Cocaine, acid and marijuana addiction: the unknown side that Bruce Lee revealed in his letters

Gaston Sanchez

07/25/2021 7:00

• Clarín.com

• International

Updated 07/25/2021 7:00 AM

Bruce Lee

is perhaps the most iconic figure in

martial arts

.

Owner of a privileged and hard-working physique, unique skills and the ability to see what others do not at the right time.

Thanks to this, he became an example of athletes and an idol for lovers of cinema and pop culture.

But 48 years after his death,

something that was kept in the dark came to light.

A dark past full of

drugs

, guns and

 lovers

astonished those who idolize all martial artist initiated in win chung and tai chi chuan.

More than 40

letters

of correspondence that Lee had with his former student and friend Robert Baker exposed his addiction to drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and acids.

Bruce Lee

wrote the epistles.

They were signed by him and also had his personal stamp.

There is no way to think that this is a joke in bad taste.

The letters were drawn up between 1969 and 1973, the year he died.

Bruce Lee (1940-1973), was one of the great promoters of martial arts in the West.

Drug addiction

How did they come to light?

In the most unusual way.

They appeared at a flea market in the United States, where the more than 40 letters between

Bruce Lee

and

Robert Baker

were auctioned, collectively or individually, by Heritage Auctions, a multinational auction house based in Dallas, Texas.

The correspondence speaks for itself and reveals consumption and its great dependence on

martial star drugs.

He had an addiction that he fought against and that battle he could not win.

Even his wife, Linda Lee Cadwell, wrote to her "dealer" asking for drugs for her husband.

Supposedly Bruce used them to focus on his scenes when acting.

In one of the writings he asks

his colleague for

cocaine

to get more into a character he was preparing.

“I'm very, very high, but I'm working on the next character.

A little bit of coca could help me in the formation of what I want to create, "wrote the actor of

Operation Dragon

.

"Operation Dragon," Bruce Lee's most popular film, was released shortly after his death.

Cocaine, marijuana and acids

The set of letters is valued at approximately

$ 200,000

and were purchased by an anonymous collector.

The exchange between Lee and Baker was very extensive and there it is implied that his friend was his main supplier, the one in charge of fulfilling the wishes of the star.

The English newspaper

The Sun

shared some of the letters.

There you can see how the creator of

jeet kune do

asked his camel to bring him a "large amount" of cocaine, stating that it allowed him to get much more into his character.

At first he tried not to refer to drugs by name, using words like "thing or" paper.

But as time went by he became less discreet.

“I am planning to go to the United States in three or four weeks,” can be read in a letter dating back to 1972. “As for the products, you can send them in a package addressed to Mr. Wu Ngan at Golden Harvest Studio.

The list of products can be (1)

cocaine

(in large quantity) (2)

acid

(in fair quantity) (3)

hash or herb,

”the letter said.

Handwritten letter by Bruce Lee that demonstrates the actor's drug excesses.

"Excessive consumption"

Within the cinema environment there were rumors that

Bruce Lee

used drugs, but evidence like these had never come to light.

In another of the letters, the actor affirms that his "consumption is excessive" and that he wanted to give up narcotics since they were against the values ​​of martial arts.

In March 1973, while filming

Enter the Dragon

in Hong Kong, his wife, Linda Lee Cadwell, wrote to Baker asking for "medicine" for her husband.

"C $ 500" was the demand.

And he added, regarding the substance he refers to by his initial: "Don't worry if Bruce uses C, he's not overdoing it." 

The first person to offer

the movie star

drugs

is believed to have been

actor

Steve McQueen

.

The former student of the

martial arts

legend

had offered him a

marijuana

cigarette

.

On the other hand, Matthew Polly, author of the authorized biography of Bruce Lee, did not hide his amazement at this situation.

Another of the letters written by Bruce Lee before his death.

He died on July 20, 1973, due to cerebral edema.

Collapse and death 

"While Baker was long rumored to be Bruce's distributor, many, including myself, assumed he was limited to marijuana / hash," Matthew Polly, author of "Bruce Lee: A Life," wrote on his Twitter account. .

He added: "These letters confirm in great detail that it was primarily cocaine, and in sufficient quantities to say that Bruce had a real habit."

Most of the letters auctioned in Dallas (Texas), by the North American company, were written on paper, with the actor's signature at the end of each epistle and also had Bruce Lee's personal gold-plated letterhead, with a red yin and yang symbol.

Even Bruce tried to make a date with a

lover

, until now unknown to all, named Teresa. In the letter he tries to use Bob Baker's house as a meeting place. In another of the letters dating from 1972, there is also the express request for a

pistol

(Derringer brand) next to the drugs.

On May 10, 1973, while filming Operation Dragon, Lee suffered

heatstroke

and was taken to a Hong Kong hospital.

He died on July 20, 1973, at the age of 32, due to

cerebral edema

.

It is believed that the pain reliever Equagesic, which the actor used, could have something to do with it, although according to his biographer, Polly, the heat stroke suffered two months earlier was decisive for the

death

of the martial arts star.

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