Jackie Chan was born Kong-sang Chan on April 7, 1954, on Hong Kong’s famous Victoria Peak, to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, and the family immigrated to Canberra, Australia, in early 1960. The young Jackie was less than successful scholastically, so his father sent him back to Hong Kong to attend the rigorous China Drama Academy, one of the Peking Opera schools. Chan excelled at acrobatics, singing and martial arts and eventually became a member of the “Seven Little Fortunes” performing troupe and began lifelong friendships with fellow martial artists / actors Sammo Kam-Bo Hung and Biao Yuen. Chan journeyed back and forth to visit his parents and work in Canberra, but eventually he made his way back to Hong Kong as his permanent home. In the early 1970s Chan commenced his movie career and interestingly appeared in very minor roles in two films starring then rising martial arts superstar Bruce Lee: Кулак ярости (1972), aka “Fist of Fury” aka “The Chinese Connection”, and the Warner Bros. production Выход Дракона (1973). Not long after Lee’s untimely death Chan was often cast in films cashing in on the success of Bruce Lee by utilizing words like “fist”, “fury” or “dragon” in their US release titles.
Chan’s own film career was off and running and he swiftly appeared in many low-budget martial arts films that were churned out at a rapid fire pace by Hong Kong studios eager to satisfy the early 1970s boom in martial-arts cinema. He starred in Последнее испытание Шаолиня (1976) (aka “Shaolin Wooden Men”), Убить с интригой (1977) (aka “To Kill With Intrigue”), Немного кунг-фу (1978) (aka “Half A Loaf of Kung Fu”) and Великолепные телохранители (1978) (aka “Magnificent Bodyguards”), which all fared reasonably well at the cinemas. However, he scored a major breakthrough with the hit Пьяный мастер (1978) (aka “Drunken Master”), which has become a cult favorite among martial arts film fans. Not too long after this, Chan made his directorial debut with Молодой мастер (1980) (aka “The Young Master”) and then “Enter the Dragon” producer Robert Clouse lured Jackie to the US for a film planned to break Jackie into the lucrative US market. Драка в Бэттл Крик (1980) (aka “Battle Creek Brawl”) featured Jackie competing in a “toughest Street fighter” contest set in 1940s Texas; however, Jackie was unhappy with the end result, and it failed to fire with US audiences. In a further attempt to get his name known in the US, Jackie was cast alongside Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore and Dean Martin in the Hal Needham-directed car chase flick Гонки «Пушечное ядро» (1981). Regrettably, Jackie was cast as a Japanese race driver and his martial arts skills are only shown in one small sequence near the film’s conclusion. Stateside success was still a few years away for Jackie Chan!
