Statue of Bruce Lee (Los Angeles)

Last updated
Bruce Lee statue
Bruce Lee statue in Los Angeles.jpg
The statue in 2015
Statue of Bruce Lee (Los Angeles)
34°03′54″N118°14′15″W / 34.065109°N 118.237426°W / 34.065109; -118.237426
Location Chinatown, Los Angeles
Material Bronze
Height7 feet
Opening dateJune 15, 2013
Dedicated to Bruce Lee

A statue of Bruce Lee is located in Chinatown, Los Angeles, commemorating the martial artist of the same name.

Contents

History

The 7-foot bronze sculpture of Bruce Lee was created by an unknown artist in Guangzhou, China and depicts Lee in a martial arts stance and holding nunchucks. [1] It was transported to Los Angeles, California after a five-year effort by Lee's daughter Shannon, and is the only statue of her late father in the United States. Its unveiling occurred on June 15, 2013 to a crowd of hundreds, including ground-breaking Asian American actor James Hong. It was permanently installed on a commemorative pedestal and unveiled on September 28, 2018 at a ceremony attended by Shannon Lee and California State Senator Kevin de Leon. [1] Its permanent installation will not occur until the erection of spectator seating and a concrete plinth. [2]

Although born in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Lee opened a martial arts school in Los Angeles' Chinatown and was a fixture there during the filming of the 1960s television series The Green Hornet. [3] The statue is located near the pedestrian intersection of Sun Mun Way and Jung Jing Road in Chinatown's Central Plaza, not far from the life-size 1961 bronze statue of Sun Yat-Sen. [4] Weighing in at about 1,595 pounds (723.47 kg), the Bruce Lee statue has become a cultural mecca for Lee's fans, who are regularly seen taking selfies while poised in martial arts stances. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Enter the Dragon</i> 1973 film by Robert Clouse

Enter the Dragon is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Ahna Capri, Bob Wall, Shih Kien, and Jim Kelly. Enter the Dragon was Bruce Lee's final completed film appearance before his death on 20 July 1973 at the age of 32. An American-Hong Kong co-production, the film was premiered in Los Angeles on 19 August 1973, one month after Lee's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Lee</span> Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor (1940–1973)

Bruce Lee was a Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines. Credited with helping popularize martial arts films in the 1970s, Lee is considered by some commentators and martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, who bridged the gap between East and West. He is credited with promoting Hong Kong action cinema and helping to change the way Chinese people were presented in American films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Lee</span> American actor and martial artist (1965–1993)

Brandon Bruce Lee was an American actor. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed what was to be his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the supernatural superhero film The Crow (1994). However, Lee's career and life were cut short by his accidental death during the film's production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood of Los Angeles

Chinatown is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California, that became a commercial center for Chinese and other Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops, and art galleries, but also has a residential neighborhood with a low-income, aging population of about 7,800 residents.

<i>Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story</i> 1993 film by Rob Cohen

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story is a 1993 American biographical martial arts drama film directed by Rob Cohen. The film stars Jason Scott Lee, with a supporting cast including Lauren Holly, Nancy Kwan, and Robert Wagner. The film follows the life of actor and martial artist Bruce Lee (Jason) from his relocation to the United States from Hong Kong to his career as a martial arts teacher, and then as a television and film actor. It also focuses on the relationship between Bruce and his wife Linda Lee Cadwell, and the racism to which Bruce was subjected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Statuary Hall Collection</span> Collection of statues in the US Capitol

The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is composed of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Limited to two statues per state, the collection was originally set up in the old Hall of the House of Representatives, which was then renamed National Statuary Hall. The expanding collection has since been spread throughout the Capitol and its Visitor's Center.

