Lee, Bruce -- Television and Filmography

  • By Alyssa Burrows
  • Posted 11/07/2002
  • HistoryLink.org Essay 4010

Former Seattle resident Bruce Lee, martial artist and actor in film and television, starred in many Hong Kong movie productions as a child before he came to worldwide fame with his role as Kato in television show The Green Hornet and in the few martial arts movies he made in the early 1970s before his untimely death. This is a summary of his films, television appearances, and writing and production credits, in chronological order.

Child Star

In the films Bruce Lee made as a child actor, he is credited as Little Dragon Lee, Siu-Lung Lee, Yam Lee, Xiaolong Li, and Lee Siu Lung:

  • Golden Gate Girl (1941)
  • The Birth of Mankind (1946)
  • Wealth Is Like a Dream (1948)
  • Sai See in the Dream (1949)
  • Kid Cheung (1950)
  • The Kid (1951)
  • Infancy (1951)
  • The Guiding Light (1953)
  • It's Father's Fault (1953)
  • In the Face of Demolition (1953)
  • A Mother's Tears (1953)
  • Myriad Homes (1953)
  • Love (1955)
  • An Orphan's Tragedy (1955)
  • The Faithful Wife (1955)
  • Orphan's Song (1955)
  • We Owe It to Our Children (1955)
  • Wise Guys Fool Around (1956)
  • Too Late for Divorce (1956)
  • The Thunderstorm (1957)
  • Darling Girl (1957)
  • The Orphan (1958)

Television Credits

The Green Hornet (1966-1967)

  • Episode 1: "The Silent Gun, " air-date: 9-16-1966
  • Episode 2: "Give 'Em Enough Rope," air-date: 9-16-1966
  • Episode 3: "Programmed for Death, " air-date: 9-23-1966
  • Episode 4: "Crime Wave," air-date: 9-30-1966
  • Episode 5: "The Frog is a Deadly Weapon," air-date: 10-7-1966
  • Episode 6: "Eat, Drink and Be Dead," air-date: 10-14-1966
  • Episode 7: "Beautiful Dreamer (Part I)," air-date: 10-21-1966
  • Episode 8: "Beautiful Dreamer (Part II)," air-date: 10-28-1966
  • Episode 9: "The Ray is for Killing, " air-date: 11-11-1966
  • Episode 10: "The Praying Mantis," air-date: 11-18-1966
  • Episode 11: "The Hunters and the Hunted," air-date: 11-25-1966
  • Episode 12: "Deadline for Death," air-date: 12-2-1966
  • Episode 13: "The Secret of Sally Bell," air-date: 12-9-1966
  • Episode 14: "Freeway to Death," air-date: 12-16-1966
  • Episode 15: "May the Best Man Lose," air-date: 12-23-1966
  • Episode 16: "Seek, Stalk and Destroy," air-date: 1-6-1967
  • Episode 17: "Corpse of the Year (Part I)," air-date: 1-13-1967
  • Episode 18: "Corpse of the Year (Part II)," air-date: 1-20-1967
  • Episode 19: "Bad Bet on 459-Silent," air-date: 2-3-1967
  • Episode 20: "Ace in the Hole," air-date: 2-10-1967
  • Episode 21: "Trouble for Prince Charming," air-date: 2-17-1967
  • Episode 22: "Alias 'The Scarf'," air-date: 2-24-1967
  • Episode 23: "Hornet, Save Thyself," air-date: 3-3-1967
  • Episode 24: "Invasion from Outer Space (Part I)," air-date: 3-10-1967
  • Episode 25: "Invasion from Outer Space (Part II)," air-date: 3-17-1967
  • Episode 26: "The Hornet and the Firefly," air-date: 3-24-1967

Guest Appearances as the Green Hornet and Kato

  • Batman episode #41: "The Spell of Tut," air-date: 9-28-1966
  • Batman episode #42: "Tut's Case is Shut," air-date: 9-29-1966
  • Batman episode #85: "A Piece of the Action," air-date: 1-23-1967
  • Batman episode #86: "Batman's Satisfaction," air-date: 3-2-1967

Guest Appearances on Other TV Shows

  • Ironside episode "Tagged for Murder," air-date: 10-26-1967 (Bruce plays a karate Instructor).
  • Blondie episode "Pick on Someone Your Own Size." (Bruce plays a martial arts instructor who teaches Dagwood). Unknown air-date.
  • Here Come the Brides Unknown Title, unknown air-date.
  • Longstreet pilot episode "The Way of the Intercepting Fist," air-date: 9-16-1971 Bruce plays a martial arts instructor who teaches blind detective Mike Longstreet (James Franciscus). Bruce arranged all the fight scenes.
  • Longstreet episode "Spell Legacy Like Death," air-date: 10-21-1971 (reprise of instructor role)
  • Longstreet episode "Wednesday's Child," air-date: 11-11-1971 (reprise of instructor role)

Martial Arts Movies (US release titles)

  • Fists of Fury (1971 Golden Harvest Productions, Ltd.) Original title: The Big Boss (Tang shan da xiong). Also known as: China Mountain Big Brother (1971) (Hong Kong: literal English title), Fists of Glory (1971) (Europe: English title), and Tang saan daai hing (1971) (China: Cantonese title)
  • The Chinese Connection (1972 Golden Harvest Productions, Ltd.) Original title: Fist of Fury (Jing wu men). Also known as: Fists of Fury (1972) (Hong Kong: English title); and The Iron Hand (1972)
  • Return of the Dragon (1972 Concord Productions, Inc. and Golden Harvest Productions) Original title: Way of the Dragon (Meng long guojiang). Also known as: Fury of the Dragon (1972) (Europe: English title).
  • Enter the Dragon (1973 Concord Productions, Inc., Sequoia Productions, and Warner Brothers). Also known as: The Deadly Three (Long zheng hu dou) (1973); and Operation Dragon (1973) (Europe: English title).
  • Game of Death (1978 Concord Productions, Inc. and Golden Harvest Company Ltd.), Also known as: Bruce Lee's Game of Death (1978); and Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death (Si wang you ju) (1978).

Movie Credits

  • The Wrecking Crew (1969): Fight Choreographer
  • Marlowe (1969): Bruce plays the character of a hired heavy who destroys Marlowe's (James Garner's) office, and was an uncredited fight choreographer
  • A Walk in Spring Rain (1970): Fight Choreographer
  • Fists of Fury (1971): Fight Coordinator
  • The Chinese Connection (1972): uncredited Fight Coordinator and Martial Arts Director
  • Return of the Dragon (1972): Martial Arts Director
  • Game of Death (1978) Bruce took part in the writing, directing, filming design, and editing of the fight scenes (the final part of the movie, which was halted mid-production and completed after his death).

Writing Credits

  • Fists of Fury (1971) Bruce Lee and Wei Lo share writing credits.
  • The Chinese Connection (1972) Bruce Lee and Wei Lo share writing credits.
  • Return of the Dragon (1972) Written by Bruce Lee.
  • Enter the Dragon (1973) Bruce was an uncredited "teaser" writer.
  • Game of Death (1978) Bruce wrote the dialog for the fight scenes.
  • Circle of Iron (1979) The movie made out of Bruce Lee's Silent Flute script that was changed so significantly that it bears little resemblance to his original concept.

Sources:

James Bishop, Remembering Bruce (Los Angeles: Cyclone Books, 1999); Internet Movie Database (www.IMBd.com).


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