Shannon Lee

Shannon Emery Lee (born April 19, 1969) is an American actress, martial artist and businesswoman. She is the only daughter of martial arts film star Bruce Lee and retired martial arts teacher Linda Lee Cadwell, the granddaughter of Cantonese opera singer Lee Hoi-chuen, and the younger sister of Brandon Lee.[1]

For the figure skater who has the same name in Chinese, see Li Xiangning.

Shannon Lee
李香凝
Born
Shannon Emery Lee

(1969-04-19) April 19, 1969
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBusinessperson, actress, martial artist
Years active1993–present
Height1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)
Spouse(s)
Anthony Ian Keasler
​
(m. 1994)​
ChildrenWren Keasler (daughter)
Parents
RelativesBrandon Lee (brother)
StyleJeet Kune Do
Taekwondo
Wushu
Kickboxing
Teacher(s)Richard Bustillo (Jeet Kune Do)
Ted Wong (Jeet Kune Do)
Tan Tao-liang (Taekwondo)
Eric Chen (Wushu)
Benny Urquidez (Kickboxing)
Musical career
Also known asShan Shan
Associated actsMedicine
Chinese name
Chinese李香凝

Early life

Shannon was born on April 19, 1969, at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica in Santa Monica, California.[2] She is the youngest child and only daughter of martial arts film star Bruce Lee and Linda Emery. In her youth she studied Jeet Kune Do, the martial art created by her father, under Richard Bustillo, one of her father's students.

Career

Lee made her acting debut playing a cameo in her father's 1993 biopic film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story as the party singer of the song "California Dreamin". Lee appeared in the direct-to-video films Cage II with Lou Ferrigno in 1994 and High Voltage with Antonio Sabato Jr in 1997. In 1998, Lee acted in the Hong Kong action film Enter the Eagles, directed by Corey Yuen, co-starring Michael Wong and Anita Yuen. In the film, Lee had a fight scene with Benny Urquidez, who went on to teach her kickboxing.[3] On television, she guest-starred in an episode of the television series Martial Law alongside Sammo Hung.

In 2000, Lee sang a cover of "I'm in the Mood for Love" for the movie China Strike Force directed by Stanley Tong.

Lee appeared in the sci-fi television film Epoch, which first aired on the Sci Fi Channel in 2001. That same year, she played the leading role in the action film Lessons for an Assassin. She was also the host of the first season of the game show WMAC Masters.

Lee sang on the band Medicine's album The Mechanical Forces of Love in 2003.

Lee is president of the Bruce Lee Foundation.[4] She was the executive producer of the 2008 television series The Legend of Bruce Lee, based on her father's life, and the 2009 documentary film How Bruce Lee Changed the World.[5]

In 2015, Perfect Storm Entertainment and Shannon Lee announced that the series Warrior, based on an original idea by Bruce Lee, would be produced and would air on the Cinemax and that filmmaker Justin Lin was chosen to direct the series,[6][7] scheduled to debut in 2019.[7]

Personal

Lee's husband is Anthony Ian Keasler, and they have a daughter named Wren.

Lee is the daughter of Bruce Lee, the granddaughter of Lee Hoi-chuen, the sister of Brandon Lee, the niece of Robert Lee Jun-fai, and Peter Lee Jung-sum.[8] Lee's maternal great grandfather was Ho Kom Tong, a Chinese philanthropist of Dutch-Jewish descent who was son of Charles Henry Maurice Bosman (1839–1892).[9]

Martial arts

In her youth Lee studied Jeet Kune Do, with her father's disciple Richard Bustillo, but did not study it seriously until the late 1990s. To train for parts in action movies, she studied Jeet Kune Do with Ted Wong.[3]

She studied Taekwondo under Tan Tao-liang aka "Flash Legs" and Wushu under Eric Chen. She also studied under the tutelage of the director of Enter the Eagles, Yuen De, Jackie Chan's Chinese opera brother. Because the film Enter the Eagles required her to fight Benny Urquidez, Urquidez himself taught her in kickboxing.[3]

Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1993 Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story Party Singer
1994 Cage II Milo
1997 High Voltage Jane Logan
1998 Enter the Eagles Mandy Alternative title: Gwan Guen See Dam
1998 Blade Resident
2001 Lessons for an Assassin Fiona
2002 She, Me and Her Paula Jemison
2020 Be Water Self
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1995 WMAC Masters Host 13 episodes
1998 Martial Law Vanessa Feng Episode: "Take Out"
2000 Epoch Pamela Television film
2012 I Am Bruce Lee Executive producer, herself Television documentary
2019 Warrior Executive producer Television series

References
  1. "Lee, Bruce (1940-1973)". www.historylink.org. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  2. Reid, Dr. Craig D. (1999). "Shannon Lee: Emerging From the Shadows of Bruce Lee, the Butterfly Spreads her Wings". Black Belt. 37 (10): 33.
  3. Bruce Lee Foundation website. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  4. Bellafante, Ginia (May 15, 2009). "The Hagiography of the Dragon, a Continuing Saga". The New York Times.
  5. Andreeva, Nellie (May 21, 2015). "Cinemax Developing Bruce Lee-Inspired Crime Drama 'Warrior' From Justin Lin".
  6. Cecchini, Mike (August 22, 2018). "Warrior: First Teaser for Bruce Lee Inspired TV Series". Denofgeek.
  7. Chakraborty, Sujay (June 8, 2020). "Bruce Lee family details: Parents, siblings, wife and children of martial arts legend". Republic World. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  8. Russo, Charles (May 19, 2016). "Was Bruce Lee of English Descent?". Vice. Retrieved February 16, 2020.

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.