Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published July 20, 2023 5:00 AM
(
Bruce Lee family archive
)
Topline:
Fifty years after he died at 32, we explore Bruce Lee's life in L.A. before he became an international superstar. During several eventful years, he befriended a wide cross-section of Angelenos: fellow Hong Kongers, Hollywood celebrities and martial arts enthusiasts.
Another side of Lee: The cultural icon is known for the string of blockbuster martial arts films he made in Hong Kong. Lesser-known is the period in the immediate years before he moved abroad. His dynamic life in L.A. - which spanned Hollywood lots to Chinatown — is captured in photos shared by the family.
In 1966, Bruce Lee was an exciting young martial artist from Hong Kong — a volcano of speed, skill and swagger who had caught the eye of Hollywood producers.
As acting opportunities began to emerge in Los Angeles, Lee and his young family left Oakland, where he’d been running a martial arts school.
One of their first apartments in L.A. was at the Barrington Plaza, a trio of gleaming white towers on the Westside.
Rent for their two-bedroom was more than a touch out-of-reach for Lee, even though he had landed a supporting TV role on a new ABC show, “The Green Hornet.”
Newly-arrived in L.A., Bruce Lee bartered martial arts lessons for reduced rent at the Barrington apartment complex.
(
Bruce Lee family archive
)
“[My parents] could not actually afford the rent there,” said Lee’s daughter, Shannon. “So they bargained with the property manager to reduce their rent in exchange for kung fu lessons.”
The arrangement wouldn’t last.
“They got kicked out when it was discovered by the property owner that the property manager had been cutting all these side deals with the tenants,” Lee said.
Just a few short years after this setback, Lee would break through as one of the world's biggest international action heroes with star turns in a string of Hong Kong blockbusters.
His shocking death at age 32 was even more sudden.
Thursday marks 50 years since Lee died from cerebral edema on July 20, 1973, weeks before his most famous and influential film, “Enter The Dragon,” opened in the U.S. Its success set off a martial arts craze, while shattering stereotypes of the submissive Asian.
The final fight scene in "Enter The Dragon."
Even in death, Lee is still one of the most famous Asian Americans, with a fandom spanning cultures and generations that embraces his films and philosophy exploring personal growth and adaptability.
Lesser known about Lee are his years in L.A., before he left for Hong Kong in 1971 to take the lead roles that eluded him in Hollywood – a period filled with exhilarating moments but also struggles.
Bruce Lee, shirtless, with an unidentified man, often sparred in the backyard of his house in Bel Air with his students.
(
Bruce Lee family archive
)
After the family was forced to leave the Barrington, they bounced around to homes in Inglewood and Culver City before settling in Bel Air.
To Lee’s disappointment, The Green Hornet ended after only one season, so he pivoted to working on sets as a fight choreographer. He also became a trainer to such stars as Kareem Abdul-Jabar and Steve McQueen, who became close friends.
Young fans pose with Bruce Lee, as one of his students, Steve McQueen, sits nearby.
(
Bruce Lee family archive
)
Lee didn’t just stick to Hollywood, he befriended a wide cross-section of Angelenos. He opened a studio in Chinatown where he taught Jeet Kune Do, a style of martial arts he developed.
He could also be spotted at dances organized by Chinese American college and grad students. A teenage cha-cha champ in Hong Kong, Lee whirled around partners like Gay Yuen, who studied at UCLA and ran in the same social circles.
“When the band would take a break, he would show off his martial arts moves, his strength and his skills,” Yuen said, recalling how Lee would get down on the dance floor to demonstrate one of his signature feats, the two-finger push-up.
Bruce Lee (center in dark shirt) poses with other martial arts enthusiasts at the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute he founded in L.A.'s Chinatown.
(
Bruce Lee family archive
)
Decades later, Yuen is the board chair at L.A.’s Chinese American Museum, which is presenting an exhibition timed to the anniversary of Lee’s death. Featured is a life-sized statue of him that will be donated this week to the Bruce Lee Foundation run out of L.A. by his daughter.
Elsewhere in L.A., Lee’s legacy is on display through murals and the seven-foot-tall bronze statue installed in Chinatown’s Central Plaza on the 40th anniversary of his death in 2013.
The 7.6-foot-tall bronze statue of Bruce Lee is installed in Chinatown's Central Plaza.
