“Suave, Debonair, Big City”: Bruce Lee’s Wife Was Left Starstruck While First Spotting the Martial Arts Legend, Revealed in His Biography

Published 01/05/2023, 2:45 PM EST

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The love story of martial arts legend Bruce Lee and his student-turned-wife, Linda Lee Cadwell is well scripted and one such mention can be found in Lee’s biography. From their first meeting at the university to becoming husband and wife, they share many interesting stories. Their first encounter was unforgettable for the young Linda as she fell in love instantly.

 

In an excerpt from his biography Bruce Lee: A Life by Matthew Polly, Linda shared how her mother disliked her daughter to date Asian boys while having an Asian–American best friend seemed perfectly fine for her. However, the young Cadwell could not resist the attractive man and eventually ended up being together forever. Let’s find out what actually happened in their first meeting.

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Bruce Lee’s first impression did the job

In Lee’s biography, Linda shared an anecdote about their initial rendezvous. In 1961, Lee came to Linda’s college to deliver a lecture on Chinese philosophy. Cadwell first saw the Fist of Fury actor while hanging around the locker. Lee was then dating Amy Sunboo who was the college homecoming queen of Linda’s school. Seeing this good-looking man with Amy, all the troupe of cheerleaders got jealous. A curious Cadwell asked her Asian best friend about the gentleman. As per Lee’s biography, Linda couldn’t help but compliment him and stated, “Yes, he looks like George Chakiris,…suave, debonair, big city.”

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Though Cadwell’s cheerleading squad liked him a lot, her friend later admitted, “I take kung fu lessons from him.” Amazed, Cadwell started taking lessons from him too. She said, “I don’t know if I was more interested in kung fu or the teacher.” While the Little Phoenix liked to take students to either eat or watch movies after class, Cadwell eventually came to know about Lee as an actor. Starstruck, she then realized there are more things left to know about this man.

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“We’ll Buy the Whole of Hong Kong” Bruce Lee Once Made a Confession to His Wife Days After Signing an Exclusive Hollywood Contract

Cadwell always fawned upon the good-looking guy wearing a purple shirt, black suit, a black tie, and a fashionable hat. Obviously, The clique of cheerleaders became covetous of the dashing boyfriend of the queen of college. They felt like “he walked straight out of West Side Story.”

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The Enter the Dragon actor created quite an impression in their first encounter with his future wife making it love at first sight for her. What do you think of their love story? Tell us in the comments.

 

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Written by:

Soumili Chatterjee

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Soumili Chatterjee is a US Sports author for EssentiallySports. She secured her bachelor’s and master's degree in English literature from the University of Calcutta. After being a technical and blog writer for nearly three years, it was her ardent love for sports that steered her career toward the sports industry.
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Edited by:

Jahnabi Choudhury