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Brandon's
life began on February 1, 1965, in Oakland, California.
From the
word go Brandon was always going to be a tough kid. His Mother Linda, commented,
"Brandon was a challenging kid to raise because he was always challenging the
norm.” As a child he was not afraid of trying new things, as he wanted to
experience all he could.
In 1966,
the art of Jeet Kune Do (JKD) was formed by a group of Martial arts systems that
Brandon's Father Bruce Lee, felt worked for him. He was eager to share this new
art with his toddler son, who took to it like a duck to water.
For the
younger Lee having older men yelling and screaming in the backyard was
normal, however, it was not always considered normal outside of his family’s
walls. This proved to be the case when Brandon would bring his playmates home
from his class. As soon as they would observe Brandon's father and his friends
sparring and performing numerous drills, they would run screaming from the
house. For Brandon, his friend’s reactions must have been very confusing.
Being the
only child for four years (Shannon was born in 1969), Bruce and Brandon were two
peas in a pod whether it was training or riding their bikes around the
neighborhood. They had a tight bond.
In 1967, the TV series that Bruce was
staring in as Kato, The
Green hornet was cancelled. The event left Bruce Lee’s Hollywood career to take
a dramatic stop. Bruce began giving Gung Fu lessons to celebrity clients, but he
remained frustrated at the level of racism in Hollywood, that prevented him from
perusing more mainstream Hollywood roles. In 1970, while trying to arrange a
visa for his mother to come to the United States, the older Lee took Brandon to
Hong Kong. Brandon later recalled the "smell of Hong Kong" was his first
impression of the city. In Hong Kong, Bruce found out that the Green Hornet show
had been renamed the Kato show, and he was indeed a hero in his hometown. He was
invited to appear on a talk show with Brandon
in tow. Bruce showed off his JKD skills on Hong Kong television, as did
5-year-old Brandon, who demonstrated that he was very much like his father by
kicking and then breaking a board.
The
appearance caught the eye of Hong Kong producer Raymond Chow, who signed Bruce
to a film contract with his company Golden Harvest Pictures. Soon after Bruce
relocated the Family from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, where Brandon started to
attend La Salle College, a Chinese catholic boy school, which his father Bruce
had attended as a child. He had to wear a uniform, and was required to learn to
speak and write in Chinese.
As his
father's career started to soar he began having trouble at school because of
Bruce's celebrity status in Hong Kong. He got so high profile that Brandon, and
Shannon had to be escorted to school of a morning, because of fears that they
might be kidnapped. Brandon later recalled the kind of crowds that used to await
him and his sister as they were driven to school saying that " they would often have to push
people out of the way so they could open the gate to get the car out of the
driveway."
Brandon
also would visit his father on the sets of his films, which he later described
as “Magic”. When Brandon was 8 in July of 1973, Bruce lee died of a cerebral
oedema. He was only 32 years of age.
After his
father's very public funeral in Hong Kong, and a more private one in Seattle,
Washington, Brandon's mother Linda settled the family in Los Angeles in 1974. It
was in Los Angeles where the 9 year old had to adjust to his now very different
life and his new role as head of the family.
Not long
after settling back into Los Angeles life, his mother enrolled Brandon in a
martial arts school. The IMB academy was at that time run by Bruce Lee's
students Dan Inosanto and Richard Bustillo, and located in Torrance, California.
Brandon
was still coming to terms with his own grief, and the many photos that donned
the academy were too much for him and he ran crying from the class. It was also
at the academy that the 9-year-old Brandon would first met the 18-year-old Jeff
Imada, who would became one of his best friends and primary training partner. Imada was a newly made junior instructor and would help teach the
Children's class. Imada would go on to much success as a stunt coordinator in
Hollywood, and would later work on Brandon's American feature films. Brandon
eventually drifted from the Martial arts. Turning his back on the only tie he
had to his father's chief discipline and passion.