(
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
/
AFP
)
Bruce Lee is featured on a mural on Hollywood High School, next to Elvis Presley.
(
GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images
/
AFP
)
The tributes serve as reminders of Lee’s ties to the city, a place where he planned to return after conquering the Asian box office.
“We left our dog here and everything when we went to Hong Kong,” recalled Shannon Lee. “Once [my father] had accomplished what he wanted to accomplish there, the idea was to move back and continue to pursue films.”
Bruce Lee poses with son Brandon and daughter Shannon. Brandon Lee grew up to be a rising film star before an accidental shooting during a production ended his life at 28.
(
Bruce Lee family archive
)
A life-changing invitation
Lee hadn’t started out seeking out a film career in the U.S. or to become an Asian American trailblazer.
Yes, Asian American. While primarily recognized as being from Hong Kong, Lee was born in San Francisco to parents who’d been touring the U.S. with a Chinese opera troupe.
He was raised in Hong Kong, and coming from a showbiz family, fell into acting as a child, racking up roles in some 20 films. But when he moved back to the country of his birth at age 18, his focus had switched to teaching martial arts. Having trained under kung fu masters in Hong Kong, Lee was thinking about starting a chain of self-defense schools.
In 1963, Lee opened his first school in Seattle, where he had studied philosophy at the University of Washington and met his wife, Linda.
Bruce Lee's wife Linda, seen sparring with him at a rental in Culver City, was also a student of kung fu.
(
Bruce Lee family archive
)
The second school was in Oakland, where he was living at the time he got a life-changing invitation in 1964.
Celebrity karate master Ed Parker asked him to showcase his skills at a tournament in Long Beach.
At the inaugural International Karate championships, a rapt audience inside the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium watched Lee debut the one-inch punch:
Applause filled the auditorium as Lee effortlessly performed two-finger push-ups.
Entree into Hollywood
Lee’s explosive strength and precision left a strong impression on a particular martial arts enthusiast in the crowd. Jay Sebring was a celebrity hairstylist who famously dated the actress Sharon Tate. His high-powered clients included a Hollywood producer named William Dozier who was looking for a young Asian male to play the son of the fictional detective Charlie Chan.
Sebring enthusiastically recommended Lee for the role and in 1965, Lee traveled from Oakland to the 20th Century Fox studio for a screen test, where he demonstrated kung fu moves on an unsuspecting crew member.
It was Lee’s first foray into Hollywood, thanks in no small part to Sebring.
Several years later, the hairstylist would forever be entered into lurid Hollywood lore: he was among those murdered by the Manson family in the summer of 1969, along with Tate.
Man About Town
The Charlie Chan spinoff never got made. Dozier, the producer, instead secured Lee a supporting role on The Green Hornet as Kato, the masked crime-fighting valet to the titular hero.
Bruce Lee landed his first TV role as Kato in "The Green Hornet."
The ABC show lasted only one season, running from 1966 to 1967. But being on the first of many Hollywood sets offered invaluable lessons, Lee’s daughter said.
“In Hollywood, he learned a lot about process, filmmaking and scriptwriting and camera angles and shots, which informed his ability to make the movies in Hong Kong later,” Shannon Lee said.
Post-Kato, Lee stayed in the Hollywood orbit, choreographing fights on film sets and teaching martial arts to celebrities. He earned enough money to buy a ranch in Bel Air, where his family would live until they relocated to Hong Kong in 1971.
After "The Green Hornet" was canceled, Bruce Lee found work as a fight choreographer.
(
Bruce Lee family archive
)
He also spent a lot of time in Chinatown, where people spoke his native Cantonese and the dim sum tasted like home. His daughter said he got his hair cut by a barber named “Little Joe” for years.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would visit Bruce Lee's home in Bel Air to train.
(
Bruce Lee family archive
)
Bruce Lee performs opposite Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in fight scene in Game of Death was released after Lee died.
(
Bruce Lee family archive
)
It was on College Street that Lee opened his third martial arts school in 1967. The students were a tight-knit group who would dine together in Chinatown after training, his daughter said. They would also train with Lee at his homes, mingling with celebrity students like Abdul-Jabbar.
Yuen of the Chinese American Museum said among the young people who used to hang out in Chinatown, Lee was known for having been on TV and being particularly advanced in martial arts. Other than that, “he was just like another person in the group," Yuen said.
