# How exactly did Bruce Lee die?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [May 8, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212 "2004-05-08T19:46:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Starguard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starguard)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212/1 "2004-05-08T19:46:33Z")
This is one topic of controversy that should really get the ball rolling quick š
Over the years, I have heard many stories that all tried to explain the mysterious death behind this Martial Arts legend. Here are some of the themā¦
- He was killed by something called "Dim Makā or āThe Death Touchā. This is a special art known only to a few that was perfected by Ninjaās centuries ago, and secretely passed on throughout the Martial Arts world clean up to today
- He was on Drugs and died from an allergic reaction to Hasish (if that was spelled right)
- He died from something called āCerebrial Edeamaā. This is a cerribrual Hemmorage where the brain swells up larger than his skulls capacity will allow it to expand
- He was shot dead by the Chinese Mafia for revealing Gung- Fu to the west
- He was poisoned by a Chinese prostitute for marrying an foreign American woman
- He faked his own death is now running a string of Dry Cleaners in the Phillipines
- He was kidnapped by China and is being forced to train Chinese soldiers on how to fight hand to hand
- He is stll alive in America and was seen working in Las Vegas with Elvis
Tell us, What are some of the explanations **you** have heard? Anyone out there think they **really** know how he died or what actually happened to him? :eek:
---
### Author:  [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212/2 "2004-05-08T20:18:09Z")
> [@](#):
>
> The facts of the case are this: Lee died after falling into a coma. The coronerās report was inconclusive, and medical authorities came up with five reasons for Leeās untimely death. **However, they all agreed that it was caused by a cerebral edema (a swelling of the brain caused by a congestion of fluid)**. But what caused the edema became a matter of speculation.
[http://www.allbrucelee.com/article/mystery\_of\_bruce\_lee.htm](http://www.allbrucelee.com/article/mystery_of_bruce_lee.htm)
---
### Author:  [@zoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoo)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212/3 "2004-05-08T20:31:16Z")
I had heard Lee died from a blow by a mechanical Tai-Chi-Kwan dummy which was designed to hit back.
sidenoteā¦Reederā¦The āSā in Harry S Truman has no period.
---
### Author:  [@Saturnine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturnine)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212/4 "2004-05-08T20:32:54Z")
By most accounts, he died of cerebral edema, brought on by an allergic reaction to a painkiller he took. Equagesic I believe.
---
### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212/5 "2004-05-08T20:53:06Z")
> [@Starguard](#):
>
> - He was killed by something called "Dim Makā or āThe Death Touchā. This is a special art known only to a few that was perfected by Ninjaās centuries ago, and secretely passed on throughout the Martial Arts world clean up to today
Ninja are Japanese. Dim Muk is Cantonese (Tsien Shueh in Mandarin, IIRC).
> [@Starguard](#):
>
> - He was on Drugs and died from an allergic reaction to Hasish (if that was spelled right)
There were traces of THC found in his system, again IIRC. He had had a previous epileptiform seizure, and recovered. I believe he told the physician in that case that he occasionally chewed cannabis leaf. I donāt know how common this is as a way to use marijuana in the Far East.
Itās āhashishā, incidentally.
> [@Starguard](#):
>
> - He died from something called āCerebrial Edeamaā. This is a cerribrual Hemmorage where the brain swells up larger than his skulls capacity will allow it to expand
Yes, that was the finding at autopsy.
> [@Starguard](#):
>
> - He was shot dead by the Chinese Mafia for revealing Gung- Fu to the west
No. No gunshot wounds were found.
> [@Starguard](#):
>
> - He was poisoned by a Chinese prostitute for marrying an foreign American woman
Again, IIRC he was taken ill at the apartment of a woman other than his wife. His wife is on record that, if Bruce was having or had had an affair, she knew nothing about it. Why would a prostitute care two beans about what race he married? They had been married for years and had two children together by the time of his death - why the delay?
> [@Starguard](#):
>
> - He faked his own death is now running a string of Dry Cleaners in the Phillipines
>
> - He was kidnapped by China and is being forced to train Chinese soldiers on how to fight hand to hand
>
> - He is stll alive in America and was seen working in Las Vegas with Elvis
>
> Tell us, What are some of the explanations **you** have heard? Anyone out there think they **really** know how he died or what actually happened to him? :eek:
I see no reason to doubt **Saturnine** ās description of the circumstances of his death.
FWIW, I have never seen credible evidence of someone being able to bring about the āDelayed Death Touchā that rumors blame for his death, nor any reason to think that the martial arts establishment was upset by his teaching Westerners. He is primarily responsible for the boom in Chinese _chāuan-fa_ thru his movies, and brought a ton of money into the area - I would think they woul encourage him in the name of good business.
My two yuan worth.
Regards,
Shodan
---
### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2022, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212/6 "2022-11-22T07:27:02Z")
> **[Bruce Leeās Death Caused by Drinking Too Much Water, Researchers Propose in...](https://variety.com/2022/film/news/bruce-lee-death-too-much-water-study-finds-1235439405/)**
>
> It has been nearly 50 years since Bruce Leeās death. The actor and martial arts icon suddenly died on July 20, 1973 in Hong Kong, with officials ruling at the time that the cause was cerebralā¦
> **[Who killed Bruce Lee? The hyponatraemia hypothesis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9664576/)**
>
> Bruce Lee brought attention to martial arts in the Western world and popularized the quote āBe water, my friendā. Lee died at the age of 32 years in Hong Kong on 20 July 1973, under mysterious circumstances. The cause of death is unknown, ...
---
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212/7 "2022-11-23T19:25:02Z")
> [@PastTense](#):
>
> [Bruce Lee's Death Caused by Too Much Water, New Study Proposes](https://variety.com/2022/film/news/bruce-lee-death-too-much-water-study-finds-1235439405/)
Well, Iāll be goddamned.
Never knew Bruce Lee was at Camp Lejeune before opening that string of dry cleaning outlets in the Philippines.
---
### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2022, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212/8 "2022-12-09T22:15:02Z")
This is why I only drink Beer and Pure Grain Alcohol, Mandrake.
---
### Author:  [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-bruce-lee-die/244212/9 "2022-12-09T22:42:40Z")
The truth is out thereā¦ along with a lot of fiction:
> **[The Clones of Bruce Lee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clones_of_Bruce_Lee)**
>
> The Clones of Bruce Lee (Cantonese: ē„åØäøēé¾; Korean: čå½¢äøå Death Penalty on Three Robots; Taiwanese: č¤č£½äŗŗęå°é¾ļ¼äøé¾ęē«)\[citation needed\] is a 1980 Bruceploitation martial arts film capitalizing on the death of actor and martial arts star Bruce Lee in 1973.
> The film gathers together several of the many Lee imitators who sprang up after the icon's death (including Dragon Lee and Bruce Le), alongside performers from the real Lee's films and other veterans of the Hong Kong movie industry. It has been cal...