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Background[]

Jackie Chan ( b. 7 April 1954 ) is a Hong Kong martial artist, stuntman, actor, producer, director, philanthropist, and vocalist. He has appeared in live action television and cinematic roles, and voice acting performances.

Chan is widely regarded as one of the most popular and prolific international action film stars of all time, appearing in over 150 films beginning as a child actor. He is particularly noted for his stunt performances and has regularly done the majority of his own stuntwork on many of his films over the decades of his career. His personal fighting signature style is considered to be an iconic fusion of acrobatic stunts and comedic slapstick.

Chan is best known for his performances in a number of iconic cinematic films including Drunken Master; the Police Story Franchise series; and the Rush Hour Franchise series.

Biography[]

Personal Life[]

Philanthropy[]

Jackie Chan has made visits to southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and human trafficking. He had supported the Dragon's Heart Charity where the program help poverty-stricken children and elderly in remote regions of China.

Filmography[]

Trivia[]

  • Is credited with inventing the comedic kung fu genre.
  • His role models are Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd.
  • He is also a highly accomplished opera singer and has a flourishing career singing. He has done several translated songs from English in Mandarin and dubovers.
  • Gained his nickname from a period where he was doing construction work and a fellow construction worker took him under his wing to teach him the ropes and named him "Little Jack" which eventually got shortened to "Jackie".
  • Although famous for being a martial artist, he does not actually hold any formal rank or a belt. Rather, he has undergone extensive training in Northern Kung Fu and acrobatics as a child. Over his career, he has also picked up some karate, judo, taekwondo, and Jeet Kun Do techniques from working with other martial artists/stuntmen on films.
  • Worked as a stuntman on several films under Bruce Lee and became his favorite stuntman.
  • Jackie Chan is famous for doing his own stunts and has nearly lost his life on several occasions. He has suffered several extreme injuries over the course of his film career. His injuries include: dislocation of his shoulder, sternum, pelvis, and cheekbone; lacerated his lip; fractured his skull; had his legs crushed; damaged his brow ridge; suffered several neck and back injuries; broken his hip and foot; and has had his nose broken three separate times. He has suffered temporary paralysis from spinal injuries and almost lost his eye from several of these stunt injuries. In addition, he is partially deaf in one ear and has a permanent hole in his skull.  Jackie also tends to have an unusual running style which is a result of his numerous leg and knee injuries.
  • Is afraid of needles and public speaking.
  • Jackie Chan frequently includes blooper reels of his stunts at the end credits of his films as an attempt to encourage his fans not to try and imitate his stunts. He has stated that he does this to show people that even though he is a trained professional stuntman, even he has been seriously injured and that accidents happen frequently while attempting to performing them.
  • Current holder of the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts by a Living Actor".
  • Jackie Chan has commented that he is apparently 'uninsurable' and that no insurance company would even consider underwriting one of his movies. Chan subsequently created the Jackie Chan Stuntman Association which not only trains stuntmen for his movies but also pays their medical bills out of his own pocket.
  • Jackie Chan unofficially holds the record for having to do 'Most Takes for a Single Scene'. During the shooting for the 1982 Dragon Lord movie; Chan was forced to redo a single and hugely complex scene over 2,900 times to get it right. This excessive amount of retakes however was never documented thus it remains an unofficial record.
  • His film career heavily influenced manga artist Akira Toriyama's early work on the Dragonball manga/anime. Toriyama had one of his characters, Master Roshi (Kamesenin) use the alias of "Jackie Chun" in honor of him.
  • Jackie Chan has also inspired the Pokemon character Hitmonchan which is a combination of "hit", "monster", and "chan".

Quotes[]

  • "I never wanted to be the next Bruce Lee. I just wanted to be the first Jackie Chan."
  • "I'm crazy, but I'm not too crazy."
  • "The ads all call me fearless, but that's just publicity. Anyone who thinks I'm not scared out of my mind whenever I do one of my stunts is crazier than I am."
  • "I'm crazy, but I'm not stupid."
  • "Do not let circumstances control you. You change your circumstances."
  • “The best fights are the ones we avoid.”
  • “I only want my work to make people happy.”
  • "My dream is to continue filming until my body tells me to stop."
  • "When you are learning about a martial art, it is about respect."

External Links[]

IMDb Profile

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