Jackie Chan Biography

Jackie Chan was already the highest paid actor in Asia, with more than 60 films under his belt, when he finally made it big in Hollywood with the action-comedy Rumble in the Bronx (1995). He has remained one of the world’s biggest films stars well into the 21st century.

Born into poverty, Jackie Chan spent his childhood in rigorous physical training at the China Drama Academy in Hong Kong. In the 1970s he began getting work in Hong Kong action movies as a stuntman, then in small parts as an actor.

By 1980 he was a lead player responsible for his own projects. Chan shunned the Bruce Lee model of the intense, courageous hero in favor of the comic, reluctant hero that became his trademark as he blossomed into Asia’s most popular action star. Chan acted, produced, directed, and performed his own stunts; his well-choreographed fight scenes were often performed with everyday props like ladders or brooms instead of weapons.

His films include the super-popular Drunken Master (1978); Half a Loaf of Kung-Fu (1980); The Cannonball Run (1981); Police Story (1985); Supercop (1992, with Michelle Yeoh); Brett Ratner‘s Rush Hour (1998, with two sequels); Shanghai Noon (2000, with Owen Wilson and Lucy Liu); The Tuxedo (2002, with Jennifer Love Hewitt); Shanghai Knights (2003, again with Wilson); the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid; the gritty 2013 cop movie Police Story: Lockdown; and 2017’s The Foreigner.