Brandon Lee, son of martial arts expert and actor Bruce Lee, was gradually following in his father’s footsteps in martial arts and in Hollywood. From his earliest beginnings training under his father’s guidance to the tragic ending to his life, Lee was developing into an action star much like his father was back in the late 60s and early 70s.
The tragic ending to Brandon’s life occured during the filming of a scene in Alex Proyas’ film version of the Crow.
According to the Brandon Lee Library;
“At about 12:30 in the morning on March 31, cameras began to roll on a scene in which Lee’s character, Eric, carrying a grocery bag, comes through a door and is shot several times. Alex Proyas, an Australian music-video director making his first American feature, had cameras capturing two different angles on the scene, as well as a video camera recording the action for quick playback. Actor Michael Massee, who played Funboy, was supposed to fire his .44-caliber revolver at Lee from a distance of about 15 feet, at which point Lee would detonate a “squib” (a small explosive charge) planted in the grocery bag to simulate the rip-and-shred effect of the bullet. As risky as that may sound, it was nothing compared with a scene that had been filmed just a week earlier in which Lee had been shot - and “squibbed” - about 50 times per take. The Crow’s special-effects man, J.B. Jones, had years of experience dealing with weapons on the TV series Miami Vice, and stunt coordinator Jeff Imada was also on the soundstage and had attended rehearsals of the scene, offering advice. However, since all the work involving semi-automatic weapons on The Crow had been finished days earlier, the film’s weapons specialist had already left the set.
As a crew of between 75 and 100 people looked on, Massee fired the gun, the squib in the grocery bag detonated on cue, and Lee fell to the ground. Not until the scene ended and Lee failed to get up did anyone realize he had been shot. “It didn’t really appear to the people on the set like anything was wrong,” said one eyewitness.”
? Read more about this tragedy at Brandon Lee Library: The Brief Life and Uneccesary Death of Brandon Lee.
You could’ve have written a little more about Brandon’s life & less about his death. This site’s a bit dodgy.
Brandon Lee is never forget in my heart!
Brandon Lee was my favorite Actor, he is so sexy, rest in peace Brandon Lee, I will Always Love you
Mt heart is broken the day you died, you are always in my heart, i love you brandon bruce lee and will always. i go to your grave and visit you and your father up in lakeviw. you are always in my prayers love elaina