The Green Hornet wasn’t a big hit when it aired, but it did play an important role in saving Bruce Lee's movie career, which reached a point in the early 1970s where it didn’t seem like it wasn’t going anywhere. Then, in 1971, he starred in The Big Boss and became a huge star in Hong Kong.
Years before all that, Bruce Lee was a struggling actor looking for work in Hollywood. He caught a big break when he landed a major role in ABC’s The Green Hornet, a series created due to the success of Batman. In the show, he played Kato, the sidekick of chauffer of the titular hero, who was portrayed by Van Williams. The show gave him a chance to showcase his kung fu moves on the small screen, but unfortunately the series didn’t really take off in the way he had hoped. ABC cancelled The Green Hornet after just one, 26-episode first season that wrapped up in 1967. While taking small parts in a few shows and movies, Lee attempted to put together his own projects for him to star in, but nothing ever worked out.
Lee’s luck changed for the best in 1971 when he paid a visit to Hong Kong and discovered he had suddenly become a celebrity there. Bruce Lee biographer Matthew Polly explained in his book, Bruce Lee: A Life, that he received an offer to do a live radio interview - plus there were multiple reporters waiting to talk to him when he arrived at the airport. Lee didn’t have anything close to this level of popularity in the United States, but he figured out that Green Hornet was responsible for his newfound stardom. Apparently, the show had only recently begun airing in Hong Kong, and while it never took off with Americans, it did become a favorite of Chinese viewers who called it “The Kato Show”. A Chinese actor playing a character like Kato was something that had a strong appeal to them.
As a result, Lee was able to enter into talks with two Hong Kong kung fu movie studios, Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. Thanks to the fame Lee had cultivated in the area through Green Hornet, he received offers from both studios. Bruce Lee turned down Shaw Brothers because they couldn’t reach agreeable terms, and he was hesitant to sign a contract with Golden Harvest, a young company that had just formed. However, he understood that he needed the job. He was low on money, and his acting career was far from where he wanted it to be.
Making the deal proved to be one of the best business decisions Lee ever made. The two-picture contract with Golden Harvest led to The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, which were box office smash hits that are now regarded as kung fu classics. Because of this, Bruce Lee went from an out-of-work actor to an international martial arts icon within a few short years.