BIOGRAPHY:

Real name: Chan Kunsan
Birthday: April 7, 1954.
Place of birth: Hong Kong
Height: 174 cm
Occupation: cinema
Sports: Chinese martial arts, Jeet Kune Do, Taekwondo, Hapkido, Judo

Childhood and youth:

The future actor was born into a poor family. His father and mother, Charles and Lilly Chan, worked for a time as a cook and maid at the residence of the French Consul in Hong Kong. However, the spouses were sorely lacking funds for living, and according to some information, they even considered the option of giving up their son, whose name at birth was Chan Kunsan, for adoption.

In 1960, the family moved to Australia, but Jackie remained in Hong Kong – his father enrolled him in the Peking Opera boarding school. There, Chan not only received stage training, but also learned martial arts and the basics of acrobatics. From an early age he paid great attention to acting.

At the age of 17, Jackie graduated from school, but his future seemed vague. Chan failed to master basic subjects and did not acquire the necessary skills because they were not taught properly at his school: he could write and read with great difficulty. With such skills, he had very little prospect of finding a good job.

But Jackie was good at acrobatics and martial arts. This allowed him to earn extra money as a stuntman and subsequently succeed in cinema. At first, Chan worked as a cleaner, and also periodically performed stunts in various films. The beginning of his film career
Jackie took his first steps as an actor as a child. He participated in the crowd and played episodic roles. Chan also periodically worked as a stuntman. After graduating from school, he decided that there were no prospects for him in Hong Kong, and went to his parents in Australia.

There, Chan began to receive new roles. In parallel with filming, he also worked in construction and helped his parents. It was difficult for Australians to pronounce his real name, so they simply called the guy Jackie – hence the actor’s legendary nickname.

Subsequently, the number of offers became more and more, and the roles in films became more and more significant. By the age of 20, he managed to earn substantial capital.

“In my twenties, I was already a millionaire. An ignorant person who has not studied a day in school suddenly gets 10 million – can you imagine what it’s like? I couldn’t wait to buy in one week all those things that people dream about all their lives. All day long I drank and drove cars, crashed a Porsche in the morning, and a Mercedes-Benz in the evening. Day after day I was in a state of clouded consciousness,” the actor recalled in his autobiography.

Achievements in cinema:

The 1978 comedy A Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow became a breakthrough for the future movie star. The director of the film, Yun Wop-hin, allowed Chan to come up with his own stunts. That same year, the same director cast him in the hit film Drunken Master. Stunts became his calling card. In 1983, the actor officially created the Jackie Chan stunt team.

Chan tried to break into the American market with a number of projects, but real success in the United States came to him in 1995 after the film Rumble in the Bronx. At the same time, MTV presented him with an award for overall achievements in the field of cinema. Viewers recognized him as one of the most popular actors in Asia and remembered him from the films “Mr. Cool”, “Rush Hour”, “Shanghai Noon”, “Myth”, “The Fall of the Last Empire” and many others.

Jackie continued to work with Hollywood studios and managed to fulfill his long-time dream of making a truly American hit. “Rush Hour” with his participation in 1998 became one of the highest-grossing films of the year and, together with its sequels, grossed more than a billion dollars.

Subsequently, Chan experimented with his role, as well as with various images, and tried himself as a screenwriter, producer and director. In 2016, Jackie was awarded an Oscar in a special category for his outstanding contribution to world cinema. Chan also manifested himself in other guises – in particular, he is known as a pop singer. He has more than 100 songs on 20 albums in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and English. Jackie also often performed title songs for his films. And in 2007, he became the author of the official song of Beijing in preparation for the Olympics in 2008 – “We Are Ready” (“We are ready”).

The actor twice entered the Guinness Book of Records for “the largest number of stunts in a career” and “the largest number of mentions in the credits of one film.” In the film “Armor of God 3: Mission Zodiac”, Chan showed himself in 15 positions – as an actor, director, screenwriter, producer, cameraman, lighting designer, stunt coordinator, soundtrack performer, responsible for the food crew and many others), thanks to which he broke the record Robert Rodriguez. Famous tricks of Jackie Chan
Chan’s most striking feature is his talent as a stuntman. It is known that almost all of Jackie’s famous tricks were performed by him himself. It is extremely rare that the actor still resorted to the services of stuntmen, but most of the most complex elements were performed by himself. Even at an advanced age, Chan continues to do all the stunts himself. In 2023, 69-year-old Jackie starred in the Chinese film Kung Fu Stallion. The actor admitted that some elements are already difficult for him, but in such cases he uses choreography instead of combat strikes. In addition, during filming, the star has to be given injections with anesthesia.

“I know that I am no longer young and not the same. Therefore, whatever I do, I try to do it as well as possible. For example, I can no longer demonstrate things like the double kick, but instead I began to use choreography. For example, someone pushes me, I hold on to the chair and can jump like that. And the audience was like, “Wow! Jackie! At this age, something else can happen!” In general, choreography allows you to do things that others at the same age can no longer do,” Chan said.

