Reason behind Bruce Lee’s death

Bruce Lee's former producer Raymond Chow says the Kung Fu star's sudden death at age 32 is a straightforward case of taking the wrong medicine.

Lee died of an edema, or swelling of the brain, in the home of Hong Kong actress Betty Ting Pei in 1973. The coroner described his passing as "death by misadventure."

The circumstances of Lee's death fueled speculation that drugs were involved and Lee was having an affair with Ting.

Chow, one of the founders of golden harvest studios, said Lee died because he took headache medication that he was "hypersensitive" to at someone else's home, refraining from referring to ting directly.

He said Lee was sensitive to one of the three ingredients in the medication, Equigesic.

"The bottom line is it was an accident," Chow said during a recent interview.

Chow, who said he shared Lee's Chinese nationalism, explained he was personally devastated by Lee's death, which led to him putting "Game of Death," Lee's last movie, on hold.

"I didn't think about other things like the company or career affairs. At the time the most important thing is that I felt I lost a very, very good friend," chow recalled.