How did Bruce Lee die?

Ask anyone who they think is the greatest martial artist of all time and most of them would answer “Bruce Lee.” The actor, director, and philosopher, who broke several box office records with his movies, is also credited with originating his very own form of martial art known as Jeet Kune Do.

 Although the 'Fist of Fury'star played his part in revolutionizing the North American and European cinema, he left the world at a very young age of 32 on 20th July 1973.

(Image Courtesy: Muscle & Fitness)

After having found unimaginable success with his movies like 'The Big Boss,' 'Fist of Fury' and 'The Chinese Connection,' Bruce Lee had great plans for future. Unfortunately, his dreams couldn’t come true as the megastar collapsed with seizures and headaches in Hong Kong during a recording session for his movie, 'Enter the Dragon', which was scheduled to be released in three weeks. 

While Bruce Lee’s death shocked the world, the friends and co-workers cited that the actor hadn’t been feeling well for quite some time.

The autopsy revealed that Bruce Lee’s cause of death was brain edema, which resulted from a strange reaction to a painkiller, which was prescribed to him for a back injury. Speculations emerged soon that cannabis found in Lee’s stomach was the reason behind his death, but this thought was soon disregarded by the coroner and several other experts.

(Image Courtesy: Bruce Lee)

There have also been several conspiracy theories surrounding the death of the martial artist. While some people blame the Chinese mafia or triads stating that they were involved in his death, other’s alleged that it was organized by the influential members of the Hong Kong film industry who weren’t happy with his success. There were also wild rumors that a curse which was supposed to last three generations had fallen upon him when he bought a house in Hong Kong. The theory again came into limelight when his son, Brandon Lee died in 1993 under strange circumstances.

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But whatever Bruce Lee’s cause of death may be, the world inevitably lost a cultural icon and one of the most influential martial artists of all time on that fateful day in 1973. 

Lee has left a legacy which is revered to this date. It paved the way for other Asian actors in American cinema and helped create an entirely new breed of action stars like Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Chuck Norris. Check out some interesting facts about the legendary actor.

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