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Jackie Chan Biography

originally Chan Kong-sang

(1954–)

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1993 Crime Story
1975 All in the Family
1985 The Protector

1974 Supermen Against the Orient
1977 Fist of Death
1996 First Strike
1984 Cannonball Run II
1994 The Legend of Drunken Master
1992 Brother vs. Brother
1995 Dead Heat
1982 Cannonball Run
1985 The Target
1990 The Burning Island
1971 Little Tiger from Canton
1978 Magnificent Guardsmen
1984 Pom Pom
1972 Lady Kung Fu
1985 My Lucky Stars
1998 Rush Hour
1973 The Heroine
1987 Project A II
1983 The Fearless Hyena, Part II
1985 Police Story
2001 The Accidental Spy
1975 No End of Surprises
1976 36 Wooden Men
1980 Half a Loaf of Kung Fu
1989 Mr. Canton and Lady Rose
1980 The Young Master
1979 Dragon Fist
1986 Armor of God
1996 Rumble in the Bronx
1984 Dragon Attack
1998 Mr. Nice Guy
1987 Three Brothers
1976 Fists to Fight (New Fist of Fury)
1977 To Kill with Intrigue
2000 Shanghai Noon
1972 The Unicorn Palm
1999 Gorgeous
1962 Big and Little Wong Tin Bar
1973 Enter the Dragon
1988 Jackie Chan's Police Story (Police Story II)
1984 Million Dollar Heiress
1978 Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
1972 Fist of Fury
1978 Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin
1993 Once a Cop (Police Story V)
1984 Two in A Black Belt
1979 The Fearless Hyena
1983 Project A
1974 The Golden Lotus
1969 A Touch of Zen
1978 Drunken Master
1973 Fist of Anger
1982 Marvelous Fists
1985 The First Mission
1985 Ninja Thunderbolt
1983 Five Lucky Stars
1982 Dragon Strike
1980 The Big Brawl
1992 Police Story III: Supercop
1965 Big Drunk Hero
1975 Hand of Death
1992 City Hunter
1974 Police Woman
2001 Rush Hour 2
1990 Armour of God II
1976 The Killer Meteors
1998 Who Am I?
1978 Karate Ghostbuster

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Actor, director, producer. Born April 7, 1954, in Hong Kong, China. When his parents moved to Australia to find new jobs, the seven-year-old Chan was left behind to study at the Chinese Opera Research Institute, a Hong Kong boarding school. For the next 10 years, Chan studied martial arts, drama, acrobatics, and singing, and was subjected to stringent discipline, including corporal punishment for poor performance. He appeared in his first film, the Cantonese feature Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962), when he was only eight, and went on to appear in a number of musical films.

Upon his graduation in 1971, Chan found work as an acrobat and a movie stuntman, most notably in Fist of Fury (1972), starring Hong Kong's resident big-screen superstar, Bruce Lee. For that film, he reportedly completed the highest fall in the history of the Chinese film industry, earning the respectful notice of the formidable Lee, among others.

After Lee's tragic, unexpected death in 1973, Chan was singled out as a likely successor of his mantle as the king of Hong Kong cinema. To that end, he starred in a string of kung fu movies with Lo Wei, a producer and director who had worked with Lee. Most were unsuccessful, and the collaboration ended in the late 1970s. By that time, Chan had decided that he wanted to break out of the Lee mold and create his own image. Blending his martial arts abilities with an impressive nerve—he insisted on performing all of his own stunts—and a sense of screwball physical comedy reminiscent of one of his idols, Buster Keaton, Chan found his own formula for cinematic gold.

A year after the release of his first bona fide hit, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978), Chan took the Hong Kong film world by storm with his first so-called "kung fu comedy" the now-classic Drunken Master (1978). Subsequent hits such as The Fearless Hyena (1979), Half a Loaf of Kung Fu (1980), and The Young Master (1980) confirmed Chan's star status; the latter film marked his first with Golden Harvest, Lee's old production company and the leading film studio in Hong Kong. Before long, Chan had become the highest-paid actor in Hong Kong and a huge international star throughout Asia. He exerted total control over most of his films, often taking charge of duties ranging from producing to directing to performing the theme songs.

In the early 1980s, Chan tried his luck in Hollywood, with little success. He starred in the Golden Harvest-produced The Big Brawl (1980), which flopped; he also had a small supporting role opposite Burt Reynolds in the disappointing ensemble comedy Cannonball Run (1982) and its equally mediocre 1984 sequel.