Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong on April 7th, 1954. His parents, Charles and Lee-lee Chan named him Chan Kong-sang which means "born in Hong Kong." Jackie weighed 12 pounds when he was born and his mother required surgery to deliver him. Jackie's parents were so poor that they had to borrow money from friends to pay the doctor. Although Jackie's parents were poor, they had steady jobs at the French embassy in Hong Kong. Charles was a cook and Lee-lee was a housekeeper. Together, the Chan family lived on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. When Jackie was young, his father would wake him early in the morning and together they would practice kung fu. Charles Chan believed that learning kung fu would help build Jackie's character, teaching him patience, strength, and courage.
When Jackie was seven years old Charles took a job as the head cook at the American embassy in Australia. He felt that it would be best for Jackie to stay behind in Hong Kong to learn a skill and so enrolled him in the China Drama Academy where Jackie would live for the next 10 years of his life. During Jackie's time at the school, he learned martial arts, acrobatics, singing, and acting. The school was meant to prepare boys for a life in the Peking Opera. Chinese opera was very different from any other kind of opera. It included singing, tumbling, and acrobatics as well as martial arts skills and acting. Students at the school were severely disciplined and were beaten if they disobeyed or made mistakes. It was a very harsh and difficult life but Jackie had nowhere else to go, so he stayed. He rarely saw his parents for many years.
While at the China Academy, Jackie made his acting debut at age eight in the Cantonese movie "Seven Little Valiant Fighters: Big and Little Wong Tin Bar." He later teamed with other opera students in a performance group called "The Seven Little Fortunes." Fellow actors Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao were also members. Years later the three would work together and become known as The Three Brothers. As Jackie got older he worked as a stuntman and an extra in the Hong Kong film industry.
When Jackie was 17, he graduated from the China Drama Academy. Unfortunately the Chinese opera was no longer very popular, so Jackie and his classmates had to find other work. This was difficult because at the school they were never taught how to read or write. The only work available to them was unskilled labor or stunt work. Each year many movies were made in Hong Kong and there was always a need for young, strong stuntmen. Jackie was extraordinarily athletic and inventive, and soon gained a reputation for being fearless; Jackie Chan would try anything. Soon he was in demand.
Over the next few years, Jackie worked as a stuntman, but when the Hong Kong movie industry began to fail, he was forced to go to Australia to live with his parents. He worked in a restaurant and on a construction site. It was there that he got the name "Jackie." A worker named Jack had trouble pronouncing "Kong-sang" and started calling Jackie "little Jack." That soon became “Jackie” and the name stuck.
Jackie was very unhappy in Australia. The construction work was difficult and boring. His salvation came in the form of a telegram from a man named Willie Chan. Willie Chan worked in the Hong Kong movie industry and was looking for someone to star in a new movie being made by Lo Wei, a famous Hong Kong producer/director. Willie had seen Jackie at work as a stuntman and had been impressed. Jackie called Willie and they talked. Jackie didn't know it but Willie would end up becoming his best friend and manager. Soon Jackie was on his way back to Hong Kong to star in "New Fist of Fury." It was 1976 and Jackie Chan was 21 years old.
One Jackie got back to Hong Kong, Willie Chan took control over Jackie's career. To this day Jackie is quick to point out that he owes his success to Willie. However, the movies that Jackie made for Lo Wei were not very successful. The problem was that Jackie's talents were not being used properly. It was only when Jackie was able to contribute his own ideas that he became a star. He brought humor to martial arts movies; his first success was "Snake in Eagle's Shadow." This was followed by "Drunken Master" (another blockbuster) and Jackie's first ever directing job, "Fearless Hyena." All were big hits.
Jackie was becoming a huge success in Asia. Unfortunately, it would be many years before the same could be said of his popularity in America. After a series of lukewarm receptions in the U.S., mostly due to miscasting, Jackie left the States and focused his attention on making movies in Hong Kong. It would be 10 years before he returned to make Rumble in the Bronx, the movie that introduced Jackie to American audiences and secured him a place in their hearts (and their box office). Rumble was followed by the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon series which put Jackie on the Hollywood A List.
Despite his Hollywood successes, Jackie became frustrated by the lack of varied roles for Asian actors and his own inability to control certain aspects of the filming in America. He continued to try, however, making The Tuxedo, The Medallion, and Around the World in 80 Days, none of which was the blockbuster that Rush Hour or Shanghai Noon had been.
Jackie's Lifelong devotion to fitness has served him well as he continues to do stunt work and action sequences in his films. In recent years, Jackie's focus has shifted and he is trying new genres of film – fantasy, drama, romance – and is spending more and more time on his charity work. He takes his work as Ambassador for UNICEF/UNAIDS very seriously and spends all his spare time working tirelessly for children, the elderly, and those in need. He continues to make films in Hong Kong, including the blockbuster drama New Police Story in 2004.
Jackie has been married to Lin Feng-Jiao since 1982 and has a son, actor-singer Jaycee Chan. To learn more about Jackie you can read his biography, I Am Jackie Chan.
Awards and Achievements 2010
- Forbes Asia named Jackie as one of the 48 most philanthropic people in the region.
