My Take | Bruce Lee, an everyman hero for the globalised age
According to a new biography, the Chinese icon also had English and Dutch-Jewish blood, and as an action star admired the whole world over he would have felt at home today
You may be surprised that Bruce Lee had English and Dutch-Jewish blood in him. I was.
That’s according to a review in The New York Times, citing a new biography of Hong Kong’s greatest kung fu star, by Matthew Polly.
But that makes sense. Though he was claimed by Chinese everywhere and Hongkongers in particular as one of their greatest sons, the many personal characteristics, whether from nature or nurture, that came to define Lee weren’t especially Chinese.
Certainly, many Chinese throughout the ages have had attributes such as aggressiveness, humour, individualism, disregard for authorities and traditions, arrogance, and a thirst for fame. But those were not usually advertised as Chinese virtues or values.
When he was once mowing the front lawn of his luxury mansion in the United States, a white guy asked how much he charged for the service. Lee replied that he was doing it for free, but added that after he was done, he was taking the lady inside the house to bed.