Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan, born Chan Kong-sang on April 7, 1954, is an iconic Hong Kong martial artist, actor, and filmmaker. Celebrated for his acrobatic fight choreography, slapstick comedy, and self-performed dangerous stunts, he has built a cinematic career spanning eight decades. Over his career, feature films featuring him have generated more than $6 billion in global box office revenue.

Chan was born in British Hong Kong to political refugees who fled the Chinese Civil War. His father worked as a cook at the French consul's residence before moving to Australia in 1960. That same year, Chan was enrolled at the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera school where he completed ten years of rigorous training in martial arts, acrobatics, and acting. During his time there, he joined the performance group known as the Seven Little Fortunes alongside close friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao.

After starting as a child actor and later working as a film stuntman and martial arts choreographer, Chan transitioned into leading roles in the late 1970s. His breakthrough occurred with the 1978 action comedy Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, followed by Drunken Master later that year. He made his directorial debut with The Fearless Hyena in 1979 before joining Golden Harvest. During the 1980s, Chan collaborated frequently with Hung and Biao as part of the "Three Dragons." His 1983 film Project A formally established the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and defined his signature blend of elaborate physical stunts and slapstick humor, which he expanded in modern-day action films like Wheels on Meals and Police Story.

Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Chan starred in a succession of successful sequels, including Police Story 2, Armour of God II: Operation Condor, and Drunken Master II. By the mid-1990s, he had become the premier action film star across Eurasia. He achieved a major North American theatrical breakthrough with Rumble in the Bronx in 1995, followed by the U.S. release of Supercop.

Chan solidified his mainstream Hollywood stardom playing Chief Inspector Lee in the buddy cop comedy Rush Hour in 1998, returning for two sequels. His subsequent work spans major American and Chinese productions, including the Shanghai series, New Police Story, The Forbidden Kingdom—his first collaboration with Jet Li—and dramatic roles in Shinjuku Incident and The Foreigner. He also portrayed martial arts mentor Mr. Han in two Karate Kid movies and performed voice acting for the Chinese releases of Mulan, the Kung Fu Panda trilogy, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

Beyond acting, Chan is an operatically trained singer who has released multiple pop albums and recorded theme songs for several of his films. He earned two Guinness World Records for his work on CZ12, has received stars on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars, and was awarded an honorary Academy Award in 2016. In addition to inspiring the Jackie Chan Action Movie Awards, he is a noted philanthropist who was named among the top ten most charitable celebrities by Forbes in 2011.