Grace Ho
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Grace Ho | |
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何愛瑜 | |
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| Born | 1907 (bef. June 24) |
| Died | 24 June 1996 (aged 89) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | He Aiyu, He Bairong |
| Spouse | Lee Hoi-chuen |
| Children | Peter, Phoebe, Agnes, Bruce, and Robert |
| Father | Ho Kom-tong |
| Relatives |
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Grace Ho (Chinese: 何愛瑜; 1907–1996) was the wife of Lee Hoi-chuen and the mother of Bruce Lee, as well as of the four other children Peter Lee, Phoebe, Agnes, and Robert Lee.
Life
Grace Ho was born in 1907 in Shanghai, Qing Empire to a Chinese father named Ho Kom-tong, brother of Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist Robert Hotung, and a mistress of European ethnicity.[1] Grace reported to the US government in 1939 that her mother was British; 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.[2]
There is evidence that Ho Kom-Tong may have actually adopted Grace Ho, and was not the true biological father. 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.[1]
Grace spent part of her childhood in Hong Kong, living at the Ho Tung Gardens in The Peak under the care of Clara Ho Tung, her aunt.[3] Grace later fell in love with her husband-to-be Lee Hoi-chuen from her admiration of his stage art.[1] Grace travelled with Lee in San Francisco on his one-year US tour with the Mandarin Theatre in 1939.[2] During this tour, Grace gave birth to her fourth child Bruce Lee; 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.[1]
Grace's three sons would go on to be very successful. Peter Lee, Grace's oldest son, excelled in fencing[4] and meteorology, becoming assistant director of the Hong Kong Observatory. Bruce Lee would become famous in Hollywood and Hong Kong for his films and skill in martial arts,[5] and Robert Lee would become a popular Hong Kong and Macau musician founding the band called The Thunderbirds.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d "Was Bruce Lee of English decent? Just ask his mother". Vice. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
- ^ a b Feng, Ying-biao 馮應標 (2020-11-27). "李小龍的洋血統". Master-Insight (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 2022-03-13.
- ^ 維城觸蹟 HeritageFootprints.hk (2020-06-01). "何愛瑜曾有幾個暑假住在干德道29號的細屋，而她未婚前住在何東於山頂的何東花園，至於有說她和李海泉是在甘棠第邂逅，這說法仍有待查證。". 維城觸蹟 HeritageFootprints.hk (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 2022-03-13 – via Facebook.
- ^ "Hong Kong Fencing Association History". hkfa.org.hk. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
- ^ Stein, Joel (June 14, 1999). "Bruce Lee: With nothing but his hands, feet and a lot of attitude, he turned the little guy into a tough guy". The Time 100. New York. Archived from the original on June 5, 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
- ^ Web UK Online, Bruce Lee Articles In The Shadow Of A Legend – Robert Lee Remembers Bruce Lee by Steve Rubinstein Archived 30 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine