A double breasted dinner suit

A tuxedo (American English) or dinner suit or dinner jacket (British English) is a male outfit for semi-formal evening occasions, traditionally of black or dark color, and consisting of a suit with contrasting satin or grosgrain lapel facings and matching braid on the trouser out-seam, a bow-tie, and a cummerbund.^[1]

Etymology[link]

Although many etiquette and sartorial experts have insisted for a century that tuxedo is less correct than dinner jacket, the first written reference to tuxedo predates dinner jacket by two years: tuxedo first appeared in 1889^[2] while dinner jacket is dated only to 1891. Today, the terms are variously used in different parts of the world. Tuxedo (or, colloquially, tux) sees most use in North America. In Britain it is sometimes used to refer to the white version of the suit jacket. Conversely, this white jacket is generally known as a dinner jacket in North America.^[3]

In French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian and also other European languages, the jacket is called a smoking. In French the shawl-collared version is le smoking Deauville, while the peaked-lapel version is le smoking Capri.

History[link]

Origin and rise to respectability[link]

In the 1860s the increasing popularity of outdoor activities among the British middle and upper classes led to a corresponding increase in the popularity of the casual lounge suit (standard suit in American English) as a country alternative to more formal day wear that was traditionally worn in town. Men also sought a similar alternative to the extremely formal tailcoat worn every evening. The solution for some country squires was to enhance the casual velvet smoking jacket by importing the evening tailcoat’s fabric and finishes thus making it acceptable for informal meals at home.

A turning point in the respectability of wearing tailless jackets with dress evening wear was the adoption of the style by the then Prince of Wales (later Edward VII of the United Kingdom). Henry Poole & Co. tailors of Savile Row, have an undated receipt for a created a blue silk smoking jacket ordered for the future monarch to wear to informal dinner parties. (Poole & Co. have variously claimed dates of 1860 and 1865, for the receipt.) By 1885, the Prince was ordering a "tailless dinner jacket" from the firm.

Introduction to North America[link]

One version of the style's introduction to the United States also concerns the British prince. In the summer of 1886, the Prince invited New York millionaire James Potter to Sandringham House, his Norfolk hunting estate. When Potter asked for guidance on appropriate dinner dress, the Prince sent him to Poole & Co. to obtain the new style of jacket. Potter then brought the dinner suit home with him to Tuxedo Park Club, a newly established residential country club for New York’s elite. The dinner suit proved popular; the club men copied him, soon making it their informal dining uniform.^[4][5]

However, according to sources dating back to the 1930s, the coat style was introduced to Tuxedo Park by Griswold Lorillard, heir to the tobacco fortune, at the enclave's 1886 Autumn Ball. These sources cite an article in the society newspaper Town Topics that described how Lorillard arrived in “a tailless dress coat and waistcoat of scarlet satin, looking for all the world like a royal footman”.^[6] Canadian blogger Peter Marshall has speculated that the Town Topics article has been misinterpreted because the “dress coat” mentioned was a period reference to the evening tailcoat. Consequently, Lorillard’s coat would have resembled a mess jacket, not a tuxedo jacket.^[7]

A much more reliable account of the jacket’s American debut is one provided by Grenville Kane, one of the original founders of Tuxedo Park. His explanation is that the club’s members began to wear the jacket in public when they would dine in New York City and that curious onlookers came to associate the jacket with the club’s name.^[8]

Evolution[link]

Although the smoking jacket’s shawl collar was the original collar for the tuxedo jacket, the peaked lapel taken from the tailcoat had become equally popular by the turn of the twentieth century, while the notch lapel was less frequently seen. By this time the jacket was most commonly a one-button single-breasted model with no vents. Trousers matched the jacket which was most commonly black, although Edwardian dandies often opted for Oxford gray or a very dark blue.^[9] By World War I the gray option had fallen out of favour but the "midnight blue" alternative became increasingly popular. A single stripe of braid covering the outseam on each leg was an occasional variation at first, but became standard by the 1930s. At this time double-breasted jackets also came into style, as did white jackets in hot weather.^[10]

Color, texture and pattern became increasingly popular in warm-weather jackets in the 1930s. In the 1960s, these variations became increasingly common regardless of season or climate and by the 1970s mass-market retailers began offering colored versions of the entire suit to its rental customers.^[11][12][13] The 1980s vogue for nostalgic and retro styles returned the fashion to black for evening wear, with midnight blues making a comeback after the turn of the century.

Lapels and details also evolved through the decades. In the 1960's, notch lapels, which had become quite uncommon during the previous 40 years, began to make a comeback. Tuxedo jackets increasingly took on traits of the business suit such as two- and three-button styling, flap pockets and center vents,. The notch lapel had become the most common lapel style by the turn of the millennium, despite being disdained by many traditionalists.^[14][15] Footwear also changed, with bowed patent pumps falling out of style and increasingly giving ground to tied and matte finished shoes beginning in the 1980s. Each of these changes - in lapels, pockets, vents, buttons - while diverging from the styles of the early 20th century, have historical precedent in the Edwardian and late Victorian periods, In the 2010s, however, there has developed a vogue for wearing long-ties rather than bow-ties with dinner jackets, a complete departure from tradition.

Contemporary usage[link]

United States[link]

The most popular uses of the tuxedo in North America at present are for formal weddings, formal proms and formal nights on cruises. In these circumstances the tuxedo’s styling and accessories are most commonly chosen according to the wearer’s tastes. Far less popular are black tie events such as gala fundraisers where men typically wear more traditional tuxedos and accessories as dictated by the dress code.

