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, the granddaughter of Cantonese opera singer
Lee Hoi-chuen, 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 ''Th ...
.
["Lee, Bruce, (1940–1973) Martial Arts Master and Film Maker"](_blank)
HistoryLink.org. Retrieved January 1, 2011.
Early life
Shannon was born on April 19, 1969, at
UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
. She is the youngest child and only daughter of martial arts film star
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
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 D ...
, 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 spe ...
.''
In 1998, Lee acted in the Hong Kong action film ''
Enter the Eagles'', 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 ...
, 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 tr ...
, 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, gen ...
.
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
Marti ...
'' alongside
Sammo Hung
use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place =
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place =
, resting_place_coordinate ...
.
In 2000, Lee sang a cover of "
I'm in the Mood for Love" 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 by ...
'', which first aired on the
Sci Fi Channel 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''.
Lee sang on the band
Medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...
's album ''The Mechanical Forces of Love'' in 2003.
Lee is president of the
Bruce Lee Foundation.
[Bruce Lee Foundation website](_blank)
Retrieved December 10, 2014. She was the executive producer of the 2008 television series ''
The Legend of Bruce Lee'', 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 ...
'', based on an original idea by
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 ...
, 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'' fr ...
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
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 ...
, granddaughter of
Lee Hoi-chuen and
Grace Ho, sister of
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 ''Th ...
, 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
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 D ...
, 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 form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. ...
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
Wushu may refer to:
Martial arts
* Chinese martial arts, the various martial arts of China
* Wushu (sport), a modern exhibition of traditional Chinese martial arts
* Wushu stances, five key stances utilized in both contemporary wushu and traditio ...
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 ''
Enter the Eagles'' required her to fight
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 tr ...
, Urquidez himself taught 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, gen ...
.
Filmography
References
Further reading
*
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