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Jackie Chan appeared in front of the camera for the first time when she was seven years old in the film “Big and Little Wong Tin Bar”. Born on April 7, 1954 (then still known as Chen Gangsheng), the newly 70-year-old grew up in poor circumstances. At the time, his parents worked for a diplomat as a cook and as a maid. Here Chan can be seen in a scene from the 1979 film “Superfighter 2”.
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When Chan's father went to Australia for a job, little Jackie was sent to a strict acting boarding school at the age of seven. Getting up early in the morning at 5 a.m., tough training sessions and punishments - that's how the school trained him in martial arts. “Terrible,” he described the time decades later on a British talk show. Here, Chan can be seen on a poster for the 1981 film “All Hell Breaks Loose on the Highway,” which also starred Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore and Dean Martin, among others.
Photo: 2oth Century Fox / Everett Collection / ddp images
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In the first of two autobiographies published so far, Chan wrote in 1999: It is "gratifying" that corporal punishment has long been banned at boarding schools. But he didn't want to leave it unmentioned that "in my opinion, today's artists are nowhere near as good as us." One could therefore claim “that the old system worked better.” This is where Chan is in the film »Mr. Nice Guy” from 1997 alongside Gabrielle Fitzpatrick in a difficult situation.
Photo: New Line Cinema / Everett Collection / ddp images
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For Chan himself, the hardships of boarding school paid off: in 1971, at the age of 17, he left the drama academy and worked his way up the Hong Kong film scene as a stuntman. Despite fierce competition, he managed to appear in films with kung fu legend Bruce Lee, who was known for his serious fighting style. Chan, on the other hand, was characterized by amusing interludes and consciously developed his own fighting style, in which he often appeared staggering and drunk.
Photo: Pierre Perrin / Gamma Rapho / Getty Images
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Chan was already a star in Asia in the early 1980s, but he wasn't yet able to make his big breakthrough in Hollywood. The Chinese did most of the stunts in his film career himself - many injuries resulted. Since "The Right Arm of the Gods," for example, Chan has a plastic-sealed hole in his head after he fell out of a tree while filming. He also lost some of his hearing in his right ear. He missed almost no part of his body when he pointed his finger at past broken bones on Conan O'Brien's US late-night show. That was in the year 2000.
Photo: Dimension Films / Courtesy Everett Collection / ddp images
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His big breakthrough in the USA came with the comedy “Rush Hour”: alongside Chris Tucker, Chan fought and fooled his way into the hearts of millions of moviegoers. The film was one of many in the US that showcased Chan's comedic talent, while fans of his martial arts were more likely to get their money's worth in Asian productions.
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Chan's private life was almost as turbulent as in his films. In his second biography, "Never Grow Up," he described his former self as a "total idiot." He was driving drunk and once crashed two luxury cars in one day. As he became more famous, he admitted, he spent a lot of money on alcohol, gambling and prostitutes. Here Chan can be seen in a scene in the action comedy film "Shangai Noon" alongside Owen Wilson.
Photo: Touchstone Pictures / Everett Collection / ddp images
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In 1982, Chan married a Taiwanese actress, with whom he has a son. At the end of the 1990s, Chan had an affair that resulted in a daughter. In 2014, son Jaycee Chan embarrassed his father when he was arrested for drug possession in Beijing. Jackie Chan, whom Chinese police had appointed years earlier as an "ambassador" for a drug campaign, came under pressure and later publicly acknowledged his anger over the incident. Here he can be seen alongside Chris Tucker in a scene from “Rush Hour 2” from 2011. In 2007 the series became a trilogy. Planning for “Rush Hour 4” has been going on for many years, and Chris Tucker is also said to be interested in another sequel.
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In 2010, Chan succeeded Mister Miyagi when he took on the role of teacher in the reboot of The Karate Kid. In the film, his student plays Jaden Smith, the son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. With box office revenue of approximately $358 million, it is Jackie Chan's most successful film to date.
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What often gets lost in the international spotlight is that Chan is also an ardent patriot. He never made a secret of his admiration for China's Communist Party. “I envy you for being party members,” he said in 2021 at a meeting organized by the Chinese Film Association. “I would also like to become a party member,” he added. According to reports, users online later joked that Chan might not be suitable because of his scandals. Between 2013 and 2023, he was a member of the Political Consultative Conference that advises China's National People's Congress - the non-freely elected parliament under the autocracy of the Communist Party. Here he can be seen at a conference event in 2015.
Photo: How Hwee Young / EPA / picture alliance / dpa
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He no longer appears on the committee's list, which could be due to his age. However, he hasn't run out of slogans: the fact that China has become so strong is due to the success of each individual and the leadership within the party, he said in an interview. Chan is very popular in China. He has been pushing forward his social commitment for years and has been committed to helping children in need through the United Nations Children's Fund Unicef. Here he is holding the Olympic torch for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
Photo: Ng Han Guan / AP / picture alliance / dpa
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After decades in show business - in more than 80 films as an actor and in numerous others as a director - Chan is probably one of the best-known Chinese people in the world. Even though he is now celebrating his 70th birthday, he is still not thinking about quitting: "There are still ten films in the future that are waiting for me to make them," he said in an interview with the magazine "Harper's Bazaar". January. Chan always wanted to be an actor who could also fight - not the other way around. Because life as an action hero is short, he explained.
Photo:
Casey Curry/Invision/AP
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He no longer knows what pain feels like. Broken nose, broken hand, broken foot: "If you often remember this pain, you no longer dare to make many movements," said Jackie Chan "Harper's Bazaar." When he injured himself while filming years ago, the director asked him if it didn't hurt. “I said I forgot about that,” Chan said.
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