Chan soon had his own starring vehicle, "The Little Tiger of Guangdong" (1973), which became a box office disappointment. In 1971, Chan graduated from the Chinese Drama Academy and began appearing as an adult in numerous features, including forgettable fare like "A Touch of Zen" (1971) and "Monkey in the Master's Eye" (1972), while serving as a stuntman in famed Bruce Lee movies like "Fist of Fury" (1972) and "Enter the Dragon" (1973). He followed up with "The Love Eterne" (1963) and later in the decade with "Come Drink with Me" (1966), a martial arts film directed by King Hu that remained an all-time classic of Hong Kong cinema. He made his first onscreen appearance as one of the Seven Little Fortunes in the now-lost martial arts movie, "Big and Little Wong Tin Bar" (1962).
A renowned wu-shen performer, Master Yu created the ensemble group, The Seven Little Fortunes, of which Chan became a member. A year later, Chan was sent back to Hong Kong, where he attended the Chinese Drama Academy, studying mime, acrobatics, singing, kung fu and Peking Opera for the next ten years with master Yu Jim-Yuen. After failing out of the Nah-Hwa Primary School his first year, Chan immigrated to Australia with his parents where his father found work as a cook at the American embassy. While he returned to Hong Kong for a number of films, including his first with Jet Li, "The Forbidden Kingdom" (2008), Chan remained busy in Hollywood, as he retained his hold on being a popular box office draw.īorn on Apin Victoria Peak, Hong Kong, Chan was raised in a working class home by his father, Charles, a cook, and his mother, Lee-Lee, a cook and domestic respectively at the French consulate in Hong Kong. His status as a bankable actor was further enhanced with "Shanghai Noon" (2001) and its follow-up, "Shanghai Knights" (2003), though he took a stumble with "Around the World in 80 Days" (2004). But it was his starring turn in the wildly popular "Rush Hour" (1998) and its sequels that cemented his place as one of Hollywood's elite action stars. Though he took a shot at Hollywood with "Battle Creek Brawl" (1980) and "The Cannonball Run" (1981), he would have to wait until "Rumble in the Bronx" (1996) to make his mark in the United States.
He spent the first couple of decades finding his footing, but had a major breakthrough with the action-comedy, "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" (1978), which propelled the previously-struggling performer into the limelight. With a reputation as an unrelenting performer willing to risk bodily injury - both with himself and his fellow stuntmen - to create elaborate and jaw-dropping action sequences, Chan amazed critics and audiences with his sheer technical skill while redefining Hong Kong action movies by bringing in an element of comedy. After first establishing his martial arts prowess in his native Hong Kong, actor-choreographer-director Jackie Chan translated his massive success in Southeast Asia to become a huge international star, particularly in America.
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