Editing Bruce Li

{{short description|Chinese American 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 = [[Chinese people|Chinese]]
| years_active = 1973–95, 2023
| module = {{Infobox Chinese |child=yes
| t = 李小龍
| s = 李小龙
| 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 [[Chinese people|Chinese]] [[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 [[Bruce Lee]], Ho's acting career began. Hong Kong studios believed that Ho 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 Ho to finish their movie in Lee's role, but he declined.<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>

Afterward, 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 starred in other [[Bruceploitation]] pictures in 1976 with ''The Young Bruce Lee'' and ''[[Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth]]''.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

Using 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. Ho 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]] played by 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 to Bruce Lee. In the 1976 movie ''[[Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger]]'', Li meets Lee, who says Li should replace him. The film's title relates to Lee being dubbed the Dragon and Li the Tiger. Li appeared in ''[[Return of the Tiger]]'' starring [[Angela Mao]]. In it, Li fights [[Paul L. Smith]].{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

Li appeared in two unofficial sequels to Lee's classic ''[[Fist of Fury]]''.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

In 1976, Li reprised his role as Lee in the biopic ''Bruce Lee: The True Story'' (also known as ''Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth''). Li choreographed the combat sequences. This movie was quite successful, with fans dubbing it one of the best [[biopic]]s of Lee.{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}

Li kept shooting martial arts movies until the 1980s. He also directed a few including ''The Chinese Stuntman'' (1981).{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

Li eventually ran into trouble separating himself from playing Lee, along with standing out from other impersonators in Bruceploitation. In the mid-1980s, he become a [[physical education]] instructor at [[Taipei]]'s Ping Chung University and taught martial arts to comedian apprentices. He later appeared only briefly in martial arts cinema or Bruce Lee documentaries.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