See also[link]

• Suit

References[link]

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
Chinese name	成龍 (Traditional)
Chinese name	成龙 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Chéng Lóng (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Sing4 Lung4 (Cantonese)
Birth name	Chan Kong-sang 陳港生 (Traditional) 陈港生 (Simplified) Chén Gǎngshēng (Mandarin) Can4 Gong2 Sang1 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Linzi, Shandong, China
Origin	British Hong Kong
Born	(1954-04-07) 7 April 1954 (age 58) Victoria Peak, Hong Kong
Other name(s)	房仕龍 (Fong Si-lung) 元樓 (Yuen Lou) 大哥 (Big Brother)
Occupation	Actor, martial artist, director, producer, screenwriter, action choreographer, singer, stunt director, stunt performer
Genre(s)	Cantopop, Mandopop, Hong Kong English pop, J-pop
Years active	1962–present
Spouse(s)	Lin Feng-jiao (1982–present)
Children	Jaycee Chan (born 1982)
Parents	Charles and Lee-Lee Chan
Influences	Bruce Lee Buster Keaton Harold Lloyd
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Film 1989 Rouge Best Action Choreography 1996 Rumble in the Bronx 1999 Who Am I? Professional Spirit Award 2004 Golden Horse Awards Best Actor 1992 Police Story 3 1993 Crime Story Golden Rooster Awards Best Actor 2005 New Police Story MTV Asia Awards Inspiration Award 2002 Other awards MTV Movie Awards 2002 Best Fight (Rush Hour 2) 1999 Best Fight (Rush Hour) 1995 Lifetime Achievement Award Shanghai International Film Festival 2005 Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema

Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE^[1] (born Chan Kong-sang, 陳港生; 7 April 1954) is a Hong Kong-born Chinese^[2] stuntman, actor, and director whose perilous acrobatic stunts and engaging physical humour made him an action-film star in Asia and helped to bring kung fu movies into the mainstream of American cinema. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts. Jackie Chan has been acting since the 1960s and has appeared in over 100 films.

Chan has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As a cultural icon, Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, and video games. An operatically trained vocalist, Chan is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred. In addition to acting, Chan pursued a career in the Hong Kong music industry, releasing a number of original albums beginning in 1984. He founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Organization in 1998, which, among other projects, offers scholarships to Hong Kong youths, and he worked as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.

Early life[link]

Chan was born on 7 April 1954, in Hong Kong, China as Chan Kong-sang, to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. He was nicknamed Paopao (Chinese: 炮炮, literally meaning "Cannonball") because the high-energy child was always rolling around.^[3] Since his parents worked for the French Consul in Hong Kong, Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak district.^[4]

Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father immigrated to Canberra, Australia, to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim-yuen.^[4][5] Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.^[6] He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a performance group made up of the school's best students, gaining the stage name Yuen Lo in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, the three of them later to be known as the Three Brothers or Three Dragons.^[7]

At the age of 8, he appeared with some of his fellow "Little Fortunes", in the film Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962), with Li Li Hua playing his mother. Chan appeared with Li again the following year, in The Love Eterne (1963) and had a small role in King Hu's 1966 film, Come Drink with Me.^[8] In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another Kong Fu film, A Touch of Zen, Chan began his adult career in the film industry, initially signing to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company.^[9] At the age of 17, he worked as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee films Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon under the stage name Chan Yuen Lung (Chinese: 陳元龍).^[10] He received his first starring role later that year, in Little Tiger of Canton, which had a limited release in Hong Kong in 1973.^[11] Due to the commercial failures in his early ventures into films and trouble finding stunt work, in 1975 Chan starred in a comedic adult film, All in the Family, which features Jackie Chan's first and possibly only nude sex scene filmed to date. It is also the only film he has made to date that did not feature a single fight scene or stunt sequence.^[12]

Chan joined his parents in Canberra in 1976, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker.^[13] A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack" which was later shortened to "Jackie" and the name Jackie Chan stuck with him ever since.^[14] In addition, in the late 90s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fong Si-lung (Chinese: 房仕龍), since his father's original surname was Fong.^[14]

Film career[link]

Early exploits: 1976–1979[link]

In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stuntwork. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei. Lo had seen Chan's performance in the John Woo film Hand of Death (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film New Fist of Fury.^[9] His stage name was changed to Sing Lung (Chinese: 成龍, also transcribed as Cheng Long,^[15] literally "become the dragon") to emphasise his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name was Lei Siu-lung (Chinese: 李小龍, meaning "Little Dragon"). The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, resulting in little improvement at the box office.^[16]

Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal.^[17] Under director Yuen Woo-ping, Chan was allowed complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved to be a breath of fresh air for the Hong Kong audience.^[18] Chan then starred in Drunken Master, which finally propelled him to mainstream success.^[19]

Upon Chan's return to Lo Wei's studio, Lo tried to replicate the comedic approach of Drunken Master, producing Half a Loaf of Kung Fu and Spiritual Kung Fu.^[14] He also gave Chan the opportunity to co-direct The Fearless Hyena with Kenneth Tsang. When Willie Chan left the company, he advised Jackie to decide for himself whether or not to stay with Lo Wei. During the shooting of Fearless Hyena Part II, Chan broke his contract and joined Golden Harvest, prompting Lo to blackmail Chan with triads, blaming Willie for his star's departure. The dispute was resolved with the help of fellow actor and director Jimmy Wang Yu, allowing Chan to stay with Golden Harvest.^[17]

Success of the action comedy genre: 1980–1987[link]

Willie Chan had become Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and has remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was Battle Creek Brawl in 1980. Chan then played a minor role in the 1981 film The Cannonball Run, which grossed US$100 million worldwide. Despite being largely ignored by audiences in favour of established American actors like Burt Reynolds, Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits, inspiring him to include the same device in his future films.

