Bob Wall (Actor and Martial Artist):
Way of the Dragon is an interesting story, because Chuck Norris and I, we were 50-50 partners in a chain of schools. We have a large chain of schools. We are in one of our big schools in Torrance, California, 1972, and Chuck’s on the phone talking to Bruce. Bruce had called. He gets off the phone. He says, “I’m going to Rome. And then, I’m going to Hong Kong and I’ll do a movie with Bruce.”
And I go, “We’re 50-50 partners, baby. You’re not going anywhere without me.” So I paid my own way. So we’re on the plane getting ready to land in Rome, and Chuck says, “You know, Bruce’s budget’s really low, and so, he’s going to be filming me when I get off the plane.
So he asks me if I could ask the person on the plane to stop everybody for just half a minute, just allow me to step out and look around.” So the picture in The Way of the Dragon of Chuck arriving was Chuck arriving. That was the real flight, okay? He couldn’t afford. So they were there, Bruce was setup. So I’m the one who stood there and stopped people. I said, “Hold on just for a minute. They’re shooting out there. He steps out and does his deadly look around. And then, we walked down stairs and Bruce says, “You’re here. Okay, you’re in the movie. You get 75 a week and room and board.” 75 a week. That’s how I got involved.