4 TV Star

Chapter 3 TV Star A man named Jay Sebring was in the crowd the day in 1964 that Bruce showcased his skills at the First International Karate Tournament in Long Beach, California. Sebring was a friend of Hollywood producer William Dozier. That's how Dozier came to know about Bruce. A producer is someone who does lots of the behind-the-scenes work on a movie or a television program. He or she might do

everything from helping to create the show, to hiring the actors and directors, to raising money to make the show. The producer does not appear on camera. But if you've ever seen reruns of the Batman television series from the 1960s, you've heard Dozier speak. He's the deep-voiced narrator who says things such as, "Meanwhile, back in the villains' hideout," and, "Tune in next time—same bat-time, same bat-channel!" Dozier hired Bruce to play the son of a

fictional detective named Charlie Chan in a new television series. The series never got off the ground, and eventually the idea was canceled. Dozier liked what he saw of Bruce, however, so when the producer had another chance to hire him for a new television show, he did. The show was called The Green Hornet. It was based on a comic-book character of the same name, just like Batman was. Batman was hugely popular, and Dozier was looking for another hit show. Dozier wanted Bruce to play the role of the Green Hornet's sidekick, who was named Kato. He was the Green Hornet's driver and bodyguard. The Green Hornet and Kato fought crime together.

At first, Bruce wasn't sure he wanted to play that character. Before he came along, Chinese roles in movies and on television were either offensive exaggerations or were played by white actors using silly accents—sometimes both! As Bruce once put it, the dialog for the Chinese characters always included a lot of "ah-sos" and "chop-chops." Bruce didn't want to reinforce those old stereotypes. "That was his rule," Linda said. "He would

not do any roles that were demeaning to the Chinese culture." Dozier assured Bruce it wouldn't be that way at all. Instead, Kato would use his smarts and martial-arts skills to catch criminals and save the day. So Bruce took the job, and the Lee family moved to Los Angeles, where The Green Hornet was filmed. The Green Hornet introduced Bruce, who was twenty-five years old at the time, to

American TV audiences. His kung fu skills were like nothing ever before seen on television. He moved with amazing speed. One story is that Bruce's reflexes were so fast that he could stand in front of a person who held a coin in an open hand, grab the coin, and replace it with another before the person's hand could close. Bruce definitely was too fast for the cameras to catch all of his incredible moves. The makers of The Green Hornet had to ask him to slow down his action. They didn't think television viewers would believe anyone could move as fast as Bruce without using special effects. A funny thing happened with the show: Kato turned out to be more popular than the Green Hornet. That was good for Bruce—but bad for the show. It lasted only one season. When it was canceled, Bruce was out of a job.