Brandon Lee was the eldest child of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. His career began in the early 90s after he cemented himself as a rising action star. However, his big break arrived when he was cast as Eric Draven in Alex Proyas’s 1994 film, The Crow. On March 31, 1993, when Brandon was filming a scene for the aforementioned movie, he was shot in the right side of his abdomen.
At the time of this incident, the executive producer of the movie, Bob Rosen, was only 20 feet away from him. He was rushed to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina, and operated on for six hours. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries on the very same day he was shot. According to The New York Times, the gun he was shot with was supposed to fire blanks.
After this tragedy, Bob Rosen stated that after blanks are fired, soft wadding comes out from the gun. However, the object that struck Brandon was a metallic projectile. Rosen said, “I don’t know how it got in there.” Furthermore, the late actor’s surgeon Dr. Warren W. McMurry said that he suffered from major intestinal and vascular injuries.
Dr. McMurry further said that the entry wound was close to the size of a silver dollar and the injury extended up to his spine. According to the Chicago Tribune, Brendon’s mother, Linda Lee Cadwell, filed a lawsuit against filmmakers, citing negligence. However, it was soon settled, and no criminal charges were filed.
In 1997, E! True Hollywood Story aired a documentary titled Brandon Lee, that showcased the tragic death of the young Hollywood heartthrob.
Brandon Lee death: Actor died on a film set
According to All That’s Interesting, the scene Brandon Lee was shot in was not very complicated. He was supposed to walk through a doorway carrying a grocery bag while costar Michael Massee would shoot blanks at him. Lee would then activate “squibs”, that looked like bullet wounds. The gun was manufactured by a prop team whose intentions were to simulate realistic rounds. However, on the day of the incident, it was loaded with a dummy bullet from another scene.
Even though Lee’s costar, Michael Massee, fired a dummy, it struck him with the same force as a real one. Upon contact with the metallic projectile, two of Lee’s arteries were immediately severed.
In a recent interview with CNN Entertainment, Brandon’s younger sister, Shannon Lee, spoke fondly about him. She said, “My brother’s fearlessness and his sense of adventure and freedom, his inherent artistry and creativity, and his desire for learning and growth all came from the time that he spent with my father. My father was my brother’s hero.”
About a week before Lee’s death, Ira Teller interviewed him where he described his role in The Crow. The late actor stated, “You’re dealing with a character who is, at some points, quite insane.”
He further stated, “God knows the times I have found myself in absurd situations…. (I) had this guy break into my house about four years ago, and I caught him in the middle of robbing me. I jumped in through the window…and put him on the ground. When the cops came, the fight had progressed out the window, onto the sidewalk.”
Sadly, Lee and his fiancee Eliza Hutton were supposed to tie the knot two weeks after his death.
