60th birthday of Brandon Lee: The too short high -rise flight of the crow

The star of US actor Brandon Lee was just opening when he was already waning on March 31, 1993. Only 28 years were granted the son of Martial Arts legend Bruce Lee (1940-1973), who had only turned 32 on earth. Brandon Lee’s cinematic work is therefore manageable. But not its influence on the film industry and pop culture. On February 1, 2025, Brandon Lee would have been 60 years old.

How proud Brandon Lee must have been when, after a few roles in forgotten low-budget films, he was able to get the part as the main character in the dark comic film “The Crow”. In his casting, he is said to have ultimately convinced the makers of the film to do without much larger, actually preferred names for the title role as an undotot revenge angel eric draven alias “The Crow”. has been requested for the part. The latter brother of actor Joaquin Phoenix (50) unites a sad fate with Brandon Lee: He also died in 1993, October 31. Phoenix was only 23 years old.

The decisive factor for his successful casting should also have been Brandon Lee’s physical fitness. Like his famous father, whom he had lost at the age of just eight, he was trained in various martial arts. As a result, he was able to shoot many of the Stunts himself at “The Crow” and also helped choreographing the fights.

A fatal shot was unintentionally fired on Lee on March 31, 1993 by actor Michael Massee (1952-2016). Lee died a little later in the hospital of the consequences of his serious abdominal injury. Masse, traumatized by the accident, withdrew from the film business for a while and, according to his own statements, never brought about the heart to watch the film completed with trick technique and old archive recordings of Lee. Had Masse also revealed that nightmares are still looking for him: “I don’t think you can ever get away over this.”

The fatal accident in “The Crow” ensured that strict rules for handling firearms were introduced when filming. But almost 30 years after Brandon Lee’s death, they had apparently been forgotten. In 2021, a shot from a pistol, which Alec Baldwin (66) held in his hand, dissolved during the shooting of the western “Rust”. He met camera huge Halyna Hutchins, she died at the age of 42.

What made Brandon Lee’s death even more tragic: he and his fiancee Eliza Hutton (60) are said to have planned to marry a few days after the official shooting. After the “Rust” accident, Hutton was terribly reminded of the accident that her great love once robbed her. She published a statement in 2021: “28 years ago I was shaken by the shock and grief, the love of my life, Brandon Lee, to have lost so senselessly. My heart now hurts again for the husband and son of Halyna Hutchins and for everyone that have remained behind this avoidable tragedy. “

It would not do justice to the film of Alex Proyas (61) published in 1994 and, especially Lee’s performance, it was only said with the tragedy about its leading actor. With its dark equipment, the film is considered one of the best because of a comic adaptations. Based on the submission of the same name by James O’Barr (65), “The Crow” tells of the rock musician Eric Draven. He and his fiance are murdered shortly before their wedding – an uncanny parallel to the death of Brandon Lee. Eric returns from the dead with a crow as pilot. Equipped with supernatural forces, he revenues on the killers.

But it is also a fact that the strip caused a morbid fascination through Lee’s death while filming. And of course many people also flocked to the cinema in 1994 to have the last honor in this way. In pop culture, the tragedy was taken up in many ways. Several bands, for example, dedicated a musical homage, the former professional windler Steve “Sting” Borden (65) began to wear a make-up similar to the film figure in the mid-90s.

Brandon Lee found his last rest on the Lake View Friedhof in Seattle, Washington – right next to father Bruce Lee. On his tombstone it says: “Because we do not know when we will die, we can imagine life as an inexhaustible source. Nevertheless, everything only happens in a certain number. Certain afternoon, which is so deeply anchored in your being that you can’t even imagine your life without it. […] And yet everything seems to be limitless. For Brandon and Eliza. “