Brandon
was never one to shy from action. Throughout his childhood he was active in all
sports. As he grew older, his natural talent in comedy begun to emerge. He was a
great comedian blessed with a wonderful sense of humor. This humor began
to be expressed in practical jokes. In the fourth Grade, he taped a sound effect
of a monster from TV, and then during a class presentation of one of his fellow
students, he left a tape recorder in the class closet, and left the first 10
minutes blank, so the noises progressively got louder. While one of the students
was making a speech, the sonic volume increased. The class was in laughter at
the marvel of the joke and the teacher in amazement, but Brandon was sent to the
principal’s office. Such activities became frequent throughout his teenage
years. As an adult Brandon adored playing elaborate practical jokes on his
friends.
The older Brandon got the
more he struggled with the shadow of Bruce lee. He was constantly being
challenged at school in the playground. Brandon later referred to this period of
his life as the “ gunslinger syndrome”. Childhood it is said often
feels like the cruelest place on earth, and this was surely the case for young
Brandon Lee. As an adult, Brandon recalled how easy it was for someone to
provoke a fight with him, “ Frankly all someone had to say was ‘Your Bruce Lee's
son, well your father was a wimp', I don't consider getting into fights particularly
admirable. I think it's the natural responsibility of an involved martial artist
to avoid a confrontation. Within the last few years I have taken great pains to
that unless someone physically threatens me”. It was often his lack of self-
restraint that got him kicked out of several high schools for insubordination.
In his
senior year, while he was attending an exclusive private school, The Chadwick School,
located in Palos Verdes Peninsula section of Los Angeles, he was elected student
body president, but his ideas for the private school did not fit in well with
the strict environment of the administration. He started to display disrespect
for teachers and authority and three months shy of graduating he was asked to
leave the school, he later said " The little piece of paper they gave me said I had a bad attitude toward the
educational process and was a poisonous influence on the minds of my fellow
students.''
Brandon received his GED, from a nearly High school.
His
erratic nature was not confined to his school. As a teenager he had erected a
tree house in the backyard and one night decided to liberate a car. After
realizing that he was being followed by the LAPD patrol car, he decided to
brazen it and drove home to his mother’s house. He then casually walked into the
house. The following patrol officer woke his sleeping mother. No charges were
filed, but she ordered Brandon to destroy his tree house as punishment.
Brandon was trying hard to find his own image and tear down the 'Bruce Lee's'
son image any way he could.
Brandon was eager to be free of
the constraints of parental and worldly expectations. In the summer of 1982, the
then 17-year-old decided to spend his summer hitchhiking around the western
United States. As avid fan of the infamous road trip book, 'On The Road',
Brandon later described the adventures and stories he received from the older
men and women who would pick him up as he made his way traveling. Brandon would
have a lifelong fascination with road trips and loved getting the wind in his
hair. Freedom, some people felt, should of been his middle name.
In 1983,
when he was 18, he went to the DMV and posed as a driving instructor. He managed
to convince a 16-year-old girl that he was her instructor. He commented later
that it was his last joke that potentially could have gotten him arrested, " I
figured this was the last time I'd be able to get away with anything serious -
like committing a felony, such as impersonating an officer."
After he
received his GED he had not wanted to go to college, but family friend Andre
Morgan convinced him otherwise. Brandon moved to the east coast city of Boston
to attend the arts orientated university Emerson College. At Emerson he majored
in Theatre Studies, but the academic life was one not for him, stating in 1992,
that he ``never had any intention of
graduating,''
and he soon left.
Brandon was still struggling with not only being Bruce lee's son, and accepting
other people's perception of him, but was desperate for people to see that he was serious
about acting.
After a
year in Boston, he moved to New York City to take acting lessons under the
tuition of Eric Morris, and formed a theatre group American New Theatre with
Morris, screenwriter John Lee Hancock, and another actor George Davis. He preformed repertory plays such as Fool
for love,
Cowboy Nam,
and
Into the fire, as well as one man plays like
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence.
He also Played ‘Ged’, in an Equity Waver House production of
Zoo
Story.
To support himself like many struggling actors he worked as a waiter. In
addition to Eric Morris classes, he attended the Lee Strasburg Acting Academy.
Att the time of his death in 1993, he was still actively involved in acting classes,
studying under Lynette Katselas in Los Angeles, and had a regular theatre group
called Illegal Aliens, with who he frequently preformed plays with. It was
Brandon's hope that after he was more established, he could financially support
the group, so they could perform more often in their own theatre space. To
Brandon it was more important to continue to act in whatever fashion, and to
support others in his field with theatre groups, instead of going for the big
bucks and buying a bigger home, stating ' if it means not having the largest
mobile home or whatever, then that's fine.'
