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Jackie Chan

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Jackie Chan
Artist Name
Cantonese Pengyam Seng Long
Mandarin Pinyin Chéng Lóng
Chinese 成龍
Real Name
Cantonese Pengyam Can Gõhng Säng
Mandarin Pinyin Chén Gǎngshēng
Chinese 陳港生

Jackie Chan, born Chan Kong-sang on April 7 1954, is a Hong Kong martial artist, film actor, director and stuntman.

Chan is one of the most recognized names in kung fu and action movies worldwide, known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing and use of improvised weapons. Chan has starred in over a hundred movies, and is one of the most recognizable Chinese and Asian film stars in the world.

Biography

Jackie Chan is the son of Charles Chan (a refugee from the Chinese civil war who worked as maid and butler for the French ambassador to Hong Kong) and Lee-Lee Chan.

He married Lin Feng-Chiao (林鳳嬌; also known as Lin Feng-Jiao, a Taiwanese actress) in 1982 with whom he had a son, Jackson "Jaycee Chan" Cho-Ming (b. 1982). He also had a daughter, Etta Ng Chok Lam (b. 1998) with Elaine Ng Yi-Lei out of wedlock.

He was educated at Nan Hua Elementary Academy, Chinese Opera Research Institute (1961-1971) and Peking Opera School. Chan was in the Seven Little Fortunes Chinese opera troupe as a youth, along with Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Corey Kwai.

Chan is often said to do all his own stunts. While this claim does not hold up to close scrutiny, he does insist on doing the majority of them, and has racked up an impressive list of injuries to prove it. (The closing credits of his films usually show bloopers and at least one serious injury.) He is unable to get insurance anywhere in the world. He came closest to death while filming Armour of God 1985, when he fell from a tree in a relatively routine stunt and fractured his skull.

In his biography, Chan says he created his screen persona as a reaction to that of Bruce Lee, and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's death (see "Bruceploitation"). Where Lee's characters were typically stern, morally upright heroes, Chan plays well-meaning, slightly foolish regular guys, often at the mercy of friends, girlfriends or families. However, his characters always triumph in the end.

Chan repeatedly attempted to break into the American movie industry, appearing in films like Battle Creek Brawl, Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II and The Protector. While he did attain cult popularity in the US, his break into the mainstream was Rumble in the Bronx in 1995. He has attained the box-office guarantee that has so far eluded other Hong Kong movie stars like Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh in Hollywood. He also made a successful animated television series called Jackie Chan Adventures.

Chan also has the distinction of being the central subject of UK band Ash's song Kung Fu.

In 1994, MTV honored Chan with a lifetime achievement award for his action-oriented movies, and a year later, he made his "official" debut in North America with a world-wide release of "Rumble in the Bronx." Jackie has a star on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong as well as the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Chan is one of the most well-known philanthropist figures in Hong Kong, and has worked tirelessly to champion many charity works and causes. As a well-respected figure of the Hong Kong entertainment industry, he is often one of the leaders in such works, speaking up for conservation, against animal abuse as well as promoting disaster relief efforts such as the recent mainland China relief flood programmes and the 2004 Tsunami donations.

Filmography as actor includes

Trivia

  • Jackie Chan actually sings many of his own movie theme-songs. Jackie has had a fairly successful career as a recording artist though as can be expected not as successful as his movie career. Regardless, Jackie has an excellent singing voice as does his son. The American versions of his movies do not typically feature the original theme-songs, something which Jackie's fans find rather irritating. Jackie was also featured on the Mandarin soundtrack for the Disney-movie Mulan.
  • With a few exceptions Jackie always dubs his own movies. Jackie is quite fluent in Mandarin and Japanese and occasionally dubs himself in other languages (such as English).
  • The Pokémon Hitmonchan is named after him (similar in style to how the Pokémon Hitmonlee is named after Bruce Lee).

See also

Further Reading

  • Jackie Chan, I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, Ballantine Books (June 28, 1999), ISBN 0345429133.
  • Curtis F. Wong and John R. Little, Jackie Chan (Best of Inside Kung-Fu), McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (December 11, 1998), ISBN 0809228378.
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