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00:04Tonight, the sudden death of an invincible icon.
00:08He was on the verge of becoming the world's biggest superstar
00:11and the person who would change martial arts for the rest of time.
00:15He's the closest thing there is to a real-life superhero,
00:18and then suddenly he's gone.
00:20Is it a freak accident, a medical episode, or something more sinister?
00:25The autopsy shows that his death was due to swelling of the brain
00:29from unknown causes, but nobody is satisfied with that answer.
00:33They've been told something different from his manager.
00:35And, of course, the first thing everyone comes to
00:38is a conclusion that this must be foul play.
00:41Now, we explore the top theories
00:43surrounding the death of this martial arts legend.
00:47Bruce was in a place where he shouldn't have been.
00:49He was at the apartment of his mistress.
00:53Bruce Lee is someone who loves to push boundaries,
00:55but the Chinese mafia is ruthless,
00:58and those two things come into conflict.
01:02As Bruce Lee's star power grows,
01:04so does the target on his back.
01:07What or who really killed Bruce Lee?
01:26July 20th, 1973, 10.30 p.m.
01:31An ambulance speeds through Hong Kong
01:33on its way to Queen Elizabeth General Hospital.
01:36But this is no ordinary emergency.
01:39Inside the vehicle is one of the biggest stars of the day,
01:44Bruce Lee.
01:45Bruce Lee's already become the biggest martial arts star,
01:49in fact, the biggest movie star in all of Hong Kong.
01:53He's really on the steps of becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
01:59His movie, Enter the Dragon, is about to be released.
02:02The first to combine martial arts with spy elements.
02:06And expectations are high.
02:09He had to be at the absolute top of his game
02:12for the filming of Enter the Dragon.
02:14He insisted that the fight scenes be as authentic as possible,
02:18which meant that, essentially, the fighting was real
02:22and incredibly physically taxing.
02:25His next film, Game of Death, is an even more ambitious film.
02:30Bruce Lee is not only starring and choreographing the fights in this film,
02:34but he's also moving into the director's chair.
02:36He's bringing new techniques to film.
02:41He's doing things that are creative.
02:42He's doing things that haven't been seen before.
02:45He's really charting new territory.
02:48No matter the movie, Bruce Lee is this larger-than-life character.
02:52He seems completely indestructible.
02:55And here he is on this day, lying in an ambulance without a pulse.
03:00Upon arrival, they initiate resuscitation procedures.
03:03They're injecting chemicals into his heart.
03:06They're using defibrillator pads to try to bring him back.
03:09But nothing is working.
03:12Bruce's wife, Linda, she arrives at the hospital
03:15to see them doing resuscitation on Bruce.
03:19They're trying desperately to restart his heart.
03:21No matter what they do, he remains flat-lined.
03:27It's just after 11.30 p.m. when the news leaks.
03:30Hong Kong's favorite son, Bruce Lee, is dead at the age of 32.
03:36There is no official announcement,
03:38although journalists have a sense that something is up.
03:41So they've started to gather, and they're demanding answers.
03:44So his business partner, Raymond Chow, puts together a brief statement.
03:49He says that Bruce Lee was out walking in his garden with his wife
03:54when he suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.
03:58But Lee's fans find this story hard to believe.
04:02Around 15,000 of his devastated fans take to the street,
04:06and it's utter pandemonium.
04:08Police are forced to restrain the crowd.
04:12Everyone's asking how a man so fit and powerful could die so suddenly.
04:18The hospital states that Bruce Lee died from cerebral edema,
04:22which is swelling of the brain,
04:24in which the pressure becomes too great,
04:26and then physical functions begin to shut down.
04:29When the brain fills up with too much fluid,
04:31what will happen is it will first start to expand,
04:34and then it gets stuck against the skull, which is very firm.
04:37If you have this situation
04:39where the brain is starting to crush downwards onto the brain stem,
04:44that's the part that controls all of your bodily functions,
04:47like your heartbeat, your breathing.
04:49And if it is caught in time,
04:51there are things you can do to reverse it.
04:53But if it's not caught in time,
04:55it is lethal.
04:57The initial autopsy suggests that his brain swelled
05:01past the capacity of his body.
05:03It was actually 13% larger
05:05than what a normal brain is supposed to be,
05:08which is incredibly dangerous.
05:10Swelling of the brain
05:11is known as the cause for Bruce Lee's death.
05:14But the real question is,
05:17what caused that swelling of the brain?
05:20With doctors unable to explain
05:22what triggered Lee's lethal condition,
05:24speculation abounds,
05:26until the next morning.
05:28Hong Kong's leading newspaper,
05:30The Morning Post,
05:31runs a front-page headline,
05:33and the article states that
05:34Bruce Lee had been ill
05:35for two months prior to his death.
05:37In that article,
05:39Raymond Chow reveals that
05:42two months earlier, in May,
05:44Bruce Lee suffered a seizure
05:46caused by cerebral edema,
05:49the same thing that would cause his death
05:51two months later.
05:52Chow goes on to say that
05:54prior to his seizure,
05:55Bruce Lee had suffered
05:56several hard blows to the head
05:58while filming Enter the Dragon.
06:00These blows could have been
06:02far more severe and dangerous
06:03than anyone at the time might have known.
06:13During the filming of Enter the Dragon,
06:16Bruce Lee is going full throttle.
06:18He is pushing himself
06:19to whole new levels.
06:22His training has been ramped up.
06:24He is insisting that every fighting scene
06:27has to be absolutely authentic.
06:29He does report having headaches,
06:31but he just powers through.
