ANECDOTES OF THE GREAT

JACKIE CHAN

Jackie Chan is a true action movie great. He has appeared in dozens of movies and is a screen legend. He had a simple beginning as a Chinese refugee in Hong Kong. His early years were, perhaps, a sign of things to come. His parents nicknamed him 'Pao-Pao', which means cannonball, because he had so much energy.

Chan enrolled in the China Drama Academy to study opera while still in his teens. He spent ten years there and worked part-time as a stuntman in the kung fu movie industry. He soon earned the reputation as Hong Kong's most fearless stuntman. He moved into acting, but his first two films were both flops. He quit the movie business and moved to Australia.

His early career met difficulty when he was marketed as the next Bruce Lee in the late seventies. Going as far as changing his stage name, the film titled New Fist of Fury was considered a flop due to the fact that Chan was not familiar with Lee's style of martial arts. Chan eventually bounced back from the event, finding success creating what would be known as "comedic kung fu".

Today, Jackie Chan has acted in over 150 films and has stars to his name on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars. He says, "I do small things. I try to do good things every day. If everyone does some good, think of what a good world this will be."

- Akanksha Prabhune