There has been much debate and fictional stories about exactly what caused Bruce Lee to die. For that reason, we receive many messages from people asking us - how did Bruce Lee die? We hope this article answers the questions that many martial artists are asking.
Let's put this straight. Much has been said about the way Bruce Lee died, most of it untrue. Despite all the fictional stories that have been told about his death, there is one thing that at least everyone can agree on; Bruce Lee was the most famous martial artist ever to have lived. What he did to promote martial arts and help people to learn how to defend themselves in a weaponless way can never be over estimated, not now and not in the future.
So lets start with the the official press release of Lee's death...
Bruce Lee died of a cerebral edema (an excess accumulation of water in the cellular spaces of the brain) - on the 20th July 1973. However, read on to find out how true this really was.
Cause of the cerebral edema - allergic reaction to painkillers called Equagesic (pictured) - a drug used for short-term pain treatment accompanied by tension or anxiety.
Fact or Fiction?
It was on the 20th July 1973 at approximately 16:00 that Bruce Lee and Raymond Chow (Hong Kong film producer) drove to the house of Betty Ting Pei, pictured right, located at Flat 2a, 67 Beacon Hill Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. She was a popular Taiwanese actress and they wanted her to play a part in Lee's next coming move, Game of Death.
At around 19:30 Bruce complained of having a headache. At this point, Betty gave him some of her pain killers (Equagesic) which she had been prescribed by a doctor. Bruce then went to lie down on her bed to help relieve the pain, at this point Raymond Chow left the apartment to meet George Lazenby at the Miramar Hotel. Bruce was supposed to join him to meet George too.
At around 21:00 Raymond called Betty to ask why Bruce still had not arrive at the hotel to discuss the Game of Death with George Lazenby. Betty explained she tried to wake him up but could not. This worried Raymond and therefore within 30 minutes he arrived back at the apartment and just like Betty, he could not wake Bruce up.
Being concerned Raymond decided to ring Betty Ting Pei’s doctor up, Dr. Eugene Chu. The telephone was constantly engaged but finally he got through to Dr. Chu. He immediately came to Betty’s apartment but after 10 minutes he still couldn’t wake Bruce up.
After calling Bettys doctor Dr. Eugene Chu. it was decided that this was an emergency and Bruce needed urgent medical care. Ambulances were called which took Bruce to Queen Elizabeth’s hospital
Upon arrival at the hospital with a team of doctors waiting for him, he was pronounced dead.
At 23:00 hrs Raymond Chow informed the world of the news (pictured).
Lee was only 32 years on his date of death. A funeral was held in Hong Kong and then his body was flown to the United States where he was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle. Since, his son Brandon was buried next to him.
Brandon Lee was accidently shot while filming. The crew were supposed to use dummy cartridges, but instead a real bullet was found to have been used. Brandons grave is show on the right of Bruce's.
There are many fictional stories of how Bruce Lee died, however this article is the official press release behind it. Whether these accounts are true or not is a huge question of debate which should be kept in mind.
There are opinions that differ regarding how exactly Bruce Lee died however the events that took place as published in this article are the most accepted view not only of Lee's family and close friends but also the general consensus of martial artists around the world. On any matter, people have different views and we welcome any comments below this article.
See Bruce Lee's profile, including a list of martial arts movies he appeared in / directed
A Tragic Family
Almost 20 years after Lee's death came another tragic event for the family. Under strange and unproven circumstances, his son, Brandon was killed aged only 28 years. A mystery still surrounds this sudden occurance which happened on set.
For more information see the Death of Brandon Lee to learn more about the events that unfolded that day, as well as what could have been done to prevent it.
ah!
Finally the answer I was looking for. It is confirmed what I thought - I
heard you guys had access to the doctor in Hong Kong who did the autopsy,
there's a lot of versions of this story on the net but i'm pretty sure this
is the truth.
Equagesic
Equagesic?? I won't be taking that next time I feel ill
Well.......
This is the "official press release". But it is different then the official
inquiry into his death........ Feel free to join my JKD group to get a deeper
look into this.