06:33July 20th was not the first time
06:36that Bruce had collapsed.
06:38In fact, in remarkably similar conditions,
06:41he had collapsed on May 10th.
06:45At that time,
06:46he had been finished
06:47with the filming of Enter the Dragon,
06:50and he began to feel dizzy,
06:53to complain about feeling nauseous.
06:55He goes to the bathroom
06:57where he collapses.
07:00Bruce Lee suffers a seizure,
07:02is rushed to the hospital,
07:03and on that occasion,
07:05doctors managed to reduce the swelling.
07:08But one doctor reports that
07:09if he had not been brought there immediately,
07:12he surely would have died.
07:16Doctors can't specify
07:18what caused Lee's brain to swell,
07:20but many people believe
07:21his years of intense combat are to blame.
07:24One of the reasons Bruce Lee is so remarkable
07:27is because he really pushed himself
07:30to the limit.
07:33Psychologically, physiologically,
07:35he was so good at demonstrating
07:38the outer limits
07:39of what the human body was capable of.
07:42It's also well known
07:43that he's willing to fight
07:44against anyone
07:45that's willing to face off against him,
07:47and that includes strikes to the head,
07:50which are a crucial part of kung fu.
07:54With repeated cerebral trauma,
07:57over time,
07:58this can build,
07:59and if it doesn't get time
08:00to repair itself
08:00because you're working
08:01as hard as he was every day
08:03to do over-the-top things,
08:06he might end up with permanent damage.
08:08And it could very easily lead
08:10to swelling of the brain
08:11or cerebral edema.
08:13Most of the time,
08:15Lee would train
08:15with protective headgear,
08:16which would dampen the blows.
08:18But we know of at least one time
08:19in his earlier years
08:21when he was training
08:22without any protection at all.
08:25It's a fight
08:26that would define his career
08:28but may have also shortened his life.
08:31In 1964,
08:33Bruce Lee's a 23-year-old in Oakland.
08:35He's co-running a kung fu studio there
08:38and developing his chops
08:40as a teacher
08:41but also figuring out his style
08:43as a martial artist.
08:45And word gets out about him.
08:46He has this bravado,
08:48a bit of arrogance.
08:49He has an ego.
08:50So people start to learn about him
08:52and not everyone is a fan.
08:54He had given a demonstration
08:55in San Francisco's Chinatown
08:57where he had lost his temper
08:59when he was challenged
09:01by other martial artists.
09:03And he had declared
09:04that he was the best martial artist
09:06and challenged anyone
09:08to prove him wrong.
09:11One of the well-known martial artists
09:13at the time
09:13named Wong Jack Mann
09:16decides to take him up
09:17on the challenge.
09:18So he goes to Lee's place
09:20in Oakland
09:21to have a fight
09:23just to see
09:24who really is
09:25the best martial artist.
09:27Adding fuel to the fire
09:29in addition to Lee's arrogance,
09:31Wong is also incensed
09:32that Bruce Lee
09:33is revealing the secrets of kung fu
09:35to Westerners,
09:37which he considers
09:38to be deeply disrespectful
09:39of their heritage.
09:43The two men meet up
09:44at Bruce Lee's studio
09:46and it's an extremely intense fight
09:49from the very beginning.
09:51Neither one clearly gets the advantage.
09:54But at one point,
09:56when it looks like Wong Jack Mann
09:58is retreating
10:00under a series of blows from Lee,
10:01he suddenly fires off
10:03a series of windmill kicks
10:05to Bruce Lee's head.
10:08He ends up taking the full force
10:10of this kick.
10:12Even though it ended up
10:12being sort of unclear
10:13who really won that fight,
10:15there was no question
10:16that at least
10:17with that sort of vicious spin kick,
10:19Bruce Lee was injured
10:20with no protective gear.
10:24This could have been
10:25the first of many brain injuries
10:27that would ultimately lead
10:28to Lee's death
10:29nine years later.
10:31But not everyone's convinced.
10:33Skeptics do say that
10:35while Lee wasn't wearing
10:36protective headgear
10:37during this sparring session
10:39with Wong,
10:40he constantly did wear
10:41protective headgear
10:42during his training sessions.
10:44The reason many believe
10:46that Bruce Lee didn't have
10:47a traumatic brain injury
10:48is because he wasn't experiencing
10:50forgetfulness.
10:51He didn't have lapses
10:52in his memory.
10:53He wasn't acting erratically.
10:55So clearly he was competent
10:57and capable
10:58and able to deal
10:59with these really
11:00intense situations.
11:01People are also having
11:03a hard time believing
11:04the story of Lee
11:05just suddenly collapsing
11:06during a nighttime stroll
11:08in his garden
11:09with his wife,
11:10especially since he was
11:11rushed to a hospital
11:12that's pretty far
11:13from his residence.
11:14The story that Bruce
11:16had collapsed
11:17while taking a walk
11:18falls apart
11:19and it opened up
11:21the floodgates
11:22to people wanting
11:23to know the truth.
11:27July 22nd, 1973.
11:30It's been two days
11:32since Bruce Lee's
11:34shocking death
11:35and a local journalist
11:36has grown suspicious
11:37of the official story
11:38and begins calling
11:39his sources at the hospital
11:41to dig up more information.
11:43At that time,
11:45every Hong Kong hospital
11:46kept an ambulance record
11:47of where a patient
11:49was picked up from
11:50and so he tracked down
11:51the ambulance log
11:52and found out
11:53that the address
11:54that Bruce Lee's body
11:55had been picked up from
11:56wasn't the same
11:57as his home address.
