Nearly seven weeks after James Lew's death, a new report offers an answer about the Emmy-winning stunt coordinator's final illness. TMZ reports that his death certificate lists "end-stage congestive heart failure."
Lew died on August 23, 2026, at 73, leaving a career that connected martial arts cinema, blockbuster action and television. His obituary credits his work on Big Trouble in Little China, Tropic Thunder, Avengers: Endgame and Luke Cage, alongside acting appearances in the Rush Hour films and Hot Shots! Part Deux.
The disclosure invites renewed attention to a question his spectacular screen career could obscure: how much did audiences know about the man helping create those unforgettable action sequences? Lew's professional identity extended beyond performing dangerous moves. He choreographed fights, coordinated stunt work and developed his own projects, including the martial arts comedy 18 Fingers of Death!, which he wrote, directed and starred in.
His path into the industry began with martial arts training as a teenager and early work on the television series Kung Fu. A formative experience followed on The Young Dragon, where working with Chinese performers exposed him to a detailed approach to screen fighting. He later served as martial arts choreographer and associate producer on John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, while also appearing in the film.
Recognition reached a major milestone in 2017, when Lew won the Emmy for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie for Marvel's Luke Cage. The Television Academy records that victory as his sole Emmy nomination and win-a formal acknowledgment of work that often happens outside the spotlight occupied by leading actors.
The latest report supplies a medical answer, but the larger question concerns remembrance: will Lew be recalled primarily through the stars and franchises he supported, or through the craft he brought to them? His record offers ample reason to remember the performer, choreographer and filmmaker whose contribution helped shape decades of screen action.