After the commercial failure of The Protector in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into the US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films.^[16]

Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including The Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982). The Young Master went on to beat previous box office records set by Bruce Lee and established Chan as Hong Kong cinema's top star. With Dragon Lord, he began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences,^[20] including a pyramid fight scene that holds the record for the most takes for a single scene with 2900 takes,^[21] and the final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a back flip off a loft and falls to the lower ground.^[22]

Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The three co-starred together for the first time in 1983 in Project A, which introduced a dangerous stunt-driven style of martial arts that won it the Best Action Design Award at the third annual Hong Kong Film Awards.^[23] Over the following two years, the "Three Brothers" appeared in Wheels on Meals and the original Lucky Stars trilogy.^[24][25] In 1985, Chan made the first Police Story film, a US-influenced action comedy in which Chan performed a number of dangerous stunts. It was named the "Best Film" at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards.^[26] In 1987, Chan played "Asian Hawk," an Indiana Jones-esque character, in the film Armour of God. The film was Chan's biggest domestic box office success up to that point, grossing over HK $35 million.^[27]

Acclaimed sequels and Hollywood breakthrough: 1988–1998[link]

In 1988 Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date, in the film Dragons Forever. Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen, and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah, both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy.

In the late 1980s and early 90s, Chan starred in a number of successful sequels beginning with Police Story 2, which won the award for Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards. This was followed by Armour of God II: Operation Condor, and Police Story 3: Super Cop, for which Chan won the Best Actor Award at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival. In 1994, Chan reprised his role as Wong Fei-hung in Drunken Master II, which was listed in Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies.^[28] Another sequel, Police Story 4: First Strike, brought more awards and domestic box office success for Chan, but did not fare as well in foreign markets.^[29] Jackie Chan rekindled his Hollywood ambitions in the 1990s, but refused early offers to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles. For example, Sylvester Stallone offered him the role of Simon Phoenix, a criminal in the futuristic film Demolition Man. Chan declined and the role was taken by Wesley Snipes.^[30]

Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of Rumble in the Bronx, attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars.^[31] The success of Rumble in the Bronx led to a 1996 release of Police Story 3: Super Cop in the United States under the title Supercop, which grossed a total of US $16,270,600. Jackie's first huge blockbuster success came when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 buddy cop action comedy Rush Hour,^[32] grossing US$130 million in the United States alone.^[17] This film made a star of Jackie Chan, in Hollywood. As a publicity stunt, Jackie also wrote his autobiography in collaboration with Jeff Yang entitled I Am Jackie Chan.

Fame in Hollywood and Dramatization: 1999–2007[link]

In 1998, Chan released his final film for Golden Harvest, Who Am I?. After leaving Golden Harvest in 1999, he produced and starred alongside Shu Qi in Gorgeous a romantic comedy that focused on personal relationships and featured only a few martial arts sequences.^[33] Chan then helped create a PlayStation game in 2000 called Jackie Chan Stuntmaster, to which he lent his voice and performed the motion capture.^[34] He continued his Hollywood success in 2000 when he teamed up with Owen Wilson in the Western action comedy Shanghai Noon which spawned the sequel Shanghai Knights (2003). He reunited with Chris Tucker for Rush Hour 2 (2001) which was an even bigger success than the original grossing $347 million worldwide. He experimented with special effects with The Tuxedo (2002) and The Medallion (2003) which were not as successful critically or commercially. In 2004 he teamed up with Steve Coogan in the big-budget loose adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days.

Despite the success of the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon films, Chan became frustrated with Hollywood over the limited range of roles and lack of control over the film-making process.^[35] In response to Golden Harvest's withdrawal from the film industry in 2003, Chan started his own film production company, JCE Movies Limited (Jackie Chan Emperor Movies Limited) in association with Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG).^[17] His films have since featured an increasing number of dramatic scenes while continuing to succeed at the box office; examples include New Police Story (2004), The Myth (2005) and the hit film Rob-B-Hood (2006).^[36][37][38]

Chan's next release was the third installment in the Rush Hour series: Rush Hour 3 in August 2007. It grossed US$255 million.^[39] However, it was a disappointment in Hong Kong, grossing only HK$3.5 million during its opening weekend.^[40]

New experiments and change in style: 2008–present[link]

Filming of The Forbidden Kingdom (released in 2008), Chan's first onscreen collaboration with fellow Chinese actor Jet Li, was completed on 24 August 2007 and the film was released in April 2008. The film featured heavy use of effects and wires.^[41][42] Chan voiced the character Master Monkey in the DreamWorks Animation film, Kung Fu Panda, released in June 2008, appearing with stars Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie.^[43] In addition, he has assisted Anthony Szeto in an advisory capacity for the writer-director's film Wushu, released on 1 May 2008. The film stars Sammo Hung and Wang Wenjie as father and son.^[44]

In November 2007, Chan began filming Shinjuku Incident, a dramatic role featuring no martial arts sequences with director Derek Yee, which sees Chan take on the role of a Chinese immigrant in Japan.^[45] The film was released on 2 April 2009. According to his blog, Chan discussed his wishes to direct a film after completing Shinjuku Incident, something he has not done for a number of years.^[46] The film is expected to be the third in the Armour of God series, and has a working title of Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac. Chan had completed shooting the movie and will be released on 12.12.12.^[47] Because the Screen Actors Guild did not go on strike, Chan started shooting his next Hollywood movie The Spy Next Door at the end of October in New Mexico.^[48] In The Spy Next Door, Chan plays an undercover agent whose cover is blown when he looks after the children of his girlfriend. In Little Big Soldier, Chan stars, alongside Leehom Wang in a non-martial arts comedy movie based on the Warring States Period.

On 22 June 2009, Chan left Los Angeles to begin filming The Karate Kid, a remake of the 1984 original, in Beijing.^[49] The film was released in America on 11 June 2010 and sees Chan's first dramatic American film. In the film, he plays Mr. Han, a kung fu master and maintenance man who teaches Jaden Smith's character, Dre, kung-fu so he can defend himself from school bullies. In Chan's next movie, Shaolin, he plays the cook of the temple instead of one of the major characters.