In June, a new Bruce Lee mural was unveiled on Hope Street in downtown L.A. to promote the Max show "Warrior," which was conceived by Lee.
(
Bruce Lee Facebook page
)
“It wasn't like, ‘Wow, Bruce Lee,’ right?” Yuen said. “The boys would be challenging him and go ‘Hey, when are we going to fight?’ and they’d spar, kiddingly.”
Only when she stops to think about it does Yuen realize how surreal it is to see someone from her youthful past become a global cultural icon, one that her museum is honoring as a symbol of strength in the face of anti-Asian violence and discrimination that persists today.
“There's someone like Bruce Lee, who says 'We're going to fight back,'” Yuen said. “And for that, we’re thankful.”
A man casts his ballot during early voting in Waukesha, Wis., on March 18.
(
Miguel Gutierrez Jr.
/
AFP via Getty Images
)
Topline:
More than 4 in 10 names flagged as possible noncitizen voters in California by the Trump administration cannot be found on the state’s voter rolls, according to a legal filing Saturday by an immigrant-rights group.
Why it matters: It’s the first outside analysis of a list that the Department of Justice has used to threaten prosecution of election officials. The analysis also found that thousands of U.S. citizens appear to be flagged as ineligible to vote on the government’s list.
Why now: The contention was made in a filing by two data analysts at the University of California, Los Angeles. The breadth of the problems with the list was outlined in Saturday’s filing. It describes an analysis by two members of UCLA’s Voting Rights Project, who filed a lawsuit challenging it with the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 4 in 10 names flagged as possible noncitizen voters in California by the Trump administration cannot be found on the state’s voter rolls, according to a legal filing Saturday by an immigrant-rights group.
It’s the first outside analysis of a list that the Department of Justice has used to threaten prosecution of election officials. The analysis also found that thousands of U.S. citizens appear to be flagged as ineligible to vote on the government’s list.
The contention was made in a filing by two data analysts at the University of California, Los Angeles. They analyzed the 20,930 names that the department demanded that California election officials treat as possible illegal voters by separating their ballots during the vote count on Election Day.
Multiple judges have rejected the demand as unconstitutional and a threat to democracy, and local and state officials have said the list appears riddled with errors.
Court filing outlines problems with government list
The breadth of the problems with the list was outlined in Saturday’s filing. It describes an analysis by two members of UCLA’s Voting Rights Project, who filed a lawsuit challenging it with the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA.
The research found that 8,880 of the names, representing 42% of the entire list, do not correspond to anyone in California’s current voter file. It also found at least 22 are U.S. citizens, and many more may correspond to those of confirmed citizens.
“The expert analysis further makes clear that the mandated voter list endangers a significant number of eligible California voters,” said the filing, which was cosigned by Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate for California governor and an adviser to the UCLA Voting Rights Project. null
The Trump administration had objected to sharing the list, calling it a “fishing expedition” and noting that it included sensitive information. On Saturday, the federal prosecutor who spearheaded the Trump case in California called the analysis “bogus.”
“This is a bogus report by the activist illegal immigrant rights group CHIRLA,” Bill Essayli, who runs the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles, posted on X.
Also on Saturday, President Donald Trump bemoaned the legal rulings against his effort to force California to separate votes from the individuals his administration labels suspected noncitizens, even though one came from a judge he himself nominated.
In a social media post, Trump claimed his Justice Department found “20,000, but potentially Hundreds of Thousands, and maybe even Millions,” of fraudulent votes, “and the Court has just ruled against it. Why would they reject fixing Election Fraud?”
The Trump administration has also urged Washington state to remove what it says were 400 possible noncitizens on its rolls, though state election officials there say that list is also unreliable and includes one voter who cast ballots in the 1990s.
The Justice Department has warned California election officials they could face criminal liability if they let noncitizens vote and issued subpoenas to election officials there.
Election officials say they have no time to investigate
Election officials have complained that the Trump administration has confronted them with lists of possible illegal voters at the last minute before Election Day, with no time to conduct the painstaking investigation required by law before removing someone from the rolls.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed to stop the administration from continuing to threaten local election officials.
On Friday, a federal judge in California ordered the Justice Department to stop sending demands to state officials, a decision the Trump administration appealed Saturday. Several counties in the state had run quick checks of the Trump list and found numerous errors.
