California to launch annual Bruce Lee Day for former martial arts star

Martial arts icon Bruce Lee, who was born in San Francisco, will become the first Chinese American in California history with an annual namesake day.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law on Tuesday afternoon officially designating 17 May as Bruce Lee Day, according to the office of state Assembly member Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco.

An 18-year-old Lee returned to San Francisco on 17 May 1959, after spending his childhood in Hong Kong.

Lee’s daughter, Shannon, who is CEO of the Bruce Lee Foundation, said the honour is a testament to her father's enduring legacy as a bridge between cultures.

“From young people who found confidence and possibility in his philosophy, to families who finally saw themselves represented on screen, to athletes who still draw on his teachings of discipline and inner strength, his reach is profound," she said in a statement.

Haney called Lee the epitome of the best of California.

“At a time when Asian Americans were too often absent from or stereotyped on screen, Bruce Lee helped generations see themselves represented with strength and dignity,” he said in a statement.

The foundation and various Asian American organisations hope Lee will be celebrated every year with voluntary commemorative activities around the state such as cultural exhibits, public events and classroom lessons.

Born in 1940 to Chinese parents who were touring with an opera, Lee was allowed to have birthright citizenship.

A few months later, the family returned to Hong Kong where Lee became a child actor and began learning Chinese kung fu.

He moved back to the US in 1959 and enrolled in the University of Washington in Seattle two years later. He dropped out and threw himself into practicing and teaching martial arts.

In the 1960s, Lee found work in Hollywood, most notably as Kato in the TV series “The Green Hornet,” but studios wanted him to play racist stereotypes and paid him less than his white counterparts.

He pivoted back to Hong Kong and soon became a megastar of martial arts flicks, including “The Big Boss” and “Fist of Fury.” Lee died in 1973 at 32 after an allergic reaction to pain medication.

Lee's name and likeness remain popular. A treatment for a proposed TV action series he wrote inspired the HBO Max show “Warrior.”