Jackie Chan's 100th film 1911 was released on 26 September 2011. He is the co-director, executive producer, and lead star of the movie.^[50] While Chan has directed over ten films over his career, this is his first directorial work in over ten years, since Jackie Chan's Who Am I? in 1998. 1911 premiered in North America on 14 October.^[51]

Jackie Chan won the Favorite Buttkicker award at the Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards in 2011 for The Karate Kid.^[52] While at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, Chan announced that he was retiring from action films citing that he was getting too old for the genre. He later clarified that he would not be completely retiring from action films, but would be performing fewer stunts and taking care of his body more.^[53]

Stunts[link]

Jackie Chan has performed most of his own stunts throughout his film career, which are choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. He has stated in interviews that the primary inspiration for his more comedic stunts were films such as The General directed by and starring Buster Keaton, who was also known to perform his own stunts. Since its establishment in 1983, Chan has used the team in all his subsequent films to make choreographing easier, given his understanding of each member's abilities.^[54] Chan and his team undertake many of the stunts performed by other characters in his films, shooting the scenes so that their faces are obscured.^[55]

The dangerous nature of his stunts makes it difficult for Chan to get insurance, especially in the United States, where his stunt work is contractually limited.^[55] Chan holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts By A Living Actor", which emphasizes "no insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions, in which he performs all his own stunts".^[56] In addition, he holds an unrecognised record for the most number of takes for a single shot in a film, having shot over 2900 retakes for a complex scene involving a Jianzi game in Dragon Lord.^[57]

Chan has been injured numerous times attempting stunts; many of them have been shown as outtakes or as bloopers during the closing credits of his films. He came closest to death filming Armour of God, when he fell from a tree and fractured his skull. Over the years, Chan has dislocated his pelvis and broken his fingers, toes, nose, both cheekbones, hips, sternum, neck, ankle and ribs on numerous occasions.^[58][59] Promotional materials for Rumble in the Bronx emphasized that Chan performed all of the stunts, and one version of the movie poster even diagrammed his many injuries.

Filmography and screen persona[link]

Jackie Chan at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Jackie Chan created his screen persona as a response to Bruce Lee, and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's death. In contrast to Lee's characters, who were typically stern, morally upright heroes, Chan plays well-meaning, slightly foolish regular guys (often at the mercy of their friends, girlfriends or families) who always triumph in the end despite the odds.^[14] Additionally, Chan has stated that he deliberately styles his movement to be the opposite of Lee's: where Lee held his arms wide, Chan holds his tight to the body; where Lee was loose and flowing, Chan is tight and choppy. Despite the success of the Rush Hour series, Chan has stated that he is not a fan of it since he neither appreciates the action scenes in the movie, nor understands American humour.^[60]

In recent years, the aging Chan grew tired of being typecast as an action hero, prompting him to act with more emotion in his latest films.^[61] In New Police Story, he portrayed a character suffering from alcoholism and mourning his murdered colleagues.^[62] To further shed the image of Mr. Nice Guy, Chan played an anti-hero for the first time in Rob-B-Hood starring as Thongs, a burglar with gambling problems.^[63]

Television work[link]

In 2000, Chan hosted a fictionalized version of himself in the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures, which ran until 2005.^[64]

In July 2008, the BTV reality television series entitled The Disciple (simplified Chinese: 龙的传人; traditional Chinese: 龍的傳人, lit. "Disciple of the Dragon") concluded. The series was produced by, and featured Jackie Chan. The aim of the program was to find a new star, skilled in acting and martial arts, to become Chan's "successor" and student in filmmaking. Contestants were trained by Jackie Chan Stunt Team members Alan Wu and He Jun and competed in various fields, including explosion scenes, high-altitude wire-suspension, gunplay, car stunts, diving, obstacles courses etc. The regular judges on the program were He Ping, Wu Yue and Cheng Pei Pei. Guest judges include Stanley Tong, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The "Finals" began on 5 April 2008, with 16 contestants remaining, and concluded on 26 June 2008. Amongst those in attendance were Tsui Hark, John Woo, Ng See Yuen and Yu Rongguang.

The winner of the series was Jack Tu (Tu Sheng Cheng). Along with runners up Yang Zheng and Jerry Liau, Tu is now set to star in three modern Chinese action films, one of which was scripted by Chan, and all three will be co-produced by Chan and his company JCE Movies Limited. The films will be entitled Speedpost 206, Won't Tell You and Tropical Tornado and will be directed by Xie Dong, Jiang Tao and Cai Rong Hui. All 16 finalists will be given the opportunity to work on the films, or to join the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. Production on the first film is due to begin in September 2008. In addition, the finalists will be given roles in a forthcoming BTV action series.^[65][66][67]

Music career[link]

Jackie Chan had vocal lessons whilst at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. He began producing records professionally in the 1980s and has gone on to become a successful singer in Hong Kong and Asia. He has released 20 albums since 1984 and has performed vocals in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. He often sings the theme songs of his films, which play over the closing credits. Chan's first musical recording was "Kung Fu Fighting Man", the theme song played over the closing credits of The Young Master (1980).^[68] At least 10 of these recordings have been released on soundtrack albums for the films.^[62][69] His Cantonese song Story of a Hero (英雄故事) (theme song of Police Story) was selected by the Royal Hong Kong Police and incorporated into their recruitment advertisement in 1994.^[70]

Chan voiced the character of Shang in the Chinese release of the Walt Disney animated feature, Mulan (1998). He also performed the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", for the film's soundtrack. For the US release, the speaking voice was performed by B.D. Wong and the singing voice was done by Donny Osmond.

