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Bruce Li (Chinese: 何宗道; pinyin: Hé Zōngdào; born Ho Chung-Tao; 5 June 1950) is a Taiwanese martial artist and actor who starred in martial arts films from the Bruceploitation movement.

Career

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Ho Chung-Tao went to play a stuntman in Taiwan and Hong Kong under the name of James Ho.

After the death of popular actor and martial artist Bruce Lee, Li's acting career began. Hong Kong studios believed that he had the ability to pick up where Lee left off and cast him in similar types of martial arts films. They first cast him in Conspiracy. Afterwards, the producers of Game of Death asked him to finish their movie in Lee's role, but he declined the offer.

After this, he was employed by producer/actor Jimmy Shaw who gave him the name of Bruce Li.

While Ho was finishing his military service, he appeared in Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death. He would star in other Bruceploitation pictures in 1976 with The Young Bruce Lee and Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth.

Under the name Bruce Li, some Taiwanese and Hong Kong producers decided to directly credit him as Bruce Lee, even going so far as to use the real Bruce Lee's picture on posters. Li even appeared in Bruce Lee Against Supermen where he stars as "Carter", a role loosely based on the Green Hornet's Kato depicted by the late Bruce Lee.

In 1975, Dragon Dies Hard became a hit in Japan, where it earned ¥2 billion ($6.7 million) at the box office.

The producers really wanted to show Li as the "official" successor of Bruce Lee. In the 1976 movie Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger, Li meets Lee who points to him as the one who shall replace him. The film's title relates to Lee being dubbed the Dragon, and Li being the Tiger. Li appeared in Return of the Tiger, starring Angela Mao. In it, Bruce Li fights Paul L. Smith.

Li carried on by playing in two unofficial sequels to Bruce Lee's classic Fist of Fury.

In 1976, Li reprised his role as Bruce Lee in Bruce Lee: The True Story (also known as Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth), a biography film. Li choreographed the combat sequences himself. Being very successful, fans recognise it as one of the best biopics of Bruce Lee.

Li kept shooting martial arts movies until the 1980s. He also directed movies, including the 1981 film The Chinese Stuntman.

Li eventually ran into trouble separating himself from these Bruce Lee roles, along with standing out from other impersonators in the Bruceploitation genre. In the mid-1980s, he become a physical education instructor at Taipei's Ping Chung University. He also has taught martial arts for comedian apprentices. Since then, he has appeared only briefly in martial arts cinema or Bruce Lee documentaries.

In 1990, Li retired from acting at the age of 40 after his wife's sudden passing to raise his children.

Bruce Li's career was the focus of a segment of the 1995 documentary Top Fighter. In the segment, Li had stated that he was unhappy that the studios wanted to turn him into a Bruce Lee marketing gimmick, saying "I could act like him but I could never be him", although at the time, Li did willingly accept the roles. Li elaborated on this further with his appearance in the 2023 documentary Enter the Clones of Bruce, in which he elaborated more on his time in filmmaking and why he left the business.

Filmography

Notes

1. The film was released in international markets under various titles, such as Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story, Super Dragon, Bruce Lee - Super Dragon, The Bruce Lee Story, and The Dragon Dies Hard in the United States.
2. Also known as He's a Legend, He's a Hero and King of Kung Fu. The film is sometimes mistaken for Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth, a film that also stars Bruce Li and was also released in 1976.

References

1. "Bruce Li Interview". Youtube. June 22, 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-02-05. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
2. Block, Alex Ben (April 22, 2010). "Lee remembered for more than movies". The Hollywood Reporter. bworldonline.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
3. "Bruce Li". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17.
4. "Who sought to take Bruce Lee's crown after he died? Meet Bruce Li". South China Morning Post. 2018-07-14. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
5. Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won't Write about at Google Books
6. "'Disasters' Most Successful". Japan Report. 22 (3). Japan Information Center, Consulate General of Japan: 2. February 1, 1976.
7. ^ "Ho Tsung-Tao Filmography". Hong Kong Movie Database. Archived from the original on December 12, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
8. "Super Dragon (1974) HKMDB". Hong Kong Movie Database. Archived from the original on December 14, 2024. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
9. Home, Stewart (November 13, 2018). "Re-Enter the Dragon". 3AM Magazine. Archived from the original on December 14, 2024. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
10. "Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story Review". City on Fire. Archived from the original on December 14, 2024. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
11. "He's a Legend, He's a Hero - HKMDB". Hong Kong Movie Database. Archived from the original on December 14, 2024. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
12. Davies, Clive (2015). Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won't Write About. Headpress. ISBN 9781909394063. Retrieved 19 May 2020. THE DRAGON LIVES See: BRUCE LEE, THE MAN, THE MYTH
13. "Bruce Li Filmography". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on November 14, 2024. Retrieved December 14, 2024.

External links

• Bruce Li - Featured in Bruceploitation Series on GooHead
• Bruce Li at IMDb
• Clones of Bruce Lee – The Ultimate Guide To Bruce Lee Exploitation Cinema

• Hong Kong male actors
• Hong Kong stunt performers
• Taiwanese stunt performers
• Bruce Lee imitators
• 1950 births
• Living people