Shannon Emery Lee Keasler (born April 19, 1969) is an American actress, businesswoman, singer, and martial artist. She is the only living child of actor and martial artist Bruce Lee and retired martial arts teacher Linda Lee Cadwell, and is the younger sister of actor Brandon Lee. Through Bruce Lee she is a granddaughter of Cantonese opera singer and film actor Lee Hoi-chuen.[1]
Shannon Lee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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李香凝 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Lee in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Shannon Emery Lee April 19, 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Actress, businesswoman, martial artist | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 1993–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
Ian Keasler (m. 1994) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parents |
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| Relatives |
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| Martial arts career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Style | Jeet 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 as | Shan Shan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 李香凝 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
editShannon was born on April 19, 1969, at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center 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
editIn 1993, Lee made a cameo appearance as a party singer performing "California Dreamin'", in her father's biopic Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.[3] This was followed by supporting roles in the films Cage II (1994), with Lou Ferrigno[4] and High Voltage (1998) with Antonio Sabato Jr.[5]
In 1998, Lee played her first leading role 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.[6] That same year, 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 film China Strike Force directed by Stanley Tong.[citation needed]
Lee appeared in the sci-fi television film Epoch, which first aired on the Sci Fi Channel in 2001. In 2003, she played the leading role in the action film Lessons For An Assassin. She was also the host of the first season of the television show WMAC Masters.
Lee sang on the band Medicine's album The Mechanical Forces of Love in 2003.[7]
Lee is president of the Bruce Lee Foundation.[8] 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.[9]
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 air on Cinemax. Filmmaker Justin Lin was chosen to direct the series,[10][11] which debuted April 5, 2019.[11]
In 2023, Lee guest starred in Season 3, episode 6 of Warrior, which marked her return to acting after 20 years. [12]
Personal life
editLee's husband is Ian Keasler. Their daughter's name is Wren Lee Keasler.[13]
Lee is the daughter of Bruce Lee, granddaughter of Lee Hoi-chuen and Grace Ho, sister of Brandon Lee, and niece of Robert Lee Jun-fai and Peter Lee Jung-sum.[citation needed] Lee's paternal great-grandfather was Ho Kom Tong, half-brother of Robert Hotung.[14]
Martial arts
editIn her youth, Lee studied Jeet Kune Do, with her father's disciple Richard Bustillo, but did not practice it seriously until the late 1990s. To train for parts in action movies, she studied Jeet Kune Do with Ted Wong.[6]
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 (1998) required her to fight Benny Urquidez, Urquidez himself taught her kickboxing.[6]
Filmography
edit| 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 |
| Blade | Resident | ||
| 2001 | Lessons for an Assassin | Fiona | |
| 2002 | She, Me & 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" |
| 2001 | Epoch | Pamela | Television film |
| 2012 | I Am Bruce Lee | Executive producer, herself | Television documentary |
| 2023 | Warrior | Wen | Season 3, Episode 6 |
References
edit- ^ "Lee, Bruce, (1940–1973) Martial Arts Master and Film Maker", HistoryLink.org. Retrieved January 1, 2011.
- ^ "Lee, Bruce (1940-1973)". www.historylink.org. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
- ^ "Cage 2: Arena of Death". TVGuide.com. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
- ^ "High Voltage". TVGuide.com. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
- ^ a b c Reid, Dr. Craig D. (1999). "Shannon Lee: Emerging From the Shadows of Bruce Lee, the Butterfly Spreads her Wings". Black Belt. 37 (10): 33.
- ^ Abebe, Nitsuh (July 15, 2003). "Medicine: The Mechanical Forces of Love". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- ^ Bruce Lee Foundation website. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
- ^ Bellafante, Ginia (May 15, 2009). "The Hagiography of the Dragon, a Continuing Saga". The New York Times.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 21, 2015). "Cinemax Developing Bruce Lee-Inspired Crime Drama 'Warrior' From Justin Lin".
- ^ a b Cecchini, Mike (August 22, 2018). "Warrior: First Teaser for Bruce Lee Inspired TV Series". Den of Geek.
- ^ "Warrior Season 3 Just Unveiled the Ultimate Bruce Lee Easter Egg". July 20, 2023.
- ^ "Shannon Lee & Daughter Wren Lee Keasler Wish Bruce Lee A Happy 80th!". YouTube. November 27, 2020. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ Russo, Charles (May 19, 2016). "Was Bruce Lee of English Descent?". Vice. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
Further reading
edit- Wolfe, April (September 6, 2016), "How Bruce Lee's Daughter Is Sharing His Philosophies With the Digital Generation", LA Weekly
External links
edit- Shannon Lee at IMDb
- Shannon Lee discography at Discogs
- The Bruce Lee Foundation Official Website