In 2007, Chan recorded and released the song "We Are Ready", the official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics. He performed the song at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics.^[71]

The day before the Beijing Olympics opened, Chan released one of the two official Olympics albums, Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – Jackie Chan's Version, which featured a number of special guest appearances.^[72] Chan, along with Andy Lau, Liu Huan and Wakin (Emil) Chau, performed "Hard to Say Goodbye", the farewell song for the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.^[73]

Image and celebrity status[link]

Jackie Chan has received worldwide recognition for his acting, having won several awards including an Innovator Award from the American Choreography Awards and a lifetime achievement award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards.^[74] He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars.^[75] Despite considerable box office success in The Northsouth Territories, Chan's American films have been criticised with regard to their action choreography. Reviewers of Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo, and Shanghai Knights criticised the toning down of Chan's fighting scenes, citing less intensity compared to his earlier films.^[76][77][78] The comedic value of his films is questioned; some critics stated it can be childish at times.^[79]

Jackie Chan's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Chan is a cultural icon, having been referenced in Ash's song "Kung Fu", Heavy Vegetable's "Jackie Chan Is a Punk Rocker", Leehom Wang's "Long Live Chinese People", as well as in "Jackie Chan" by Frank Chickens, and television shows Celebrity Deathmatch and Family Guy. He has been the inspiration for manga such as Dragon Ball (including a character with the alias "Jackie Chun"),^[80] the character Lei Wulong in Tekken and the fighting-type Pokémon Hitmonchan.^[81][82][83] In addition, Jackie Chan has a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi Motors. As a result, Mitsubishi cars can be found in a number of Jackie Chan films. Furthermore, Mitsubishi honoured Chan by launching Evolution, a limited series of cars which he personally customised.^[84][85][86]

A number of video games have featured Jackie Chan. Before Stuntmaster, Chan already had a game of his own, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu, released in 1990 for the PC-Engine and NES. In 1995, Chan was featured in the arcade fighting game Jackie Chan The Kung-Fu Master. In addition, a series of Japanese Jackie Chan games were released on the MSX by Pony, based on several of his films (Project A, Project A 2, Police Story, The Protector and Wheels On Meals).^[87]

Chan has always wanted to be a role model to children, remaining popular with them due to his good-natured acting style. He has refused to play villains and has almost never used the word "fuck" in his films (He's only said that word in two films, The Protector and Burn, Hollywood, Burn), but in Rush Hour, in an attempt to be "cool" and imitate his partner Carter, who said "What's up, my nigga?" to a club of black men, he said the same thing when Carter was in another room and they all attacked him, so he had to pull out his fighting skills to beat them down and escape.^[88] Chan's greatest regret in life is not having received proper education,^[89] inspiring him to fund educational institutions around the world. He funded the construction of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the Australian National University^[90] and the establishment of schools in poor regions of China.^[91]

Chan is a spokesperson for the Government of Hong Kong, appearing in public service announcements. In a Clean Hong Kong commercial, he urged the people of Hong Kong to be more considerate with regards to littering, a problem that has been widespread for decades.^[92] Furthermore, in an advertisement promoting nationalism, he gave a short explanation of the March of the Volunteers, the national anthem of the People's Republic of China.^[93] When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005, Chan participated in the opening ceremony.^[94] In the United States, Chan appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in a government advert to combat copyright infringement and made another public service announcement with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to encourage people, especially Asians, to join the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.^[95][96]

Construction has begun on a Jackie Chan museum in Shanghai. Work began in July 2008, and although it was scheduled to be completed on October 2009, construction continues as of January 2010.^[97]

Controversies[link]

During a news conference in Shanghai on 28 March 2004, Chan referred to the recently concluded Republic of China presidential election, 2004 in Taiwan, in which Democratic Progressive Party candidates Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu were re-elected as President and Vice-President as "the biggest joke in the world."^[98] Chan's comments were criticized by Parris Chang, a Taiwanese legislator and senior member of the DPP, who called for the government of Taiwan to take punitive steps against Chan for his comments, such as banning his movies and barring him the right to visit Taiwan.^[99] Some 50 police and security personnel were required to separate protesters from Chan, as they were attempting to spit at him when he arrived at Taipei airport for a charity sponsored by cable TV channel TVBS on 18 June 2008.^[100] Chan insisted that his remarks were not intended to insult the people of Taiwan.^[101]

Jackie Chan at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival

Referring to his participation in the torch relay for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chan spoke out against demonstrators who disrupted the relay several times attempting to draw attention to a wide-ranging number of grievances against the Chinese government, including China's human rights record and the political status of Taiwan. He warned that he would lash out against anyone planning to stop him from carrying the Olympic Torch, saying, "Demonstrators better not get anywhere near me." In addition, Chan felt that the protesters were publicity seekers. "They are doing it for no reason. They just want to show off on the TV," he said. "They know, 'if I can get the torch, I can go on the TV for the world news'." Chan felt the country was trying to improve and the Olympics is a chance for the country to open up and learn from the outside world and vice versa. "We are not right about everything. Things are getting better in China but we can change and are changing. We want to learn from the rest of the world as well as teach others about our ways and our culture."^[102]

On 18 April 2009, during a panel discussion at the annual Boao Forum for Asia titled "Tapping into Asia's Creative Industry Potential," Chan said "...in the 10 years after Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, I can gradually see, I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not."^[103] Chan went on to say, "If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic." He also added, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want." Chan however complained about the quality of Chinese goods, saying, "...a Chinese TV might explode."^[104] but refrained from criticizing the Chinese government for banning his 2009 film Shinjuku Incident.^[105] Chan's comments prompted an angry response from some legislators and other prominent figures in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Hong Kong Legislator Leung Kwok-hung said that Chan "insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren't pets."^[106] The Hong Kong Tourism Board stated that it had received 164 comments and complaints from the public over Chan's remarks.^[107] A spokesman for Chan told reporters that the actor was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry rather than Chinese society at large and that certain people with "ulterior motives deliberately misinterpreted what he said."^[108]