Saturday’s broader analysis was possible because a federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to share the list with the plaintiffs in the case.
CHIRLA and the UCLA project sued the Homeland Security Department in early October to prevent it from using federal immigration data to challenge state voter rolls. The lawsuit cited examples in other states where the federal government’s data has been proven to mistakenly include thousands of citizens.
Case argues that government’s methods pose risk to voting
The case argued that the data-matching methods risk disenfranchising or deterring citizens from voting. On top of that, plaintiffs argued, the lists could disproportionately target naturalized citizens who are legally entitled to vote.
Applying the government’s methodology, the UCLA researchers found that nearly 7,500 naturalized citizens in the state were “highly likely” to be incorrectly flagged as ineligible.
The researchers noted that the administration apparently removed the voter identification number from the names, making it harder for election officials to determine whether the flagged individuals were already on their rolls or were duplicates in the Justice Department list. They described the voter ID number as the most crucial data point.
The Justice Department argues that there is just as much to lose if the ballots aren’t separated.
“Every ballot cast by an ineligible voter cancels out the vote of an American citizen,” Kiersten V. Pels, a spokesperson for the department, wrote in an email. “The Department makes no apology for protecting those votes.”
Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published November 1, 2026 5:00 AM
Jordan Delgado picked Lady Gaga's 'You and I' as her debut song with the L.A. Karaoke league.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
Topline:
The LA Karaoke league turns singing into a team sport, where costumes, props and creativity matter more than hitting the right notes. For performers craving a creative outlet when auditions are harder to come by, the league offers a community to cheer them on.
The backstory: The L.A. league is part of United Karaoke, a national network of chapters that share a competition format, voting app and pledge to always keep the vibe friendly.
What's next: Teams compete for a spot in the finals. The public is welcome to watch and vote for their favorite performances.
For many of us, karaoke is a chance to sing our favorite shower song in public.
But at a North Hollywood bar every Wednesday night, it’s a team sport. And competitors in the L.A. Karaoke league are more serious about putting on an over-the-top production than hitting all the right notes.
At a social in late September, league manager Michelle Goff kicked off a new season of weekly themed showdowns, from dance-floor favorites to internet memes to songs inspired by birds.
Brittany Gates, the CEO of United Karaoke, who was visiting from D.C., did her rendition of 'Let's Hear It For The Boy' by Deniece Williams.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
"You are going to see numbers that people came up with in their crazy dreams maybe three years ago, and it's going to be amazing,” Goff told performers at the social. “And then they’re never going to be done again.”
Michelle Goff unveils the different themed weeks, from dance-floor favorites to internet memes to songs inspired by birds.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
Performances range from solos to group numbers, and the crowd votes for its favorites. Props and costumes are highly encouraged.
Here, dark wizards from Harry Potter duet to Taylor Swift. A singer tosses flowers to the crowd while belting Seal's “Kiss From a Rose.” Once, Goff danced around as an erupting Mount Vesuvius as her teammates sang Bastille's "Pompeii."
Like intramural sports but with microphones, teams compete over six weeks, followed by two weeks of playoffs, then the finals.
It all happens at the Good Nite bar, on a darkened stretch of Burbank Boulevard. Inside, there’s an inviting purple glow and warm conversation that can be hard to come by in a city as big as L.A.
“You know, the city, exciting as it is, still has so many strangers,” said Carlos Mulia.
A newcomer to the league, the chef-turned-actor already feels like he belongs.
Want to join the L.A. Karaoke league?
Where: The Good Nite, 10721 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood.
When: Wednesday nights during the season.
How: Check the chapter’s website or @WeSingLA on Instagram for season announcements. Fall season registration is closed. The next season will start in late January or early February.
Cost: Registration costs $65 to $80, depending on when you sign up and whether you use a discount code.
Can I go watch: Yes! League nights are open to the public, with no cover charge, and anyone can vote for their favorite performances.
“Sometimes you can go to a karaoke bar and everyone’s talking and no one’s paying attention to you — that can be a downer,” he said. “But here, everyone’s contributing, everyone’s cheering for each other.”
For Mulia, the league also offers a creative outlet during Hollywood’s production slowdown, when he says opportunities to perform are scarce.
