Russell Cawthorne worked as a copywriter and Creative Director for McCann Erickson International before joining Golden Harvest Studios as senior VP of international marketing in 1972. During his 25 year stay, he wrote the screenplay of the Golden Harvest produced documentary Bruce Lee, the Legend (1984) in 1977. He also had small roles in Lee's 1978 film Game of Death (1978), the comedy Mai shen qi (1978) and Wayne Wang's Chinese Box (1997).