On 24 August 2010, Jackie Chan tweeted about the botched rescue operation on the Manila hostage crisis that left 8 Hong Kong tourists dead. Although saddened by the news, he also tweeted "If they killed the guy sooner, they will say why not negotiate first? If they negotiate first, they ask why not kill the guy sooner?"^{[109][110][111][112]} Chan's comments caused outrage in Hong Kong. Several anti-Jackie Chan groups were set up on Facebook with tens of thousands of supporters. Some fellow actors and directors told local newspapers that they were also upset by his remarks. Chan reportedly has business interests in the Philippines. He issued a statement on 27 August 2010 apologizing for his comments and claiming that his assistant who helped him post the tweets had misunderstood the meaning of his original message.^[113]

Entrepreneurship and philanthropy[link]

In addition to his film production and distribution company, JCE Movies Limited, Jackie Chan also owns or co-owns the production companies JC Group China, Jackie & Willie Productions^[114] (with Willie Chan) and Jackie & JJ Productions.^[115]

Chan has also put his name to Jackie Chan Theater International, a cinema chain in China, co-run by Hong Kong company Sparkle Roll Group Ltd. The first—Jackie Chan-Yaolai International Cinema—opened in February 2010, and is claimed to be the largest cinema complex in China, with 17 screens and 3,500 seats. Chan expressed his hopes that the size of the venue would afford young, non-commercial directors the opportunity to have their films screened. 15 further cinemas in the chain are planned for 2010, throughout Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with a potential total of 65 cinemas throughout the country proposed.^[116][117]

In 2004, Chan launched his own line of clothing, which bears a Chinese dragon logo and the English word "Jackie", or the initials "JC".^[118] Chan also has a number of other branded businesses. His sushi restaurant chain, Jackie's Kitchen, has outlets throughout Hong Kong, as well as seven in South Korea and one in Hawaii, with plans to open another in Las Vegas. Jackie Chan's Cafe has outlets in Beijing, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and the Philippines. Other ventures include Jackie Chan Signature Club gyms (a partnership with California Fitness), and a line of chocolates, cookies and nutritional oatcakes. He also hopes to expand into furniture and kitchenware, and is also considering a branded supermarket.^[119] With each of his businesses, a percentage of the profits goes to various charities, including the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.

Chan is a keen philanthropist and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, having worked tirelessly to champion charitable works and causes. He has campaigned for conservation, against animal abuse and has promoted disaster relief efforts for floods in mainland China and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.^{[5][120][121]} In June 2006, he announced the donation of half his assets to charity upon his death, citing his admiration of the effort made by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to help those in need.^[122] On 10 March 2008, Chan was the guest of honour for the launch, by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University in Canberra. Jackie Chan is also a supporter of the Save China's Tigers project which aims at saving the endangered South China Tiger through breeding and releasing them into the wild; he is currently an ambassador for this conservation project.^[123] Chan has many historic artifacts, such as old door frames from 2000 years ago. He also owns the Jinricksha Station in Singapore.

19 January 2011 Jackie Chan joins U.S. President Barack Obama for the welcome of President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao to the White House state dinner.

In April 2008, Jackie Chan was invited for the audio launch of an Indian film, entitled Dasavathaaram (2008) in Chennai (Madras), where he shared the dais with Indian celebrities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Mammootty and Kamal Hassan. Though he did not understand a word of Tamil, Chan was touched by the Indian community's love for him and his films, and was impressed with the movie Dasavathaaram, expressing a keen interest in working with the star of the film, Kamal Hassan. Hassan himself reciprocated the desire to work with the action superstar, urging Chan to keep his promise of working with him on a possible film project.

Following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Chan donated RMB ¥10 million to help those in need. In addition, he is planning to make a film about the Chinese earthquake to raise money for survivors.

In response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Jackie Chan and fellow Hong Kong-based celebrities, including American rapper Jin, headlined a special three-hour charity concert, titled Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders, on 1 April 2011 to help with Japan's disaster recovery effort,^[124] where Jackie Chan addressed the victims of the earthquake and tsunami by saying: "You will not be alone, we will be by your side".^[125] The concert raised over $3.3 million dollars in just three hours for disaster relief.^[126]

Chan also holds guest lectures at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art of Fudan University, Shanghai.

The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation[link]

Founded in 1988, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation offers scholarships and active help to Hong Kong's young people through a variety of worthy causes. Over the years, the foundation has broadened its scope to include provision of medical services, aid to victims of natural disaster or illness, and projects where the major beneficiaries are Hong Kong people or organizations. Major donation projects of The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation:

• The Jackie Chan Gymnasium at Lingnan University
• The Jackie Chan Challenge Cup Intercollegiate Invitation Tournament
• The Jackie Chan Family Unit, Hong Kong Girl Guides Association Jockey Club Beas River Lodge
• The Jackie Chan Whole Person Development Center
• Renovation of the Bethanie Site, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
• Medical Funding in mainland China (Operation Smile)^[127]
• Medical Donation in Hong Kong (Queen Mary Hospital, SARS Relief)
• Support for the Performing Arts
• Youth Development Programs

The Dragon's Heart Foundation[link]

The Dragon's Heart Foundation was founded in 2005 to fulfill the desperate needs of children and the elderly in remote areas of China. Since 2005, the Dragon's Heart Foundation has built over a dozen schools, provided books, fees, and uniforms, and has raised millions of dollars to give much-needed educational opportunities for the poor. In addition, the Dragon's Heart Foundation provides for the elderly with donations of warm clothing, wheelchairs, and other items. Jackie often travels to the remote locations to attend groundbreakings or school openings, and to lend support and encouragement.

