Jackie Chan
A Cultural Icon in Hong Kong
Having appeared in over 150 films, Jackie Chan is a popular actor from Hong Kong who has left behind an impressionable mark in the field of action movies since the time that he started acting in the 1960’s. Also an action choreographer, entrepreneur, singer, stunt performer, martial artist, comedian, producer and director Jackie is also a cultural icon for various pop songs, video games and cartoons.
His career began at the tender age of five when he first appeared in small roles. It was in 1962 when he first appeared in the film, Big and Little Wong Tin Bar at the age of eight. This was followed by many other films that followed such as 'The Love Eterne', 'Come Drink Me' and 'A Touch of Zen'. His adult career as an action star was quick to pick off having starred in Bruce Lee’s films Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon. This followed by many different roles in different action movies. However, there is much more to this action hero than his movies.
Chan is also an operatically trained vocalist; being a Madopop and Cantopop star. In fact, Chan very often is known for singing the theme songs for his films. He is known for lending vocals in different languages such as Mandarin, Japanese, English, Taiwanese, and Cantonese. An inspirational figure for many other action stars and people, Jackie Chan; movie star remains a prominent figure in the field of action movies.
Being a producer and film director, Chan is known for having established his own film and distribution company and is also the co-owner of production companies, JC Group China, Jackie and JJ Productions and Jackie & Willie Productions.
Besides this, Chan is also well known for having lent his voice to the official countdown song of the 2008 Summer Olympics. He is also well-known for having performed at a ceremony which marked the one year celebration countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics.
Chan is also notably known for having released one of the two official Olympics albums, Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games –Jackie Chan’s Version which had many different guest appearances in it. Chan along with Lio Huan, Andy Lau and Wakin (Emil) Chau had performed Hard to Say Goodbye; a farewell song for the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.
Chan is also known for having launched his own line of clothing, bearing a Chinese dragon logo and the English word Jackie or initial JC. Besides this, he also has a number of branded businesses such as a sushi resteraunt chain (Jackie’s Kitchen) which has many outlets throughout Hong Kong as well as even seven in South Korea and one in Hawaii.