11:58He is shocked
12:00to notice
12:00that the ambulance
12:01was actually dispatched
12:03to 67 Beacon Hill Road.
12:0667 Beacon Hill Road
12:08was where Betty Ting Pei lived.
12:11Betty Ting Pei
12:12is a beautiful
12:13young Taiwanese actress
12:14who's been making a name
12:16for herself
12:16in Chinese cinema.
12:17She first meets Bruce Lee
12:19in 1972
12:20while he's filming
12:21Way of the Dragon
12:22and while he is married
12:24at the time,
12:25the two become close
12:26and rumors start circulating
12:27about an affair
12:29between them.
12:30Those rumors
12:31become even louder
12:32when news circulates
12:33that Betty will be cast
12:35as a lead role
12:36in Bruce Lee's
12:37upcoming film
12:38Game of Death.
12:40When people find out
12:41the truth
12:41about where Bruce Lee
12:42was when he died,
12:44they're pretty mad
12:45and they're also
12:46completely suspicious
12:48of the entire situation.
12:51If Raymond Chow
12:51has concocted
12:52this other story,
12:53what else is he leaving out?
12:55Their willingness
12:56to lie about
12:57the circumstances
12:58under which Bruce died
13:00only opened up speculation
13:02about what they might
13:03be lying about
13:04regarding the cause
13:05of his death.
13:06The press picks up
13:07the story
13:08and Betty Ting Pei
13:09comes under
13:10all kinds of scrutiny.
13:12Now, at first,
13:13she says,
13:13I wasn't even home
13:14that night.
13:15That immediately
13:16gets shot down,
13:17her neighbors mention
13:18having seen her.
13:19Moreover,
13:20her neighbors mention
13:21that Bruce Lee
13:22has been a regular visitor
13:24to her place
13:25for months now.
13:28Soon,
13:29more information
13:30is revealed,
13:32casting Bruce Lee's
13:33final hours
13:34in a more troubling light.
13:36After a few days,
13:37the findings
13:37of the autopsy
13:38confirm that
13:39the cause of death
13:40was this cerebral edema,
13:42but there's
13:42a new piece
13:43of information.
13:43It says that
13:45the cause
13:45of that edema
13:46could have been
13:47some kind
13:47of drug intoxication.
13:56The coroner
13:57found two foreign substances
13:59in Bruce's stomach.
14:00One was hashish,
14:01and the other
14:02was this pill
14:03called Equagesic,
14:04which was a kind
14:05of common pain reliever,
14:06mostly prescribed
14:07to women
14:08for menstrual cramps.
14:09It had aspirin
14:11and nephrabamate,
14:12which was a kind
14:13of muscle relaxant.
14:15Authorities need
14:16to figure out
14:17if these substances,
14:18alone or in combination,
14:20contributed
14:21to Bruce Lee's death.
14:23In an effort
14:24to determine
14:25the cause
14:25of Bruce Lee's death,
14:27the Hong Kong courts
14:28launch a formal investigation.
14:30The coroner's inquest
14:32takes place
14:32over several days,
14:34where witnesses
14:34are called
14:35and evidence
14:36brought forward.
14:37Betty Ting Pei
14:38testified,
14:39Linda Lee testified,
14:40Raymond Chow testified.
14:42All the experts
14:43and all the doctors
14:44involved with
14:44Bruce Lee's death
14:45were brought in
14:46to be interviewed
14:47by the various lawyers.
14:50It's a media circus.
14:51Bruce Lee's fans
14:52are out in force.
14:54They're pushing up
14:54against the barricades.
14:56More than anything else,
14:57they want to try
14:58to catch a glimpse
14:59of Betty Ting Pei.
15:01In her testimony,
15:03Betty finally admits
15:04that she was there.
15:05The evening
15:05that Bruce died,
15:07they had been there
15:08at the apartment
15:09with Raymond Chow earlier,
15:11discussing plans
15:12for Game of Death.
15:13And afterwards,
15:14when Raymond left,
15:15Bruce was complaining
15:16of a headache,
15:16so she gave him
15:18an equagesic,
15:19and then he went
15:20to lay down
15:20and take a nap.
15:22Betty admits
15:23that he then ate
15:24a couple of hash brownies,
15:25and then she came
15:27to wake him up
15:28to go for their dinner plan,
15:29but he's nonresponsive.
15:33Initially,
15:34during the inquest,
15:34investigators are focused
15:36on the hash
15:37found in Lee's stomach.
15:38At that time,
15:39hash is thought
15:40by the Hong Kong government
15:41to be a particularly
15:42dangerous drug,
15:43and people speculate
15:45about whether or not
15:46Lee had an allergic reaction
15:47to it.
15:48The deadly hash theory,
15:50however,
15:50is quickly put to rest
15:52when medical experts
15:53testify that there
15:54has never been
15:55a substantiated case
15:56of death
15:57caused by cannabis.
15:59The focus of the inquest
16:01then turns to that
16:02painkiller Lee took
16:03not long
16:04before his death.
16:05Dr. Robert Donald Teer,
16:08a British pathologist,
16:09looks into this case
16:11and says that he believes
16:12the death could be caused
16:13by a reaction
16:15to something
16:16in the equagesic,
16:17either to the aspirin
16:18or to the meprobamate
16:20or to some combination
16:21of the two.
16:22Aspirin can cause
16:24anaphylactic shock,
16:25which can result
16:26in cerebral edema
16:27in people who die from it.
16:28And so,
16:29Professor Teer decided
16:31that the most likely
16:32explanation
16:33was that Bruce Lee
16:34had a hyperallergic reaction,
16:36and that's what caused
16:37Bruce Lee's cerebral edema,
16:39which caused his death.
