Jim Kelly was an average African-american who was very athletic in nature, excelling in soccer and basketball. He became well-known in his area as the most inspiring junior high athlete, Jim was born in Paris, Kentucky but later moved to San Diego where he went to high school. In his University he proved his dynamic speed in track and field and soccer and later vied for a position in the World Cup.
In his pursuit to become a soccer player, the martial arts caught his attention and he left the University of Louisville to study martial arts in Lexington. There he learned Karate under Shorin-Ryu. His punching and nun chuck flailing payed off when he took the championship title in the Long Beach International Karate Championships. Kelly became so adept that before he knew it he was requested to act in a Martial arts film called 'Melinda'. This led to many more offers as directors continued to see his potential fighting skill.
Kelly was asked by Warner Bro.s to appear in a blockbuster movie in Hong Kong which would establish his Martial Arts career and get him the name 'the Black Six Million Dollar Man'. He thought it was another one of his simple roles, later finding out he was William in 'Enter The Dragon'. It's popularity spread from China to all nations, giving everyone the kung fu hero they were waiting for.
Chuck,Kelly and John Saxon later became icons of the martial arts because of Bruce Lee's legendary films. Jim, despite his closed up personality and cool guy attitude, secretly admired Bruce for his beleifs and striking originality. He later admitted "I've fought with a lot of great champions, I've trained a lot of great champions, but Bruce was just one step above everybody." , "In Bruce Lee's era, there was no chink in my opinion that was on his level, that's how incredible he was."
After performing in 'Three the Hard Way', 'Black Samurai' and 'Golden Needles', Kelly became an official legend of the time. He then retired in the movie industry after filming 'Black Belt Jones', 'Hot Potato' and 'Tatoo Connection' and began his Tennis career. Also seeing his potential career as a martial artist, he opened a Dojo in Long Beach where many Grand Masters train today.
Jim enjoyed working the making of 'Enter The Dragon' and called it 'one of the greatest experiences of his life'. He explained to Salon.com "Bruce was just incredible, absolutely fantastic. I learned so much from working with him. I probably enjoyed working with Bruce more than anyone I've ever worked with because we were both martial artists". Jackie Chan also got to share some quality time with Bruce in the film, he newly told CBC in a video clip that while acting, he was accidentally hit by Bruce. Because of that, he had a chance to hang out more often with Lee as he was checking on him all the time.
In his Tennis career he played in the UST senior circuit, in his 60's he touched many fans in comic cons and lined the areas with signed autographs. He was recently a speaker to many Americans and shared Bruce Lee's life story and popular films. He appeared in many of Nike's commercials along with LeBron James in "Game of Death" and had a small role in the comedy movie "Afro Ninja".
Jim was a great influence in the martial arts and brought pride to both black and white men with his iconic, unforgettable appearance. He is remembered by the fans he inspired and the family and friends he loved dearly. His last project was to develop a new fighting technique with the style 'Brazilian Grappling' which he was working on right before he passed.