In 1985,
while back in L.A, working as a office boy for Ruddy/Morgan productions, he was
introduced to casting director Lyn Stalmaster, who was looking for a young actor
to play a bit part in cannonball 3. Brandon looking for a chance to gain his SAG
union card went along to the casting call. He did not get the part, but he was
asked to read for the part in a tele-movie that Stalmaster was casting. The
project was Kung Fu: The movie. At first Brandon didn't want to do the part, he
had worked hard at acting, and did not want to be pigeon holed into doing Kung
Fu films, because of his father. He was intensely proud of his father, but still
unable to come to terms with the shadow and impact of his father's legend.
Brandon sought some solace in his mother's advice, who told him that doors may
open to him, but it was up to him to get behind that door to prove
to others what he is made of. He decided to take the role.
Brandon makes his debut....
Brandon
knew comparisons would be made between him and his father, but he also knew that
he had the opportunity to make a name for himself, and had to take it. On
Brandon's 21st Birthday, he made his Debut in ‘Kung Fu: The Movie’ co-staring
with David Carradine, who stared in the original TV series. The original series
was in fact partly created by his father Bruce under the title of ‘ The
Warrior’. Bruce was later denied the lead role because it was feared 1960's
American audiences could not relate to an Asian actor in the lead role.
Brandon
was not entirely comfortable with performing martial arts on screen, but still
was able to shine in such a stereotypical role. He followed that role with
leading role in a Hong Kong production ‘Legacy of Rage’. After which he returned
to L.A to film a pilot of ‘Kung Fu: The next Generation’, but the show was not
picked up. Brandon was very disappointed and was starting to realize how
difficult the Hollywood game was. He then stared in an episode of O'Hara in
1988, playing his first and only bad guy role, staring along side Jeff Imada
(who played one of Brandon's henchmen).
In the summer
of 1988, he went to South Africa to star in an English-German
production ‘Laser Mission’. Brandon was now was becoming increasing frustrated
at his lack of opportunities in the U.S. The experience filming Laser Mission
was not a good one, though the role would best be described as a B-grade attempt
at a James Bond thriller, he did get the chance to practice his comic timing,
and diversity within an action setting. Later when he began working steadily in
Hollywood films he refused to discuss Laser Mission.
Time
for a change...
By 1989
times were tough for Brandon. He was in professional Abyss, surviving just
barely. His life both professional and personal had come to a crossroads, and so
he decided something had to change. Pondering over the unpaid bills, and how his
film career had not really gone as planned. He made the bold decision to go back
to where it all started. Instead of running away from his heritage, he was going
to embrace it. He returned to the instructorship of Dan Inosanto, his father
chief student. Brandon started to train several times a week at the world famous
Inosanto Academy located in the Los Angeles area of Marina Del Rey. At first, Inosanto was unsure at how his other students would react to the news of Brandon
training at the academy saying, "I was Afraid that some of my students might take it
easy on him because of his father ,however, He turned out just beautiful." In fact Brandon's Parentage was hardly even an issue.
His appearance at the academy was very low key. Brandon embrace not only
training in his father's art of JKD, but he also wanted to learn anything he
possibly could from a wide variety of other martial arts. He attended seminars
given by the academy, and in 1990 he took and passed his Muay Thai test for
level one instructorship, which is an extremely difficult test to pass. Brandon
Became only one out of 16 people certified that year under the Thai kick boxing
master Chai Sirisute.
His commitment to his training paid off when a burglar broke into Brandon's
house in Echo Park in late 1990.
Brandon's martial artist’s instinct set in. The burglar in question not only did
not escape, but Brandon managed to break several limbs of the burglars. After
the burglar got out of the hospital he was sentenced to 2 years in Jail for
breaking and entering.
Brandon
had also reached new heights in his confidence towards himself and his own
martial arts abilities. He began to take an interest in how fight scenes worked.
