Hong Kong postcard.
Hong Kong postcard.
Cashing in on the success of Bruce Lee
Jackie Chan was born as Fang Shilong (Cantonese: Fôong Sie-Long) 房仕龍 in 1954 on Hong Kong's famous Victoria Peak. He later took the name Chen Jiangsheng (Cantonese: Chan Kwôong-Saang) 陳港生. His parents were Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, and both worked for the French embassy in Hong Kong. In the early 1960s, the family immigrated to Canberra, Australia. The young Jackie was bad at school, so his father sent him back to Hong Kong to attend the rigorous China Drama Academy, one of the Peking Opera schools.
Chan excelled at acrobatics, singing and martial arts. Jackie eventually became a member of the Seven Little Fortunes performing troupe and began lifelong friendships with fellow martial artists/actors Sammo Kam-Bo Hung and Biao Yuen. Chan journeyed back and forth to visit his parents and work in Canberra, but eventually he made his way back to Hong Kong as his permanent home. Chan started singing in the 1970s. He is a well-known singer, especially in Asia.
He studied at the Chinese Academy of Dramatic Arts from 1971 to 1973. While still a student, he started working as a stuntman for major film studios such as Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. Interestingly, he appeared in minor roles in two films starring Bruce Lee: Jing wu men / Fist of Fury (Wei Lo, 1972) and the Warner Bros. production Enter the Dragon (Robert Clouse, 1973).
Not long after Lee's untimely death, Chan was often cast in low-budget martial arts films that were churned out at a rapid-fire pace by Hong Kong studios eager to satisfy the early 1970s boom in martial-arts cinema. His films cashed in on the success of Bruce Lee by utilising words like "fist", "fury" or "dragon" in their US release titles. In 1976, he starred in Shao Lin mu ren xiang / Shaolin Wooden Men (Chi-Hwa Chen, 1976).
He scored a breakthrough with the action comedy Jui kuen / Drunken Master (Yuen Woo-Ping, 1978), which has become a cult favourite among martial arts film fans. In this film, he played the historical figure Wong Fei Hung. Drunken Master was a huge success, but also received a lot of criticism: viewers felt that Chan ridiculed the legendary Wong Fei Hung by portraying him as an alcoholic in the film. Drunken Master is a mixture of Kung Fu and slapstick, in which Wong Fei Hung invents a technique that allows him to fight while drunk. Not too long after this, Chan made his directorial debut with Shi di chu ma / The Young Master (Jackie Chan, 1980).
Chinese (Hong Kong) postcard by South China Morning Post, no. 11, Series 3 Leisure.
British postcard by the London Postcard Company, no. JC 5940. Photo: J.S. Library, 2001.
Spanish poster postcard by Memory Card, no. 546. Spanish poster of Jackie Chan in Ging chaat goo si III: Chiu kup ging chaat / Supercop (Stanley Tong, 1992).
Elaborate, dangerous stunts combined with martial arts and slapstick humour
Jackie Chan's popularity soared. Enter the Dragon producer Robert Clouse lured Jackie to the United States for a film planned to break Jackie into the US market. The low-budget action film Battlecreek Brawl (Robert Clouse, 1980) featured Jackie competing in a 'toughest Street fighter' contest set in 1940s Texas. Jackie was unhappy with the result, and the film failed to fire with US audiences. In a further attempt to get his name known in the United States, Jackie was cast alongside Burt Reynolds, Sir Roger Moore and Dean Martin in the car chase film The Cannonball Run (Hal Needham, 1981).
Regrettably, Jackie was cast as a Japanese race driver, and his martial arts skills are only shown in one small sequence near the film's conclusion. Undeterred, he returned to East Asia and directed, produced and starred in 'A' gai wak / Project A (Jackie Chan, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, 1983), loaded with amazing stunt work. It became the most successful Hong Kong film that year. It was the official formation of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and established Chan's signature style of elaborate, dangerous stunts combined with martial arts and slapstick humour.
Chan paired again with the dynamic Sammo Kam-Bo Hung to star in Qi mou miao ji: Wu fu xing / Winners & Sinners (Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, 1983), Fai caan che / Wheels on Meals (Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, 1984), Fuk sing go jiu / My Lucky Stars (Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, 1985) aka Winners & Sinners 2, and Xia ri fu xing / Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars (Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, 1985) aka Winners & Sinners 3. Chan then journeyed back to the United States for another shot at that market, starring alongside Danny Aiello in The Protector (James Glickenhaus, 1985), filmed in Hong Kong and New York. However, Jackie felt American directors failed to understand his audience appeal, and the film received lukewarm reviews and box-office receipts.
