Comprehensive information and links about Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan Jacky Chan

Yuan Lung Chan

Yuen-Lung Chan

Lung Chen

Long Cheng

Wellson Chin

Sing Lung

(born on April 7, 1954 in Hong KongJackie Chan is a martial artist, actor, director, singer, and stuntman.

Chan is one of the most recognised names in Kung Fu and action movies worldwide, known for his acrobatic fighting , 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 movie stars in the world. He also has a pop music singing career which began in the 1980s.

Biography

Jackie Chan is the son of Lee-Lee and Charles Chan who migrated to Canberra, Australia in 1960 as a refugee from the Chinese civil war and who had previously worked as a maid and butler for the French ambassador to Hong Kong. His Chinese name at birth was Chan Kong-sang (meaning "Born in Hong Kong").

Before he adopted the Westernized name, "Jackie", he was known by a variety of other nicknames. As he was a heavy baby, (12lb at birth, having apparently spent 12 months in the womb), his mother nicknamed him "Pao Pao" (meaning "Cannonball"). Later, while studying at the Peking Opera school (alongside Sammo Hung) 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). He was thereafter known as "Jackie", named by his Australian co-workers when living in Australia in 1976-1977span . Because his father's family name was originally Fong and was changed only when arriving in Hong Kong, Jackie Chan's Chinese name was changed in family records years later to Fong Si Lungspan . He has also been listed as "Sing Lung" (meaning "Already a Dragon" or "Becoming 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".

Chan married Taiwanese actress Lin Feng-Jiao (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. Jackie and Lin Feng-Jiao had a son, Jaycee Chan aka Jo-Ming, who was born on December 3, 1982, although Jackie's autobiography lists his son's birth year as 1984. Jackie also has a daughter, Etta Ng Chok Lam (b. 1998) with Elaine Ng Yi-Lei out of wedlock. There is a rumor that Chan also has a half-Chinese daughter (born October 1987) currently living in Seattle, but no hard evidence has been found and\or confirmed.

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, including stunts for other characters if they are not showing their faces, and has racked up an impressive list of injuries to prove it. (The closing credits of his movies 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 (1985), when he fell from a tree in a relatively routine stunt and fractured his skull.

Around the time of Project A in 1983, Jackie 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.

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 movies like 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 .

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

Jackie has a star on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong as well as the Walk of Fame. Chan is also known as a major pop star in Asia, and he released over 100 song titles in 20 albums since 1984. He sings in many different languages including English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese.

Chan is one of the most well-known philanthropists 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 .

Chan was also meant to star as Vin Diesel's role in the movie Jackie Chan has won several prestigious awards including The American Choreography Award, The World Stunt Award and has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, along with several awards from The Hollywood, Hong Kong, Montreal World and Fant-Asia Film Festivals; but he has never won an Oscar. Currently there is a campaign underway to award him an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Academy Award. To support this, everyone is eligible to cast a supporting vote (one time only) at: [[1]].Chan actually sings many of his own movie theme songs. Chan has had a fairly successful career as a recording artist (though not as successful as his movie career). The American versions of his movies do not typically feature the original theme songs, something which Chan's fans find rather irritating. Chan was also featured on the Mandarin soundtrack for the Disney movie With a few exceptions, Chan always dubs his own movies. He is quite fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and occasionally dubs himself in other languages (such as English).Though Chan's willingness to do his own stunts was originally the trademark feature of his movies, he has sustained various injuries over the years which render him incapable of performing certain stunts. He tries to avoid stunts where he may suffer severe head trauma due to a near fatal incident that occurred while shooting . He has also broken his left ankle so many times, he can no longer rely on it while pushing for a jump and must use his right foot instead. Over the years, he has been forced to use While not afraid to do his own stunts, Chan confesses that, like many, he is afraid of needles and hates taking shots. Unlike injuries that may come from a failed stunt, with a shot he "knows that it's coming."Contrary to popular belief, Chan is not a kung fu stylist. In fact, he stated that his only official martial arts training has been attributed to Jin Pal Kim, a korean hapkido stylist. (However, this is contradicted below.)builder turned actor turned governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger in a government advert to combat piracy, which can be viewed hereJackie Chan actually does know kung fu, and has trained under Master Leung Ting in Wing Chun, as well as numerous other masters in Tong Long(Mantis), Bak Mei(White Eyebrow), as well as the traditional northern Shaolin kung fu he learned in opera school. Jackie has also learned numerous other s of martial arts to help his screen fighting, including hapkido, boxing, judo,taekwondo and Hei Long (Under Master G.J. Torres). Jackie's personal