This Week in Television History: July 2018 PART III

The further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined.

It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

Donna Allen-Figueroa

July 18, 1913

Richard Bernard “Red” Skelton was born. 

The comedian who was best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971 Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, while pursuing another career as a painter.

July 20, 1973

Bruce Lee dies at age 32. Actor and martial-arts expert Bruce Lee dies in Los Angeles at age 32 from a brain edema possibly caused by a reaction to a prescription painkiller.

Lee’s body was returned to Seattle, where he was buried. His sudden death at the young age of 32 led to rumors and speculation about the cause of his demise. One theory held that Lee had been murdered by Chinese gangsters while another rumor circulated that the actor had been the victim of a curse. The family-curse theory resurfaced when Lee’s 28-year-old son Brandon, who had followed in his father’s footsteps to become an actor, died in an accidental shooting on the set of the movie The Crow on March 31, 1991. The younger Lee was buried next to his father at Seattle’s Lake View Cemetery.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa