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Part 1: Hollywood Acting
Bruce Lee co-starred in the television series The Green Hornet which aired 26 episodes from September 9, 1966 to March 24, 1967. Van Williams played a newspaper publisher and Lee played a valet named Kato. The two teamed up to fight crime and Kato handled much of the fighting.
Prior to getting the role, Lee began to train private celebrity clients such as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Coburn, and Steve McQueen. This led to him to being discovered by the television producer William Dozier who cast him in the role of Kato. Even though the series lasted only one season, Lee was a breakout action star.
In preparation for the show, 20th Century Fox paid for Lee to take acting lessons from Jeff Corey who was a drama coach in Hollywood. Corey would normally charge $70 per hour for acting lessons. This show was a crossover from the television series Batman and was sold without a pilot and script. The lessons with Corey were three times a week and Lee felt they made him more “fluid with non-acting acting.” His character Kato used Gung Fu instead weapons and was the assistant to the Green Hornet (Letters, page 68-70).
During the television series, Lee gained valuable acting experience. Although Lee called Kato a “house boy,” he was still an “active partner of the Green Hornet and not a mute follower.” Bruce Lee presented two Green Hornet scripts and wanted a more “active partnership” with the producer (Letters, Page 77).
In the episode “The Hunter & The Hunted,” Bruce Lee played Kato without the mask. However, ratings were bad and producers considered changing it to an hour show (Letters, page 80). Sadly, the show was cancelled.
I was recently looking for a copy of The Green Hornet. Unfortunately, there is no good way to get a legitimate copy. Amazon has copies of the show but reviewers say that this is a non-authorized version with poor quality and missing parts.
Ebay lists the “Complete 1940-1966-67 GREEN HORNET BRUCE LEE TV,” which includes all the episodes, the four batman crossover episodes, and episodes from the 1940’s series of the same name. One reviewer says the quality for this is also poor.
In 1974, a movie was made from multiple episodes of the Green Hornet television series and was released after Bruce Lee’s passing.
In an interview Bruce Lee reflected on his time playing Kato and said he felt like he was acting like a robot because he wasn’t himself and was trying to use “external techniques” on how to move. He said he should have asked himself how would Bruce Lee have moved when playing Kato (In His Own Words, 9:12).
This would be a great time to officially restore and release The Green Hornet tv series. It would make it much easier for the public to see more Bruce Lee in action. Maybe it can be rebranded as Kato and the Green Hornet?
Part 2: Bruce Lee in Batman
William Dozier produced both The Green Hornet and Batman which led to Lee doing several crossover episodes on Batman (IMDB, Letters, page 68-70, 77).
The first time they appeared together was on September 16, 1966 on the Milton Berle Show. Adam West appeared as Batman, Van Williams as the Green Hornet, and Bruce Lee as Kato. They teamed up to defeat a villain played by Milton Berle. 52m (IMDB).
The second time they appeared together was on the Batman episode, The Spell of Tut which aired on September 28, 1966. Van Williams and Lee appear in a short cameo popping out of a window to see Batman and Robin climbing up a building (IMDB).
The third time they appeared together was on the Batman episode, A Piece of the Action which aired on March 1, 1966. In the episode The Green Hornet and Kato visited Gotham City but through a misunderstanding end up fighting Batman and Robin. 25m (IMDB).
The final crossover was on the Batman episode, Batman’s Satisfaction. This involved another conflict between Batman and The Green Hornet at a stamp exhibition. 25m (IMDB).
Interestingly the Batman series was not available for purchase for the longest time because the ownership was split between William Dozier, Warner Brothers, and 20th Century Fox. According to William Dozier’s daughter Deborah Dozier Potter:
“My father produced it, owned it along with Fox, the characters were owned by DC, and Warner eventually owned DC. [My father] didn’t think it would amount to anything. It wasn’t even in his will.” (Wired).
Eventually 20th Century Fox was able to secure ownership and this led to a remastered release on DVD and Blu Ray in 2014. One has to wonder if the same legal issues are stopping the release of The Green Hornet (Wired). Batman has been remastered for the first time since airing and looks much improved (Hypable).
Resources:
Letters of the Dragon: The Original 1958-1973 Correspondence, John Little, Editor, Tuttle Publishing, 1998, 2016. Volume 5 of the Bruce Lee Library, commissioned by the Bruce Lee Estate. Letters to friends, family, and business associates. Put together by John Little, Bruce Lee historian.
Bruce Lee as Kato Image, Wikimedia image.
The Milton Berle Show; Season 1, Episode 2, played Kato. Adam West as Batman and Bruce Lee as Kato goes up against Milton Berle as the villain. 52m (IMDB).
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Batman, The Spell of Tut; Season 2, Episode 7, aired September 28, played Kato (uncredited). The villian King Tut returns with Egyptian scarabs (IMDB).
The Green Hornet Season 1, Episodes 1 – 26, aired September 9, 1966 – March 24, 1967. A series where Bruce Lee plays a newspaper publisher’s valet and crime fighting sidekick. Bruce Lee gained much attention with his realistic martial arts (IMDB).
Batman, A Piece of the Action; Season 2, Episode 51, aired March 1, played Kato. The Green Hornet and Kato visit Gotham City but through a misunderstanding under up fighting Batman and Robin. 25m (IMDB).
Batman, Batman’s Satisfaction; Season 2, Episode 52, aired March 2, played Kato. Another conflict between Batman and The Green Hornet at a stamp exhibition. 25m (IMDB).
Batman: The Complete Television Series DVD, available on Amazon.
Hypable, ‘Batman: The Complete Television Series’ DVD/Blu Ray review. Retrieved 6/6/2024.
Wired, Why We’re Just Now Getting the 1960s Batman TV Show on DVD. Retrieved 6/6/2024.
Cinemablend, Watch How Incredible The Batman TV Series Looks in High Definition. Retrieved 6/6/2024.
Milton Berle Picture from Movie Market.com.
Bruce Lee: In His Own Words. Documentary by John Little, Bruce Lee historian. A special feature on the two disc and special edition Enter the Dragon dvd. Includes clips of Bruce Lee interview. Done by John Little Bruce Lee historian. 20m (IMDB).
Bruce Lee as Kato Image, Wikimedia image.
Green Hornet DVD image, Amazon.com.
Green Hornet DVD Photo 2, Amazon.com.
AI Narration provided by elevenlabs.io.
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