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Jackie Chan -
Biography :
Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong,
China (now part of People's Republic of China). Chan is the son of Lee-Lee and
Charles Chan, who emigrated to Canberra, Australia in 1960 as refugees from the
Chinese Civil War. Prior to leaving China, Lee-Lee and Charles had worked as a
maid and butler, respectively, for the French ambassador to Hong Kong. Chan's
Chinese name at birth was Chan Kong-Sang, meaning "born in Hong Kong".
Before he adopted the Westernised name,
"Jackie", he was known by a variety of other nicknames. As he was a
heavy baby, (12 lb at birth, he claims to have spent 12 months in the womb), his
mother nicknamed him "Pao Pao" (meaning "Cannonball"). Later,
while studying at the Peking Opera School he was known as Yuen Lo, as a mark of
respect to his master, Yu Jim-Yuen.
In his early stuntman and acting
career (prior to New Fist of Fury in 1976) he was known as Chen Yueng Lung (or
Chen Yuen Lung). It may be an odd coincidence that Sammo Hung's Opera School
name was similar - Yuen Lung. He was thereafter known as "Jackie",
named by his Australian co-workers when living in Australia in 1976-1977.
Working on a building site alongside a labourer named Jack, Chan's co-workers
nicknamed him "Little Jack", and later shortened this to Jackie.
Because his father's family name was originally Fong and was changed only when
arriving in Hong Kong, Chan's Chinese name was changed in family records years
later to "Fong Si Lung". He has also been listed as "Sing Lung"
(meaning "young dragon" or "to become a dragon"),
particularly in relation to his music and it may be no coincidence that his
character in the film Fearless Hyena was called "Shing Lung"
Early Years
Chan was educated at Nan Hua
Elementary Academy, but his parents felt he didn't fit in at school so they sent
him to the Chinese Opera Research Institute (1961-1971) and later, due to
financial difficulties, they enrolled him at the Peking Opera School. While
there, he was taught skills in acrobatics and kung fu under an extremely strict
regime. It was here that Chan joined a number of other students who would become
members of the Seven Little Fortunes (the Opera school's best students), and
ultimately his Hong Kong film industry compatriots. They included Yuen Wah,
Corey Yuen (Yuen Kwai) and Yuen Qiu. He also became firm friends with Sammo Hung
and Yuen Biao, and the three of them would later come to be known as the Three
Brothers / Three Dragons.
Upon finishing at the Opera school,
and a brief spell in Australia, Chan returned to Hong Kong and like his fellow
former students, found work as a film stuntman, before ultimately being offered
acting roles. Very early in his career, in 1975, he was in an adult film called
"All in the Family". I had to do anything I could to make a living
31 years ago, but I don't think it's a big deal, even Marlon Brando used to be
exposed in his movies, Chan said. The porn movie at that time was more
conservative than the current films, he said. Chan got his first
international success in 1978, with the film Drunken Master. The movie depicted
Wong Fei Hung, played by Chan, as a young and mischievous rascal instead of the
venerable Kung fu master that other films had represented him as. Together with
the on-screen antics and charm of Chan and Yuen Siu Tien (also known as Simon
Yuen), father of renowned martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, Drunken
Master was a radical film for its time. The film was a success and led the way
for other international hits.
1980s
Chan married Taiwanese actress Lin
Feng-Jiao (Chinese: 林鳳娇)
in 1983 according to his autobiography, but many Asian sources state he was
married on December 1, 1982. His official website states that he was married in
1982. Chan admitted on an interview with Indian Talk Show hostess, Simi Garewal
that he married his wife because she got pregnant before marriage. Chan and Lin
Feng-Jiao have a son, Jaycee Chan (aka Jo-Ming), who was born on December 3,
1982, although Chan's autobiography lists his son's birth year as 1984. Chan
also alledgedly has a daughter, Etta Ng Chok Lam (b. November 19, 1999), as a
result of an affair with Elaine Ng Yi-Lei.
Between 1983 and 1985, Chan enjoyed
his most prolific period of acting alongside his opera school brothers. Just
after Hung and Biao had made Prodigal Son, all three appeared together in Chan's
Project A and the first of Hung's original Lucky Stars trilogy, Winners and
Sinners. All three films came in 1983. These were followed by Wheels on Meals in
1984, and the trio were reunited twice more for the Lucky Stars semi-sequels My
Lucky Stars and Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars, both in 1985. Chan appeared once
more with Hung in 1985, in Heart of Dragon. This was something of a golden
period for Hong Kong cinema-goers, as three of the nation's most loved stars
performed together on screen.
Chan is perhaps best known for
performing the majority of his own stunts, which he cheorographs along with his
stunt team. Around the time of Project A in 1983, Chan officially formed the
Jackie Chan Stunt Team, allowing him to train and work with a group of trusted
martial artists and stuntmen for each of his ensuing movies. Chan stated that
this makes it easier to choreograph fight scenes as he already has knowledge of
his team's abilities. He and his team also undertake many of the more dangerous
stunts for the other characters in his films. These are usually shot from behind
or otherwise obscuring the faces so it is not obvious to the viewer. The
dangerous nature of the stunts make it difficult for Chan to get insurance,
particularly in the US, where his stunt work is contractually limited.
Chan holds the Guinness World Record
for "Most Stunts By A Living Actor". The record notes that "no
insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions, in which he performs all
his own stunts". Chan has been injured several times during his stunts, and
these are sometimes played amongst the bloopers shown over the closing credits
of his later movies. 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 autobiography, Chan says he
originally created his screen persona as a reaction to that of the martial
artist Bruce Lee, and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's
death (see "Bruceploitation"). Where Bruce 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 movies like Battle Creek Brawl,
Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II and The Protector in the early 1980s.
1990s
In the 1990s, as well as continuing
with his successful Asian film career, Chan still wanted Hollywood success and
was offered two roles that would portray him as a villain, but he declined both
of them as he didn't want to risk being typecast for further Hollywood roles.
His friend, Sylvester Stallone, offered Chan the role of the criminal, Simon
Phoenix, in the futuristic film Demolition Man but he declined as he did not
want to play a villain for fear of being typecast for any future Hollywood roles.
The role was instead taken by Wesley Snipes. He also declined to play a villain
in the film Lethal Weapon 4 with the role taken by Jet Li. Was approached about
playing the bad guy in Rambo IV, but turned it down since he feels that a lot of
kids look up to him and he wants to be a good role model. Additionally the
character was a drug dealer and Jackie has a very personal reason for not
wanting to play any character associated with drugs.
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 series called Jackie Chan Adventures.
In 1994, MTV honoured 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 worldwide release of
Rumble in the Bronx.
2000s
Chan continued his Hollywood success
with sequels Rush Hour 2 and Shanghai Knights and in 2004 Chan returned to Hong
Kong box office success with the films New Police Story, in which Chan plays a
troubled police officer, and in The Myth where we see Chan as a modern
archaeologist who has dreamt he has been re-encarnated from an acient Chinese
Warrior. These are two examples of Chan's growing wish to play a new style of
character and to include more dramatic scenes into his films. In 2007 Chan will
be starring along side another Hong Kong action star, Jet Li in a film that is
rumored to be based on the Chinese folk story Journey to the West.
As well as many on-going projects Chan
is also a keen philanthropist 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
for flooding in mainland China and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Chan helped
raise thousands of US dollars, however this money was later stolen by a third
party. In June, 2006, he announced that he would donate half of his assets to
charity when he dies. He stated that he admired the efforts by Warren Buffett
and Bill Gates to help those in need.
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