Chopsocky is a colloquial term for martial arts films and kung fu films made primarily by Hong Kong action cinema between the late 1960s and early 1980s. The term was coined by the American motion picture trade magazine Variety following the explosion of films in the genre released in 1973 in the U.S. after the success of Five Fingers of Death. The word is a play on chop suey, combining "chop" and "sock".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Lee</span> American actress (born 1969)

Shannon Emery Lee Keasler is an American actress, businesswoman, singer, and martial artist. She is the only living child of actor and martial artist Bruce Lee and retired martial arts teacher Linda Lee Cadwell, and is the younger sister of actor Brandon Lee. Through Bruce Lee she is a granddaughter of Cantonese opera singer and film actor Lee Hoi-chuen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Lee Cadwell</span> American teacher, writer, the widow of Bruce Lee

Linda Claire Emery Lee Cadwell is a retired American teacher and writer, the widow of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee (1940–1973), and the mother of actor Brandon Lee (1965–1993) and actress Shannon Lee. She is the author of the Bruce Lee biography Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, upon which the film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993) is based, as well as the founder, a former trustee of, and an unpaid advisor of the Bruce Lee Foundation.

Jason Tobin, credited in Chinese as To Jun Wai is a Hong Kong-British film and television actor. He is known for his role as Young Jun in the HBO MAX series Warrior.

A statue of Bruce Lee was unveiled on 26 November 2005, in the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, by sculptor Ivan Fijolić. Located in Zrinjevac City Park, the life-sized statue stands 1.68 m tall, shorter than Bruce Lee's actual height of 1.72 m, and was a symbol of solidarity in the ethnically-divided city until it was stolen in a heist on March 4, 2024, and was subsequently found albeit cut in pieces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Bruce Lee (Hong Kong)</span> Statue in Hong Kong

The Bruce Lee statue in Hong Kong is a bronze memorial statue of the martial artist Bruce Lee, who died on 20 July 1973 at the age of 32, created by sculptor Cao Chong-en, and located on the Avenue of Stars attraction near the waterfront at Tsim Sha Tsui.

Robert Lee Jun-fai is a Hong Kong musician. He is the youngest brother of the late martial artist Bruce Lee.

Hong Kong Americans, include Americans who are also Hong Kong residents who identify themselves as Hong Kongers, Americans of Hong Kong ancestry, and also Americans who have Hong Kong parents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martial Arts History Museum</span> Martial Arts History Museum in Glendale, CA

The Martial Arts History Museum is a museum in America devoted to the history of martial arts located in Glendale, California. It was created as an educational facility teaching young people and visitors about art, culture and tradition and how Asian history became part of American history through the martial arts. The Martial Arts History Museum is divided into several sections including China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Hawaii, Anime and Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillie and Marc</span> Artist team

Gillie and Marc Schattner are an Australian collaborative artist couple. Gillie and Marc are known for their animal, human-animal hybrid and abstract sculptures, which have been exhibited as public works of art around the world. They also create paintings, street art and statues of people.

<i>Ip Man 4: The Finale</i> 2019 film by Wilson Yip

Ip Man 4: The Finale is a 2019 Hong Kong-Chinese biographical martial arts film directed by Wilson Yip, who also produced with Raymond Wong, and Donnie Yen, who also stars as the title character. It is the fourth film in the Ip Man film series, which is loosely based on the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Junípero Serra (Los Angeles)</span> Statue in Los Angeles, California, U.S.

A statue of Junípero Serra was installed in a portion of El Pueblo de Los Ángeles Historical Monument informally known as Father Serra Park in Los Angeles, California.

References

  1. 1 2 "Statue of Bruce Lee permanently installed in Los Angeles Chinatown". Xinhua North America News. 30 September 2018. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  2. Shyong, Frank (June 16, 2013). "Bruce Lee statue unveiled in L.A.'s Chinatown". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  3. "Roadside America - Big Bronze Bruce Lee". Archived from the original on 2016-12-27. Retrieved 2016-12-27.
  4. "Explore Asian American Landmarks & Monuments in Los Angeles". Discover Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  5. "LA Weekly - Bruce Lee's Huge Bronze Statue Turns Into a Mecca in L.A.'s Chinatown". Archived from the original on 2018-01-04. Retrieved 2016-12-27.