View source for Bruce Li

{{short description|Taiwanese actor and martial artist}}
{{Distinguish|Bruce Lee}}
{{infobox person
| name = Bruce Li
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Ho Chung-Tao (何宗道)
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|6|5|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Taiwan]]
| nationality = [[Taiwan]], [[Hong Kong]]
| years_active = 1973–1990
| module = {{Infobox Chinese |child=yes
| t = 黎小龍
| s = 黎小龙
| p = Lí Xiǎolóng
| j = lai4 siu2 lung4
}}
| module2 = {{infobox musical artist
| embed = yes
| alias = James Ho<ref name="interview">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoOeB_nyx0Y| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205091652/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoOeB_nyx0Y| archive-date=2017-02-05 | url-status=dead|title=Bruce Li Interview|work=Youtube|date=June 22, 2014|access-date=January 24, 2017}}</ref>
}}
}}
'''Bruce Li''' ({{zh|t={{linktext|何|宗|道}}|s={{linktext|何|宗|道}}|p=Hé Zōngdào}}; born '''Ho Chung-Tao'''; 5 June 1950) is a [[Taiwan|Taiwanese]] [[martial arts|martial artist]] and actor who starred in [[martial arts film]]s from the [[Bruceploitation]] movement.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lee remembered for more than movies|publisher=bworldonline.com|date=April 22, 2010|author=Block, Alex Ben|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|url=http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=9678|access-date=2010-12-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923221556/http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=9678|archive-date=2015-09-23|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bruce Li|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/103321/Bruce-Li/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117100516/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/103321/Bruce-Li/biography|url-status=dead|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|publisher=[[Baseline (database)|Baseline]] & [[All Movie Guide]]|date=2015|archive-date=2015-11-17}}</ref>
==Career==
{{BLP unsourced section|date=July 2012}}
Ho Chung-Tao went to play a stuntman in [[Taiwan]] and [[Hong Kong]] under the name of James Ho.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
After the death of popular actor and martial artist [[Bruce Lee]], Li's acting career began. Hong Kong studios believed that he had the ability to pick up where Lee left off and cast him in similar types of martial arts films. They first cast him in ''Conspiracy''. Afterwards, the producers of ''[[Game of Death]]'' asked him to finish their movie in Lee's role, but he declined the offer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2155177/jackie-chan-tried-replace-bruce-lee-after-he-died-and-so-did-bruce|title=Who sought to take Bruce Lee’s crown after he died? Meet Bruce Li|date=2018-07-14|website=South China Morning Post|language=en|access-date=2019-07-05}}</ref>
After this, he was employed by producer/actor Jimmy Shaw who gave him the name of Bruce ''Li''.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}
While Ho was finishing his military service, he appeared in ''[[Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death]]''. He would star in other [[Bruceploitation]] pictures in 1976 with ''The Young Bruce Lee'' and ''[[Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth]]''.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
Under the name Bruce Li, some Taiwanese and Hong Kong producers{{Who|date=July 2019}} decided to directly credit him as Bruce Lee, even going so far as to use the real Bruce Lee's picture on posters. Li even appeared in ''Bruce Lee Against Supermen'' where he stars as "Carter", a role loosely based on the [[Green Hornet]]'s [[Kato (The Green Hornet)|Kato]] depicted by the late Bruce Lee.<ref>{{Google books|Co5XDwAAQBAJ|Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won't Write about|page=|keywords=bruce+li+kato+supermen|text=|plainurl=}}</ref>
In 1975, ''Dragon Dies Hard'' became a hit in Japan, where it earned {{JPY|2 billion}} ({{US$|6.7 million|long=no}}) at the box office.<ref>{{cite journal |title='Disasters' Most Successful |journal=Japan Report |date=February 1, 1976 |volume=22 |issue=3 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t8PjAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA23-PP6 |publisher=Japan Information Center, Consulate General of Japan}}</ref>
The producers really wanted to show Li as the "official" successor of Bruce Lee. In the 1976 movie ''[[Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger]]'', Li meets Lee who points to him as the one who shall replace him. The film's title relates to Lee being dubbed the Dragon, and Li being the Tiger. Li appeared in ''[[Return of the Tiger]]'', starring [[Angela Mao]]. In it, Bruce Li fights [[Paul L. Smith]].{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