He studied his father's films and those of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, as well
as other Hong Kong films and martial artists. He broke the scene down to see
what fights worked. Setting his mind on future roles he took his video camera
down to the Academy and filmed how people moved naturally. It was his hope to
portray more realistic fights on screen. Brandon's friend Chad Stahelski, who
frequently trained with Brandon remembers Brandon's drive "He'd have this idea
of martial arts, what was cool and how to shoot it."
There had
been a lot of changes in his life. 1990 served as the year Brandon would meet
the love of his life, Eliza Hutton, a shy and reserved brunette impressed
Brandon at their first meeting. It soon became apparent that the couple were
very much in love. Eliza was action director Renny Harlin's Personal assistant. Harlin
and Brandon shared the same agent David Goldman at the William Morris Agency at
the time. After Brandon met Eliza he told his own manager/friend Jan Mc Cormack
that he had found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. The
pair became inseparable. Note:
For more on Brandon and Eliza please visit our page on this aspect of his life.
In early
1991, Brandon won the supporting role in Showdown in Little Tokyo (SILT). At the
time Brandon had been working with Producer Robert Lawrence on getting Rapid
fire off the ground. He had been active on the audition circuit when SILT fell
in his lap. It became his American feature film debut. After the completion of
SILT, Brandon started filming Rapid fire (Originally called "Moving Target"). He
was finally getting the chance to star in his own lead role and he was ready for
this. In preparation, Lee had enlisted the help of a personal trainer to tone
his body and make him look right for the part of an athletic college student. He
met Darryl Chan on the set of SILT, where Chan was hired as a stuntman. On the
first day of shooting Lee had approached Chan and told him that he would be the
first person he would be killing on screen. To which Chan replied that he was
"honored." Brandon observed Chan around the set, and quickly noticed how his
biceps would not contract. Thinking he was somehow holding them in to make them
look bigger, he finally got tired of staring at them and grabbed Chan's Arms and
blurted out "Jesus you cant be holding them in that long". After that, Brandon
and Darryl talked. Brandon told him how he was looking for a good personal
trainer, and after the film wrapped Chan gave Lee his card, once Lee saw
from his card that he was certified in sports medicine, the two exchanged phone
numbers and started training.
Between
doing promotion for SILT, and getting ready for Rapid fire, Brandon trained at
Darryl's gym in what limited time they had. Six days a week, he worked on his
biceps, triceps, quads, and though at times they were large gaps in between
their sessions, Brandon did achieve what he set out to do. If you watch SILT,
and then Rapid Fire, you will notice how much more toned Lee is in the latter.
Rapid
Fire started filming in the summer of 1991. It’s location was mainly in Los
Angeles, but also filmed a much difficult scene on the Chicago train tracks.
Brandon had worked long and hard in pre production to not only look the part,
but also to prove that he was up to what acting the script called for. He worked
closely with the scriptwriter Alan Mc Elroy to ensure that his character was one
the audience would sympathize with. With Jeff Imada as the stunt coordinator for
the film, Brandon had all round confidence in not only his acting, but his martial
arts abilities as well. The experience arranging his own fight scenes was an
enjoyable once, so much so that Brandon later said that he would never do
another action film with him not arranging his own scenes. He felt that this project was going to be a
stepping-stone to a great start in a long career. In addition to Jeff, Brandon
hired his young sister Shannon to work as his assistant on the film. Shannon had
just graduated from her voice degree in New Orleans and enjoyed watching her big
brother at this important stage in his career. Shannon later revealed she really
loved the experience, but commented that it was probably a good thing that she
was related to Brandon, as he joked that he wished that he could call her up at
3am and ask her to bring a six pack down to set. However, he felt that he
couldn't do that because she was his baby sister. During Rapid Fire's filming
Brandon learned about suffering for his art. In a scene he kicked against a much
stronger padded door and broke several bones in one of his feet. The accident
caused him to take 1 month off production on bed rest.
