Death and Superstardome
When Bruce Lee passed away in July, 1973 he didn’t live to see the release of his first Hollywood film Enter the dragon. It catapulted him to international stardom and created millions of fans across the world. This was the moment he had been working so hard for and should have been the beginning of a long Hollywood career. Instead his family had to step up and protect his legacy (One Inch Punch).
Linda Lee
Lee’s passing put his widow Linda Lee in a precarious position. She was currently living in Hong Kong with their two children Brandon (aged 8) and Shannon (aged 4) and did not have a reliable source of income. In 1974 she decided to move back to the United States to raise her children (One Inch Punch).
In order to support her family she was forced to sell Lee’s ownership in Concord Films which had produced Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, and the incomplete Game of Death. Besides Linda assumed Lee’s popularity would eventually fade away because he was now gone (One Inch Punch; Concord Productions).
1970s
As the children grew older, Linda earned her teaching degree and taught Kindergarten and Third Grade. Her primary focus was raising her children, but she also was head of Bruce Lee Enterprises. She received offers to use Lee’s “name and likeness” on products. She authorized t-shirts, published The Tao of Jeet Kune Do in 1973, and wrote a biography The life and Tragic Death of Bruce Lee in 1975. She published Bruce Lee’s Fighting Method in 1977 (One Inch Punch and brucelee.com).
1980s
In 1984 she approved a video game for 8-bit computers which reached top ten in the U.K. and number one on the Atari charts. In 1989, Linda wrote another biography The Bruce Lee Story.
In the late 1980’s Linda licensed to Universal Studios the exclusive right to use Lee’s “name and likeness” on commercial products. This ended up being a bad deal for Bruce Lee Enterprises because it gave up all control over Lee’s image in return for a small annual fee (One Inch Punch).
1990s
In 1993 Linda, Shannon, and Bruce’s brother Robert attended the Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony for Bruce Lee. Beginning in 1997 Linda opened up the vast Lee archives to author John Little who edited a series of books called the Bruce Lee Library. This included Words of the Dragon: Interviews 1958-1973, The Tao of Gung Fu: A Study in the Way of Chinese Martial Art, Jeet Kune Do: Commentaries on the Martial Way, Letters of the Dragon: Correspondence 1958-1973, The Art of Expressing the Human Body, Artist of Life, and Striking Thoughts: Wisdom for Daily Living. Throughout the years, Linda had successfully kept Bruce Lee’s name in the spotlight. However, Bruce Lee Enterprises was only making a small amount of revenue annually (Bruce Lee Video Game, brucelee.com, and From Icon).
Brandon Lee
In 1983, Brandon attended Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. He left and became a successful actor starring in movies such as Rapid Fire and The Crow. In 1993 the family suffered another massive blow when Brandon was killed in an on-set accident of The Crow (brucelee.com).
Shannon Lee
In 2000, Linda asked her daughter Shannon to run Bruce Lee Enterprises. Shannon had earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in vocal performance from Tulane University and had appeared in musicals and operas. She had also begun an acting career (One Inch Punch, Brucelee.com, and From Icon).
“The Bruce Lee Family Company was passed down to me by my mom, Linda, though she remains our number one consultant who is always on speed dial!” (brucelee.blog).
Shannon began reviewing the previous contracts and found many were outdated and had not been followed. She set a goal to regain control over her father’s “name and likeness” to make sure his legacy was respected. At the beginning she worked from home and spent a lot of time and money to fix the contracts (One Inch Punch).
“I have dedicated myself to keeping my father’s energy alive because his words and the way he lived his life have had a profound effect on me and my personal growth. So, I have made it my mission to spread his message with the hope that it will inspire and help more people lead freer more expressive lives through the cultivation of harmonious individuality on our planet.” (brucelee.blog).
She began having many conversations with Universal Studios about the importance of her father’s legacy and argued that he was much more than just “dragons and Kung Fu.” Eventually Universal agreed to update the contract and give Bruce Lee Enterprises the right to approve any products using Lee’s “name or likeness” (One Inch Punch).
In 2008 Shannon regained part of the “name and likeness” rights from Universal. “They did some licensing here and there, but they seemed passive. There was never a pro-active energy behind it.” To pay for it, she took out a large loan. In 2008, Bruce Lee Enterprises signed with GreenLight to negotiate the use of Lee’s “name and likeness” on commercial products. In 2008 Shannon began producing a 50 part Chinese biographical mini series, The Legend of Bruce Lee. In 2009 Bruce Lee Enterprises reached $2 million a year in revenue and Shannon produced the History Channel documentary, How Bruce Lee Changed the World. In 2011 Bruce Lee Enterprises finally regained all the “name and likeness” rights, because Universal did not live up to the provisions of the updated contract (One Inch Punch, From Icon).
Shannon also went to court and secured the brucelee.com name. She setup a new website with a blog, shop, and biography. She created a new production company LeeWay Media to create animated content such as films and video games (From Icon).
The legal statement on brucelee.com now states:
“Bruce Lee Enterprises, LLC (“BLE”) is the exclusive owner of all commercial merchandising and allied rights relating to the use of Bruce Lee’s name, image, likeness, persona, signature, voice, attributes, marks, logos, symbols, works, photographs and writings.”
Today
Shannon Lee is currently the CEO of the Bruce Lee Family Companies which includes Bruce Lee LLC, Bruce Lee Entertainment, and a public charity The Bruce Lee Foundation.
“We have a few different branches under the Family Company umbrella, which I run with a small team of dedicated and awesome individuals. We live my dad’s philosophies everyday at the office to create our culture and guide us in our daily work. The Bruce Lee Family Company is a mission based organization dedicated to sharing the art and philosophy of Bruce Lee to inspire personal growth and harmonious individuality on our planet.” (brucelee.com).
In the over 50 years since Bruce Lee’s passing, his family has struggled to survive his tragic loss. Their story would make a compelling miniseries of redemption as they defended his legacy, made sure that he remained in the spotlight, and promoted his philosophy across the globe.
Resources:
Bruce Lee.com, Retrieved 06/04/2024.
Bruce Lee Podcast, One Inch Punch: The tiny startup with a giant global fan base, 7/19/2016.
Wikipedia, Bruce Lee Video Game, retrieved 06/04/2024.
Bruce Lee Video Game Screenshot taken by user McLoaf.
Wikipedia, Linda Lee Cadwell, retrieved 06/04/2024.
Wikipedia, Concord Productions, retrieved 06/04/2024.
New York Times, From Icon to Lifestyle, the Marketing of Bruce Lee, written by Mark McDonald, Published 12/11/2009.
Hollywood Walk of Fame image, Credit: Ron Galella.
Lee Family picture, credit: HP/Bruce Lee Family Archive.
Shannon Lee picture, circa 2000, Credit: Inside Kung Fu magazine.
Brandon Lee, Linda Lee, and Shannon Lee, Credit Bruce Lee Family Archive.
AI Narration provided by elevenlabs.io.
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