Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 148

Bruce Lee portrays Kato, the faithful sidekick of tht Green Hornet. Colcfr Him Green By LEKOY F. AARON'S Sptclil To Th TimM from Th Withlngton Port The newest challenge to Robin, the boy wonder, Is Bruce Lee, a young actor and karate expert who Is portraying Kato, faithful sidekick of The Green Hornet. For those trivia dropouts who never heard of The Green Hornet, it was an immensely popufar radio serial during the 1910s, featuring a publisher who turned masked crime fighter by night. In those days, Kato was a subservient oriental chauffeur whose big moments came when Britt Reid, 'the publisher, barked, "My Car, Kato," and Kato answered, "Yes-suh, Mistah Blitt." Not so in the streamlined ABC version, says Lee, a muscular, self-contained young Chinese.

"I'M MORE OF A COMPANION and partner of The Green Hornet," he says in slightly accented English. "Actually, with my background In gung-fu (a classical form of karate), they have made me the weapon. I do all the fighting. Once In a while the Green Hornet throws some punches, but when he goes into it, it's the old American swing. I do all the chopping and kicking, and when it's necessary fo get a gun out of a guy's hand from a distance, I'll be throwing darts." Lee, educated and articulate, was actually a little leery when William Dozier, the producer who brought Batman to the airwaves, approached him about the Kato role.

"It sounded at first like typical houseboy stuff," he says. "I tell Dozier, look, if you sign me up with all that pigtail and hopping around jazz, forget it. In the past, the typical casting has been that kind of stereotype. Like with the Indians. You never see a human being Indian on television." Lee, 25, came to the Kato role via a circuitous route that involved a karate tournament and a Hollywood barber.

Born in San Francisco, he was raised in Hong Kong, where his father was a star of the Chinese opera. LEE WAS A CniLD ACTOR in Chinese films, but his prime interest was gung-fu, in which he became an expert, a teacher and author of several books. In 1964, he competed in the International Karate Tournament in Long Beach, and was seen by Jay Spering, a barber, who specializes in male coiffures at 10 dollars a cut Spering was cutting Dozier's hair one day when Dozier mentioned that he was looking for someone to play the lead in a television adventure series about the son of Charlie Chan. Spering told him about Lee, and Dozier, after seeing films of the karate matches, became interested. The Charlie Chan series never materialized, but when The Green Hornet package got to the planning stages, Dozier Immediately thought of Lee.

Lee, an ambitious fellow, is now hoping that his Cinderella story will lead to a solid gold slipper. Our Cover: Carol Burnett will star in a music and comedy special Carol and Company, Sunday, Oct. 9 at 10 p.m. on Channel 13. Guests are Rock Hudson, frank Gorshin and Ken Berry.

TV-Radio Coordinator: Marcia Olsen.