The transcript below is from the video “The truth about Jackie Chan” by World Famous Person.
World Famous Person:
Chan Kong-sang, born 7 April 1954, known professionally as Jackie Chan, is a Hong Kong actor, director and martial artist known for his slapstick acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically performs himself. He has trained in Wushu and Hapkido and has been acting since the 1960s, performing in more than 150 films. He is one of the most popular action film stars of all time.
Chan is one of the most recognizable and influential cinematic personalities in the world, gaining a widespread global following in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres and has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
World Famous Person:
He has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, films and video games. He is an operatically trained vocalist and is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred. He is also a globally known philanthropist and has been named as one of the top 10 most charitable celebrities by Forbes magazine.
In 2004, film scholar Andrew Willis stated that Chan was perhaps the “most recognized star in the world”. In 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $350 million, and as of 2016, he was the second-highest-paid actor in the world.
World Famous Person:
Early Life
Chan was born on 7 April 1954 in Hong Kong as Chan Kong-sang to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. His parents were so poor they had to borrow money from friends to pay the doctor. His parents nicknamed him Pao-pao because the energetic child was always rolling around. His parents worked for the French ambassador in Hong Kong, and Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul’s residence in the Victoria Peak district.
Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father emigrated to Canberra, Australia to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim-yuen. Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.
World Famous Person:
He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a performance group made up of the school’s best students, gaining the stage name Yuen Lo in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, and the three of them later became known as the Three Brothers or Three Dragons. After entering the film industry, Chan along with Sammo Hung got the opportunity to train in hapkido under the grandmaster Jin Pal Kim, and Chan eventually attained a black belt.
Chan joined his parents in Canberra, Australia in 1976, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker. A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, thus earning Chan the nickname of “Little Jack”, later shortened to “Jackie”, which has stuck with him ever since. In the late 1990s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fong Si-lung, since his father’s original surname was Fong.
World Famous Person:
1962–1975: Early Appearances
He began his film career by appearing in small roles at the age of 5 as a child actor.
1976–1980: Early Leading Roles
In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie’s stunt work. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei.
Chan’s first major breakthrough was the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal.
1980–1987: Success in the Action Comedy Genre
Willie Chan became Jackie’s personal manager and firm friend, and remained so for over 30 years.
After the commercial failure of The Protector in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into the US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films.
Back in Hong Kong, Chan’s films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including Drunken Master, The Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982). Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao.
World Famous Person:
1988–1998: Acclaimed Sequels and Hollywood Breakthrough
In 1988, Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date in the film Dragons Forever. Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen, and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah, both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chan starred in a number of successful sequels beginning with Project A Part II and Police Story 2, which won the award for Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards.
Up until January 1995, his films grossed over HK$500 million (US$70 million) in Hong Kong, ¥39 billion (US$489 million) in Japan, 11.5 million box office admissions in France, and 9.9 million box office admissions in Germany.
Chan rekindled his Hollywood ambitions in the 1990s, but refused early offers to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles.
Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of Rumble in the Bronx, attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars.
World Famous Person:
1999–2007: Fame in Hollywood and Dramatisation
In 1998, Chan released his final film for Golden Harvest, Who Am I?. After leaving Golden Harvest in 1999, he produced and starred alongside Shu Qi in Gorgeous, a romantic comedy that focused on personal relationships and featured only a few martial arts sequences.
Despite the success of the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon films, Chan became frustrated with Hollywood over the limited range of roles and lack of control over the filmmaking process.
Chan’s next release was the third instalment in the Rush Hour film series: Rush Hour 3 in August 2007. It grossed US$255 million. However, it was a disappointment in Hong Kong, grossing only HK$3.5 million during its opening weekend.
World Famous Person:
2008 – Present: New Experiments and Change in Style
Filming of The Forbidden Kingdom, Chan’s first on-screen collaboration with fellow Chinese actor Jet Li, was completed on 24 August 2007 and the movie was released in April 2008.
In November 2007, Chan began filming Shinjuku Incident, a dramatic role featuring no martial arts sequences with director Derek Yee, which sees Chan take on the role of a Chinese immigrant in Japan.
In 2010, he starred with Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid, a remake of the 1984 original.
His 100th movie, 1911, was released on 26 September 2011. Chan was the co-director, executive producer, and lead star of the movie.
While at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, Chan announced that he was retiring from action films citing that he was getting too old for the genre.
In 2013, Chan starred in Police Story 2013, a reboot of the Police Story franchise directed by Ding Sheng, and it was released in China at the end of 2013.
Chan starred in the 2016 action-comedy Railroad Tigers and the 2017 action-thriller The Foreigner, an Anglo-Chinese production. He also stars in the science fiction film Bleeding Steel. In 2021, he will appear in Project X-Traction alongside John Cena.
His films had collectively grossed HK$1.14 billion (US$145 million) at the Hong Kong box office up until 2010, over US$72 million in South Korea between 1991 and 2010, and ¥48.4 billion (US$607 million) in Japan up until 2012.