16:41Five days after Bruce Lee
16:43dies on July 25, 1973,
16:47an open casket funeral
16:48is held.
16:49A photo taken
16:51inside the funeral parlor
16:52raises new concerns.
16:55A news photographer
16:56captures an image
16:58of Bruce Lee
16:59in his casket,
17:00and it shows
17:01that his face
17:02is horribly bloated.
17:04People are so mistrusting
17:06at this point
17:07of everything
17:08that has been said
17:09about Bruce's death
17:10that when they see
17:11this photograph
17:12and he looks different
17:14than he did in life,
17:15it calls into question
17:17a lot of other things.
17:19Why does he look this way?
17:21Could there possibly be
17:22foul play?
17:26On September 24, 1973,
17:29after seven-tenths days,
17:31the jury comes back
17:32with their verdict.
17:34Death by Misadventure.
17:36Death by Misadventure
17:37is a confusing way
17:38to say that he essentially
17:40died by accident.
17:42Many of Lee's fans
17:43just don't accept
17:44the death by Misadventure verdict.
17:47They refuse to accept
17:48that their hero
17:49could have died
17:50from a painkiller
17:51that contains aspirin
17:52and Meprobamate.
17:54Attention turns back
17:55to Lee's mistress,
17:56the last person
17:57to see him alive,
17:58and people start to believe
18:00that she might know more
18:01about his final hours
18:02than she initially revealed.
18:07As rumors continue
18:09to swirl around
18:10Lee's cause of death,
18:11the spotlight turns
18:12on the woman
18:13Bruce Lee was with
18:14on the night he died,
18:16Lee's mistress,
18:18Betty Ting Pei.
18:20The press is fascinated
18:22by the relationship
18:24between Bruce Lee
18:25and Betty Ting Pei.
18:26When they meet
18:27on the set
18:28of Way of the Dragon
18:29in 1972,
18:30they quickly become
18:31romantically linked.
18:32He certainly wasn't
18:34trying to be discreet
18:35about their relationship.
18:37People observed them
18:38out in public together,
18:39and that led a lot of people
18:41to believe that he was
18:43having an extramarital affair.
18:46Bruce Lee's connection
18:47with Betty Ting Pei
18:49is definitely scandalous
18:50because he's married
18:52to Linda Lee,
18:52and he has two small children.
18:54Of course, that puts Linda
18:56in a very uncomfortable position.
18:59In December 1972,
19:01Bruce Lee supposedly tries
19:03to cut off ties
19:04with Betty.
19:05She's so distraught
19:07that she swallows
19:07a handful of sleeping pills
19:09and is rushed
19:10to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
19:12Betty recovers,
19:13but from that point on,
19:15her relationship with Bruce
19:16becomes increasingly strained.
19:18She is upset
19:19that he won't leave his wife.
19:21She is reportedly
19:22consumed by jealousy,
19:24and maybe she thinks
19:25if she can't have him,
19:27nobody else can either.
19:36So there are some theories
19:38that start to circulate
19:40that perhaps someone
19:41has purposely killed him.
19:43And of course,
19:44the obvious person
19:46becomes Betty Ting Pei.
19:47She's the other woman.
19:49She's taking him away
19:50from his family
19:51and his wife.
19:51So they start to run
19:53with this theory
19:54that perhaps she was
19:55the jealous lover
19:56and that potentially
19:57she might have poisoned him.
20:00And they say
20:02there's reason to believe
20:03she tried it before.
20:05There are rumors
20:06that Betty has been laying
20:08the groundwork for this
20:09for months.
20:11There's no actual proof of this.
20:12There's no sign
20:13of anything toxic
20:14in Bruce's bloodstream,
20:16but people still believe
20:18that she may have used
20:19some substance
20:19that wouldn't have shown up
20:20on a toxicology report
20:22because she comes
20:22from a family of doctors.
20:24The other strange thing
20:26is the timeline
20:27of all of this.
20:28When she realizes
20:29that he's unconscious,
20:30he's unresponsive,
20:32why doesn't she call
20:33emergency services?
20:35Instead, she calls
20:36Raymond Chow.
20:39By calling the manager
20:40instead of immediately
20:41calling an ambulance,
20:43she's losing precious time.
20:45He needs immediate
20:47medical attention.
20:49Even though she repeatedly
20:50denies any wrongdoing,
20:52the news media
20:53continues to publish
20:54story after story
20:55implicating her.
20:57The public response
20:58to this is highly negative.
21:01Students in Malaysia
21:03are marching around
21:04with signs saying,
21:05Betty killed Bruce.
21:07In August 1973,
21:09Hong Kong police
21:10receive a bomb threat.
21:12They go to investigate,
21:13but they don't find a bomb.
21:15They find a suspicious package
21:16inside.
21:18It's a note saying,
21:19Betty knows the cause
21:20of Bruce's death.
21:22There's no evidence
21:23of foul play,
21:24but that doesn't prevent
21:26the greater public
21:27from continuing
21:28to find different stories
21:30that they want to believe in
21:32in terms of
21:32Bruce Lee's demise.
21:34And so this hastens
21:36the speculation
21:36that someone is involved
21:38in some kind of conspiracy
21:39to kill Bruce Lee.
21:40The most obvious person
21:41would have been
21:42Betty Ting Pei.
21:46There's also speculation
21:48that Betty might not
21:49have acted alone.
21:51Going back to those
21:52chaotic hours
21:53following Bruce Lee's death,
21:54one has to wonder
21:55why his business partner
21:57and confidant,
21:58Raymond Chow,
21:59put out a statement
22:00about where he died
22:01that was so easily disproven.
