Jackie Chan
Chan Kong-sang[a] SBS MBE PMW[3] (born 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,[b][4][2][1] is a Hong Kong[5][6] actor, director, writer, producer, martial artist, and stuntman known for his slapstick acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically performs himself. Before entering the film industry, he was one of the Seven Little Fortunes from the China Drama Academy at the Peking Opera School, where he studied acrobatics, martial arts, and acting. Chan has been acting since the 1960s, performing in more than 150 films. He is one of the most influential action film stars of all time.[7]
This article is about the martial artist and actor. For other uses, see Jackie Chan (disambiguation).
Yang Berbahagia DatukJackie Chan
2, including Jaycee Chan
- Martial artist
- actor
- director
- writer
- producer
- action choreographer
- singer
- stunt director
- stunt performer
1962–present
陳港生
陈港生
Chan the [Hong] Kong-born
Chén Gǎngshēng
Chén Gǎngshēng
ㄔㄣˊ ㄍㄤˇ ㄕㄥ
Chʻen2 Kang3-sheng1
Chén Gǎng-sheng
can4 gong2 sang1
成龍
成龙
Becoming the Dragon
Chéng Lóng
Chéng Lóng
ㄔㄥˊ ㄌㄨㄥˊ
Chʻeng2 Lung2
Chéng Lóng
sing4 lung4
房仕龍
房仕龙
Fáng Shìlóng
Fáng Shìlóng
ㄈㄤˊ ㄕˋ ㄌㄨㄥˊ
Fang2 Shih4-lung2
Fáng Shìh-lóng
fong4 si6 lung4
After appearing in many Hong Kong films as a stuntman, Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 kung fu action comedy film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. He then starred in similar kung fu action comedy films such as 1978's Drunken Master and 1980's The Young Master. In 1979, he made his directorial debut with The Fearless Hyena, which was a box office success. 1983's Project A saw the official formation of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and established Chan's signature style of elaborate, dangerous stunts combined with martial arts and slapstick humor, a style he further developed in a more modern setting with 1984's Wheels on Meals and 1985's Police Story. Rumble in the Bronx (1995), which had a successful worldwide theatrical run, brought Chan into the North American mainstream,[8][9] leading to a successful Hollywood career with the Rush Hour and Shanghai series. In 2010, Chan appeared in his first dramatic role in an American film, The Karate Kid.[10]
Chan is one of the most recognisable and influential film personalities in the world, with a widespread global following in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. He has received fame stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame,[11][12] as well as an honorary Academy Award for his "extraordinary achievements" in film. Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, films, and video games. He is an operatically trained vocalist and is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of music albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred. He is also a globally known philanthropist and has been named one of the top 10 most charitable celebrities by Forbes magazine.[13][14] In 2004, film scholar Andrew Willis stated that Chan was perhaps the "most recognised film star in the world."[15] In 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $350 million, and as of 2016, he was the second-highest-paid actor in the world.[16][17]
Chan's views on Hong Kong politics have gradually shifted from a pro-democratic stance in the 1990s to a pro-Beijing stance since the 2010s. Since 2013,[18] Chan has been a pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politician, having served two terms as a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference,[19][20][21] and, in 2021, expressing his desire to join the CCP.[22][23]
Early life
Chan was born on 7 April 1954 in British Hong Kong as Chan Kong-sang[1][2] to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, political refugees from the Chinese Civil War. In circa 1937, Chan's father, originally named Fang Daolong, briefly worked as a secret agent for Lieutenant General Dai Li, the chief spy in Kuomintang-ruled China.[4] For fear of being arrested by the communist government, Chan's father fled to British Hong Kong in the 1940s and changed his surname from Fang to Chan. Chan was his wife Chan Lee-lee's surname. Chan discovered his father's identity and changed his Chinese name to Fang Shilong (房仕龍) in the late 1990s, the name he would have been named according to his kin's genealogy book.[24][25][26]
Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the French consul's residence in the Victoria Peak, British Hong Kong, as his father worked as a cook there.[27] 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 emigrated 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.[27][28] Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.[29] 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 (元樓) in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, and the three of them later became known as the Three Brothers or Three Dragons.[30] After entering the film industry, Chan along with Sammo Hung got the opportunity to train in hapkido under the grand master Jin Pal Kim, and Chan eventually attained a black belt.[31] As a martial artist, Chan is also skilled in multiple forms of Kung-fu.[32] He is also known to have trained in other martial art forms such as Karate, Judo, Taekwondo, and Jeet Kun Do.[33]
Chan joined his parents in Canberra, Australia in 1971, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker.[34] A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, thus earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack," later shortened to "Jackie", which has stuck with him ever since.[26]
Film career
1962–1975: Early small appearances
He began his film career by appearing in small roles at the age of five as a child actor. At age eight, 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. The following year, the young actor appeared in extras of Yen Chun's 1964 film Liang Shan Po and Chu Ying Tai and had a small role in King Hu's 1966 film Come Drink with Me.[35] In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another kung fu film, A Touch of Zen, Chan was signed to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company.[36]
Chan appeared in the Bruce Lee film Fist of Fury (1972), both as an extra and as a stunt double for the Japanese villain Hiroshi Suzuki (portrayed by Riki Hashimoto), particularly during the final fight scene where Lee kicks him and he flies through the air.[37][38] Chan again appeared in another Bruce Lee film, Enter the Dragon (1973), as a minor henchman who gets killed by Lee's character. Sammo Hung helped Chan get minor roles in both of the Bruce Lee films.[39] Chan also worked as a martial arts choreographer for John Woo's The Young Dragons (1974).[38]
1976–1980: Start-up leading roles
In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stunt choreography work. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei. Lo saw Chan's performance in the John Woo film Hand of Death (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film New Fist of Fury.[36] His stage name was changed to 成龍 (literally "becoming the dragon",[4][2] Sing4 Lung4 in Jyutping[2] or rarely as Cheng Long in pinyin),[40] to emphasise his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name meant "Lee the Little Dragon" in Chinese. (Note that "dragon" in Lee's name referred to Lee's birth year being the Dragon zodiac, not the Chinese dragon.) The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, but with little improvement at the box office.[41]
Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal.[42] Director Yuen Woo-ping allowed Chan complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved refreshing to the Hong Kong audience.[43] The same year, Chan then starred in Drunken Master, which finally propelled him to mainstream success.[44]
Upon Chan's return to Lo Wei's studio, Lo tried to replicate the comedic approach of Drunken Master, producing and also showed new features at the time with Jackie as the Stunt Director Half a Loaf of Kung Fu and Spiritual Kung Fu.[26] He also gave Chan the opportunity to make his directorial debut in The Fearless Hyena. When Willie Chan left the company, he advised Jackie to decide for himself whether or not to stay with Lo Wei. During the shooting of Fearless Hyena Part II, Chan broke his contract and joined Golden Harvest, prompting Lo to blackmail Chan with triads, blaming Willie for his star's departure. The dispute was resolved with the help of fellow actor and director Jimmy Wang Yu, allowing Chan to stay with Golden Harvest.[42]
1980–1987: Commercial success in the action comedy genre
Willie Chan became Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was The Big Brawl in 1980.[45][46] Chan then played a minor role in the 1981 film The Cannonball Run, which grossed over US$100 million worldwide.[47] Despite being largely ignored by North American audiences in favour of established American actors such as Burt Reynolds, Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits, inspiring him to include the same device in his future films.
After the commercial failure of The Protector in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into the US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films.[41]
Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including Drunken Master, The Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982).[48] The Young Master went on to beat previous box office records set by Bruce Lee and established Chan as Hong Kong cinema's top star. With Dragon Lord, he began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences,[49] including the final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a back flip off a loft and falls to the lower ground.[50]
Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The three co-starred together for the first time in 1983 in Project A, which introduced a dangerous stunt-driven style of martial arts that won it the Best Action Design Award at the third annual Hong Kong Film Awards.[51] Over the following two years, the "Three Brothers" appeared in Wheels on Meals and the original Lucky Stars trilogy.[52][53] In 1985, Chan made the first Police Story film, a crime action film in which Chan performed a number of dangerous stunts. It won Best Film at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards.[54] In 1986, Chan played "Asian Hawk," an Indiana Jones-esque character, in the film Armour of God. The film was Chan's biggest domestic box office success up to that point, grossing over HK$35 million.[55]
1988–1998: Acclaimed film sequels and Hollywood breakthrough
In 1988, Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date in the film Dragons Forever. Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen, and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah, both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chan starred in a number of successful sequels beginning with Project A Part II and Police Story 2, which won the award for Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards. This was followed by Armour of God II: Operation Condor, and Police Story 3: Super Cop, for which Chan won the Best Actor Award at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival. In 1994, Chan reprised his role as Wong Fei-hung in Drunken Master II, which was listed in Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies.[56] Another sequel, Police Story 4: First Strike, brought more awards and domestic box office success for Chan, but did not fare as well in foreign markets.[57]
By the mid-1990s, he was the most popular action movie star in Asia and Europe.[58] Up until January 1995, his films had grossed over HK$500 million (US$70 million) in Hong Kong[59] and ¥39 billion (US$415 million) in Japan,[48] while having sold over 33 million box office admissions in France, Germany, Italy and Spain up until then.[60] Despite his international success, he was not very successful in North America, where he had only two wide releases as a leading actor, The Big Brawl and The Protector, grossing US$9.51 million (US$32 million adjusted for inflation).[61] Despite this, there was a thriving North American home video market for Chan's Hong Kong films by the mid-1990s.[62]
Chan rekindled his Hollywood ambitions in the 1990s, but refused early offers to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles. For example, Sylvester Stallone offered him the role of Simon Phoenix, a criminal in the futuristic film Demolition Man. Chan declined and the role was taken by Wesley Snipes.[63]
Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of Rumble in the Bronx, attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars.[64] The success of Rumble in the Bronx led to a 1996 release of Police Story 3: Super Cop in the United States under the title Supercop, which grossed a total of US$16,270,600. Chan's first huge blockbuster success came when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 buddy cop action comedy Rush Hour,[65] grossing US$130 million in the United States alone.[42] This film made him a Hollywood star, after which he wrote his autobiography in collaboration with Jeff Yang entitled I Am Jackie Chan.
Personal life
In 1982, Chan married Joan Lin, a Taiwanese actress. Their son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan, was born that same year.[72] Chan had an extra-marital affair with Elaine Ng Yi-Lei and has a daughter Etta Ng Chok Lam by her, born on 18 January 1999. It turned into a scandal within the media. Although he reportedly gave Elaine HK$70,000 each month for her living expenses and HK$600,000 when she moved to Shanghai, the transactions were later claimed to be nonexistent by her lawyer.[111][112][113][114] Despite regretting the results of the affair, Chan said he had "only committed a fault that many men in the world commit".[115][116][117] During the incident, Elaine stated she would take care of her daughter without Chan.[118]
Chan speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and American Sign Language and also speaks some German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Thai.[119] Chan is an avid football fan and supports the Hong Kong national football team, the England national football team, and Manchester City.[120]
He is a fan of the Italian duo Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, from whom he was inspired for his movies.[121]
