6 Amazing Facts About Bruce Lee李小龍六奇事

杰伊·塞拉菲諾 譯/周坤 Jay Serafino

Bruce Lee is one of pop cultures most multifaceted icons. Legions of fans admire him for his movies， his martial arts prowess， his incomprehensible physical fitness， his championing of Chinese culture， and even his philosophies on life. Yet for all the new ground Lee broke， most of his recognition only came after his death at the age of 32. Read on to learn more about the life of this profound， if enigmatic， superstar.

1. Bruce Lees first starring role in a movie came when he was just 10 years old.

In 1950s The Kid， a pre-teen Bruce Lee played the role of Kid Cheung， a streetwise orphan and wry troublemaker， based on a comic strip from the time. Starring opposite Lee， playing a kindly factory owner， was his father， Lee Hoi-chuen， who also happened to be a famous opera singer. （Bruce Lee was actually born in San Francisco while his father was there on tour; Lee would move back to the U.S. in 1959.）

According to Lees biographer Matthew Polly， the movie was a big enough success in China to earn sequel consideration. There was just one problem： A young Bruce Lee was getting into fights at school and out on the streets， so his father forbid him from acting again until he straightened up—which， of course， didnt wind up happening.

2. Bruce Lee was an exquisite cha-cha dancer.

Long before he was known for breakneck fight choreography， Bruce Lees physical skills were focused on the dance floor. More specifically， the cha-cha. In Pollys book， Bruce Lee： A Life， the author explains that the dance trend made its way from Cuba through the Philippines and soon landed in China. And once the cha-cha settled into the Hong Kong social scene， it didnt take long for youth dance competitions to spring up. Lee had been taking part in cha-cha dancing since the age of 14， and in 1958， he won the Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship. Foreshadowing his later dedication to martial arts， Lee would keep crib notes of all 108 different cha-cha steps in his wallet so that he could obsessively memorize them.

3. Bruce Lee trained numerous Hollywood stars.

As Bruce Lee worked to become a big-screen heavyweight， he made a living as a martial arts trainer to the stars. Among Lees students were Steve McQueen， James Coburn， James Garner， Roman Polanski， and Sharon Tate. For his services， Lee was known to charge about $275 per hour or $1000 for 10 courses. McQueen and Coburn grew so enamored with Lee over the years that they remained close friends until his death in 1973， with both men serving as pallbearers at Lees funeral （alongside Chuck Norris）.

4. Bruce Lee had his sweat glands removed.

Bruce Lee brought an impeccable physique to the screen that was decades ahead of its time. But because his roles required so much physicality， he would be drenched with sweat while filming. And apparently， the martial arts pioneer loathed the sweat stains that would show up on his clothing as a result. His solution？ In 1973， Lee actually underwent a procedure to surgically remove the sweat glands from his armpits to avoid the fashion faux pas from showing up on camera.

5. Bruce Lees cause of death still raises questions.

Bruce Lees death at the age of 32 on July 20， 1973， was officially ruled the result of a cerebral edema， or swelling of the brain. Lee had complained about headaches on the day of his death， and was given a painkiller by Betty Ting Pei—an actress who claimed to be Lees mistress—before lying down for a nap. He never woke up.

Though many reports at the time suggested Lee had an allergic reaction to an ingredient in the painkiller， Polly points to a mystery that began on May 10， 1973， when the star previously collapsed in a hot recording studio while dubbing new dialogue for Enter the Dragon.

In Pollys opinion， Lees collapse had to do with heatstroke， since his stint in an overheated recording studio was compounded by a lack of sweat glands that prevented his body from cooling off naturally. Heatstroke can also cause swelling in the brain， much like was found during Lees autopsy. And Dr. Lisa Leon， an expert in hyperthermia at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine， told Polly， “A person who has suffered one heatstroke is at increased risk for another” and that there may be long-term complications after the initial incident.

6. Footage from Bruce Lees funeral was used in 1978s Game of Death.

At the time of his death， Bruce Lee was involved in numerous projects， including the movie that would become Game of Death， his next directorial effort. According to Vice， there wasnt much completed on the film by the time of Lees passing—there were some notes， a story outline （which simply read “The big fight. An arrest is made. The airport. The end.”）， and 40 minutes of footage， including Lees now-iconic fight against NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Usually， a project in that situation would just be a lost cause， but production company Golden Harvest wanted to salvage what they could， so they hired Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse to put together... something. The result was a Frankensteins monster of a film， comprised of 11 minutes of existing footage Lee shot， overdubbed clips from his previous movies， and stand-ins to fill out certain scenes. The director even resorted to using an unfortunate Bruce Lee cardboard cutout to complete one shot.

Thats not even the top rung on the ladder of poor taste： When the movie called for Lees character to fake his death， they used footage from his actual funeral to realize the scene， complete with waves of mourners， pallbearers， and closeups of Lees open casket.

