Name: Jackie Chan
Born: 7 April 1954 (Age: 55), Hong Kong, China
Height: 5' 8"
Awards: No major awards
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE (born Chan Kong Sang, 陳港生; 7 April 1954) is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, filmmaker, comedian, producer,martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer.
In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons and innovative stunts. Jackie Chan has been acting since the 1970s and has appeared in over 100 films. Chan has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As acultural icon, Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons and video games. Chan is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred.
Chan was born in 1954 in Victoria Peak, in the former Crown colony of Hong Kong, as Chan Kong Sang (meaning "born in Hong Kong") to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. He was nicknamed Pao Pao (Chinese: 炮炮, literally meaning "Cannonball") because he was such a big baby, weighing 12 pounds, or about 5.4 kgs. Since his parents worked for the French Consul to Hong Kong, Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak district.
Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father immigrated to Canberra, Australia, to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim Yuen. Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics. He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a performance group made up of the school's best students, gaining the stage name Yuen Lo in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, the three of them later to be known as theThree Brothers or Three Dragons.
At the age of 8, he appeared with some of his fellow "Little Fortunes", in the film Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962), with Li Li Hua playing his mother. Chan appeared with Li again the following year, in The Love Eterne (1963) and had a small role in King Hu's 1966 film, Come Drink with Me. In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another Kong Fu film, A Touch of Zen, Chan began his adult career in the film industry, initially signing to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company. At the age of 17, he worked as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee films Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon under the stage name Chen Yuen Long. He received his first starring role later that year, in Little Tiger of Canton, which had a limited release in Hong Kong in 1973. Due to the commercial failures in his early ventures into films and trouble finding stunt work, in 1975 Chan starred in a comedic adult film, All in the Family, the only film he has made to date that did not feature a single fight scene or stunt sequence.
Chan joined his parents in Canberra in 1976, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker. A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack" which was later shortened to "Jackie" and the name Jackie Chan stuck with him ever since. In addition, in the late 90s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fong Si Lung, since his father's original surname was Fong.
Jackie was becoming a huge success in Asia. Unfortunately, it would be many years before the same could be said of his popularity in America. After a series of lukewarm receptions in the U.S., mostly due to miscasting, Jackie left the States and focused his attention on making movies in Hong Kong. It would be 10 years before he returned to make Rumble in the Bronx, the movie that introduced Jackie to American audiences and secured him a place in their hearts (and their box office). Rumble was followed by the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon series which put Jackie on the Hollywood A List.
Despite his Hollywood successes, Jackie became frustrated by the lack of varied roles for Asian actors and his own inability to control certain aspects of the filming in America. He continued to try, however, making The Tuxedo, The Medallion, and Around the World in 80 Days, none of which was the blockbuster that Rush Hour or Shanghai Noon had been.
Jackie's lifelong devotion to fitness has served him well as he continues to do stunt work and action sequences in his films. In recent years, Jackie's focus has shifted and he is trying new genres of film fantasy, drama, romance and is spending more and more time on his charity work. He takes his work as Ambassador for UNICEF/UNAIDS very seriously and spends all his spare time working tirelessly for children, the elderly, and those in need. He continues to make films in Hong Kong, including the blockbuster drama New Police Story in 2004.
Jackie has been married to Lin Feng-Jiao since 1982 and has a son, actor-singer Jaycee Chan.
Trivia: Prefers to do action films with strong humour streaks and physical clowning like Buster Keaton.
In the act of performing his own stunts, he has broken his nose three times, his ankle once, most of the fingers in his hand, both cheekbones and his skull.
In 1989, he was awarded an M.B.E.(Member of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to entertainment.
Has a permanent hole in his head from a stunt accident.
In 1990, he was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Minister of Culture and Communication.
Has a great, long lasting relationship with Mitsubishi Motors. The company has donated many of their automobiles for his films.
Underwent plastic surgery in 1976 to re-shape his eyelids, giving him a more "Western" appearance. The final film with the old-look Chan is Shao Lin mu ren xiang (1976).
Is best friends with Sylvester Stallone.
Received his name "Jackie" from fellow workers on a construction site in Canberra, Australia who couldn't pronounce his real name.
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