Grace Ho (; 1907 – 24 June 1996) was the mother of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

. She and her husband Lee Hoi-chuen were the parents of Bruce as well as

Peter Lee Peter Lee may refer to: *Peter Lee (bishop of Christ the King) (born 1947), England-born Anglican bishop, working in South Africa *Peter Lee (bishop of Virginia) (born 1938), American bishop of the Episcopal Church *Peter Lee (chess player) (born 19 ...

, Robert Lee, Phoebe Lee, and Agnes Lee.

Biography

Grace Ho was born in 1907 in Shanghai to Cheung King-sin (張瓊仙), a European woman who was Ho Kom-tong's (何甘棠)

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

in Shanghai. Ho Kom-tong was a prominent businessman who had 12 wives and reportedly more than 30 children. Ho Kom-tong was also the younger maternal half-brother of Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist

Robert Hotung Sir Robert Ho Tung Bosman, (22 December 1862 – 26 April 1956), also known as Sir Robert Ho Tung, was a businessman and philanthropist in British Hong Kong. Known as "the grand old man of Hong Kong" (), he was knighted in 1915 (Knight Bachel ...

. Ho eventually adopted Grace. The ethnicity of Grace's mother also remains somewhat uncertain. For many years, it was believed that Grace's mother was of German-Catholic descent. A 2016 investigation by Charles Russo of Vice Media, based on documents that were used for the family’s immigration and genealogical evidence, showed that Grace was actually of English descent on her mother's side. Grace spent part of her childhood in Hong Kong, living at the

Ho Tung Gardens Ho Tung Gardens, also known by its Cantonese name 'Hiu Kok Yuen', was a villa on Victoria Peak, the Peak, Hong Kong. It was built by Robert Hotung and his wife Clara in 1927. They referred to it as "The Falls", but it later became known as Ho T ...

in the Peak under the care of Clara Ho Tung, her aunt. Grace later fell in love with her husband-to-be Lee Hoi-chuen (李海泉) from her admiration of his stage art. Grace traveled with Lee in San Francisco on his one-year US tour with the Mandarin Theatre in 1939. Grace reported to the US government in 1939 that her mother was English; when Grace returned to Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, she reported that her mother was German because Germany was an ally of Japan at that time. During this tour, Grace gave birth to her fourth child

; Lee Hoi-chuen was performing in New York City at the time of Bruce's birth. Grace's family would all return to Hong Kong in the spring of 1941 only to be stuck there during the Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945. Grace's three sons would go on to be very successful.

, Grace's oldest son, excelled in fencing and meteorology, becoming assistant director of the Hong Kong Observatory. Bruce Lee would become famous in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

and Hong Kong for his films and skill in

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

, and Robert Lee would become a popular Hong Kong and Macau musician founding the band called the Thunderbirds.

Depictions in media

Unlike most of her children, Grace was hardly ever seen in the media or on television. Her only appearance on television was with her son Robert in an interview on ''Good Night America'' with

Geraldo Rivera Geraldo Rivera (born Gerald Riviera; July 4, 1943) is an American journalist, attorney, author, political commentator, and former television host. He hosted the tabloid talk show '' Geraldo'' from 1987 to 1998. He gained publicity with the liv ...

, shortly after Bruce's death.

References

External links

The secrets of Bruce Lee’s heritage are in ....San Bruno?

"Geraldo Rivera Interview Bruce Lee's Mother and Brother"
YouTube. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Grace 1907 births 1996 deaths Chinese emigrants to the United States Family of Bruce Lee Hong Kong people of English descent