Random Thoughts

Jackie Chan is the biggest Chinese movie star since the late Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee carved the way for many Hong Kong film actors and Jackie Chan has been the most successful ever since. Jackie Chan is best known for his mix of humor and martial arts in his action packed movies. He enjoys playing the innocent, naive, non-violent man persona while being chased down by brutes and bullies. All the while, he will kick ass and be the hero. Jackie Chan started as a stuntman and body double, working in many Hong Kong Action movies, and even in some Bruce Lee films.

Jackie Chan gained his skills and training, not from a typical martial arts instructor but from the Chinese Circus. As an orphan, Jackie Chan was given to the Chinese Circus by his parents so that he could have a better life than one his parents believed they could provide. From there he learned the skills necessary to become a future Hong Kong Action hero. His friend and current celebrity Sammy was also one of the orphans who made it big on film and tv. Jackie's family was so poor that he was almost sold in infancy to a wealthy British couple. As it turned out, Chan became his family's sole support. Enrolled in the Chinese Opera Research Institute at the age of seven, he spent the next decade in rigorous training for a career with the Peking Opera, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.

Jackie Chan was born Chan Kong-sang (which means "Born in Hong Kong" Chan), April 7th, 1954, the Year of the Horse. Jackie was the only son of Charles and Lee-lee Chan, who were very poor and worked for the French ambassador to Hong Kong. Charles was a cook and a handyman, while Lee-Lee worked as a housekeeper. They lived in a room in the mansion of the French ambassador on the exclusive slopes of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. Most babies are born nine months after being conceived. Jackie, on the other hand, stuck around an extra three months, so his mother had to have surgery to bring him into the world.

Because Chan Kong-sang weighed 12 pounds at birth, his mother nicknamed him "Pao-pao", which is Chinese for "cannonball". The bill for his mother's surgery came to HK$500 (about $26 US), and his parents' savings didn't come close to covering the cost. But the lady doctor who performed the surgery approached Jackie's nervous father with a deal. She had no kids of her own, she explained to him, and she knew he and Jackie's mother, Lee-lee, had no money. If Charles would allow her to "adopt" him, she would be willing to pay for the costs of the surgery and his mother's hospital stay. But Jackie was his parents' only son. He was their symbol of their new start in Hong Kong. Charles' friends lent him the money to pay off the hospital dept, and thanked the doctor for her generous offer.