He also added, “You see, audiences like to see the real Jackie Chan. Even with the advancement of technology, they are still interested in watching Jackie do everything himself. They don’t want to watch Jackie play Spider-Man or Superman. Poor me! (Smiles.) But I hope some director will still call me to play the role of a superhero.”

Injuries and fractures during filming:

The actor was often injured during filming. According to Jackie himself, he suffered more than 300 fractures throughout his career. He was not at all afraid of such traumatic events, but not a single insurance company in the world would sign a contract with him – Chan was blacklisted.

“In 52 years of working in cinema, everything in me from the top of my head to the tips of my fingers was broken at least once. My skull was fractured, my nose was broken three times, I had a broken knee, one shoulder and a dislocation of the other, a dislocated sternum, pelvis, multiple back injuries, including fractured vertebrae. I’m not even talking about little things like knocked out teeth, broken fingers and ribs. I like to laugh at myself that when I die, I will give my body to some medical center for study,” the actor said at the premiere of the film “Armor of God-3” in Moscow.

During all this time, Jackie was literally on the verge of life and death more than once, but the actor was not afraid of such situations. In his films, Chan performed a high-speed descent from a roof with a bungee wrapped around his waist (the film “Who Am I?”), a jump from the roof of one building to the balcony of the next one (“Rumble in the Bronx”), and a descent along a pole with electric garlands (“Police Girl”). story 2″) and many others.

Jackie Chan’s income:

Jackie spent his entire childhood in poverty, but at the age of 20 he became rich. Since then, the actor has managed to earn a substantial fortune. His income comes not only from fees for participating in various films, but from investments and entrepreneurial activities.

Chan has a chain of cinemas – Jackie Chan Yaolai International Cinema, his own brand of clothing and accessories JCD (Jackie Chan Design), several sushi restaurants and sports clubs, as well as his own chocolate line. Forbes magazine estimated the actor’s fortune at $350 million.

The actor owns a large number of houses, several prestigious cars, a three-deck yacht and a private jet Embraer Legacy 650. At the same time, Jackie spends a lot on charity and various projects – he speaks out against violence against animals, smoking, alcohol, and in 2005 the artist founded the Dragon Heart Foundation “, which is engaged in opening and supporting schools in poor areas of China and in other countries.

Achievements and awards of Jackie Chan:

Stars on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong and on the Walk of Stars in Hollywood, as well as on Old Arbat in Moscow

Winner of the Oscar Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography

Winner of the MTV Award “For Achievement in World Cinema”

Martial artist

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador;

Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Chief director of the Changchun Film Studio, the oldest film studio in China

Honorary Doctorate from a University in Cambodia

Jackie Chan family:

There are two known girls for whom the famous actor had strong feelings. The first love happened at a fairly young age – Jackie was then 14 years old.

This was a girl from a good and wealthy family, while Chan himself lived in poverty.
The couple had a short relationship, which ended after the actor reached the peak of popularity and began to spend a lot of time in the company of other ladies. However, Jackie was not a bachelor for long: in the 80s, he married Taiwanese actress Lin Fengjiao.

The marriage produced a son, Jaycee (Chang Zuming), who followed in his father’s footsteps and became an actor and singer. There is not the most pleasant story connected with him: In 2015, Jaycee was detained in Hong Kong for using illegal substances. Sachets of the drug were also found in his apartment.

The son of a cinema star was threatened with a long prison sentence, but in the end he was released six months later. Nevertheless, after such a scandal, Jackie deprived his son of his inheritance.

Chan also has an illegitimate daughter, Etta Wu Zhuolin, from his relationship with actress Elaine Wu Qili. At first, the actor did not recognize the child for a long time, but in the end he did it. However, he does not take part in the upbringing and life of his daughter.

Rating of the 10 best Jackie Chan films on IMDb:

Drunken Master (1978) – 7.6

Police Story (1985) – 7.6

Project “A”? (1983) – 7.4

Dragons forever? (1988) – 7.2

Rush Hour (1998) – 7

Foreigner (2017) – 7

Rumble in the Bronx (1995) – 6.8

Dragonheart (1985) – 6.5

Shanghai Knights (2003) – 6.2

The Karate Kid (2010) – 6.2

Hospitalization and health rumors:

On Monday, December 25, 2023, it became known that Chan was hospitalized at Shanghai Lin Shan Hospital. According to information that has not been officially confirmed, the 69-year-old actor is in critical condition, but doctors are providing him with all the necessary assistance.

According to media reports, all posts about Chan’s hospitalization are actively deleted from Chinese social networks, and the accounts of users who publish them are blocked. The information that the actor actually ended up in the hospital ultimately did not receive any confirmation.

Chan himself got in touch on December 27. A video appeared on the Kuaishou social network where Jackie announced his intention to hold a New Year’s live broadcast.

“Dear subscribers, I greet you. It’s me, Jackie Chan. I am very glad to be able to celebrate this New Year with you on this platform. We will meet you here on December 31 at 20.00, and at exactly midnight we will sing together a song (“Descendants of the Dragon”) in honor of the coming year 2024. Let’s celebrate the New Year with the Kuaishou platform! I’ll be waiting for you, connect!” – said the actor.