Bruce Lee: A Life

  • Author: Matthew Polly
  • Narrator: Jonathan Todd Ross
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Duration: 19:06:21
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Synopsis

“The first noteworthy treatment of its subject—and a definitive one at that...Fascinating narrative threads proliferate.” —The New York Times Book Review

The most authoritative biography—featuring dozens of rarely seen photographs—of film legend Bruce Lee, who made martial arts a global phenomenon, bridged the divide between Eastern and Western cultures, and smashed long-held stereotypes of Asians and Asian-Americans.

Forty-five years after Bruce Lee’s sudden death at age thirty-two, journalist and bestselling author Matthew Polly has written the definitive account of Lee’s life. It’s also one of the only accounts; incredibly, there has never been an authoritative biography of Lee. Following a decade of research that included conducting more than one hundred interviews with Lee’s family, friends, business associates, and even the actress in whose bed Lee died, Polly has constructed a complex, humane portrait of the icon.

Polly explores Lee’s early years as a child star in Hong Kong cinema; his actor father’s struggles with opium addiction and how that turned Bruce into a troublemaking teenager who was kicked out of high school and eventually sent to America to shape up; his beginnings as a martial arts teacher, eventually becoming personal instructor to movie stars like James Coburn and Steve McQueen; his struggles as an Asian-American actor in Hollywood and frustration seeing role after role he auditioned for go to a white actors in eye makeup; his eventual triumph as a leading man; his challenges juggling a sky-rocketing career with his duties as a father and husband; and his shocking end that to this day is still shrouded in mystery.

Polly breaks down the myths surrounding Bruce Lee and argues that, contrary to popular belief, he was an ambitious actor who was obsessed with the martial arts—not a kung-fu guru who just so happened to make a couple of movies. This is an honest, revealing look at an impressive yet imperfect man whose personal story was even more entertaining and inspiring than any fictional role he played onscreen.

Chapters

  • BruceLee 01 Title

    Duration: 14s
  • BruceLee 02 Prologue

    Duration: 16min
  • BruceLee 03 Ch01

    Duration: 45min
  • BruceLee 04 Ch02

    Duration: 51min
  • BruceLee 05 Ch03

    Duration: 34min
  • BruceLee 06 Ch04

    Duration: 40min
  • BruceLee 07 Ch05

    Duration: 58min
  • BruceLee 08 Ch06

    Duration: 37min
  • BruceLee 09 Ch07

    Duration: 54min
  • BruceLee 10 Ch08

    Duration: 41min
  • BruceLee 11 Ch09

    Duration: 33min
  • BruceLee 12 Ch10

    Duration: 43min
  • BruceLee 13 Ch11

    Duration: 47min
  • BruceLee 14 Ch12

    Duration: 01h24s
  • BruceLee 15 Ch13

    Duration: 40min
  • BruceLee 16 Ch14

    Duration: 43min
  • BruceLee 17 Ch15

    Duration: 29min
  • BruceLee 18 Ch16

    Duration: 36min
  • BruceLee 19 Ch17

    Duration: 51min
  • BruceLee 20 Ch18

    Duration: 50min
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