李小龍是流行文化最多面的偶像之一。無論是他的電影、高強的武藝、不可思議的健碩身體，還是他對中國文化的大力弘揚，甚至他的處世哲學都為他吸引了大批粉絲。然而，李小龍32歲便英年早逝，他取得的所有新突破，大多在他過世后才為世人所認可。閱讀下文，來更多地了解這位神秘超級巨星的人生。

1. 李小龍第一次領銜主演電影時年僅10歲。

在1950年的電影《細路祥》中，10歲出頭的李小龍出演了阿祥一角。電影改編自當時的連環畫，李小龍飾演一個圓滑機警、調皮搗蛋的街頭孤兒。與他演對手戲的是他的父親李海泉，扮演一個善良的工廠老板。李小龍的父親也是知名的戲劇演員。（事實上李小龍出生在美國舊金山，當時他的父親正在那兒巡演;1959年李小龍回到美國。）

據李小龍的傳記作者馬修·波利所說，這部電影在中國取得了很大的成功，吸引投資方考慮續集。可問題是年輕氣盛的李小龍經常在校內外與人發生爭斗，因此他的父親便禁止他再拍戲直到他“改邪歸正”——自然，這最終也沒能實現。

2. 李小龍恰恰舞技十分精湛。

早在李小龍因迅猛凌厲的武打動作揚名之前，他的身體技能主要體現在舞蹈上，說得具體點，就是恰恰舞。在《李小龍：神話與真實》一書中，波利解釋道，這種舞蹈潮流從古巴傳到菲律賓，然后迅速登陸中國。恰恰舞進入香港社交場景后不久，全港青年舞蹈比賽便層出不窮。李小龍從14歲開始參加恰恰舞比賽，1958年贏得全港恰恰舞比賽冠軍。李小龍將恰恰舞108種全舞步的小抄放在錢包里，以便隨時隨地默記，這預示了后來他對武術的癡迷。

3. 李小龍培訓了大量好萊塢明星。

在努力成為銀幕巨星的過程中，李小龍曾依靠給其他明星做武術指導謀生。他的弟子包括史蒂夫·麥奎因、詹姆斯·柯本、詹姆斯·加納、羅曼·波蘭斯基和莎朗·塔特。眾所周知，李小龍授課每小時收費275美元或者10節課收費1000美元。麥奎因與柯本多年下來越來越喜歡李小龍，直到1973年李小龍過世他們一直是親密的朋友，在李小龍的葬禮上，二人還為他抬棺（另外還有查克·諾里斯）。

4. 李小龍切除了汗腺。

李小龍的出現，給大銀幕帶來了領先于時代數十年的完美體格。然而由于他的角色對體能有很高的要求，拍攝的時候他就會滿身大汗。顯然，這位武術先驅討厭因此而出現在衣服上的汗漬。怎么辦？1973年，李小龍做手術去除了腋窩下的汗腺，以此避免在鏡頭前不雅觀。

5. 李小龍的死因仍舊成謎。

1973年7月20日，32歲的李小龍離世，官方通報他死于腦水腫。李小龍曾在死亡當日抱怨自己頭痛，演員貝蒂·丁佩（自稱是李小龍的情人）給了他一片止痛藥。服藥后李小龍便躺下休息了，卻再也沒有醒過來。

盡管當時很多的報道稱李小龍對止痛藥中的一種成分過敏，但波利指出了一個疑點：早在1973年5月10日，李小龍就曾在悶熱的錄音棚內暈倒，當時他正為《龍爭虎斗》錄制新的配音。

根據波利的觀點，李小龍暈倒與中暑有關。在過于悶熱的錄音棚工作時，由于他切除了汗腺，身體無法自然散熱，導致情況惡化。中暑也會引起腦部腫脹，這與李小龍的尸檢結果十分相符。此外，美國陸軍環境醫學研究所高燒高熱方面的專家莉薩·萊昂博士告訴波利，“中過暑的人再中暑的風險很高”，而首次中暑后可能出現長期的并發癥。

6. 1978年的《死亡游戲》中使用了李小龍葬禮鏡頭。

李小龍過世時正參與多個電影項目的拍攝，包括他執導的下一部影片，即后來的《死亡游戲》。據維斯新聞節目稱，李小龍過世時電影并沒有拍攝多少，只有一些筆記、故事大綱（簡單寫著“大格斗，逮捕完成，機場，結局”）以及40分鐘的鏡頭，其中包括李小龍與NBA巨星卡里姆·阿布杜爾-賈巴爾的經典格斗。

通常而言，像這樣的電影項目將會就此夭折，但出品方嘉禾影業想要竭力挽救，因此他們聘請了《龍爭虎斗》的導演羅伯特·高洛斯來進行拼接……結果就有了電影界的科學怪物，由以下三部分拼接剪輯而成：李小龍已拍攝的11分鐘鏡頭，他之前電影的配音片段，以及為填補某些特定場景而使用替身拍攝的畫面。可嘆的是，為了完成一個鏡頭，導演甚至使用了李小龍的人形紙板。

而這還不算最糟的：當電影需要李小龍的角色假裝死亡時，他們使用了李小龍真實葬禮的鏡頭來完成這個場景。哀悼的人潮、為他抬棺的親友，以及未合棺的李小龍特寫鏡頭都用到了電影中。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）