American actor and martial artist (born 1940)

Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee was a Hong Kong and American martial artist, actor, and filmmaker. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy, which was formed from his experiences in unarmed fighting and self-defense—as well as eclectic, Zen Buddhist, and Taoist philosophies—as a new school of martial arts thought. With a career spanning Hong Kong and the United States, Lee is regarded as the first global Chinese film star and one of the most influential martial artists in the history of cinema. Known for his roles in five feature-length martial arts films, he is credited with helping to popularize martial arts films in the 1970s and promoting Hong Kong action cinema.

Born

1940

November 27

Died

1973

Era

1940s

Country

—

About

Bruce, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1940 Born
1973 Died

Also on November 27

What else happened on this day, through history

25 Luoyang is declared capital of the Eastern Han dynasty by Emperor Guangwu of Han.
176 Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son Commodus the rank of "Imperator" and makes him Supreme Commander of the Roman legions.
395 Rufinus, praetorian prefect of the East, is murdered by Gothic mercenaries under Gainas.
511 King Clovis I dies at Lutetia and is buried in the Abbey of St Genevieve.

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The world in 1940

When Bruce arrived

april 14 World War II: Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway, preceding a larger force which will arrive two days later.
april 23 The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.
april 7 Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
april 8 The Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party elects Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal as General Secretary, marking the beginning of his 44-year-long tenure as de facto leader of Mongolia.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on November 27

Abe Lenstra 1920–1985 Dutch footballer (died 1985) Alexander Dubček 1921–1992 Slovak soldier and politician (died 1992) Alison Pill 1985– Canadian actress Benigno Aquino Jr. 1932–1983 Filipino journalist and politician (born 1932) Charles A. Beard 1874– American historian, author, and educator, co-founded The New School (died 1948) Charles Scott Sherrington 1857–1952 English neurophysiologist and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1857) Chick Hearn 1916–2002 American sportscaster (born 1916) Eddie Rabbitt 1941–1998 American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941) Emperor Xiaozong of Song (died 1194) 1127–

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1940

Abbas Kiarostami 1940–2016 Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, and photographer (born 1940) Abdurrahman Wahid 1940–2009 Indonesian journalist and politician, fourth President of Indonesia (born 1940) Bruce Chatwin 1940–1989 English-French author (born 1940) David Jason 1940– English actor, director, and producer Edmund White 1940–2025 American novelist, memoirist, and essayist (died 2025) Fabrizio De André 1940–1999 Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1999) Fran Tarkenton 1940– American football player and sportscaster Frank Zappa 1940–1993 American singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer (died 1993) George A. Romero 1940–2017 American director and producer (died 2017)

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More to explore

Bruce's birthday November 27 Bruce's zodiac Sagittarius When Bruce arrived 1940