Shannon Emery Lee Keasler (born April 19, 1969) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the only living child of martial artist

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines th ...

and retired martial arts teacher

Linda Lee Cadwell Linda Emery Lee Cadwell (born March 21, 1945) is a retired American teacher and writer. 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'' is based, as well as th ...

, the granddaughter of Cantonese opera singer

Lee Hoi-chuen Lee Moon-shuen (; 4 February 1901 – 7 February 1965) known professionally as Lee Hoi-chuen, was a Chinese opera singer and film actor in Hong Kong. He was the father of Bruce Lee, the father-in-law of Linda Lee Cadwell, and also the paternal g ...

, and the younger sister of actor

Brandon Lee Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor and martial artist. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the dark fantasy film ''The ...

."Lee, Bruce, (1940–1973) Martial Arts Master and Film Maker"
HistoryLink.org. Retrieved January 1, 2011.

Early life

Shannon was born on April 19, 1969, at

UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center is a hospital located within the city of Santa Monica, California. The hospital was founded in 1926, and is a member of the UCLA Health. The hospital is also known internationally for operating its Rape Treatment ...

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

. She is the youngest child and only daughter of martial arts film star

and Linda Emery. In her youth she studied

Jeet Kune Do Jeet Kune Do is a primarily wing chun kung fu inspired eclectic martial arts philosophy heavily influenced and adapted by the Taoist personal life philosophy and experiences of martial artist Bruce Lee. Overview and philosophy Jeet Kune Do ...

, the martial art created by her father, under Richard Bustillo, one of her father's students.

Career

In 1993, Lee played a party singer in her father's biopic '' Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story''. In 1994, she acted in ''Cage II.'' In 1997, Lee acted in ''

High Voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant sp ...

.'' In 1998, Lee acted in the Hong Kong action film ''

Enter the Eagles ''Enter the Eagles'' (also known in the United States as ''And Now You're Dead'') is a 1998 Hong Kong action thriller film directed by Corey Yuen, and starring Michael Wong, Anita Yuen, Jordan Chan, Shannon Lee, Benny Urquidez and Jordan And ...

'', directed by

Corey Yuen Corey Yuen (; born Ying Gang-ming (殷元奎); 15 February 1951) is a Hong Kong director, film director, producer, action choreographer, and former actor. Yuen was a member of the Peking Opera Schools and one of the Seven Little Fortunes. As an ...

, co-starring Michael Wong and

Anita Yuen Anita Yuen Wing Yee (born 4 September 1971) is a Hong Kong film and television actress. Pageant career At the age of 18, Yuen entered the Miss Hong Kong 1990 pageant. She was a heavy favorite to win the crown from the semifinal to final. During t ...

. In the film, Lee had a fight scene with

Benny Urquidez Benny Urquidez (born June 20, 1952) is an American kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed "The Jet", Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the United States. He made the tra ...

, who went on to teach her

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

. On television, she guest-starred in an episode of the television series ''

Martial Law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...

'' alongside

Sammo Hung Sammo Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreographer for ...

. In 2000, Lee sang a cover of "

I'm in the Mood for Love "I'm in the Mood for Love" is a popular song published in 1935. The music was written by Jimmy McHugh, with the lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The song was introduced by Frances Langford in the movie '' Every Night at Eight'' released that year. I ...

" for the film ''

China Strike Force ''China Strike Force'' is a 2000 Hong Kong action film starring Aaron Kwok, Norika Fujiwara, Leehom Wang and Ruby Lin alongside American stars Mark Dacascos and Coolio. It was directed by Stanley Tong and written by Tong and Steven Whitney. Syn ...

'' directed by

Stanley Tong Stanley Tong () is a Hong Kong film director, producer, stunt choreographer, screenwriter, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Early life Stanley Tong was born on April 7, 1960 in Hong Kong, and he completed his education in Hong Kong and Canada. Fi ...

. Lee appeared in the sci-fi television film ''

Epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided ...

