Jackie Chan

The dragon who became a legend: Jackie Chan's eight-decade journey from stuntman to global icon.

Jackie Chan, born Chan Kong-sang on 7 April 1954 in British Hong Kong, is a martial artist, actor, and filmmaker known for performing his own stunts.^[1][2] Worldwide, the films Jackie Chan has appeared in have accumulated box office receipts exceeding $6 billion.^[1]

Quick Facts

Birth name

Chan Kong-sang

Born

7 April 1954

Birthplace

British Hong Kong

Citizenship

(Until 2009)

Occupation

Martial artist
actor
director
writer
producer
action choreographer
singer
stunt director
stunt performer

Years active

1959–present

Spouse

Joan Lin (1982)

Children

2, including Jaycee Chan

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Chan trained in acrobatics, martial arts, and acting as one of the Seven Little Fortunes at the China Drama Academy.^[3][4] He entered the Hong Kong film industry as a stuntman and appeared as an extra in Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (1972) and Enter the Dragon (1973).^[3][5] Project A (1983) established his signature style of elaborate stunts combined with martial arts and slapstick humor.^[3] Chan has also released 20 albums since 1984 and sings theme songs for his films.^[6]

He received an honorary Academy Award in 2016.^[7] Chan's first time directing a film was with The Fearless Hyena (1979), a movie that performed well at the box office.^[3][8] During the 1980s, Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao were known as the "Three Dragons" and appeared together in six Hong Kong films.^[3] Chan gained a mainstream North American audience following the 1995 worldwide release of Rumble in the Bronx.^[9][10]

Portraying Chief Inspector Lee in the 1998 film Rush Hour led to Chan's Hollywood success.^[11][12]

What the cited sources add

A 2025 article from CBR describes Chan as the most significant figure in action cinema over the past half-century.^[13] The same source notes that Chan's combination of slapstick humor with world-class action choreography made him a household name.^[13] That article also states that Chan's film Dragon Blade grossed $120 million in China.^[14] A biography page notes that Chan stars in the film The Shadow's Edge.^[15]

The same biography states that the last Rush Hour sequel outperformed the franchise's previous films.^[15]

References

Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "How Jackie Chan changed action cinema forever", 7 April 2024; "Why Jackie Chan is the best action star of all time", 12 October 2020; "Jackie Chan - Box Office" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Biography", Jackie Chan's Website; Yang, "Why Did Jackie Chan Body Slam America?", The Wall Street Journal, 17 January 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "10 Best Jackie Chan Movies, Ranked", 20 September 2023 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Biography of Jackie Chan", Biography; "Jackie Chan Battles Illegal Wildlife Trade", Celebrity Values; "Biography of Jackie Chan", StarPulse (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thomas, "Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit", Pan Macmillan, 23 February 2012, p. 279; Havis, "Being a stunt double for Bruce Lee made Jackie Chan want to be a star", South China Morning Post, 3 October 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Jackie Chan: Kung Fu Fighter Believes There's More to Him Than Meets the Eye", hkvpradio (Hong Kong Vintage Pop Radio); "New Police Story", JCE Movies Limited, 2004; "Rob-B-Hood", JCE Movies Limited, 2006; "警務處 (香港皇家警察招募) – 警察故事", Royal Hong Kong Police, 1994 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Willis, "Film Stars: Hollywood and Beyond", Manchester University Press, 2004, p. 4; "Jackie Chan Goes To The Oscars – ETHOZ", ETHOZ, 22 December 2016; "Jackie Chan Biography – life, family, children, parents, name, story, school, mother, young", notablebiographies.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Jackie Chan – Actor and Stuntman", BBC, 24 July 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Meyers, "Jackie Chan Rumbles in the U.S.A.", The Daily Utah Chronicle, 29 February 1996, p. 14; "Rumble in the Bronx (1996)", Box Office Mojo; Meyers, "Jackie Chan Rumbles in the U.S.A.", The Daily Utah Chronicle, 29 February 1996, p. 14 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Morris, "Rumble in the Bronx review", Bright Lights Film Journal, April 1996 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stokes, "Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema", Rowman & Littlefield, 15 January 2020; Mendelson, "'The Foreigner' Review: It's Jackie Chan Vs. Pierce Brosnan in a Fine Action Thriller", Forbes (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Jackie Chan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Raffi, "Rush Hour Review", Film Review, 15 September 1998; "Jackie Chan Biography (an Asian perspective)", Biography (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
"10 Best Jackie Chan Movies, Ranked", 20 September 2023. facts only, no text reused. cbr.com
Mandle, Chris. "Jackie Chan in second place in Forbes' Highest Paid Actors list after magazine includes actors working outside US movie industry", The Independe. facts only, no text reused. independent.co.uk
"Jackie Chan Biography (an Asian perspective)", Biography. facts only, no text reused. jackiechanmovie.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Jackie Chan (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.