The movie martial arts star died in 1973 and the official version of his death is still being questioned.
Bruce Lee is one of the great figures of both cinema and martial arts, and although he passed away on the morning of July 20, 1973, his cause of death remains an unsolved mystery.
Bruce Lee died at 32 and that fateful day in 1973 he had an extensive day in which, among other things, he met with the producers of his next film. He also went to a friend's house where he spent several hours.
At dusk, the greatest martial artist was found dead on a mattress on the floor, and the world has wondered ever since: How did Bruce Lee die?
One of the probable causes was something the artist did when he would have made a small decision that had big, unintended consequences.
What happened the day Bruce Lee died?
The star's health problems began two months earlier, on May 10, 1973, when Lee collapsed during a line substitution session for his film Enter the Dragon. That day he was taken to the hospital, where he complained of severe headache and convulsions.
The doctors recognized the symptoms of cerebral edema, a condition in which excess fluid in the brain causes swelling and extreme pain, and were able to immediately treat it with mannitol.
After a brief hospital stay, he felt much better. He actually had confidence and told his friends that "this is not how Bruce Lee would die."
Upon discharge, Lee quickly resumed his regular regimen of physical exercise and continued to eat his usual diet: a strictly enforced combination of vegetables, rice, fish, and milk that excluded all bakery products, refined flour, and most sugars.
Until July 20, 1973, Lee gave signs of recovering very well from his cerebral edema and, other than occasionally complaining of a headache, he gave those around him no reason to worry.
The day of Bruce Lee's death was a very busy day. He was in Hong Kong, where many of his films were made, and had been meeting with producer Raymond Chow for most of the day to discuss his next film.
Those close to him said that Lee was full of enthusiasm, enacting scene after scene with energy, despite the scorching summer heat.
After the meeting, Bruce went to the apartment of a friend or, as some would later clarify, her lover, the Taiwanese actress Betty Ting Pei. They were alone for several hours, then made plans to have dinner with Lee's producer to finalize their film deal. None of that could come to fruition.
The last hours of Bruce Lee's life
At around 7:30 p.m., Lee complained of a headache. Ting Pei, his alleged lover, gave Lee Equagesic, a common pain reliever that contains aspirin and a tranquilizer known as meprobamate. After taking it, he went to bed.
After a few hours, when Lee didn't come down for dinner, Ting Pei went up to check on her and found him unanswered. She called Chow to come back to the house and he tried to wake Lee up without success.
They were forced to call a doctor, who spent an additional ten minutes trying to revive Lee. Failing to regain consciousness for the artist, he was rushed to a nearby hospital in an ambulance.
What was the cause of death of Bruce Lee?
Bruce Lee's body had no outward signs of injury and an autopsy was performed which revealed that death was the result of severe brain swelling: a buildup of fluid had caused a 13% increase in brain size.
Chow claimed that Bruce Lee's death was due to an allergic reaction to the painkiller he had been administered, and the autopsy report appeared to partially corroborate his claim.
The coroner officially ruled that Bruce Lee's death was the result of a second cerebral edema caused by Equagesic's shot. He called Lee's end a "death by misfortune," which, unlike death by accident, implies that death occurred due to dangerous and voluntary risk, even though taking Equagesic was not generally considered dangerous.
Although several subsequent investigations backed up the coroner's report, that didn't stop a spate of conspiracy theories.
As with other Hollywood stars who also died from drug complications at young ages, such as Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, it seemed to the public that the coroner's report was not enough.
Chuck Norris's version of the possible causes of Bruce Lee's death
Chuck Norris, a friend of Bruce Lee's for those years, stated that the death of the star would have been caused by an interaction between painkillers, muscle relaxants and stimulants that he was taking.
There was also a rumor that Bruce Lee's death was caused by a prostitute with whom he had become violent. According to this version, it was claimed that Lee was under the influence of a potent aphrodisiac that caused him to lose control. And that the prostitute then killed him in her own defense.
Several fans also linked the star's death to a fatal dose of Equagesic administered by Betty Ting Pei. According to this hypothesis she would have poisoned him on purpose and that she had been working for a secret society that wanted Bruce Lee dead.
However, no evidence was ever produced as to why a secret society would want Bruce Lee dead.
Other theories blame a conglomerate made up of} the Italian, Chinese and American mafia. This hypothesis does not rule out the guilt of some members of the artist's family.
However, the theory that continues to carry the most weight among Lee admirers is the story of the Lee family curse.
The curse that would have surrounded the family of Bruce Lee
The legend of the Lee family curse came to light 20 years after the death of the famous martial artist, when Bruce Lee's only son, Brandon Lee, followed in his father's footsteps as an actor linked to martial arts. .
In 1992, Brandon Lee was a rising star: the 28-year-old had just landed the biggest role of his career. He played Eric Draven in The Raven, a comic-turned-film about a murdered rock musician who returns from the dead to avenge the murders of him and his fiancée in a dark Gotham-like landscape.
The tortured story would make his career, but he wouldn't be around to read the reviews. In a freak accident, Lee was shot during filming when an improperly loaded prop gun fired a live bullet into his abdomen.
As in the case of his father, rumors of a conspiracy arose even after authorities declared his death an accident, and the untimely end of a second young Lee gave rise to tales of a curse. of the Lee family.
Someone dug up the information that Bruce Lee's older brother had also died under mysterious circumstances and with that, the rumor turned into a full-blown mystery.
How did Bruce Lee die? In the end, the simplest explanation seems the most likely. But perhaps the exuberant and dramatic Lee wouldn't mind a bit of mystery surrounding his final hours, a fitting end to the legend that inspired so many to join the fight.