'', which first aired on the

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

in 2001. That same year, she played the leading role in the action film ''Lessons for an Assassin''. She was also the host of the first season of the game show ''

WMAC Masters ''WMAC Masters'' is an American live-action television show produced by Norman Grossfeld featuring choreographed martial arts fights. It was created and produced by 4Kids Productions (later known as 4Kids Entertainment) in conjunction with Rena ...

''. Lee sang on the band

Medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

's album ''The Mechanical Forces of Love'' in 2003. Lee is president of the

Bruce Lee Foundation Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

.Bruce Lee Foundation website
Retrieved December 10, 2014. She was the executive producer of the 2008 television series ''

The Legend of Bruce Lee ''The Legend of Bruce Lee'' (''Chinese'': 李小龍傳奇) is a 2008 Chinese biographical television series based on the life story of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. The 50-episode series was produced and broadcast by CCTV and began airing o ...

'', based on her father's life, and the 2009 documentary film ''How Bruce Lee Changed the World.'' In 2015, Perfect Storm Entertainment and Shannon Lee announced that the series ''

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

'', based on an original idea by

, would be produced and air on

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...

. Filmmaker

Justin Lin Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese-American film director. His films have grossed US$2.3 billion worldwide as of March 2017. He is best known for his directorial work on '' Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002), the '' Fast & Furious'' ...

was chosen to direct the series, which debuted April 5, 2019.

Personal life

Lee's husband is Ian Keasler. They share a daughter named Wren. Lee is the daughter of

, granddaughter of

and Grace Ho, sister of

, and niece of

Robert Lee Jun-fai Robert Lee Jun-fai (born 16 December 1948) is a Hong Kong musician. He is the younger brother of martial artist Bruce Lee. Early life Lee was born on 16 December 1948 in Hong Kong as the youngest son of Grace Ho () and Lee Hoi-chuen (), a leadi ...

and

Peter Lee Jung-sum Peter Lee Jung-sum (23 October 1939 – 3 September 2008), was a former assistant director of Hong Kong Observatory. He was the elder brother of Bruce Lee. Background Born in Hong Kong on 23 October 1939, Lee was the eldest son of Lee Hoi-chuen ...

. Lee's paternal great-grandfather was Ho Kom Tong, half-brother of

Robert Hotung Sir Robert Ho Tung Bosman, (22 December 1862 – 26 April 1956), also known as Sir Robert Ho Tung, was a businessman and philanthropist in British Hong Kong. Known as "the grand old man of Hong Kong" (), he was knighted in 1915 ( Knight Bache ...

Martial arts

In her youth, Lee studied

, with her father's disciple Richard Bustillo, but did not practice it seriously until the late 1990s. To train for parts in action movies, she studied Jeet Kune Do with

Ted Wong Ted Wong (November 5, 1937 – November 24, 2010) was a martial arts practitioner best known for studying under Bruce Lee. Early life Wong was born in Hong Kong in 1937. His father, a native Californian of Chinese descent, was stationed there ...

. She studied

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

under

Tan Tao-liang Tan Tao-liang (; Tan Dao-liang; born 22 December 1947) is a Chinese-Korean martial artist and former film actor. He has used numerous pseudonyms throughout his career, most frequently Delon Tam, Dorian Tan Tao-liang, Tan Tao-liang, Delon Tan, Do ...

AKA Aka, AKA or a.k.a. may refer to: * "Also known as", used to introduce an alternative name Languages * Aka language (Sudan) * Aka language, in the Central African Republic * Hruso language, in India, also referred to as Aka * a prefix in the n ...

"Flash Legs" and Wushu under Eric Chen. She also studied under the tutelage of the director of ''Enter the Eagles'', Yuen De,

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

's Chinese opera brother. Because the film ''

'' required her to fight

, Urquidez himself taught her

Filmography

References

External links

* *
The Bruce Lee Foundation Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Shannon 1969 births Living people American actresses of Chinese descent American film actresses Television personalities from Los Angeles American women television personalities Television producers from California American women television producers American Jeet Kune Do practitioners American female kickboxers American wushu practitioners American female taekwondo practitioners Actresses from Los Angeles People from Rolling Hills, California Actresses from Seattle 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American rock singers American people of Dutch-Jewish descent Chinese Jeet Kune Do practitioners Family of Bruce Lee American born Hong Kong artists