Li carried on by playing in two unofficial sequels to Bruce Lee's classic ''[[Fist of Fury]]''.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
In 1976, Li reprised his role as Bruce Lee in ''Bruce Lee: The True Story'' (also known as ''Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth''), a biography film. Li choreographed the combat sequences himself. Being very successful, fans recognise it as one of the best [[biopic]]s of Bruce Lee.{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}
Li kept shooting martial arts movies until the 1980s. He also directed movies, including the 1981 film ''The Chinese Stuntman''.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
Li eventually ran into trouble separating himself from these Bruce Lee roles, along with standing out from other impersonators in the Bruceploitation genre. In the mid-1980s, he become a [[physical education]] instructor at [[Taipei]]'s Ping Chung University. He also has taught martial arts for comedian apprentices. Since then, he has appeared only briefly in martial arts cinema or Bruce Lee documentaries.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
In 1990, Li retired from acting at the age of 40 after his wife's sudden passing to raise his children.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
Bruce Li's career was the focus of a segment of the 1995 documentary ''Top Fighter''. In the segment, Li had stated that he was unhappy that the studios wanted to turn him into a Bruce Lee marketing gimmick, saying "I could act like him but I could never be him", although at the time, Li did willingly accept the roles. Li elaborated on this further with his appearance in the 2023 documentary ''Enter the Clones of Bruce'', in which he elaborated more on his time in filmmaking and why he left the business.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
==Filmography==
===Movies===
* ''Rickshaw Man'' (1974)
** a.k.a. ''Rickshaw Driver'', ''Shaolin Kung Fu''
* ''[[Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story]]'' (1974)
** a.k.a. ''Super Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story''
** a.k.a ''Bruce Lee Story: Super Dragon''
* ''Chinese Iron Man'' (1975)
** a.k.a. ''Young Hero of the Shaolin II''
* ''[[Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death]]'' (1975)
** a.k.a. ''The New Game of Death''
** a.k.a. ''Legend of Bruce Lee''
* ''Bruce Lee Against Supermen'' (1975)
** a.k.a. ''Superdragon vs. Superman''
* ''Bruce Lee, We Miss You'' (1975)
** a.k.a. ''Dragon Dies Hard''
* ''[[Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth]]'' (1976)
** a.k.a. ''Bruce Lee: The True Story''
* ''[[Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger]]'' (1976)
** ''Bruce Lee: The Star of Stars''
* ''Enter the Panther'' (1976)
** a.k.a. ''Conspiracy''
* ''[[Bruce Lee's Secret]]'' (1976)
** a.k.a. ''Bruce Lee's Deadly Kung Fu''
** a.k.a. ''Story of the Dragon''
* ''The Ming Patriots'' (1977)
** a.k.a. ''Revenge of the Patriots''
* ''Bruce Li in New Guinea'' (1977)
** a.k.a. ''Last Fist of Fury''
* ''Bruce Li the Invincible Chinatown Connection'' (1977)
** a.k.a. ''Game of the Dragon''
** a.k.a. ''Bruce Lee the Invincible''
* ''[[The Dragon Lives]]'' (1977)
** a.k.a. ''He's a Legend, He's a Hero''
* ''[[Fist of Fury II]]'' (1977)
** a.k.a. ''Chinese Connection 2''
** a.k.a. ''Fist of Fury Part II''
* ''Bei Po: Soul Brothers of Kung Fu'' (1977)
** a.k.a. ''Kung-Fu Avenger''
** a.k.a. ''The Tiger Strikes Again''
* ''[[The Image of Bruce Lee]]'' (1978)
** a.k.a. ''Storming Attacks''
* ''[[Fists of Bruce Lee]]'' (1978)
**
* ''Edge of Fury'' (1978)
** a.k.a. ''Blood on His Hands''
* ''Dynamo'' (1978)
**
* ''Deadly Strike'' (1978)
**(a.k.a. ''Wanted! Bruce Li, Dead or Alive'')
* ''Bruce Li's Magnum Fist'' (1978)
**
* ''Bruce Lee vs. the Iron Dragon'' (1978)
**
* ''[[Return of the Tiger]]'' (1978)
**
* ''Bruce Against Iron Hand'' (1979)
**
* ''The Lama Avenger'' (1979)
** a.k.a. ''The Three Avengers''
* ''[[Fist of Fury III]]'' (1979)
** a.k.a. ''Chinese Connection III''
* ''The Iron Dragon Strikes Back'' (1979)
**
* ''Blind Fist of Bruce'' (1979)
** prior title ''Mang quan gui shou''
*The Gold Connection (1979)
**a.k.a The Iron Dragon Strikes Back
* ''[[The Chinese Stuntman]]'' (1982)
**
* ''[[Powerforce]]'' (1982)
**
===Documentary===
* ''The Young Bruce Lee'' (a.k.a. ''The Little Dragon'') (1976)
* ''[[The Real Bruce Lee]]'' (1977)
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190913234948/http://www.goohead.com/bruceploitation Bruce Li] - Featured in Bruceploitation Series on GooHead
* {{IMDb name | id=0508362 | name=Bruce Li}}
* [http://www.clonesofbrucelee.info Clones of Bruce Lee] – The Ultimate Guide To Bruce Lee Exploitation Cinema
{{Bruce Lee}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Bruce}}
[[Category:Hong Kong male actors]]
[[Category:Hong Kong stunt performers]]
[[Category:Taiwanese stunt performers]]
[[Category:Bruce Lee imitators]]
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]