 According to Bruce Lee (I) (qv)s wife, Linda Lee Cadwell, the  concept of the Kung Fu series was conceived by Bruce, and met with  the producers for countless hours to shape the show. But the  producers did not offer the role to Bruce Lee since they did not  feel that the American audience (at that time) would accept a  Chinese actor as a lead, therefore looked for a Caucasian actor to  fill the role.