Actor Carlos Mulia said competitive karaoke gives him a creative outlet and a place to find community in a big city.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
“There’s not that many auditions," he said. "They’re far and few between, and it can really affect your psyche. So this allows you to just let it all out.”
The L.A. league started in Santa Monica in 2014 before moving among venues around the region and finding its current home at the Good Nite in 2021.
It’s part of United Karaoke, a loose national network with chapters in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Chicago. The local leagues share a competition format, voting app and a pledge to keep the vibe welcoming.
In the league, friendships spark right away. Mulia hit it off with another actor, Jordan Delgado, who teaches children art at a studio.
They quickly figured out they’re both half-Filipino and grew up with karaoke, a fixture of Filipino social life.
“It is in our blood to do karaoke,” Delgado said. “So yeah, I’m honoring my ancestors in a way by being here tonight.”
Anybody is welcome on karaoke competition nights and invited to vote for their favorite performances.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
Delgado loves to perform but says the karaoke league promises more than that.
“It’s something to look forward to in the downtime of the part-time jobs,” Delgado said. “A reason to regularly meet up with people, where we could just be silly, without any judgment.”
For her league debut, Delgado is going with a tried and true crowd-pleaser.
“My go-to song that my friends and family have heard me sing a billion times is ‘You and I’ by Lady Gaga," Delgado said. "It really gets the crowd going.”
When it’s her turn, Delgado bounds onto the tiny stage up front with a big confident smile that matches a powerful voice.
“We got a whole lot of money, but still pay rent,” Delgado sings, striding across the tiny stage to whoops and cheers.
Several weeks after her league debut, Delgado would go on to win best performer during Graveyard Week, when the league revives songs so overdone they’re normally off-limits.
Her winning number? “Shallow,” with Delgado singing both the Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper parts.
And she brought the theatrical flair. Dressed as Gaga on one side of her body and Cooper on the other, she was her own duet partner.
Keep up with LAist.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
By Jeremiah Dobruck | Long Beach Post, Dañiel Andres Martinez
Published October 31, 2026 1:34 PM
A sign a Rosies Dog Beach in Long Beach warn visitors of the contaminated water. Photographed at Rosie's Dog Beach on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022 in Long Beach, CA.
(
Myung J. Chun
/
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
)
Topline:
All coastal waters in Long Beach — including beaches, lagoons and bays — remain closed Sunday, after health officials say 29,000 gallons of sewage spilled out of a mainline pipe in Belmont Shore on Friday evening.
What happened: The spill happened around 6:30 p.m. near Livingston Drive and Second Street, according to a statement from the city’s Health Department.
The latest update: City crews tried to catch as much sewage as possible before it reached drainage systems that led to the ocean, but about 14,000 gallons ultimately reached the sea, forcing Long Beach to close its coastal waters.
All coastal waters in Long Beach — including beaches, lagoons and bays — remain closed Sunday after health officials say 29,000 gallons of sewage spilled out of a mainline pipe in Belmont Shore on Friday evening.
Joy Contreras, a public information officer with Long Beach Utilities, told LAist that emergency repairs to the sewer main were completed Saturday night.
"The Utilities Department will investigate the cause of the force main break, as a break of this magnitude is extremely rare," Contreras said Sunday.
Water quality testing, Contreras said, will resume on Monday. The Long Beach Health Department, she said, will determine when swimming areas will reopen once samples meet State water quality standards.
What happened
The spill happened around 6:30 p.m. on Friday near Livingston Drive and Second Street, according to a statement from the city’s health department.
“The spill was associated with a force main break, a pressurized pipe to convey wastewater,” according to the statement. There was no word on what caused the break.
Long Beach Utilities stopped the spill by rerouting sewage to bypass the line.
City crews tried to catch as much of the sewage as possible before it reached drainage systems that led to the ocean, but about 14,000 gallons ultimately reached the sea, forcing Long Beach to close its coastal waters.
History of sewage spills
Long Beach is no stranger to beach closures because of sewage spills, but it most commonly happens when sewage flows down the Los Angeles or San Gabriel rivers from upstream cities. Over one recent five-year span, local beaches were closed for 63 days because of upstream spills.
State law requires the closures any time sewage makes its way to the coast until testing shows the water meets quality standards. These rigorous rules don’t hold true for all types of spills.
