May 17 has officially been named Bruce Lee Day, marking the day he returned to San Francisco from Hong Kong at age 18 \u2014 as Lee was born here and received birthright citizenship, which led to the launch of his acting and martial arts career in the US.<\/p>\n
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill this week after it was introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney, making Bruce Lee the first Chinese American honored with an official day of recognition in California, as KPIX reports<\/a>. The state will encourage schools, museums, and community organizations to mark May 17 with educational programs, cultural exhibits, and other events celebrating Lee’s life and contributions.<\/p>\n Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, CEO of the Bruce Lee Foundation, called the designation \u201ca testament to my father’s enduring legacy,\u201d saying his influence continues to span generations. <\/p>\n \u201cFrom young people who found confidence and possibility in his philosophy,\u201d Shannon Lee said in a statement, per the Associated Press<\/a>, \u201cto 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Haney said Lee helped break Asian stereotypes in Hollywood at a time when Asian Americans were largely absent from or confined to stereotypical roles, calling him “the very best of California.”<\/p>\n According to an in-depth feature in Palo Alto Online<\/a> from 2017, Lee was born at Chinese Hospital in San Francisco in 1940 while his parents were in the city during his father Lee Hoi Chuen<\/a>‘s 12-month run of performances at Chinatown’s Mandarin Theatre. Chuen was a prominent Hong Kong opera singer and actor, and Lee\u2019s mother, Grace, was a wardrobe manager for the production.<\/p>\n After Bruce’s birth, the family completed the paperwork securing his US birthright citizenship before returning to Hong Kong. Per Palo Alto Online, those immigration records are now located at the National Archives in San Bruno, which is currently under threat of being shut down by the federal government, as SFist reported<\/a> earlier this week. <\/p>\n Before leaving San Francisco, filmmaker Esther Eng cast the infant Lee in his first screen role, playing a baby girl in the 1941 film Golden Gate Girl<\/a>. He later appeared in roughly 20 films as a child actor in Hong Kong. <\/p>\n Lee returned to San Francisco on May 17, 1959 at age 18, where he began teaching martial arts and pursuing the acting career that would make him an international icon.<\/p>\n