Jackie Chan came into this world in 1954, the son of a desperately poor couple who had just fled to Hong Kong from the Province of Shandong, China. When he was born, his parents could barely raise the money for the hospital bill, and were almost forced to adopt him out to the delivering doctor. But the good omen of his birth - an only child born in the Year of the Horse - was destined to change his fortunes. His parents tried very hard to raise money to pay for the bill of hospital and took Jackie, their only child, home. They named him Chan Kong-sang, which means "born in Hong Kong", to celebrate their safe arrival in Hong Kong. The family lived in the French Embassy where Jackie's father worked as a cook and his mother a housekeeper. Jackie disliked school and left after finishing Primary One.
When Jackie was seven years old, his father took a position as chief chef in the American Embassy in Australia to improve the family's lot. Jackie's humble beginnings were destined to change dramatically from the moment his father determined that the boy should learn some skills, and sent him to the China Drama Academy operated by Yu Jim-yuen.
Times they were a-changing. Chinese Opera was declining. Their master ("Si-fu", meaning teacher) started to loan the Seven Little Fortunes and the other kids out as stuntmen in films. Then at the age of 17, Jackie the well-trained Chinese opera performer left the Drama Academy and became Jackie the fearless stuntman, undertaking many dangerous assignments in Shaw Brothers Film Company. Jackie then met Sammo Hung, who referred jobs to him. Around the same time Hung signed a contract with Golden Harvest to provide them with stuntmen. This was Jackie's introduction to Golden Harvest. He was soon doing stunts for the famous 1971 Bruce Lee movies Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon.
Jackie was a stuntman when he met Willie Chan. When Jackie returned from Australia, Willie invited him to be the leading actor in a new film. Willie was then General Manager of the newly founded company run by Lo Wei, the popular film director known as the "Millionaire Director". Lo Wei wanted to model Jackie on Bruce Lee and changed his name to Shing Lung, meaning 'become a dragon'. This has remained Jackie Chan's Chinese name. In the 1976 movie New Fist of Fury, Jackie imitated Bruce Lee. Unfortunately, Bruce Lee's style didn't suit Jackie so it wasn't surprising that the movie was a flop. This didn't deter Lo Wei, however, who kept on filming the same genre of films including Shaolin Wooden Men, Killer Meteor and Magnificent Bodyguard. Unfortunately the box office showed no improvement, and Jackie became the 'poison of the box office' with no film distributors willing or daring to release his films.
In 1978, Jackie was loaned to Seasonal Films, owned by Ng See-Yuen, and cast in the film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. Jackie added his own brand of humor and comic elements to the film and popularized this type of movie, giving it a high box office rating. The Drunken Master further consolidated his status as a super star.
Once Jackie had established his own acting style, he wished to leave Lo Wei' Co. and eventually joined Golden Harvest Entertainment Co. Ltd. Willie Chan became his agent. The first film he shot for Golden Harvest was The Young Master in 1980. Many popular films for Golden Harvest followed, including the Police Story series in the 80s and 90s. He also cooperated with his stunt "brothers" - the members of the Seven Little Fortunes (Sammo Hung, Yuen Wah and Yuen Biao), in many movies including Project A, My Lucky Stars and Dragons Forever, all of which achieved great success.
Jackie tried to break into Hollywood in the early 80s. He starred with Kristine de Bell and Jose Ferrer in The Big Brawl, with disappointing results. After that, he played a minor role in the film Cannonball Run, starring with a huge cast of American celebrities along with Michael Hui. The film was a hit in the USA, but it didn't do much to make Jackie known to the American people.
The second time Jackie tried to break into Hollywood was at a time when some Chinese films shot abroad were achieving box office success. They gave Golden Harvest the idea of portraying Jackie as a tough guy, but that just wasn't Jackie's style and the films made during that period were a flop.
In the mid 90s, Jackie again tried to break into Hollywood, this time acting in his own style. Films like Rumble in the Bronx in 1995 and Mr. Nice Guy in 1997 are both produced in the "Jackie Chan style". The film Rush Hour in 1999 aroused great attention from the American media, and finally made Jackie the first Hong Kong movie star to successfully break into Hollywood.