After
filming the film, Lee prepared himself for heavy promotion. He was made more
appealing after he signed to film deals with both Carolco and 20-century Fox
Studios. Lee was enjoying the spotlight. Finally he was having his moment in the
sun, and one that he had worked so long and hard to obtain. In Interviews there
were always the questions about Bruce, which Brandon tolerated. Brandon was very
polite at shifting the focus off negative aspects like his Father's death on to
more positive ones like his own career and his movie at hand. Brandon understood
that the public were interested in knowing about Bruce's son. His charm and wit
won over even the most cynical journalist. He was living proof that sheer
determination and natural talent can accomplish and overcome any obstacle life
may deal you. Brandon lee was his own little American dream.
Enter the Crow...
It was
the summer of 1992, when Brandon first read the Crow script. After only reading
half the script, he told his manager that, "you just have to get me this part."
Through his talent Agency William Morris,
Lee was
introduced to producer Jeff Most and executive producer Edward R Pressman.
Several meetings later he was given the part. Lee was eager to prove to critics
and film producers that there was so much more to him then just his surname.
Brandon
was on the promotional tour for Rapid Fire
in Europe
in late 1992, where he discussed his new upcoming role in
The Crow,
“
My next role is called ‘The
crow’,
in it I play a musician who is murdered and returns to avenge the murders. I am
looking forward to the role a lot”.
Whilst on
the tour, Brandon proposed to his longtime girlfriend Eliza on a trip to
Venice, Italy. After returning home to the United States, Brandon, and Eliza
threw a cocktail party for their family and friends. They took this opportunity
to announce their engagement.
Say
goodbye to Hollywood…
In late
January 1993, Brandon arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina with Eliza by his
side.
The
principle photography began the day of his 28th birthday, February 1st,
1993. Everyone on the set was enthusiastic watching Lee as the painted face
Un-dead Rocker Eric Draven.
Brandon
had done sufficient research into his character, though Eric Draven was
obviously fiction. He even packed himself with bags of ice in order to prepare.
This was in order to determine how his character would walk, when he came back
from the dead. Producers of The Crow were furious with the actor because if this
incident. Brandon said in an interview before his death, that he got into
argument with one of the producers over his research techniques, but was totally
unapologetic for how he method acted.
It was
not long into production when frequent on-set accidents started to happen.
First, a carpenter was badly burned in a set fire, then a freak storm destroyed
one the back lots. There were rumors some crew had resorted to taking cocaine to
deal with the long hours required on set. Brandon concerned with the safety of
his and his co-stars, even put in a formal complaint via his Manager Jan
McCormack, just days before his death. He had told Jan that for was barely
getting any sleep, and that conditions on the set had become ' sub-human.' When
McCormack put in a complaint the response from Bob Rosen was less
then helpful. Rosen said in no unspoken terms that the production had to finish
at all cost, and he did not care what it cost as long as it was not money. Jan
Mc Cormack's fired back at Rosen, not knowing how prophetic her words would
later become saying, " I don't care about your damn movie Bob. You guys are killing Brandon
down there". Brandon's complaint was ignored and safety conditions did not improve.
Four days later Brandon was dead.
The weeks
leading up until Brandon’s death were stressful indeed. Brandon, himself started
to suffer from chronic insomnia, and was by all accounts counting the days until
he was back home in California. He was intensely excited about his upcoming
marriage to Eliza, slated for April 17th, 1993, and the event was his chief
motivation to get the film finished. His thoughts were constantly on his new
role as husband to Eliza, and boaster to any crew member, journalist or vistor
to the set how much he was in love with his beloved Eliza, who he called his
'immortal soul mate'. He often told his co-stars, and members of the crew of
his happiness. He proudly would tell journalists visiting the set of his next
project, commenting to A Magazine Editor Jeff Yang when asked what his next role
was, “It starts production April 17th, it's all been cast, and is going to go on for about 50 years
– I am getting married”.
His
beloved fiancée Eliza Hutton was on set for much of the production, but returned
to LA just days before his death, in order to make the final preparations for
their wedding in Mexico.
It
happened one night…
March 30,
1993 started out like a normal day. Brandon woke up late afternoon, he called
his fiancée Eliza, and she advised him that her wedding ring had finally arrived
from the jewelers (it has been custome designed and built). Brandon arrived on set at a little before 8pm. Earlier that
afternoon he had been happily chatting about his wedding with the staff at the
local gym he trained at most days. After a light dinner he called his mother
from the set. They chatted casually about his wedding, which was only less than
three weeks away. He told his mother of his relief that this was the last night
of all the action scenes. The rest of the week was to be flashback scenes –
relatively easy work.