Back in Hong Kong, he made Ging chaat goo si / Police Story (Jackie Chan, 1985), filled with large-scale action sequences. The elaborate, dangerous stunts performed by Chan and his stunt team, including car chases, Chan hanging off a speeding bus, parkour-like acrobatics, and a shopping mall fight with shattering glass panes, leading up to Chan sliding down a pole with exploding electric lights as he falls to the ground.
The following year, he broke his own record with Armour of God (Jackie Chan, Eric Tsang, 1986), influenced by Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981). During filming, Jackie mistimed a leap from a wall to a tree on location in Yugoslavia and fell quite a few feet onto his head, causing a skull fracture. Armour of God was the most successful Hong Kong film of that year.
Vintage postcard by CineFilm(s). Jackie Chan in Rush Hour 2 (Brett Ratner, 2001).
Dutch postcard by Young Media Group. Image: Walden Media / Independent Films. Poster for Around the World in 80 Days (Frank Coraci, 2004) with Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and Cécile de France was based on the novel by Jules Verne.
A bona fide star in the United States
In the years that followed, Jackie Chan founded his own production company, which allowed him to produce his own films independently of the major film studios. Between 1985 and 1993, Chan made more than 40 films, many of which starred Chinese comedian Sammo Hung. For a long time, Chan's work was considered pulp by critics, and Chan wanted to be taken seriously as an actor. He made Pinyin / Miracles (Jackie Chan, 1989), a historical drama in which Chan himself also starred. The film was both a critical and commercial success and is Chan's only film that is not a Kung Fu film.
In 1993, Chan embarked on his second attempt at a Hollywood career, this time with more success: Hung fan kui / Rumble in the Bronx (Stanley Tong, 1995) successfully blended humour and action and brought Chan into the North American mainstream. Chan made his definitive breakthrough with the big-budget action comedy Rush Hour (Brett Ratner, 1998), starring alongside fast-talking comedian Chris Tucker. The film was a bigger hit than Rumble in the Bronx and firmly established Jackie as a bona fide star in the United States.
Jackie then paired up with rising talent Owen Wilson to star in Shanghai Noon (Tom Dey, 2000) and its sequel, Shanghai Knights (David Dobkin, 2003). He re-teamed with Tucker in Rush Hour 2 (Brett Ratner, 2001), as well as starring in The Tuxedo (Kevin Donovan, 2002), The Medallion (Gordon Chan, 2003) and as Passepartout in the delightful Around the World in 80 Days (Frank Coraci, 2004), with Steve Coogan as Phileas Fogg.
Not one to forget his loyal fanbase, Jackie returned to more gritty and traditional fare with San ging chaat goo si / New Police Story (Benny Chan, 2004) and San wa / The Myth (Stanley Tong, 2005). The Forbidden Kingdom (Rob Minkoff, 2008) marked his first collaboration with fellow martial arts star Jet Li. He played martial arts mentor Mr. Han in two Karate Kid films, the remake The Karate Kid (Harald Zwart, 2010) and Karate Kid: Legends (Jonathan Entwistle, 2025) with Ralph Macchio.
Jackie Chan is married and has two children. In 1982, he married Lin Feng-Jiao, an actress from Taiwan. A year later, they had a son, Jaycee Chan, who is now also an actor. In 1999, Chan had a daughter, Etta Ng, with Miss Asia 1990, Elaine Ng Yi-Lei. In China, Chan announced that he would donate half of his fortune after his death to the Gates Foundation, which supports poor children. Chan's fortune was estimated at $350 million in 2015.
Vintage postcard by Art Card, Singapore, no. 445, 2003 (1 in a series of 6 collectable postcards). Photo: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution / Spyglass Entertainment Group / Mediacorp. Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Knights (David Dobkin, 2003).
Vintage postcard by Art Card, Singapore, no. 447, 2003 (1 in a series of 6 collectable postcards). Photo: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution / Spyglass Entertainment Group / Mediacorp. Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Knights (David Dobkin, 2003).
Vintage card, no. 1756.
Source: Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.
