Jackie Chan turns 60

 Jackie Chan has become 60 years old. He is a living legend and he is the nightmare of insurance agencies.

He was born as Chan Kong Sang. It means "born in Hong Kong". He graduated from China Drama Academy. This was a Peking Opera school. He studied acting, acrobatics, singing, dancing, and martial arts. Yu Jim Yuen, who was Jackie Chan's master, prefered used strict discipline with his puplils.

After graduation Chan worked as a stuntman in many Hong Kong action films (Fist of Fury, Enter the Dragon). He became famous for his courage. Later he became a stunt coordinator and stunt director. He played his first main role in The Cub Tiger From Kwang Tung (1971), but it wasn't successful. 

After the death of Bruce Lee the Hong Kong film industry was declining. The audience became disillusioned and bored of action movies. In spite of that directors wanted to imitate Bruce Lee. Lo Wei decided that he makekes a successor of Bruce Lee out of Jackie Chan in the sequal or remake of Fist of Fury titled New Fist of Fury. Jackie Chan movies directed by Lo Wei flopped at the box office.

Chan's first successful films were Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master in 1978. He could use his own ideas for the first time. He merged the action scenes with comedic elements. Both movies was directed by Yuen Woo Ping. Later he became the coreographer of The Matrix and Kill Bill. In 1979 Jackie Chan debuted as a director in Fearless Hyena.

A year later he singed a contract with Golden Harvest. He received more creative control and money there. He created an image for himself that was the complete opposite of Bruce Lee's. The Young Master was his first movie at Golden Harvest. He reformed and revolutionised the Hong Kong film cinema. He worked at Golden Harvest until the beginning of the 2000s then he founded his own company titled Jackie Chan Emperor Group.

Aside from his dangerous stunts Chan is famous for having multiple roles in a movie (eg. director, producer, koreographer, director of photography, and editor). For his work he received multiple awards and Guiness records. During the passed four decades he broke many of his bones, and got on the blacklist of the insurance companies.

In 2012 he announced that Chinese Zodiac is his last big action movie and he won't be in dangerous scenes. This doesn't mean that he is retired from action movies, but he will concentrate more on the dramatic roles in the future. You can see this shift clearly in Police Story 2013. There were much less action scenes in it, but it stayed in balance with the dramatic performance.

The world's first Jackie Chan museum has opened in Shanghai this year. It occupies an enormous area. You can find there props, clothes and cars which were used in movies.