Local collector pays tribute to martial-arts legend Bruce Lee

Perry Lee of Renton has been collecting Bruce Lee memorabilia for 37 years, but what sets him apart is that he actually knew the late martial-arts legend during the brief time he lived in Seattle.

It's no surprise, then, that his trove of Bruce Lee memorabilia creates not just a tribute to an already-well-documented icon, but a three-dimensional view of a man most Americans came to know on the big screen only after his death at age 32 in 1973.

"He was more than a martial artist," Lee said. "He was an innovator, a graphic designer, a philosopher, a poet. The exhibit will bring together all of the overlooked talents that he had — his genius."

Lee's and other collectors' souvenirs — more than 1,000 items ranging from personal letters and artwork to TV and film props to comics, coloring books and even Pez dispensers — is expected to go on display in July in an exhibit marking the 30th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death.

"The Bruce Lee Collectors Exhibit 2003: The Beginning of a Legend, the Story of a Man," will turn the old Uwajimaya building in Seattle's Chinatown International District into stage sets reflecting different chapters in Bruce Lee's life story — from the teeming streets of Hong Kong, where he twice lived and made movies, to one of the Seattle dojos, or martial-arts studios, where he taught.

"Most shows that are about Bruce Lee are just collector's exhibits," said Craig Wollam, chief designer for the upcoming show. Not this one. "It's really more about trying to understand who he was as a person, using these artifacts but also through experiences and philosophy."

So along with the action figures, movie scripts and video clips of Bruce Lee's films, the exhibit will dedicate a whole room to his intellectual side. An author and avid reader, Lee had 25,000 books in his library when he died. To reflect his contemplative side, the "Philosophy" room includes a functioning waterfall and examples of Lee's philosophical writing.

Today, Perry Lee, a Seattle health inspector, owns some of the rarest objects associated with his childhood idol, collected piece by piece from fellow fans, at trade fairs and on eBay.

Some items in the show, such as a plaster mold used to fit Bruce Lee's mask for his role as Kato in the '60s TV series "The Green Hornet," will be displayed in public for the first time. A room will be dedicated to rare action figures and other toys associated with the TV series in perhaps the largest-ever display of its kind, Lee said.

He conceived the exhibit as a way to raise money for low-income housing in the Chinatown International District, home of Bruce Lee's first martial-arts studio. All proceeds from the show, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Uwajimaya market and Wells Fargo Bank, will go to that cause.

Now 55, the soft-spoken collector has been living under Bruce Lee's influence for most of his life.

While attending college and practicing kung fu in Seattle in the 1960s, Bruce Lee, still an unknown, visited young Perry's gym class at Franklin High School to demonstrate his trademark lightning-quick moves.

That experience was enough to convince the 14-year-old Chinese-American student that Bruce Lee was someone special, and he later visited the young martial artist at his studio in the University District.

When Bruce Lee landed the role as black-clad Kato in "The Green Hornet" after moving to Los Angeles, the Seattle teen's admiration only grew.

But to truly understand Perry Lee's admiration for the rising martial-arts star, it's important to recognize how rare Lee was among Chinese-American pop-culture figures of the time. "There were not a lot of role models back then," said Perry Lee, who feels fortunate to have known his idol in the flesh.

Most Asian characters in movies and on TV played to stereotypes; they were either docile or silly, wore pigtails and spoke pidgin English. Bruce Lee, on the other hand, was stylish, intelligent, culturally tolerant, confident and almost supernaturally athletic.

"He wanted to project a powerful image of an Asian male, an Asian who could be cool," Perry Lee said. "To this day, Bruce Lee is the only Asian-American superstar. He was born in San Francisco — Jackie Chan and Jet Li weren't born in America."

More than that, Bruce Lee set the standard for martial-arts film stars, the collector said. His uncanny reflexes and transcendent use of nunchaku, or kung-fu batons, continue to mesmerize.

"Bruce was to martial-arts films what Michael Jordan is to basketball and what John Wayne was to Westerns," Perry Lee said. "Until someone comes along to change that, he will continue to be the standard."

What is remarkable about Bruce Lee's success is that it wasn't likely to happen at all.

Despite Bruce Lee's Kato role, film producers were reluctant to give an Asian a starring role in big movies.

Still, the ambitious Lee was determined to become a megastar and break down cultural barriers.

He got his wish, partly. Bruce Lee went to Hong Kong, where he had made films for Chinese audiences as a youth, to make martial-arts movies.

He had completed several films by the early '70s including "Fists of Fury," "The Chinese Connection" and "Return of the Dragon."

But his breakthrough film in the United States, "Enter the Dragon," was released a month after his death from a cerebral edema in 1973. His grave is at Lake View Cemetery on Capitol Hill in Seattle.

"He had this insatiable desire to do what he wanted to do and, and he didn't let anything stop him," said Taky Kimura of Woodinville, one of Bruce Lee's closest friends and his former assistant. "He never gave up."

Bruce Lee's life was cut short, but not his mission.

In a letter he wrote to himself during a down period in 1969, he swore: "I Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental superstar in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness."

A copy of the handwritten letter is included in the exhibit.

Lee's successors in the martial-arts genre are helping fulfill some of his broader goals.

Perry Lee simply wants people to come away with a fuller understanding of the determination, talent and deep individualism that forged Bruce Lee's lasting appeal.

Tyrone Beason: 206-464-2251 or tbeason@seattletimes.com