Beloved Action Star Known for Doing His Own Stunts Turns 72 Today

One of the greatest action stars of all time spent years building a reputation for being fearless as he famously performed all of his own stunts. Today, the beloved actor and international superstar, Jackie Chan, is celebrating his birthday.

Jackie Chan Turns 72 Today

Jackie Chan was born to impoverished parents on April 7, 1954, in Hong Kong, which means he is 72 years old as of today. Aside from briefly living in Canberra, Australia, he was brought up in Hong Kong, where he attended a strict boarding school. From age 7 to 17, he learned the skills that later helped him to become iconic, including martial arts, acrobatics, mime, and singing.

Why Jackie Chan Insisted on Doing His Own Stunts

One of the major things that has always set Jackie Chan apart from other movie stars has been his commitment to performing his own stunts. Knowing that the actor really is doing the crazy things that happen onscreen, albeit with safety procedures, has always made fans just a little bit more invested in his films. Even though that has been a key to his success, it is only natural to wonder why he began doing all of his own stunts.

A 2016 Medium article about Chan quoted the actor explaining that he was inspired to do his own stunt work by watching iconic actors from the past. “Every time you see [Buster] Keaton, it’s ‘How can he do that?’ Every time you see Gene Kelly dancing — ‘How can he do that?’ I believe a hundred years later people still won’t know how they did it. That’s why I do my own stunts.”

While speaking to IndieWire in 2015, Chan explained that another reason he did his own stunts was that the movies he worked on early in his career had low budgets. Once he became one of the most famous actors in the world, he didn't opt to allow special effects or stunt workers to take over for him when he easily could have. He told the outlet that he kept performing stunts even then because he didn't want to disappoint his fans.

"I wanted to do this kind of things when I was young. We didn’t have money and we had to do the real stunts. We had to jump from one building to the other… I cracked my feet, I broke my finger, I broke everything. When I made money, I had money to do special effects but the audience didn’t like it! They wanted to see Jackie Chan hurt himself! They wanted to see Jackie Chan do the real thing."

Why He Remains an Icon at 72

Beyond his daring stunts, Jackie Chan has won fans due to his martial arts skills, immense charisma, and playful screen presence. All of those aspects of his onscreen presence have allowed him to star in several movies that fans love.

Jackie Chan's Best Movies According to Slash Film:

• 23. The Foreigner (2017)
• 22. Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)
• 21. Shaolin Wooden Men (1976)
• 20. Rush Hour 2 (2001)
• 19. Mr. Nice Guy (1997)
• 18. The Young Master (1980)
• 17. Police Story IV: First Strike (1996)
• 16. Police Story 2 (1988)
• 15. Crime Story (1993)
• 14. Drunken Master (1978)
• 13. Shinjuku Incident (2009)
• 12. Rumble in the Bronx (1995)
• 11. Shanghai Noon (2000)
• 10. Dragons Forever (1988)
• 9. Police Story III: Supercop (1992)
• 8. Wheels on Meals (1984)
• 7. Armour of God II: Operation Condor (1991)
• 6. Mr. Canton and Lady Rose (1989)
• 5. Rush Hour (1998)
• 4. Project A (1983)
• 3. Drunken Master II (1994)
• 2. Armour of God (1986)
• 1. Police Story (1985)