22:04Part of the story
22:06that Raymond leaves out
22:07when he creates
22:09that false narrative
22:09is the fact
22:10that he was also there
22:11when Bruce was
22:12at Betty's apartment.
22:14After Bruce Lee
22:16first stops breathing,
22:17Betty summons Raymond Chow
22:19to her apartment.
22:20When he gets there,
22:21Raymond Chow
22:21inexplicably tells Betty
22:23not to call an ambulance.
22:25he tells her to call
22:26instead her personal physician.
22:29Raymond had seen
22:30Bruce suffer
22:30a similar episode
22:31just two months prior,
22:32so he knew
22:33he would have to get
22:34medical treatment right away
22:35in order to reverse
22:37the condition.
22:37So it's very strange
22:39that he would wait so long
22:41to get urgent care for him.
22:43It's not until 10.30 at night
22:45that the ambulance arrives
22:46to take him away.
22:47By that time,
22:48it's already too late.
22:51For many,
22:52the question remains,
22:53was the delay
22:54a willful decision.
22:56Around the time
22:57of his death,
22:58Bruce Lee's relationship
22:59with business partner
23:00Raymond Chow
23:01reportedly started
23:03to fracture.
23:03When they formed
23:04their production company,
23:05Concord Productions,
23:07in 1972,
23:08they initially had
23:09a 50-50 split
23:10between the two of them.
23:11But by summer of 1973,
23:14Bruce Lee is working
23:15on an independent film
23:17and he is reportedly
23:18threatening to walk away
23:19from Chow altogether.
23:22Given the level
23:23of money
23:24that Bruce Lee
23:25is generating
23:26at the box office,
23:27with Bruce Lee
23:29out of the picture,
23:30Raymond Chow
23:30has a lot to gain.
23:33If you add together
23:34Raymond Chow's financial
23:36interests
23:36and Bruce Lee's work
23:37and the fact
23:38that they might be
23:39disagreeing on the future
23:40of how they collaborate,
23:41this starts to look
23:42really fishy.
23:43Like, was this intentional?
23:45Betty and Raymond Chow
23:47are both cleared,
23:48but people still believe
23:50in a murder conspiracy,
23:51this time with just
23:53a different set of suspects.
23:56A month after
23:58Bruce Lee's death,
23:59his final film,
24:00Enter the Dragon,
24:01premieres in Los Angeles
24:03to rave reviews.
24:04Lee plays a spy
24:06set on taking down
24:07the narcotics kingpin
24:08who killed his sister.
24:09The story may be fictional,
24:11but fans are left
24:12wondering if,
24:13like his character,
24:15Lee became entangled
24:16with powerful gang members
24:18and has paid
24:19with his life.
24:20Attention turns
24:21to a dark encounter
24:22from his early days.
24:25Although Bruce was born
24:27in San Francisco,
24:29Hong Kong really is the place
24:30where Bruce grows up.
24:32He enters the movie industry
24:34because his father
24:35is a Cantonese opera performer.
24:38So by the time
24:39he's 18 years old,
24:41Bruce has appeared
24:42in films,
24:43not as a star,
24:45but certainly
24:46as a known actor.
24:48As Bruce is getting
24:49older in Hong Kong,
24:50he's actually getting
24:51into a lot of trouble.
24:52And sometimes he's mixing
24:54with the wrong people.
24:55Bruce Lee was
24:56a little street fighter,
24:57and he ran across
24:59a kid named William Chung
25:00who was better than him.
25:01So he asked William Chung,
25:03how are you this good?
25:05And William Chung said,
25:06I studied under the master,
25:07Ip Man.
25:09Ip Man is a master
25:11of a particular style
25:12of Kung Fu
25:13called Wing Chun.
25:14Wing Chun emphasizes
25:16close quarters fighting,
25:18involving a blitz
25:19of lightning fast kicks
25:21and fast punches,
25:22ideal for street fighting.
25:25Ip Man was impressed
25:26by how intense
25:27Bruce's obsession
25:28with the martial arts was.
25:29And so he would say to Bruce,
25:31don't believe me,
25:32try it out yourself.
25:33If you don't think
25:34I'm telling you the truth,
25:35go out in the streets
25:36and test what I've taught you.
25:37So Lee organizes
25:39a group of his friends
25:41into a gang
25:42that calls itself
25:43the Junction Street
25:45Eight Tigers.
25:47On one of these outings,
25:49Bruce Lee picks a fight
25:51with the wrong guy.
25:53He roughs up
25:53this teenager pretty badly,
25:55and it turns out
25:56that the guy's parents
25:56have connections
25:57to the Chinese mob,
25:59the triad.
26:01The triad came from
26:02all over mainland China
26:04when the communist revolution
26:06of the late 1940s takes place.
26:08And a lot of them
26:09end up in Hong Kong
26:11where they're taking over
26:12just about every avenue
26:14that organized crime
26:15might control.
26:16The triads are very astute.
26:19They know how to adapt
26:20with the market,
26:20and in Hong Kong,
26:21one of the major industries
26:22is the film industry.
26:24So they want to have
26:25a piece of the action, too.
26:27They're putting up
26:27the money for films
26:28and controlling production,
26:30and they, of course,
26:31target actors
26:32that they think
26:33have crossed them,
26:34which is Lee's first
26:36of several reported run-ins
26:38with the Chinese mafia.
26:40Like most mobsters,
26:41the triad makes its money
26:43from extortion
26:43and kickbacks.
