Chan, Jackie

▪ 1996

      Since crashing onto the martial-arts movie scene in the late 1970s, Hong Kong actor-director Jackie Chan had been a smash. The popular film star broke box-office records in Asia, along with many of the bones in his body, by performing his own outrageous acrobatic stunts that gave his adventure-comedy films a kinetic blend of over-the-top action and engaging physical humour. Although he had cracked movie markets in Europe, Australia, and South America, he had had little impact in the U.S.—the film capital of the world. If 1995 was any indication, however, he was poised for his big American break; in June he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. cable network MTV. His blockbuster films Rumble in the Bronx and Thunderbolt were released in Asia in January and August, respectively. Although Rumble in the Bronx had limited U.S. distribution in 1995, it was slated for broad U.S. release in 1996, along with some of his classic titles.

      Reportedly, Chan's impoverished parents nearly sold him for a pittance to the British doctor who delivered him in Hong Kong on April 7, 1954. When he was six years old, his family moved to Canberra, Australia, but the following year they sent him back alone to Hong Kong to attend a strict boarding school for Peking opera. From 7 to 17 he studied acrobatics, singing, martial arts, and mime—skills that launched him into a professional tumbling troupe and landed him bit roles as a child actor and, later, as a stuntman. He was discovered by independent film producer Lo Wei, who, hoping to find a successor to the late Bruce Lee, cast him in a series of lacklustre kung fu movies in 1976-78. Chan soon traded in Lee's gritty persona for a hero more in the mold of silent-film star Harold Lloyd. This penchant for physical comedy first emerged in the 1978 films Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master, in which he played a bumbling but talented student of martial arts.

      In 1980 Chan made his directorial debut in Young Master with the production company Golden Harvest, which he subsequently helped to transform into Hong Kong's largest movie conglomerate. In the early 1980s, at the time when he was making an unsuccessful foray into English-language cinema, he moved beyond traditional martial arts period movies to modern action-adventure films, such as Project A (1983) and Police Story (1985) and their sequels. These films, which brought him newfound stardom, showcased his directorial talent for fight and stunt choreography. His own stunts were literally death-defying; he nearly perished from a fall in Armour of God (1986) that fractured his skull and impaired his hearing. Because of their spectacular nature, Chan's films were often interrupted by shots of the same stunt in succession from different angles, and mishaps were generally arranged in a montage of outtakes that appeared as the credits rolled. (TOM MICHAEL)

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▪ Chinese actor and director

originally  Chan Kong-sang 

born April 7, 1954, Hong Kong

 

 Hong Kong-born Chinese stuntman, actor, and director whose perilous acrobatic stunts and engaging physical humour made him an action-film star in Asia and helped to bring kung fu movies into the mainstream of American cinema.

      Chan was born to impoverished parents in Hong Kong. The family moved to Canberra, Austl., when Chan was six, but the following year his parents sent him back to Hong Kong to attend a strict boarding school that trained students for jingxi. From ages 7 to 17 he studied acrobatics, singing, martial arts, and mime—skills that launched him into a position with a professional tumbling troupe and landed him bit roles as a child actor and, later, as a stuntman. The independent film producer Lo Wei, hoping to find a successor to the late Bruce Lee, cast him in a series of lacklustre kung fu movies in 1976–78. Rather than ape Lee's gritty persona, Chan utilized his own form of bumbling physical comedy in his first successful films, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978) and Drunken Master (1978).

      Chan made his directorial debut in Young Master (1980), with the production company Golden Harvest, which he subsequently helped transform into Hong Kong's largest movie conglomerate. In the early 1980s, at the time when he was making an unsuccessful foray into English-language cinema, he moved beyond traditional martial arts period movies to modern action-adventure films, such as Project A (1983) and Police Story (1985), along with their sequels. The films showcased his directorial talent for fight and stunt choreography. His own stunts were often extraordinarily dangerous; he nearly perished from a fall in Armour of God (1986) that fractured his skull and impaired his hearing.

 In the 1990s Chan finally broke through into the American market. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the cable network MTV in 1995, and the following year his blockbuster Rumble in the Bronx (1995) was released in the United States, along with some of his other classic Hong Kong titles. Chan starred alongside American comedian Chris Tucker in Rush Hour (1998), which enjoyed a great deal of success and launched two sequels (2001 and 2007). Chan continued to work both within the Hollywood system (though he disliked the limitations it placed on actors) and in Hong Kong cinema. In the United States he appeared in such films as Shanghai Noon (2000), The Tuxedo (2002), and The Forbidden Kingdom (2008). His Chinese-language movies include Xin jing cha gu shi (2004; New Police Story) and Bo bui gai wak (2006; Baby).

      In addition to acting, Chan pursued a career in the Hong Kong music industry, releasing 11 original albums between 1984 and 2002. He founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Organization in 1998, which, among other projects, offers scholarships to Hong Kong youths, and he worked as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.

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