Bruce Lee's first taste of Stardom

On late February, as Bruce was pondering his future, he received a phone call from a television producer by the name of William Dozier. Dozier had seen some footage of Bruce in action at the Long Beach Karate Internationals and wanted to ask Bruce if he would be interested in playing the role of the "Number One Son" in a television adaptation of Charlie Chan. Without hesitation Bruce expressed his interest and soon drove to Hollywood for an audition. The reaction was positive.

Before long however, Dozier gave up on the idea of producing Charlie Chan and started work on a new project, a television series called the Green Hornet. The Green Hornet was a show which would utilize the same kind of format as the already hugely successful Batman series. In the Green Hornet Bruce Lee was to play the part of Kato- the chauffeur and sidekick to the lead hero, Britt Reid. Years later Bruce joked that the only reason he got the part was because he was the only Chinese person in the USA who could properly say the name "Britt Reid". There was to be a long delay before full production of the show would begin, but in the meantime Bruce was given a reservation fee of $1800.

Bruce used the money to pay for a lengthy trip to Hong Kong so that his family could meet Linda and Brandon. They returned to the States late in the year to be welcomed by the good news that The Green Hornet was "all go". With the promise of an exciting new career beckoning, the Lees moved to Los Angeles in March 1966, taking a small apartment on Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood. The studio, Twentieth Century Fox, also arranged for Bruce to receive acting lessons. These were allegedly the only proper acting lessons received.

The Green Hornet went into production in the summer of 1966. At that time the only Oriental actor featured on network television was George Takei, a Japanese American who appeared in the then low-rated Star Trek. The network was very apprehensive about the idea of casting a Chinese actor as a lead character and insisted that Bruce wore a black mask over his face throughout his time on screen.

In terms of ratings, the Green Hornet was something of a failure. It lacked the child appeal that Batman enjoyed and adult viewers found the show corny. As a result the show was taken off the air after only six months (26 episodes). However, one good thing that came from the show was that it everyone from kids to critics were dazzled by Bruce Lee's kung fu. Thanks to the Green Hornet, Bruce Lee had become something of a martial arts celebrity and when the show was at its peek, Bruce would often make personal appearances at karate demonstrations, film conventions and parades. It was his first taste of fame and he liked it!

The cancellation of the Green Hornet was a severe blow to Lee's financial status as well as his ego. During filming Bruce had received $400 a week and owned a red Porsche. Now, all of a sudden he was back to a dwindling income from his kwoon along with occasional minor appearances on television shows like; Longstreet, Ironside and Blondie. There was also a brief appearance in the 1969 movie Marlowe. This was Bruce Lee's first appearance in a Hollywood feature length film. Perhaps the most memorable scene of the entire film is when Bruce meets Marlowe (played by James Garner) on a roof top and Bruce's character comes to a sudden and unlikely ending by falling from a rooftop.

At this stage of his career Bruce was certainly not greatly admired for his acting abilities, however, his reputation as a martial arts master had already become rock solid and before long Bruce was giving private martial arts lessons to Hollywood stars such as Steve McQueen and James Coburn. Also receiving instruction from Bruce Lee at this time were the Karate experts Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis and Mike Stone. Between them, Norris, Lewis and Stone would go on to win every major Karate tournament in the USA.