World Famous Person:
Other Careers
Chan and Qin Hailu singing in Shanghai, China in August 2006
Chan had vocal lessons whilst at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. He began producing records professionally in the 1980s and has gone on to become a successful singer in Hong Kong and Asia.
Chan voiced the character of Shang in the Chinese release of the Walt Disney animated feature Mulan (1998).
In 2007, Chan recorded and released “We Are Ready”, the official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics which he performed at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics.
World Famous Person:
Personal Life
In 1982, Chan married Joan Lin, a Taiwanese actress. Their son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan, was born that same year.
After he engaged in an extra-marital affair with Elaine Ng Yi-Lei, an illegitimate daughter by the name of Etta Ng Chok Lam was born on January 18, 1999. It turned into a scandal within the media. Although he reportedly gave Elaine HK$70,000 each month for her living expenses and HK$600,000 when she moved to Shanghai, the transactions were later claimed to be nonexistent by her lawyer. Despite regretting the results of the affair, Chan said he had “only committed a fault that many men in the world commit”. During the incident, Elaine stated she would take care of her daughter without Chan.
Chan speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and American Sign Language and also speaks some German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Thai. Chan is an avid football fan and supports the Hong Kong national football team, the England national football team, and Manchester City.
He is a fan of the Italian duo Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, from whom he was inspired for his movies.
World Famous Person:
Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy
The Duke of Cambridge Prince William with actor Jackie Chan at the London Conference on The Illegal Wildlife Trade at the Natural History Museum, 12 February 2014
In addition to his film production and distribution company, JCE Movies Limited, Jackie Chan owns or co-owns the production companies JC Group China, Jackie & Willie Productions (with Willie Chan) and Jackie & JJ Productions. Chan has also put his name to Jackie Chan Theater International, a cinema chain in China, co-run by Hong Kong company Sparkle Roll Group Ltd. The first Jackie Chan-Yaolai International Cinema opened in February 2010, and is claimed to be the largest cinema complex in China, with 17 screens and 3,500 seats. Chan expressed his hopes that the size of the venue would afford young, non-commercial directors the opportunity to have their films screened. Fifteen further cinemas in the chain were planned for 2010, throughout Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with a potential total of 65 cinemas throughout the country proposed.
In 2004, Chan launched his own line of clothing, which bears a Chinese dragon logo and the English word “Jackie”, or the initials “JC”. Chan also has a number of other branded businesses. His sushi restaurant chain, Jackie’s Kitchen, has outlets throughout Hong Kong, as well as seven in South Korea, with plans to open another in Las Vegas. Jackie Chan’s Cafe has outlets in Beijing, Singapore, and the Philippines. Other ventures include Jackie Chan Signature Club gyms (a partnership with California Fitness), and a line of chocolates, cookies and nutritional oatcakes. With each of his businesses, a percentage of the profits goes to various charities, including the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.
World Famous Person:
In 2016, Chan partnered with Asian Le Mans Series champion David Cheng to form a racing team in the series and the FIA World Endurance Championship. The two met in March 2015 and Chan told Cheng about his interest in motorsports and raised the possibility of starting a team. Together, the two formed Baxi DC Racing Alpine, the first mainland China-based operation in WEC. In October, leading into the 2016–17 Asian Le Mans Series season, the team was rebranded to Jackie Chan DC Racing and raced with liveries promoting Chan’s movie Kung Fu Yoga. At the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team became the first Chinese team to win its class (LMP2).
Chan is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and has championed charitable works and causes. He has campaigned for conservation and against animal abuse, and has promoted disaster relief efforts for floods in mainland China and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
In June 2006, citing his admiration of the efforts made by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to help those in need, Chan pledged the donation of half his assets to charity upon his death.
On 10 March 2008, Chan was the guest of honour for the launch, by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the John Curtin School of Medical Research of the Australian National University.
World Famous Person:
Chan is also a supporter and ambassador of Save China’s Tigers, which aims to save the endangered South China tiger through breeding and releasing them into the wild.
Following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Chan donated RMB ¥10 million to help those in need. In addition, he planned to make a film about the Chinese earthquake to raise money for survivors.
In response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Chan and fellow Hong Kong-based celebrities, including American rapper MC Jin, headlined a special three-hour charity concert, titled Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders, on 1 April 2011 to help with Japan’s disaster recovery effort. The 3-hour concert raised over $3.3 million.
In January 2017, Chan donated $65,000 to help flood victims in Thailand.
Chan founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation in 1988 to offer scholarship and active help to Hong Kong’s young people and provide aid to victims of natural disaster or illness. In 2005, Chan created the Dragon’s Heart Foundation to help children and the elderly in remote areas of China by building schools, providing books, fees, and uniforms for children; the organisation expanded its reach to Europe in 2011. The foundation also provides for the elderly with donations of warm clothing, wheelchairs, and other items.