Awards and nominations[link]

• American Choreography Awards^[128]
• 8th American Choreography Innovator Awards - Won
• Asia-Pacific Film Festival
• 1993 Asia-Pacific Film Lifetime Achievement Award - Won
• 2005 Asia-Pacific Film Special Jury Award - Won
• International Indian Film Academy Awards
• 2000 Special Award for Global Impact - Won
• Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
• 1999 Favorite Duo - Action/Adventure (for Rush Hour) - Won
• 2001 Favorite Action Team (for Shanghai Noon) - Nominated
• Cinequest Film Festival
• 1998 Maverick Spirit Award - Won
• Daytime Emmy Awards
• 2002 Performer In An Animated Program (for Jackie Chan Adventures) - Nominated
• Fant-Asia Film Festival
• 1997 Best Asian Film (for Drunken Master II) - Won (shared with Chia-Liang Liu)
• Golden Horse Film Festival
• 1992 Best Actor (for Police Story 3: Super Cop) - Won
• 1993 Best Actor (for Zhong an zu) - Won
• Golden Phoenix Awards
• 2005 Outstanding Contribution Award - Won
• Golden Rooster Awards
• 2005 Best Actor (for New Police Story) - Won
• Hollywood Film Festival
• 1999 Actor of the Year - Won
• Hong Kong Film Awards
• 1983 Best Action Choreography (for Dragon Lord) - Nominated (shared with Hark-On Fung and Yuen Kuni)
• 1985 Best Actor (for Project A) - Nominated
• 1986 Best Director (for Police Story) - Nominated
• 1986 Best Actor (for Police Story) - Nominated
• 1986 Best Actor (for Heart of Dragon) - Nominated
• 1989 Best Picture (for Rouge) - Won
• 1990 Best Actor (for Miracles) - Nominated
• 1993 Best Actor (for Supercop) - Nominated
• 1994 Best Actor (for Crime Story) - Nominated
• 1994 Best Action Choreography (for Crime Story) - Nominated
• 1996 Best Actor (for Rumble in the Bronx) - Nominated
• 1996 Best Action Choreography (for Rumble in the Bronx) - Won
• 1997 Best Actor (for Dragon Lord) - Nominated
• 1999 Best Actor (for Who Am I?) - Nominated
• 1999 Best Action Choreography (for Who Am I?) - Won
• 2000 Best Action Choreography (for Gorgeous) - Nominated (shared with Jackie Chan Stunt Team)
• 2005 Best Actor (for New Police Story) - Nominated
• 2005 Professional Achievement Award - Won
• 2006 Best Original Film Song (for The Myth) - Nominated (shared with Choi Jun Young, Wang Zhong Yan, and Hee-seon Kim)
• 2006 Best Action Choreography (for The Myth) - Nominated (shared with Stanley Tong, Tak Yuen)
• 2007 Best Action Choreography (for Robin-B-Hood) - Nominated (shared with Chung Chi Li)
• 2010 Best Film (for Shinjuku Incident) - Nominated
• Hundred Flowers Awards
• 2006 Best Actor (for New Police Story) - Nominated
• Kids' Choice Awards
• 2002 Favorite Male Movie Star (for Rush Hour 2) - Nominated
• 2002 Favorite Male Action Hero (for Rush Hour 2) - Won
• 2003 Favorite Movie Actor (for The Tuxedo) - Nominated
• 2003 Favorite Male Butt Kicker (for The Tuxedo) - Won
• 2011 Favorite Butt Kicker (for The Karate Kid) - Won
• Montreal World Film Festival
• Grand Prix des Amériques - Won
• MTV Movie Awards
• 1995 Lifetime Achievement Award - Won
• 1996 Best Fight (for Rumble in the Bronx) - Nominated
• 1997 Best Fight (for Police Story 4: First Strike) - Nominated
• 1999 Best Fight (for Rush Hour) - Nominated (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 1999 Best On-Screen Duo (for Rush Hour) - Won (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 2002 Best On-Screen Team (for Rush Hour 2) - Nominated (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 2002 Best Fight (for Rush Hour 2) - Won (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 2003 Best On-Screen Team (for Shanghai Knights) - Nominated (shared with Owen Wilson)
• 2008 Best Fight (for Rush Hour 3) - Nominated (shared with Chris Tucker and Sun Mingming)
• People's Choice Awards
• 2008 Favorite On Screen Match-up (for Rush Hour 3) - Nominated (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 2011 Favorite On-Screen Team (for The Karate Kid) - Nominated (shared with Jaden Smith)
• 2011 Favorite Action Star - Won
• Shanghai International Film Festival
• 2005 Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema - Won
• Teen Choice Awards
• 2002 Film - Choice Chemistry (for Rush Hour 2) - Nominated (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 2008 Choice Movie Actor: Action Adventure (for The Forbidden Kingdom) - Nominated
• Walk of Fame
• 2002 Motion Picture - Won (Star on the Walk of Fame)
• World Stunt Awards
• 2002 Taurus Honorary Award - Won

Personal life[link]

In 1982, Jackie Chan married Lin Feng-Jiao (aka Joan Lin), a Taiwanese actress. That same year, the two had a son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan.^[35] Elaine Ng Yi-Lei had a daughter, Etta, in 1999, and claimed Chan was the father; Chan admitted the affair, but did not formally acknowledge her as his daughter.^{[129][130][131]} Chan is a Buddhist.^[132][133]

He speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, American Sign Language, and English fluently, and also speaks some German, Korean and Japanese, as well as a little Spanish.^[134]

In 2009, Chan received an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambodia.^[135][136]

