61 Years Ago Today, an Iconic Comic Book Movie Actor Was Born (And His Tragic Only Role Remains One of the Best)

One of the most beloved comic book movie icons would have turned 61 years old today. It has been 32 years now since The Crow was released in theaters, an adaptation of the James O’Barr gothic horror comic book series. The comic told the story of a man named Eric who was shot in the head and forced to watch some criminals doing some brutal things to his fiancee Shelly. However, after Eric died, he was so angry and traumatized that a mythical crow brought him back from the dead to seek revenge on the men responsible. In the 1994 movie, Brandon Lee starred as Eric Draven.

Brandon Lee was born on February 1, 1965, and he was the son of a martial arts icon. Bruce Lee remains one of the most legendary martial arts movie stars in cinema history, and Brandon was his only son. Sadly, Bruce Lee himself died at the age of 32 in 1973, when Brandon was only eight years old. Bruce Lee died following an incident while making a movie, collapsing during an ADR session for his masterpiece performance in Enter the Dragon.

Despite this, Brandon Lee still found his way into Hollywood and began to work on his own career in movies, following his father’s footsteps. Sadly, Brandon only appeared in five movies before his death. He got his start in a martial arts movie called Legacy of Rage in 1986 when he was only 21. He followed that with Laser Mission, Showdown in Little Tokyo, and Rapid Fire. He then appeared in The Crow, widely considered one of the best non-Marvel or DC comic book movies ever made.

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Brandon Lee’s Legacy Was Cut Short During The Crow

Sadly, Brandon Lee died while he was making The Crow. Even more tragic is that he was younger than his dad when he died, passing away at the age of 28. His death came on the set with a prop gun accident when a piece of the dummy bullet was left in the gun, and when it was fired, it hit Lee in the abdomen at a lethal velocity. After six hours in surgery with doctors trying to save his life, Brandon Lee passed away.

The Crow used Lee’s stand-in, Chad Stahelski, who went on to direct the John Wick movies, to finish shooting the movie. Several big names attended Brandon Lee’s funeral, including Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Steven Seagal, and David Carradine. While it seemed that finishing the movie was disrespectful, Lee’s fiancée, Eliza Hutton, and Lee’s own mother supported the decision to finish the film, so it could show the young man’s final performance and stand as part of his legacy.

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