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Bruce Lee was Jewish?

by thunderbird
14 replies
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I just saw a headline about Apple discontinuing an app called "Jew or Not Jew?" Wondering what the heck that was, I looked it up. Then, I find a rather ridiculous site that would have involved massive research and data-gathering to be sure, and learned about Bruce Lee's purported Judaism:

Jew or Not Jew: Bruce Lee
  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    That article closes with: Verdict: Sadly, not a Jew. !

    Apparently, according to wikipedia, his name was lee jun fan! I MIGHT be wrong, but I think that means his last name is LEE!!!!! A LOT of asians take "anglo" names when abroad! That isn't racist, simply TRUE! I have worked with at least two chinese people named sam, which is probably the most popular chinese anglo name. Maybe bruce lee just thought bruce was better. MAYBE it is because it sounded like bruise! MAYBE he had a friend/relative named bruce. Maybe some government official thought he said bruce, when he said jun. Maybe SAG had other lees. Who knows?

    But if you want to fault him for changing his name, you better fault people like jerry lewis and nicolas cage! Heck, maybe tori spelling!

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author jimbo13
      ^Yep Steve

      I have a friend called Bruce Wong but his real name is Wong Ching Chung, Wong being his surname.

      His sisters are called Joyce and Grace but that is not their Chinese names.

      They are Taiwanese so maybe different but I'm sure it is the same.

      Dan
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  • Profile picture of the author MoneyMagnetMagnate
    Are you sure it wasn't JUDOism? :rolleyes:
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    • Profile picture of the author payment proof
      Bruce Lee was a Martial Arts Master and absolutely amazing. His religion, what ever it may be, will never take away from that.
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      • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
        Originally Posted by payment proof View Post

        Bruce Lee was a Martial Arts Master and absolutely amazing. His religion, what ever it may be, will never take away from that.
        Not only not take away from it, but even add another dimension to his mystique. Bruce Lee was a very influential presence all round the world. A friend of mine created Bruce Lee games and met Bruce Lee's wife and Brandon Lee (RIP) for making the licensing deals.

        Do you see European features in Bruce Lee's mothers' face? The baby is Bruce Lee.

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        • Profile picture of the author payment proof
          Cool pics. Thanks for posting them.

          Brandon Lee was also a great actor and a great martial artist. His performance in The Crow was nothing short of amazing.
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          • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
            I looked into it more. Bruce Lee's mother was definitely Eurasian and apparently really did have Jewish ancestry. That doesn't make him Jewish any more than I am Hungarian (though I do have a Hungarian great grandfather...who, coincidentally, was Jewish, lol).
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            • Profile picture of the author seasoned
              Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

              I looked into it more. Bruce Lee's mother was definitely Eurasian and apparently really did have Jewish ancestry. That doesn't make him Jewish any more than I am Hungarian (though I do have a Hungarian great grandfather...who, coincidentally, was Jewish, lol).
              Even a lot of JEWISH people confuse hebrew and jewish. and who can really tell? People have converted to and from judaism, and some jewish people consider a person jewish ONLY if the mother is, but both sexes contribute. BTW I have been told that they consider the mother more important because, at least until maybe the 1970s, they could validate that the mother was the mother.

              Oh well, nobody cares if he was jewish or not. He was great in marshal arts because he was born into the culture, encouraged, had a passion, and worked HARD to be there.

              Chuck Norris, and david carridine, just affiliated themselves with the culture, but otherwise were good because they worked in the same way.

              Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Baker
    Bruce's family name was "Lee". The chinese always put their family name before their surname. I don't understand the logic in why, but they do. Bruce's father was named Lee Hoi Chuen, therefore in English you would call him Hoi Chuen Lee, or more officially Lee, Hoi Chuen.

    Bruce was born in Chinatown of San Francisco under the name Lee Jun Fan - a girls name. His parents lost their first born son and believing the gods didn't favor the birth of a boy gave Bruce a girls name to ward of the gods. His American name of Bruce was actually given to him by one of the nurses at the hospital he was born in. He and his family never called him Bruce until he went back to America. It wasn't until he enrolled in an English class in College did he use the name Bruce.

    He actually used his birth name as the name of his first official Gung Fu school - Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. (The chinese pronounced Kung Fu as Gung Fu).
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by Zamantra Marketing View Post

      Bruce's family name was "Lee". The chinese always put their family name before their surname. I don't understand the logic in why, but they do. Bruce's father was named Lee Hoi Chuen, therefore in English you would call him Hoi Chuen Lee, or more officially Lee, Hoi Chuen.
      Who can say? I imagine a lot of postmen have a HARD time! US addresses are basically BACKWARDS, if you thnk about it. They have the persons first name, then last, then place on the street, then street, then direction, then city, then state, then zip.

      You actually have to read it BACKWARDS to deliver it! And WHY do accounting systems often have you enter city, state, AND zip? If you have the zip, you AUTOMATICALLY know the city and state.

      Other countries may have them in a DIFFERENT order, and different items. And ZIP CODES? It is a pity the countries didn't get together and set them up the same way.

      I guess the chinese way DOES make a lot of sense.

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Roaddog
    It's long been known Bruce Lee was at least a 1/4 German, and that he was an American citizen, not Chinese.

    It doesn't matter what he was. In the world of public opinion (and mine) anyone that practiced his art, like he did, was a citizen of planet badass.
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  • Profile picture of the author TLTheLiberator
    Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

    I just saw a headline about Apple discontinuing an app called "Jew or Not Jew?" Wondering what the heck that was, I looked it up. Then, I find a rather ridiculous site that would have involved massive research and data-gathering to be sure, and learned about Bruce Lee's purported Judaism:

    Jew or Not Jew: Bruce Lee

    The Howard Stern show used to do a piece called... "Who's The Jew" where he would list 3 famous people and the audience had to guess which one was Jewish.

    This was about 15 years ago.

    BTW, Howard is Jewish.


    TL
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  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    Bruce Lee was an American citizen but his upbringing is in Hong Kong. Both his parents were citizens of Hong Kong. They went to America to give birth so that their son could be an American citizen. He eventually went back to America when he started getting into street fights in Hong Kong.

    In Hong Kong, most people under the age of 70 have an anglicized name as well. The main reason is that many are Christians over here and many churches encouraged the use of anglicized names for baptism and in schools run by them. Bruce Lee's mother was related to the Ho Tung family which is one of the most famous families in Hong Kong. They were never known to practice judiasm.
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    • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
      Originally Posted by derekwong28 View Post

      <snip>Bruce Lee's mother was related to the Ho Tung family which is one of the most famous families in Hong Kong. They were never known to practice judiasm.
      Bruce Lee's maternal grandfather was Jewish German, as I understand it. Practicing Judaism and having Jewish background are not necessarily one and the same thing. I have some Celtic background but have never sacrificed animals to oak trees.
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