built in Asia" and began turning out popular fare at an incredible rate (Dannen 31). In 1970 one of the Shaws' producers, Raymond Chow, formed the Golden Harvest production company and set about the task of carving out his own niche. Shaw was a martial arts fan and when he had the good fortune to sign Bruce Lee his company was made.
Born Lee Jun Fan in Oakland California, while his father was on tour with the Cantonese Opera Company, Bruce Lee Grew up in Hon Kong working in films as a child actor--very often as a fighter of one sort or another. He returned to the United States in 1959, in time to claim his American citizenship, and attended the University of Washington in Seattle. Lee, who had become a martial arts champion and an influential teacher (who opened his classes to non-Asian students), looked for work in Hollywood and was cast as the supporting character of Kato in the Green Hornet television series which premiered in 1966. Throughout the 1960s Lee had also built his reputation in the martial arts but, while he got roles in a number of films and series he was progressing too slowly. During a return trip to Hong Kong in 1970
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