Just got through reading
I just got through reading this, thanks for posting. Bruce is a legend and continues to be a great inspiration, even long after his death for many generations, and future generations to come, his name has been and will continue to be echoed. Truly missed~
brandon lee's death
Good article, the amount of times people ask me 'how did bruce lee die then?' wehn i mention his name is unbelievable, at least now i have a proper answer. Just i minor thing, i'm pretty sure brandon lees death was caused by a blank that had got stuck in the barel of the pistol when testing it, which was fired when a second blank was fired for the actual film as opposed to being killed by a real bullet. This information though is from wikipedia i believe, so take this as you will!
Brandon Lee :RIP
This is true Bradon Lee died from a bulit that got stuck in the barral of a 44 revolver ,it was to be a blank round ,their was no gun powder in the shell but they did not reallize that their was still a live primer, when the shell was load into the gun & fired the live primer was still enough force to cause a fately gun shot.
Brandon Lee's Misadventure
The movie was not filmed in California and did not have to meet all the normal regulations that are done on most movie sets which resulted in a number of problems.What many people do not know is that earlier in the movie on a previous date, a live round was also found in one of the guns. Many say this has to do with Brandon wanting to reopen his fathers investigation( I wont go there).
A gun with a "non filled" barrel was used during the accident with Brandon.The sad thing is, the scene was already shot, (you see it in the movie), but someone decided to shoot a different scene, one where he walks in with him holding a bag against his stomach,instead of coming through the window. All on a day when the weapons scenes were not suppose to be filmed and the weapons consultant was not there on that day to oversee any thing.
The weapon was not checked properly and the tip of the "dummy" shell from an earlier firing had come dislodged and remained in the barrel unnoticed. The "blank" cartridge fired with enough force to propel the broken bullet tip out the barrel and into Brandon side.No one knew it at first until the scene was over.I wont go into any other details, but the doctors operated for six hours and there were complications, Brandon passed away in the hospital a little over 12 hours after the incident.
Yes very sad indeed they just
Yes very sad indeed they just were talking about this on an episode of unsolved mysterys the other day.it just gos to show you how in hollywood sometimes cutting conner on film set & saving money & time is more importent then a human life. they were saying that their were so many people involed in this that they cant really put anyone in jail for it. that messed up if you ask me surely you can narrow it down to someone can't they?
A shame
I did not see the episode so I can not comment on what was said.I know also there was both union and non union workers on the set, so different regulations were involved adding to conflicts. There were a number of accidents on the set, including one that occurred on Brandon's birthday with an electrician and that started a series of other incidents that lead to rumors of a curse.
I just think if it was in Hollywood Sifu Brandon would still be with us leading his fathers art for us.
The sad thing was that if in Hollywood they would have use a gun with a filled barrel, and nothing would have ever shot out.
I would like to say that with
I would like to say that with regards to Bruce Lees death, having read his biography I have pieced together a different order of events then the official verdict, or even the one which is promulgated here. That is Bruce had taken a penchant for eating Cannibis cookies prior to his desease. He didn't smoke the weed for fear of it interfering with his lungs (being the fitness fanatic he was, clearly this would never do). But drug use of any kind was a big taboo in China at the time, as perhaps it still is, and the press were unable and unperpared to even mention this in any of their findings on him after he died. Then he had been having an affair with this other famous film actress at the time, here named as betty ting pei, but after haven recently eaten the cookies he went for a lie down. Well unaware of what the star had been doing, betty was alarmed to find that she could not rouse him from his slumber when she tried to awaken Bruce from a nap. So she immediately called the ambulance, who in an alarmist fashion injected Bruce with drugs to 'snap him out of it'. But as anyone who has ever taken Cannabis will be able to verify, when you are stoned that is the last thing you will want to do! And that is what killed him, the drugs they gave him in hospital reacting with the cannabis already in his system. Thanks.
Stenosis
I have a condition called stenosis. If I work out on my meds and my BP is to High I would stroke out and die, even two or three days after the actual event, it would be decieving to say that three days prior to my death my student hit me which cause the "Deadly Fist", Theory. It was health and meds with to much training which killed Bruce, he died doing what he loved, and was my inspiration for studying.