In 1990, Li retired from acting at age 40 after his wife's sudden death 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 said 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", though at the time, Li did willingly accept the roles. He elaborated on this further with his appearance in the 2023 documentary ''Enter the Clones of Bruce'', in which he elaborated more on his roles and why he left the business.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;"
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}
|-
| rowspan=4|1972
| ''Duel in the Tiger Den''<br>(翻山虎)
| Japanese Boss
| Credited as Chung Tao Ho
|<ref name="HKMDB">{{cite web|url=https://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=4131&display_set=eng|title=Ho Tsung-Tao Filmography|first=|last=|work=Hong Kong Movie Database|date=|access-date=December 11, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=December 12, 2024|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/AZuDB}}</ref>
|-
|''Gecko Kung Fu''<br>(壁虎遊龍)
|
| Credited as Ho Chung Tao
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''The Death Duel''<br>(惡報)
| Extra
| Credited as Ho Tsung-Tao
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Triangular Duel''<br>(鐵三角)
|
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|1973
|''Chinese Iron Man''<br>(中國鐵人)
|Bad Master
|Credited as Ho Chung Tao
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|rowspan=3|1974
|''Hero of Kwangtong''<br>(廣東好漢)
|Member of Luk's family
|Credited as Ho Chung Tao
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[Rikisha Kuri]]''<br>(大車伕)
|Japanese Thug
|Credited as Ho Chung Tao
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[Super Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story]]''{{efn|The film was released in international markets under various titles, such as ''Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story'', ''Super Dragon'', ''Bruce Lee - Super Dragon'', ''The Bruce Lee Story'', and ''The Dragon Dies Hard'' in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=9646&display_set=eng|title=Super Dragon (1974) HKMDB|first=|last=|work=Hong Kong Movie Database|date=|access-date=December 14, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=December 14, 2024|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/8ixIr}}</ref><ref name="Re-enter">{{cite web|url=https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/re-enter-the-dragon/|title=Re-Enter the Dragon|first=Stewart|last=Home|work=3AM Magazine|date=November 13, 2018|access-date=December 14, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=December 14, 2024|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/xDgHa}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cityonfire.com/hkfilms/ab/bruceadragonstory.html|title=Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story Review|first=|last=|work=City on Fire|date=|access-date=December 14, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=December 14, 2024|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/UHZad}}</ref>}}<br>(一代猛龍)
|[[Bruce Lee]]/Li Xiao Long
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|rowspan=4|1975
|''[[Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death]]''<br>(新死亡遊戲)
|Lee Hon Hung 
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Bruce Lee, We Miss You!''<br>(金色太陽)
|Stone
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Enter the Panther''<br>(詭計)
|Shu Yu-Lung
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Bruce Lee vs. Supermen''<br>(猛龍征東)
|Cato/Carter
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|rowspan=6|1976
|''The Legend of Bruce Lee''<br>(唐山截拳道)
|Bruce Lee
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger]]''<br>(天皇巨星)
|Tiger/David/Tan Lung
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''The Ming Patriots''<br>(中原鏢局)
|Li Tia-Long
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[The Dragon Lives]]''{{efn|Also known as ''He's a Legend, He's a Hero'' and ''King of Kung Fu''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=5741&display_set=eng|title=He's a Legend, He's a Hero - HKMDB|first=|last=|work=Hong Kong Movie Database|date=|access-date=December 14, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=December 14, 2024|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/jzUUc}}</ref> The film is sometimes mistaken for ''[[Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth]]'', a film that also stars Bruce Li and was also released in 1976.<ref>{{cite book|last=Davies|first=Clive|title=Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won't Write About|date=2015|publisher=Headpress|isbn=9781909394063|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co5XDwAAQBAJ|accessdate=19 May 2020|quote=THE DRAGON LIVES See: BRUCE LEE, THE MAN, THE MYTH}}</ref>}}<br>(詠春大兄)
|Bruce Lee
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[Bruce Lee's Secret]]''<br>(詠春截拳)
|Bruce Lee
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Bruce Lee: the Man, the Myth''<br>(李小龍傳奇)
|Bruce Lee
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|rowspan=4|1977
|''[[Return of the Tiger]]''<br>(大圈套)
|Chang Hung
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[Fist of Fury II]]''<br>(精武門續集)
|Chen Shen
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[The Real Bruce Lee]]''<br>(最後精武門)
|Himself (archival footage)
|Documentary
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[Soul Brothers of Kung Fu]]''<br>(被迫)
|Wong Wai-Lung
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|rowspan=7|1978
|''Bruce Li's Magnum Fist''<br>(大英雄)
|
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Bruce Lee The Invincible''<br>(威震天南)
|Yu Fong
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Edge of Fury''<br>(撈家撈女撈上撈)
|Fong Pao
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Dynamo''<br>(不擇手段)
|Lee Tien-Yee
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Bruce Lee in New Guinea''<br>(蛇珠)
|Wan Li
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[The Image of Bruce Lee]]''<br>(猛男大賊胭脂虎)
|Wei Man
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Deadly Strike''<br>(神龍)
|
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|rowspan=6|1979
|''Bruce and the Iron Finger''<br>(大教頭與騷娘子)
|Bruce Lee
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''The Lama Avenger''<br>(打出頭)
|Hong Tian-De
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[Fists of Bruce Lee]]''<br>(伏擊)
|Lee Min-Chin
|Co-directed with Kim Hyung-Joon
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''[[Fist of Fury III]]''<br>(截拳鷹爪功)
|Chen Zhen
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''The Iron Dragon Strikes Back''<br>(匯峰號黃金大風暴)
|Ah Wai
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|''Blind Fist of Bruce''<br>(盲拳鬼手)
|Yeh Chen Lung
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|1981
|''[[The Chinese Stuntman]]''<br>(龍的影子)
|Tang Wei
|Also director
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|1982
|''[[Dragon Force (film)|Dragon Force]]''<br>(神探光頭妹)
|Dai Lung
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|1983
|''Pink Trap''<br>(粉紅色陷阱)
|
|
|<ref name="HKMDB"/>
|-
|1988
|''[[Future Hunters]]''
|
|
|<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/113535%7C0/Bruce-Li#filmography|title=Bruce Li Filmography|first=|last=|work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|date=|access-date=December 14, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=November 14, 2024|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/KJtnr}}</ref>
|-
|1990
|''[[Yellowthread Street]]''
|Barman
|TV series - 1 episode
|
|-
|1991
|''Kickboxer the Champion''
|
|
|
|-
|}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
==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]]