The scene
Brandon was shooting was his character’s death scene. A few weeks before the
scene began shooting it had been decided that Eric Draven – Brandon’s character
would be stabbed by the killers, and then thrown out the window. Only hours
before the shoot Director Alex Proyas had decided that Draven would be shot as
well. Once it was decided how his character was to be killed, they worked out
that he should be carrying an object. A ‘Squib’, which is a small explosive
charge used with a small bag of blood, was placed instead a bag his character
would be carrying. When the squib is detonated, it bleeds fake blood to make it
look like the subject had been actually shot. The squib was placed in a brown
grocery bag not on Brandon, as one would expect of such a production.
Brandon
had worn a bullet- proof safety vest on one previous scene. In it, he was shot
close to 90 times, but on this night, the stunt team determined that a vest
would not be warranted. It was not expected that the gun would be directed aimed
at his body, which was against safety regulation laws on film sets. There were
more then forty squibs in the bag that Brandon was carrying. The gun was not to
be pointed at the bag, just vaguely in the direction. It was felt that Brandon
was a safe distance from the gun, and vests were only used when characters were
shot at point blank. The gun expert, who had oversaw the previous gun fights had
finished his time on The Crow. Much speculation has been made about the
production crew wanting to save a few bucks, but there is significant evidence
that points to the fact that originally Brandon's character was not to be shot,
only stabbed and thrown out a window. Later after all the action film was
winding down, Proyas decided that Brandon's character should be shot also.
Unknown to Proyas, but the prop team (who were put in charge of maintaining and
cleaning the weapon) had not been doing their job, and had in fact made dummy
bullets themselves, to save money. And then failed to follow through with
routine cleaning of the weapon after the 2nd unit crew had done dummy film
shots.
Brandon
had a thought during the scenes initial rehearsal. He felt that his character
should be wearing a walkman. His feelings were that his character would not just
walk into his apartment knowing that someone was attacking his girlfriend.
Brandon now wearing a walkman and carrying a grocery bag waited patiently ready
for director Proyas to yell ‘ACTION’. Several members of the crew were on set
watching the scene as it played out. The actor Michael Massee, who was playing
one of the villains, had been randomly chosen to shoot Brandon’s character.
Members of the crew recall according to reports remember hearing Proyas
directing Massee to shot above Brandon’s shoulder in rehearsal. It is unclear if
this direction was later repeated in the filmed take. Massee, in his only
interview about the accident in 2005, indicated that he was not given any such
instructions. In any case, both director and actor had no prior knowledge of gun
safety procedures to know any differently.
At a
little past midnight, Brandon walked through his character’s wooden door,
wearing a walkman, and bopping to the music. Massee’s character Funboy said a
line and then pointed the prop gun at Brandon and fired. Brandon fell, but not
as previously planned. At this time no one had suspected anything was wrong.
Some of the crew members thought Lee was joking around, as he had previously
done in other scenes by not moving. Imada walked over to Lee thinking he was
playing a joke, but Brandon was not joking in fact he was barely conscious. By
the time anyone noticed a serious accident had occurred he had lost
consciousness and never gained it again.
On-set
medic Clyde Baisey came over to Brandon, who it seemed like was staring out into
space, but was in fact unconscious, and was fast slipping into a coma. At first
it was thought that because he fell backwards near the doorway, that he had
somehow hit his head, or hurt his spine in some way. There was also a theory that
the squib had somehow lodged into his stomach, and that he was just in shock.
After
tearing away some clothing, Baisey noticed as he was taking his vitals how
alarming low they were. Within a few minutes Brandon did not seem to have a
pulse. It was difficult to determine where his injury was coming from since the
squibs had exploded fake blood all over his stomach. Baisey could not find any
evidence of a wound – the actual wound was no bigger then a quarter coin it was
later determined. Baisey shouted for 911 to be called. At this time Brandon’s
abdomen started to swell, which indicated that he had internal bleeding. Michael
Massee the actor who shot Brandon went into shock, and had to be consoled by one
of the crew. The majority of the cast and crew were in a state of panic. Some
left the room, but many had decided to stay since to get out they would have to
go past where Brandon layed.
