruce Lee is unveiled in Mostar, Bosnia as a symbol of the fight against ethnic divisions. Bruce Lee is chosen by organizers as he is admired for his own ethnic struggles and accomplishments.
- November 27, 2005 – A statue of Bruce Lee is unveiled on the Hong Kong Avenue of the Stars during a week long Bruce Lee Festival which featured film screenings and tours of his homes, schools and work places. The statue reads “Star of the Century.”
- November 17 – December 16, 2005 – The UCLA Film and Television Archive Research and Study Center presents an individual viewing exhibit featuring a selection of television titles from the Archive’s Study Collection featuring Bruce Lee. The selection includes titles not available on home video and is open to the public.
- June 24, 2007 – Spike TV airs Enter the Dragon with bonus interviews and declares it Bruce Lee Day on Spike TV.
- June 10, 2008 – The Lee Family debuts and launches Bruce Lee Enterprises at the New York Licensing Expo.
- July 18, 2008 – The Bruce Lee Foundation unveils its plans to build a Bruce Lee Museum in Seattle, Washington and fundraising activities begin.
- October 2008 – CCTV1 in China premiers a 50 episode biographical, live action series on the legacy of Bruce Lee entitled “The Legend of Bruce Lee”.
- October 2008 – Discussions begin with the Hong Kong Government to convert Bruce Lee’s former home in Hong Kong into a museum run by the Bruce Lee Foundation.
- November 9, 2008 – A 2600 acre nature preserve is dedicated to Bruce Lee as a memorial park in the Lee family ancestral home of Shunde, China complete with a Bruce Lee Museum, Martial Arts School, and the tallest Bruce Lee statue in existence at 18 meters high.
- April 20, 2009 – Waddell Media and LeeWay Media will premier the documentary How Bruce Lee Changed the World on History Channel US.
- Honored with postage stamps in Republic Batumi, Tanzania, Gambia, Antigua –Barbuda, Madagascar, Chuvashia, Khakassia, and Hong Kong.
- Appeared in 34 films and television shows (see bruceleefoundation.org for Filmography under menu heading “Bruce Lee”).
Books by Bruce Lee:
- Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense
- Tao of Jeet Kune Do
- Bruce Lee’s Fighting Method Vols. I-IV
- The Tao of Gung Fu: A Study in the Way of Chinese Martial Art
- Jeet Kune Do: Bruce Lee’s Commentaries on the Martial Way
- The Art of Expressing the Human Body
- Letters of the Dragon: Correspondence 1958-1973
- Artist of Life
- Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living
- Words of the Dragon: Interviews, 1958-1973
