Jackie Chan was Asia’s biggest box office star for more than 20 years before he became a household name in the West by starring in such blockbuster hits as Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2, Shanghai Noon, The Tuxedo and Shanghai Knights. He also has produced, directed and starred in scores of Asian films, including Rumble in the Bronx, First Strike, Drunken Master, Supercop, Operation Condor, Crime Story, Mr. Nice Guy and Armor of God. He will next be seen in the adventure Around the World in 80 Days, directed by Frank Coraci for Walden Media.

Born in Hong Kong to working class parents, Chan trained at the Peking Opera School from the age of seven to seventeen where he learned the various skills required for Chinese opera such as acrobatics, gymnastics, martial arts, weaponry, dance, singing, and dramatics. By the time Chan graduated, Chinese opera was declining in popularity and he gravitated into film.

In the early seventies, Chan worked as a bit player and an action director.

Inspired by great film clowns like Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, Chan has invented a unique style for film, combining humor and death-defying stunts which he has carried to extravagant heights that American films are only now attempting. A superb martial artist and acrobat, Chan has built his legend by putting his life on the line for his movies. In the montage of outtakes, which typically end his films, fans see the proof that Jackie Chan is still his own most amazing special effect.

He is the hero of the animated television series "Jackie Chan Adventures" and is a recipient of MTV’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2002, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In addition to writing, acting and directing, Chan has a successful singing career and is active in numerous charities in Hong Kong and surrounding Asian countries. Established in 1988, the Hong Kong based Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation (JCCF) helps impoverished children, the disabled and the elderly as well as students who are pursuing degrees in the sciences or performing arts and those how have been injured while filming movies. Chan recently donated $1.5 million to fight the SARS epidemic.