Precious
minutes went past and there was still no sign of the ambulance. It was close to
15 minutes after they were called that they were allowed to enter the back lot
at Carolco studios. When the ambulance arrived Brandon had no pulse. They
immediately set up an IV. Once on the gurney it was determined that his heart
had stopped. The heart monitor was showing a flat line, while the brain was
alive and telling the heart to beat, the blood was not getting to the heart.
Emergency CPR was done, but his organs were fast breaking down due to the
internal bleeding. His chances of survival were fading fast.
After
arriving at the emergency department at the New Hanover Medical Centre, an X-Ray
of his abdomen revealed that a projectile was sitting next to the spine. Despite
this discovery the immediate threat to his life was the lack of blood
circulation. His artery had been damaged when he was shot, and without surgery
to replace the lost blood, he had no hope. A surgeon was on that night, and
Brandon was rushed into surgery to replace the lost blood. He received multiple
pints of blood, but little progress was made.
Imada
fearing the worst thought he should call to see how Eliza was taking the news.
He had previously been told that someone had called her, but the truth was much
different. No one had called Eliza, despite reports to the contrary, and he
would be the first one to break the news to her. Eliza at first thought Imada
was helping Brandon play a Practical joke on her. It was after all near April
Fools Day, and Brandon was notorious for playing elaborate practical jokes on
his loved ones, including quite regularly - Eliza. Imada on the other had called with the assumption that she had been
told of the accident. He asked her if she was taking a plane out. Eliza asked
him what he was talking about and if “Brandon put you up to this?”. He told
her no, and that there had been a accident and Brandon was in the hospital.
Fearing the worst Eliza Hutton jumped on the first plane to Atlanta from L.A to
meet a connecting flight to Wilmington, North Carolina. She also made a call to
Brandon’s mother Linda. According to a 2000 interview with Shannon Lee, Eliza
said that Brandon had been hurt, but that none of them knew what exactly
happened.
Jeff
Imada volunteered to meet Eliza’s plane in Atlanta. While waiting for the
connecting flight, he broke the news that Brandon's injuries were much more
serious then they had first thought. Eliza called The Crow’s costume designer
Arianne Phillips, who she shared mutual friends with in New York City from the
airport frantic with worry, because the connecting plane had no phone on it, and
until she arrive in Wilmington there would be no way she could check on
Brandon’s condition. Phillips tried to calm her down, and tried to assure her that
Brandon's injuries probably were not as bad as she had been led to believe.
Brandon had been injured on the set of Rapid Fire in 1991, when a bad timing
move had broken part of Brandon's foot.
Hutton
and Imada landed in Wilmington just after midday on March 31st.
They went straight to the hospital where Lee was laying in intensive care. Eliza
was taken directly to Brandon’s room where she spent her last moments with
Brandon in private, though, Brandon still was unconscious and now in a coma. A short time
later, she and Imada were called into the surgeon’s office. Eliza in the company
of Jeff Imada and Jeff Cadiente, Brandon’s good friends, received the worst news
possible. Brandon was not expected to make it through the day. Hutton was
understandably an emotional wreck and was being consoled by Imada when the
doctor was called out for a code red. With Hutton and his closest friends
witnessing this all by his side, he flatlined.
Brandon’s
heart had stopped again. All measures had been done, but his organs had all
failed.
He was
pronounced dead at 1:04pm on the afternoon of Wednesday 31st of March 1993. He
was 28 years of age.
Meanwhile
Linda did not know how badly hurt he was, and did not get on a plane until the
hospital called her with an update at 4am. She called his sister Shannon, who
was living in New Orleans. They both jumped on the first plane they could and
made their way to Wilmington. The Lee women would not reach Wilmington until
several hours after Brandon had died. Eliza Hutton and Jeff Imada met their
plane and Eliza broke the bad news to them that Brandon was dead.
Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to ensure only the accurate truth has
been reported. This biography has been written based on numerous books, print
articles and Tv or Film documentaries shown on the subject. If you find an error
please email me. |