26:44And as Bruce Lee's
26:46star power grows,
26:47so does the target
26:49on his back.
26:58Bruce's life
26:59was actually in danger
27:00because he had harmed
27:02the son of a triad member.
27:05His father becomes
27:06really worried
27:07about his safety,
27:08that the mob
27:09would try and retaliate.
27:10So he sends Bruce
27:11to go live
27:12with relatives in Seattle,
27:13but many people believe
27:15that the threat
27:16from the triad
27:16doesn't actually go away.
27:18When Bruce is living
27:19in Seattle,
27:20the triad
27:21is operating in America,
27:23but they're kind of
27:23operating underground.
27:25So when he decides
27:26he's going to open
27:27a martial arts school
27:28in Seattle,
27:28the triads pay him
27:29a visit demanding money
27:31to allow him
27:32to open a school
27:32in their turf.
27:34He was not
27:35off anybody's radar,
27:37but Bruce wasn't
27:38the type to do
27:39as he was told.
27:41In 1964,
27:42Lee has dropped
27:43out of college
27:44and has married
27:44his longtime sweetheart,
27:46Linda.
27:46And a year later,
27:48their son Brandon
27:49is born.
27:50A couple years
27:50after that,
27:51his career really
27:52takes off
27:53when he gets cast
27:54in the role
27:54of Cato,
27:55the sidekick
27:56in the ABC series
27:58The Green Hornet.
28:00In 1971,
28:02Bruce Lee returns
28:03to Hong Kong
28:04and once again
28:05reportedly crosses paths
28:07with the triad.
28:08He's just released
28:10the film
28:10The Big Boss,
28:11which makes him
28:12a huge star
28:13back in Hong Kong.
28:14He gets a visit
28:15from a stranger
28:16who's offering him
28:18200,000 Hong Kong dollars
28:20and when he asks
28:21what it's for,
28:22he says,
28:23just a gift.
28:24Now this is right out
28:24of the triad playbook
28:26of giving money
28:27to curry favor
28:28and hold some leverage
28:29over you.
28:31Lee angrily rebuffs it,
28:33but he knows
28:34what this means.
28:35The triad likes
28:36to control people
28:38by giving them cash
28:40and it's dangerous
28:41to turn down
28:42an offer of cash
28:43from the triad.
28:45So from that point on,
28:47Lee starts wearing a knife,
28:49carrying a gun with him,
28:51thinking that he can come
28:52under attack
28:52at any time.
28:55Just days before his death,
28:57Lee gets into
28:58an altercation
28:58with a triad-linked director.
29:01Lo Wei had been
29:02the director
29:03of Bruce Lee's
29:03first two movies
29:04that had become
29:05such a huge success.
29:06And they ended up
29:07fighting over
29:08who got to take credit
29:09for the success.
29:11One day,
29:12Bruce Lee heard
29:13that Lo Wei
29:13was in the screening room
29:15and he went down
29:15to give Lo Wei
29:16a piece of his mind.
29:17He gets in his face,
29:19they start a shouting match,
29:21and soon afterward,
29:22Lee pulls a knife on him
29:23and aims it right
29:24at his chest.
29:25And Lee has to be
29:26dragged out of the room
29:27to keep this
29:28from turning violent.
29:31But the Chinese director
29:32is rumored
29:33to have connections
29:34that Lee may not
29:35be taking into account.
29:37When Lee threatens
29:38Lo like that,
29:39this is a direct affront
29:41to the triad
29:42who are assumed
29:43to be connected to him.
29:45Maybe the triads
29:46wanted Bruce Lee dead
29:48and his altercation
29:50with Lo Wei
29:51in the screening room
29:52was kind of
29:53the last straw.
29:54Hong Kong police
29:56understand
29:56the danger
29:57of the triad.
29:59So they look
29:59into this aspect
30:00of Lee's death,
30:01but they have
30:02no active leads,
30:03there are no
30:04outward signs
30:05of a physical attack,
30:06so the potential
30:07connection to the triad
30:09goes cold.
30:13In the weeks
30:14after Bruce Lee's death,
30:15rumors abound,
30:16but there's still
30:17no clear new lead
30:19that challenges
30:19the idea
30:20that he died
30:21accidentally.
30:22Then,
30:23in 1974,
30:24one year
30:25after Lee's death,
30:26a new theory
30:27emerges,
30:28with a plot
30:29straight out
30:30of a kung fu film.
30:32There's a journalist
30:33who's investigating
30:34Bruce Lee's death,
30:35and he starts
30:37developing this theory
30:38that Bruce Lee
30:39could have been
30:39assassinated
30:40by a cabal
30:41of kung fu masters
30:43using a technique
30:44known as
30:45dimmock.
30:47Dimmock is this idea
30:48that you can hit somebody
30:50on their acupuncture lines
30:51or pushing a kind
30:52of chi power,
30:54and after you touch them,
30:56you can control
30:57when they die.
30:58So it's a delayed
30:59death touch.
31:01It's rumored
31:02that some martial arts
31:04masters have this
31:05ability to strike
31:07at just the right
31:08pressure point
31:09to bring about death,
31:10if not immediately,
31:12days, weeks,
31:13or even months later.
31:21Bruce certainly
31:23was at odds
31:24with many
31:25of the martial arts
31:26practitioners
31:27of Hong Kong.
31:28Some people think
31:29it's because
31:30he had taught
31:31what was supposed
31:31to be a Chinese
31:32secret art
31:34to Westerners.
31:35Bruce Lee
31:36is this arrogant,
31:38burgeoning
31:38international film star,
31:40and he really
31:41doesn't jibe
31:41with this old-school
31:42mentality.
