To the lovers of martial arts and martial arts movie, Jackie Chan is not a stranger. After Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan can be referred as the most successful martial art movie star from Asia.
Childhood:
Born on April 7 1954, to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, Jackie studied in theatre school. Today, you see Jackie Chan as a martial art star, a highly disciplined person, conscious about health and fitness but in his childhood he was a very unruly kid. Both Chan’s parents used to work for the French ambassador to Hong Kong. Jackie Chan’s father was a martial artist. Every morning, Jackie Chan practiced kung fu with his father. Charles believed that kung fu would teach his son discipline and courage. Chan was first admitted to Nan Hua Primary Academy. He was not good at studying and after struggling for one year, he left the school. Meantime, his father got a job at the American embassy in Australia. In 1960, Charles Chan moved to Canberra. Before going there, according to the suggestion of a friend, Jackie’s father sent him to China Drama Academy. It was like a boarding school where students will receive training to perform on stage and receive three meals and a place to stay. The school actually prepares students for performing at Peking opera. Chinese theatre is very different because the performers are required to learn various acrobatic movements and martial art along with singing and dancing. Jackie spent ten years in the school. The school followed strict discipline. The junior students were supposed to obey their seniors and often they were bullied. Initially, Jackie had problem fitting into this rigid system but gradually he got used to the discipline and excelled in martial arts, and acrobatics. It was a tough time for Jackie Chan. He rarely met his parents.
On stage and movies:
While studying at the school Jackie got the chance to act in a Cantonese movie at the age of eight. The title of the movie was Seven Little Valiant Fighters: Big and Little Wong Tin Bar. He became member of a performance group, “The Seven Little Fortunes.” This group consists of the best students of the school. In this group Jackie Chan performed with Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. All three of them later became very successful martial art actors in Hong Kong cinema.
At the age of seventeen, Jackie Chan graduated from the school. Unfortunately, the popularity of Chinese opera was low at that time. Those who came out of the school before Jackie, were working in the films and some of them were well established. Jackie started his career as a stuntman. In those days, there were good demands for stuntmen in the industry. For the next two years, Jackie did stunts in various movies. He was fortunate enough to work as stuntman in two Bruce Lee movies: Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon. Following Bruce Lee’s death, Hong Kong cinema was losing popularity. Jackie was forced to leave the job of stuntman and went to Australia in 1976. There, for a short period of time, he attended Dickson College and worked in a restaurant and construction site. Jackie again returned to Hong Kong. This time he was offered to work with Lo Wei, a famous Hong Kong movie director. The problem was Lo Wei wated to create another new Bruce Lee era and he tried to mould Jackie in to a new Bruce Lee. In 1976, New Fist of Fury was released. These movies were not very successful. Jackie did not taste success till he was given the creative freedom to tap into his own talent. Finally, success came in Snake in Eagle’s Shadow. Drunken Master established Jackie Chan as a martial art star. Action movies like Police Story turned Jackie Chan into a household name in China. He is now the star of Hong Kong cinema.
Hollywood:
After success in the East, now it was time to conquer West. In 1980, Jackie Chan’s first Hollywood movie, The Big Brawl/ Battle Creek Brawl came out. In this movie, Jackie Chan portrayed the character of a Korean man, who participates in a street fighting competition. The movie was not well received by the audience. In 1981, Jackie Chan made his second attempt. This time it was a small role in the movie titled The Cannonball Run. Jackie plays the character of a Japanese race car driver. Though the movie was a big hit, it did not flourish Jackie’s career. In 1985, Chan did another movie, The Protector. All these movies did not propel Jackie’s career in Hollywood. Still, movie offers kept coming. Sylvester Stallone first offered Jackie the role of villain in his movie, Demolition Man. In fear of being type caste, Jackie did not accept the offer and the character was played by Wesley Snipes. Finally, success came in 1995 with Rumble in the Bronx. A young man comes to USA to take care of his uncle’s business and ends up fighting with a group of gangsters. The movie was a major hit. On opening weekend in US it collected $9,858,380.Critics said that the film lacked story and acting but made up with its terrific martial art fighting scenes and stunts. In one of scenes, Jackie jumps on a hoavercraft from a bridge. While doing the stunt, he broke his leg and on that same day he returned with his leg plastered and again did the stunt scene. Rumble in Bronx was followed by Shanghai Knights, Rush Hour. These movies turned Jackie Chan into a Hollywood star. Awards and achievements:
Jackie Chan won numerous awards for his movies and stunt works.
Award for outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema in 2005
MTV movie award for best fight in 2002 in Rush Hour 2
Blimp award in 2002 and 2003
Taurus Honorary Award in 2002.
Star Walk of Fame in 2002.
Grand Prix Special des Amériques in 2001
MTV movie award for best on screen duo in Rush Hour
MTV movie award for life time achievement in 1995
Hong Kong Film Award 1989
Useful Links:
http://www.jackiechan.com/about/about_bio.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Chan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A592760
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000329/bio
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000329/awards
