On July 20, 1973, the news of the death of Bruce Lee, the highest level master of kung fu and film actor, struck Hong Kong, and then the whole world. This was a man who became the idol of millions of people, mastered the art of martial arts and glorified him. Cinema did not know before and still does not know an artist who would combine such filigree craftsmanship with the ability to perform roles artistically as Bruce Lee. The date of his death was a rainy day not only for fans of Hong Kong fighters, but also for lovers of blue screen art around the world. Simultaneously with this grief, she launched numerous attempts to solve the mystery of the sudden departure from the life of the master, sometimes sincere, and sometimes selfish.
Gaining mastery
To understand how Bruce Lee died, it is important to find out how he lived.
In 1940, an actor from the Middle Kingdom Lee Hui Chun and his wife Grace Lee rejoiced, they found an heir. The boy was called Little Dragon, in Chinese this name sounded like Li Xiao Lun, but there were two more options: Li Zhenfan and Bruce Lee. Mother was not a purebred Chinese woman; German blood also flowed in her veins. The future king of kung fu was born in the United States, in San Francisco, where the theater toured.
In the period of maturity of the future actor, Hong Kong was a multinational "ant hill", an English colony in which all races and peoples were mixed, and a refuge for adventurers of the whole world. The criminal situation in the metropolis corresponded to his reputation. Numerous youth gangs divided spheres of influence among themselves, usually finding out hand-to-hand relations. A member of one of the triads was Little Dragon.
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Yip Man Lee, a martial artist, became Bruce's first teacher. The young man trained so hard that he soon became a prominent star in the criminal horizon of Wanchai district, and the godfathers of the Hong Kong mafia began to look at him. To protect his son from their influence, his parents sent him to study in the United States in technical sciences and philosophy, believing that it would be better. However, there were also Chinese, American, of course, who had something to learn from a young man who was fond of the ancient art of fighting. A variety of styles even then became Lee's hallmark.
Version one - overwork
The return to the homeland, the beginning of a cinematic career and its success are described in many articles, books and are reflected in biographical films. All these numerous sources do not give an unambiguous answer to the question of what Bruce Lee died of, but one of the options suggests itself. The master was doing his favorite thing so actively that it could cause an extreme degree of overwork, which caused the tumor and the failure of the vital functions of the brain. Perhaps this explanation may seem vulgar to professional doctors, but it was this version of his mother-in-law voiced when she learned about the tragedy. She knew about the ruthless training regimen that her brother-in-law had doomed herself to strive to improve her mastery. Sometimes he got up in the middle of the night and went into the hall to work out the tricks which, as it seemed to him, he did not possess well enough. This went on for many years.
This can also explain how old Bruce Lee died. After all, he was only 32 years old.
Second version - dragon revenge
In China and in the East, much more attention is paid to “signs of fate” than in Western countries. In the opinion of sages whitened with gray hair, the fate of a person can be influenced by a variety of circumstances, in our opinion, insignificant. For example, an expensive mansion in the Kaulun district, bought by the actor for himself and his wife, was located in terms of impact on health and well-being is extremely unsuccessful. In the lowest part of Hong Kong, nine dragons live according to beliefs, which could have been jealous of such a stubborn pursuit of self-improvement. What Bruce Lee died from may well be the embodiment of the evil will of the intangible mysterious spirits living in this "lake", and they warned the actor in advance about the possible consequences, driving him into clinical death ten days before his death. Persistent rumors that the financial affairs of the artist beloved by the whole world went not in the best way also speak in favor of this version.
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Hypothesis Three - excessive loving
Fans and simply not indifferent people, besides the question of why Bruce Lee died, was excited that the tragedy happened not in his house, but in a completely different place. The fact that the actress Betty Ting, visiting whom he suddenly fell ill, at first denied her involvement in the events and even the very presence near the actor added fuel to the fire. Of course, the truth soon revealed itself, and almost everything began to express assumptions about the love affair of the filming partners. As the scandal started, the names of other women surfaced, with whom Bruce had a relationship, possibly beyond simple friendship. The press played an important role in spreading these rumors, trying, and not without success, to make money on sensational materials. As far as this information is true, nobody was interested.
Drugs
When opening the body in the actor’s stomach, the doctors found the substances formed by the use of stupefying drugs, presumably based on marijuana. Immediately a version appeared in the press that drugs were what Bruce Lee died from. The reasons for this hypothesis were not enough, the actor did not drink alcohol, did not smoke and led a very healthy lifestyle. In addition, the concentration of these chemical compounds indicated that the harm from them could be about the same as from a couple of cups of coffee. Nevertheless, reporters who were greedy for sensations, immediately rushed to the allegations that the kung fu master turned out to be a drug addict. Someone believes in it now.
Headache pill
While visiting Betty Ting, the actor suddenly felt a severe headache. He did not attach any importance to this, and not to mention the hostess who offered him a pill prescribed for her from migraine attacks. It was called the Ecujesic medicine, and it was a composition of aspirin and meprobanate, a weak narcotic substance, which caused the fact that it was released exclusively on prescription. In itself, it was hardly a danger, but in combination with other factors, as it turned out later, could cause cerebral edema. People who knew the actor from his films were perplexed: “Is a tiny pill really what Bruce Lee died from?” And they didn’t want to believe that such a trifle could crush the master, who couldn’t do anything ...
Currently, this version seems most likely.
Total
Crowds of people accompanied the funeral procession. The fact that the cause of the death of Bruce Lee at that time was not officially announced, caused many of the most fantastic speculations. It was rumored that the actor had been hit in slow motion, that he had been poisoned with a secret potion that could not be identified at autopsy, that he was plagued by his extremely loving, overly temperamental Betty Ting, and many other most unimaginable hypotheses. People did not want to believe in the usual circumstances of the death of an extraordinary person.
The actor found his last resting place on American soil. During the flight, the expensive coffin was so damaged that it had to be replaced. The Chinese, residents of Hong Kong, felt that this was a bad omen, and the spirit of the actor would wander and not find peace for a long time. Well, they were right ...