31:44Bruce had created
31:45his own form
31:46of martial arts.
31:47He called it
31:48Jeet Kune Do,
31:49or the way
31:49of the intercepting fist,
31:50and it incorporated
31:51elements from a lot
31:52of different martial arts
31:53styles,
31:54combining his street fighting
31:56with fencing
31:57and boxing.
31:58What he was after
31:59was trying to become
32:00a more efficient fighter
32:02and finding moves
32:04that were practical
32:05versus theoretical
32:07that didn't actually
32:08have any power
32:09in them.
32:10So the journalist
32:11theorizes that
32:12in order to stop him
32:14from continuing
32:15to change
32:15these ancient traditions,
32:17the group of Kung Fu
32:18masters sends out
32:19an assassin
32:20to kill Bruce Lee
32:21with the death touch.
32:24Denmark, like everything
32:26in Kung Fu,
32:26is linked back
32:27to the Shaolin Temple,
32:28the location
32:30of where Kung Fu
32:31originated,
32:32and there are various
32:33theories that link
32:35to the Shaolin monks.
32:36The idea that they
32:37could use special
32:38acupuncture
32:39and acupressure points
32:40to affect the human body.
32:43They say that Bruce
32:44might have died
32:45from a touch
32:46on his pressure point
32:47that blocked his energy
32:48and led to his death
32:49days or weeks later.
32:52While this is speculative,
32:55certain types of punches
32:56and kicks
32:56are known
32:57to be lethal.
32:58A blow to the chest
33:01delivered just right
33:03at a certain point
33:04in the cardiac process
33:06can cause
33:06an immediate cardiac arrest,
33:08but it's exceptionally rare
33:11for a blow
33:12to cause
33:12a delayed death.
33:14While this theory
33:15is intriguing
33:16to many,
33:17there's no real evidence
33:18that supports it,
33:20and it's pretty much
33:21relegated
33:22to martial arts mythology.
33:25The death of Bruce Lee
33:26remains shrouded
33:28in mystery
33:28for the next 45 years.
33:31Then, in 2018,
33:34a new theory emerges.
33:35Matthew Pauley
33:36writes a biography
33:37of Bruce Lee,
33:38and he posits
33:39a new theory
33:40around his death
33:41because he looks
33:42very closely
33:43at the two instances
33:44of cerebral edema.
33:46Pauley postulates
33:47that he could have died
33:49from an inability
33:49to regulate
33:50his own body temperature.
33:52He examines
33:52the May 10th collapse
33:54when Lee was rushed
33:55to the hospital
33:56with a cerebral edema
33:57and was able
33:58to be revived.
34:00On May 10th,
34:02he was redubbing lines
34:03in a room
34:04that was super hot
34:05because they turned off
34:06the air conditioning
34:07to make sure
34:07that it didn't interfere
34:08with the sound.
34:10During that process,
34:11he started to feel
34:12dizzy and faint,
34:13and he ended up collapsing
34:14and going into seizures.
34:16They rushed him
34:17to the hospital,
34:17and the doctors
34:18diagnosed him
34:19with cerebral edema,
34:21and they gave him
34:22mannitol
34:22to cause the swelling
34:23to go down.
34:24The doctors do note
34:26that Bruce was covered
34:28in sweat,
34:28and he had a high fever.
34:30And according to Pauley,
34:31those are classic symptoms
34:33of heat stroke,
34:33and perhaps
34:34this went undiagnosed.
34:46He had complained
34:51many times
34:52about how sweaty
34:53his armpits were.
34:54This affected his work
34:55because on screen,
34:56they kept having
34:57to switch his shirts out.
34:59Six months prior
35:00to his initial collapse,
35:01he had cosmetic surgery
35:03removing the sweat glands
35:05from underneath
35:05his armpits.
35:06At that time,
35:07people were offering that.
35:08It has since been discontinued
35:10because it's considered
35:11extremely dangerous
35:12because it affects
35:13your ability
35:14to process heat.
35:15And so having those removed
35:17would have made him
35:18more susceptible
35:18to heat stroke.
35:19On July 20th, 1973,
35:22that's the hottest day
35:24of the month
35:24in Hong Kong.
35:25He is in Betty Ting Pei's
35:27apartment,
35:28running over lines.
35:29What happens there
35:31is eerily similar
35:32to what happened
35:33back in May.
35:34He starts complaining
35:35about headaches
35:36and feeling faint.
35:37He falls into Betty's bed,
35:39and he never wakes up.
35:41He collapses
35:42in a situation
35:43in which he's
35:43in a sauna-like room,
35:45and then 10 weeks
35:46after that,
35:47he dies
35:48on a very hot day.
35:49To me,
35:50that suggests
35:51that he potentially
35:52died from heat stroke.
35:53But sweat is produced
35:55all over the body,
35:56and the attending doctors
35:58back in May
35:59reported that
36:01he has sweat
36:01pouring out of him
36:02all over.
36:03So you'd think
36:04that would regulate
36:05body temperature.
36:07Despite those
36:08minor flaws
36:09in the logic,
36:10it still does provide
36:11a plausible theory
36:12as to the cause
36:13of Bruce Lee's death.
36:18Fifty years
36:18after Bruce Lee's death,
36:20researchers are still
36:21looking for clues
36:22to explain
36:23what killed him.
36:24In 2022,
36:26a group of
36:27Spanish kidney specialists
36:29come out
36:30with a novel theory
36:32for what happened
36:33to Bruce Lee.
36:34Their theory
36:34was that he
36:35was suffering
36:36from retaining
36:37an excess of fluid,
36:39which can lead
36:40to swelling
36:41of the brain.