- Received three nominations for the 2010 Green Globe Film Awards.
- Shinjuku Incident nominated for Best Film by the Hong Kong Film Awards.
- Rode in float for 121st Tournament of Roses Parade in California
Awards and Achievements 2009
- Promotion Ambassador for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo
- Promotion Ambassador for 16th Asian Games (2010)
- Ambassador of Love for Aiding the Disabled
- Special Musical Contribution Award (for Beijing 2008 Olympics and Sichuan Earthquake), Beijing Pop Music Awards
Awards and Achievements 2008
- Honorary Professor of the Performing Arts, The Savannah College of Art and Design
- International Goodwill Ambassador for the Deaflympics
- UNICEF's Champions for Children Award
- Torch bearer, 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games
- Goodwill Ambassador 2008 Beijing Olympics
- Most Outstanding Chinese (Bringing Charm to the World) Award
- Best Foreign Star Promoting Seoul Tourism
- Achievement Award: Goodwill Ambassador 2008 Beijing Olympics
- Achievement Award: Cultural Consultant
- Returning Celebrity Cabinet Member, American Red Cross
Awards and Achievements 2007
- Most Influential Award for Chinese Kung Fu (China)
- Lifetime Achievement Award, NYU Tisch School (Asia)
- Honorary Sheriff's Deputy, Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (USA)
- DVD Data Special Award (Japan)
- Ambassador of Yan Tai, Shandong Province, China
- Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet (Returning Member)
- Hong Kong Dance Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award in Body Movement Art
Awards and Achievements 2006
- Founder, Jackie Chan Civil Aviation Foundation
- Cultural Ambassador (China)
- Honorary Principal of Qiannan Normal College for Nationalities (China)
- Asia Pacific Tourism Ambassador
- Appeal Patron, Save China's Tigers Campaign
- China Police Motorcycle Rally Spokesman
- Plaque with handprint installed at Tokyo's Nemu no Hiroba
- 2006 American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet member
- Laureus Sport for Good: Laureus Friends and Ambassadors Certificate
- JCE's Everlasting Regret Named a Film of Merit by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society
Awards and Achievements 2005
- Golden Rooster Award (China): Best Actor (New Police Story)
- European Union Global Diversity Award
- Next Step World Champion Award
- China Charity Award
- Shanghai Film Festival’s Outstanding Contribution to Film Award
- Ambassador, World Firefighter Games 2006
- Honorary Medal of the City of Paris, France
- Honorary Directorship, Beijing's Colorful Tomorrow Children's Ophthalmology Hospital
- 24th Hong Kong Film Awards Professional Achievement Award
- Yodogawa Nagaharu Award (Road Show Magazine) for Contribution to Japan Film Industry
- Friend of the Australian International School of Hong Kong
- Ambassador of Professional Exchange and Enhancement Programme on Creative Commercial Arts and Design in Hong Kong
Awards and Achievements 2004
- International Goodwill Ambassador UNICEF
- International Goodwill Ambassador UNAIDS
- Torch bearer: 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games
- Star on Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong
- 24th Hong Kong Film Awards Professional Achievement Award
- Honorary Professorship School of Hotel & Tourism Management The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Ten Greatest People of China CCTV, China
- Environment and Culture Ambassador, China's State Environmental Protection Administration
- Award of Distinction, China Community Chest
- Golden Horse Film Award (Taiwan): Best Action Choreography
- Honorary Smile Ambassador, Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation (USA)
- Honorary Vice Chairman, Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation (Japan)
Awards and Achievements 2003
- Hong Kong Tourism Ambassador Hong Kong Tourism Board, Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Film Ambassador Hong Kong Filmmart, Hong Kong
- Ambassador (Year of China in France) Government of China and France, China/France
- Ambassador, Beijing Olympics (China)
- Favorite Male Butt Kicker Nickelodeon's Annual Kid's Choice Award, USA
Awards and Achievements 2002
- All American Family Hero Award California Law Enforcement Image Coalition, USA
- Best Action Choreography Hong Kong Film Award, Hong Kong
- Best Fight Scene MTV Movie Awards, USA
- Favorite Male Butt Kicker Nickelodeon's Annual Kid's Choice Award, USA
- Honorable Policeman Toronto Police Service Board, Canada
- Innovator Award The 8th Annual American Choreography Awards, USA
- Star on the Walk of Fame Walk of Fame, Hollywood, USA
- Taurus Honorary Award World Stunt Award, World Wide
- The Inspiration Award MTV-Asia, Asia
- Yahoo! Hong Kong Brand Award, Hong Kong
- Outstanding Achievement for Acting in Actions Film World Stunt Award, World Wide
Awards and Achievements 2001
- Ambassador of Anti-Smoking American Cancer Foundation, World Wide
- Ambassador of HKSPC HKSPC, Hong Kong
- Cultural Artist of the Year Harvard University, America
- Grand Prix of the Americas Montreal World Film Festival, World Wide
- Honorary Policeman Los Angeles Police Department, USA
- Honorary Policeman Metro - Toronto Police Force, Canada
- International Star of the Year Variety Magazine, World Wide
- Jackie Chan Day (February 28th, 2001) Las Vegas, US
Source: http://jackiechan.com/
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