vrijdag 28 oktober 2016









Born: 19-04-1969
Birthplace: Los Angeles (California)
Country: USA
Nickname: Shan Shan
Height: 5' 9" (1,75 m)

American actress Shannon Lee is the daughter of martial arts film legend Bruce Lee. She grew up in Rolling Hills (California) and lived in Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles also. Her mother Linda Lee Cadwell is the granddaughter of Cantonese opera singer Lee Hoi-Chuen. She has an older brother Brandon who died in the year 2000, under strange circumstances just as her father Bruce in 1973. The family lived in Hong Kong from 1971 to 1973 and moved back to the USA after her father's death.


She graduated at the Chadwick School in Los Angeles in 1987 and studied music at the Tulane University in New Orleans, where she graduated in 1991. She married lawyer Anthony Keasler in 1994 and the couple live currently in Pacific Palisades (California), with their only daughter Wren who was born in 2003.


Richard Bustillo is one of her father's students, who gives Jeet Kune Do (this martial art system is invented by her father) lessons to her since young age. She gets taekwondo lessons of sensei Dung Doa Liang and studied wushu under sensei Eric Chen. Benny Urquidez teached her Kickboxing in order to prepare her for the movie ''Enter the Eagles''.


There are several covershoots and articles about her in magazines as Ma Success, Black Belt, Inside Kung Fu, Femme Fatales and Martial Arts Movies and many more.


Action Movie Career


She made her action movie debut as Mi Lo in this story about Vietnam veterans Billy Thomas (played by Lou Ferrigno) and Scott (played by Reb Brown) who are kidnapped by the ''Black Hand", an Asian criminal organization led by Tin Yin Lum (played by Frankie Avina) in  ''Cage II'' (1994). Scott is left for dead and Tin Yin wants to use Billy as cage fighter.


She plays bank manager Jane Logan in this story about Mollie (played by Amy Smart) and Larry (played by Lochlyn Munro) who form an group of thieves led by Johnny (played by Antonio Sabàto, Jr) in ''High Voltage'' (1997). The three thieves do one last job and try to rob a small bank in Little Saigon (Orange Country). They rob the bank and discover accidentally that the bank is a money laundering machine for the Korean drug market.


She plays in this story where Wesley Snipes plays the lead role as Blade, a half-vampire/half-mortal man, who becomes the protector of mortal humankind in ''Blade'' (1998). He has the goal to clear the world of all vampire evil, in a world where vampires life on earth.


She plays the lead role as Mandy who's an excellent sharpshooter with lethal martial arts skills in ''Enter The Eagles'' (1998). Professional thief Martin (played by Michael Wong) has the assignment to steal the Czar's Prism of $3M, which is the largest diamond of the Czech Repbulic. Martin teams up with his former partner Mandy in an adventure full of espionage, double-crossing, and explosive action.


She plays Vanessa Feng in one episode of the successful action TV series ''Martial Law'' (1998 - 2000). Police officer Sammo Law (played by Sammo Hung) is a hand to hand combat instructor from Shanghai who comes to Los Angeles in order to search for a crime boss. His temporary mission is turned into an ongoing position. He works together with undercover cop Chen Pei-Pei (played by Kelly Hu).


She plays one of the lead roles as martial arts expert Fiona Leclaire in ''Lessons for an Assassin'' (2003). Criminal Gavin Matthews (played by Robert Vitelli) his identity and past has been erased by "The Corporation", an secret underground organization who acts as a rogue Justice Department. The corporation has captured him and he is held captive with other recruits at an training and reeducation facility. Matthew and the others will become professional assassins. They do missions and are eliminated if they refuse to do missions.


Action Documentaries


She made her television debut in the action documentary ''Bruce Lee: The Man and the Legend'' (1973). This show examines the life and untimely death of martial arts superstar Bruce Lee.


She appears alongside Chuck Norris, Dan Inosanto and Linda Lee Cadwell in the action documentary ''The Curse of the Dragon'' (1993). This show goes about the life of Bruce Lee and features interviews with people who worked with him.


She appears in the show which profiles the lives of notable figures in the history of entertainment, sports, arts, science, politics and warfare in the action documentary ''Biography'' (1994). The show is hosted by veteran actor Peter Graves and Jack Perkins who tell the life stories of various historical figures and celebrities.


She was television host of the sports documentary ''WMAC Masters'' (1995–1996). This show is about each of the various martial arts disciplines, which declare its techniques superior to other combat arts for centuries. There was no material to compare the difference between the martial arts disciplines. The grand masters set aside their differences and form a governing body named ''The World Martial Arts Council'' to determine for martial artists on the planet.


She appears in the Bruce Lee documentary ''The Path of the Dragon'' (1998). This show goes about Bruce Lee who changed the attitude of Chinese actors, who couldn't play lead roles in Hollywood. He paved the way for people like Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Jet Li in the US film market. The show concentrates on Bruce Lee his impact on Western and Eastern cultures.


She appears alongside action heros Taky Kimura, Dan Inosanto, Margaret Cho, Jackie Chan, Grady Hendrix, Dana White, Donny Yen and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the action documentary ''How Bruce Lee Changed the World'' (2009). This episode is hosted by narrator Charles Parnell who tells about Bruce Lee his life. The global impact of Bruce Lee is explored to see how he has influenced all popular culture areas as fitness, cinema, music, sport, dance, video games and philosophy. The show make a journey across the United States, Asia, Europe and takes Shannon on a trip back to her father's roots in Hong Kong and China. People have a unique access to the family's photographic archive, home movies and all material owned by the Bruce Lee Foundation.


Action Movie Filmography


  • Lessons for an Assassin (2003)
  • Martial Law (1998 - 2000) ''TV series''
  • Enter The Eagles (1998)
  • Blade (1998)
  • High Voltage (1997)
  • Cage II (1994)

Action Documentary

  • Blue Gold: American Jeans (2014)
  • IC Places Hollywood (2012)
  • Hollywood Legends Special (2012)
  • I Am Bruce Lee (2012)
  • How Bruce Lee Changed the World (2009)
  • Famous Families (1999)
  • The Path of the Dragon (1998)
  • Masters of the Martial Arts Presented by Wesley Snipes (1998)
  • E! True Hollywood Story (1997)
  • WMAC Masters (1995)
  • Biography (1994)
  • The Curse of the Dragon (1993)
  • Bruce Lee: The Man and the Legend (1973)