36:42It's a little ironic
36:44because Bruce Lee's
36:45famous quote was,
36:46be water, my friend,
36:47kind of speaking
36:48to the fluidity
36:49of the body
36:50during martial arts.
36:51But it turns out
36:52that it might have been
36:52too much water
36:53that could have killed him.
37:03The scientists also
37:04go back and look
37:05at the autopsy results,
37:06and one of the things
37:07that strikes them
37:08is the fact
37:09that his brain
37:10had swollen
37:11to the point
37:11where it was 3.5 pounds,
37:14which is a half pound
37:15heavier than
37:16the average human brain.
37:18And what caused
37:19the swelling
37:19was water.
37:21The kidneys
37:22actually are filters
37:23for the body
37:24and also regulate water.
37:26If you get enough
37:27of a buildup
37:28of toxins,
37:29the kidneys
37:30can actually
37:31not function properly.
37:33On May 10th,
37:34when he collapsed
37:35for the first time
37:36and was examined
37:37by the doctor,
37:38there were
37:39some unexplained
37:40high levels
37:41of waste
37:41in his kidneys,
37:42and so that also
37:44signals that
37:45he had kidney disease.
37:46The levels
37:47were so high
37:48that the doctors
37:49actually thought
37:50it was a typo.
37:52At the time,
37:54doctors were more
37:55worried about
37:55Lee's brain
37:56than his kidneys.
37:58The researchers
37:59from Spain believe
38:00that may have been
38:01a grave mistake.
38:02If the kidneys
38:03aren't working,
38:04then they can't
38:05get rid of excess
38:05water in the body,
38:07and if there's
38:07a buildup of water,
38:08that creates
38:10a somewhat
38:10catastrophic situation.
38:12The water
38:14dilutes the sodium
38:15in the human body,
38:16and it creates
38:18a situation
38:19called hyponatremia,
38:20and if it is not
38:22immediately addressed,
38:24it leads to death.
38:27But why is Bruce
38:29consuming so much water
38:30on July 20th,
38:32the day of his death?
38:33Earlier in the day,
38:35even before he goes
38:37to Betty's apartment,
38:38he has consumed
38:39some hashish brownies.
38:41In fact,
38:42he writes to a friend
38:43that day
38:44that he's stoned
38:45as hell.
38:46It would make sense
38:47if Lee's water intake
38:49were high that day.
38:51We already know
38:51that he was eating
38:52a hash brownie,
38:53so that would cause
38:55some thirst,
38:55and he would be
38:56drinking more water.
38:57He was also running
38:58lines for his
38:59upcoming film,
39:00so the physical exertion
39:01and the exercise
39:02would have caused him
39:03to drink more water
39:04as well.
39:06He's a martial artist.
39:07He's getting body blows
39:09all the time,
39:10so it's also possible
39:11that he might have
39:12actually sustained
39:13some physical trauma
39:14to some areas
39:15of the kidneys,
39:15such that maybe
39:17they're not working
39:17at top capacity.
39:18One of the things
39:19of note is that
39:20he had very low sodium,
39:22which is something
39:23that happens
39:24when you've had
39:25too much water.
39:27During this period,
39:29he certainly had been
39:30on a very extreme diet
39:33of only eating
39:35or drinking
39:36apple and carrot juice,
39:38so he may not
39:39have been taking
39:40in the nutrients
39:41that he needed
39:42to maintain
39:43healthy levels
39:43of sodium.
39:45When you're overhydrated,
39:46you allow a shift
39:48of fluids,
39:49such that you can
39:50get a fluid buildup
39:51in a place that normally
39:52wouldn't have one
39:53like the brain.
39:54But water is also
39:55what makes up
39:5660% or more
39:57of our bodies.
39:58It's the giver of life.
40:00Ironically,
40:00in his situation,
40:02taking in too much water
40:03can result
40:04in something fatal.
40:07No matter how
40:08Bruce Lee died,
40:09his mystique
40:10and the mystery
40:12of his final hours
40:13lives on.
40:14It makes a lot of sense
40:15that there would be
40:16so many theories
40:17surrounding the death
40:18of Bruce Lee,
40:19ranging from
40:20the mundane
40:21to the mythological.
40:23Bruce Lee's death
40:24really ties into
40:25who he was
40:26as a megastar
40:27because he was able
40:28to kind of elevate
40:29the kung fu hero
40:30to international status.
40:32And in dying,
40:34he became the athlete
40:35who dies young.
40:36He died in his
40:37perfect form,
40:38in perfect shape,
40:39so that we could
40:40project our own hopes
40:41and dreams
40:42and mysteries
40:43onto him.
40:44With a figure like Bruce,
40:46who was larger than life,
40:48it makes so much sense
40:50that people would want
40:51a dramatic answer
40:54as to how
40:55his life could have ended.
40:59Some believe that
41:01regardless of how
41:02Bruce Lee died,
41:03he was destined
41:04to live a short life.
41:05In a tragic twist of fate
41:07that some define
41:08as a curse,
41:10males in Bruce's family
41:12have died young,
41:13Bruce's older brother
41:14died as a toddler,
41:15and Bruce's son
41:17Brandon Lee
41:18was shot by accident
41:20on a movie set
41:21in 1993.
41:23Tragedies that have
41:23helped the legend
41:24of Bruce Lee
41:25live on.
41:26I'm Lawrence Fishburne.
41:28Thank you for watching
41:30History's Greatest Mysteries.
41:32History's Greatest Mysteries.
41:35History's Greatest Mysteries
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