See also[link]

• Cinema of Hong Kong
• Hong Kong action cinema
• Cinema of China
• Stunt
• Stunt performer

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Boose, Thorsten; Oettel, Silke. Hongkong, meine Liebe – Ein spezieller Reiseführer. Shaker Media, 2009. ISBN 978-3-86858-255-0 (German)
• Boose, Thorsten. Der deutsche Jackie Chan Filmführer. Shaker Media, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86858-102-7 (German)
• Chan, Jackie, and Jeff Yang. I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action. New York: Ballantine Books, 1999. ISBN 0-345-42913-3. Jackie Chan's autobiography.
• Cooper, Richard, and Mike Leeder. 100% Jackie Chan: The Essential Companion. London: Titan Books, 2002. ISBN 1-84023-491-1.
• Cooper, Richard. More 100% Jackie Chan: The Essential Companion Volume 2. London: Titan Books, 2004. ISBN 1-84023-888-7.
• Corcoran, John. The Unauthorized Jackie Chan Encyclopedia: From Project A to Shanghai Noon and Beyond. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 2003. ISBN 0-07-138899-0.
• Fox, Dan. Jackie Chan. Raintree Freestyle. Chicago, Ill.: Raintree, 2006. ISBN 1-4109-1659-6.
• Gentry, Clyde. Jackie Chan: Inside the Dragon. Dallas, Tex.: Taylor Pub, 1997. ISBN 0-87833-962-0.
• Le Blanc, Michelle, and Colin Odell. The Pocket Essential Jackie Chan. Pocket essentials. Harpenden: Pocket Essentials, 2000. ISBN 1-903047-10-2.
• Major, Wade. Jackie Chan. New York: Metrobooks, 1999. ISBN 1-56799-863-1.
• Moser, Leo. Made in Hong Kong: die Filme von Jackie Chan. Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2000. ISBN 3-89602-312-8. (German)
• Poolos, Jamie. Jackie Chan. Martial Arts Masters. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2002. ISBN 0-8239-3518-3.
• Rovin, Jeff, and Kathleen Tracy. The Essential Jackie Chan Sourcebook. New York: Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN 0-671-00843-9.
• Stone, Amy. Jackie Chan. Today's Superstars: Entertainment. Milwaukee, Wis.: Gareth Stevens Pub, 2007. ISBN 0-8368-7648-2.
• Witterstaetter, Renee. Dying for Action: The Life and Films of Jackie Chan. New York: Warner, 1998. ISBN 0-446-67296-3.
• Wong, Curtis F., and John R. Little (eds.). Jackie Chan and the Superstars of Martial Arts. The Best of Inside Kung-Fu. Lincolnwood, Ill.: McGraw-Hill, 1998. ISBN 0-8092-2837-8.

External links[link]

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jackie Chan

• Official website
• Jackie Chan at the Internet Movie Database
• Jackie Chan at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
• Jackie Chan at AllRovi
• Jackie Chan at Rotten Tomatoes
• Jackie Chan on Twitter
• Jackie Chan on Google+

Jennifer Love Hewitt
Hewitt in January 2008
Born	Jennifer Love Hewitt (1979-02-21) February 21, 1979 (age 33) Waco, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer, songwriter, television director, producer, author, voice actress
Years active	1990–present

Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress, producer, television director and singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated. She rose to fame in teenage popular culture in her roles in the Fox series Party of Five as Sarah Reeves Merrin, and films I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel as Julie James. She starred on the hit CBS television program Ghost Whisperer as Melinda Gordon, for which she won a Saturn Award in 2007 and 2008 for Best Actress on Television.^[1] She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her television movie The Client List.^[2] Hewitt has served as a producer on some of her film and television projects.^[3] As a singer, Hewitt's most successful single on the Billboard Hot 100 is the 1999 release "How Do I Deal", which peaked at No. 59.^[4] She has contributed music to the promotion or soundtracks of acting projects.^[5] She was identified as the "#1 reader choice" on the November 1999 and May 2009 covers of Maxim.^[6] TV Guide named her the sexiest woman on television in 2008.^[7]

She is currently a recurring star on Hot in Cleveland^[8] and leads the new Lifetime television series The Client List.^[9]

Early life[link]

Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas,^[10] and is the daughter of Patricia Mae (née Shipp), a speech-language pathologist, and Herbert Daniel Hewitt, a medical technician.^[11] Hewitt grew up in Nolanville, Texas.^[12] Hewitt received her middle name after her mother promised her college friend (named "Love") that if she had a daughter, she would name her after her.^[13] Her older brother, Todd Hewitt, chose the name "Jennifer" as a homage to a crush he had at the time she was born.^[12] After the divorce of her parents, Hewitt and her brother were brought up by her mother.^[14]

As a young girl, Hewitt was attracted to music, which led to her first encounters with the entertainment industry. At the age of three, she sang "The Greatest Love of All" at a livestock show.^[15] Just a year after that, at a restaurant-dance hall, she entertained an audience with her version of "Help Me Make It Through the Night".^[16] By the time she was five, Hewitt already had tap dancing and ballet in her portfolio.^[17] At nine, she became a member of the Texas Show Team (which also toured in the Soviet Union).^[18] At the age of ten, at the suggestion of talent scouts and after gaining the title of "Texas Our Little Miss Talent Winner",^[19] she moved to Los Angeles with her mother to pursue a career in both acting and singing.^[14] In Los Angeles, Hewitt attended Lincoln High School where her classmates included Jonathan Neville, who became a talent scout and recommended Hewitt for her role in Party of Five.^[16]

Career[link]

Acting[link]

After moving to Los Angeles, Hewitt appeared in more than twenty television commercials, including some for Mattel toys.^[20] Her first break came as a child actor on the Disney Channel variety show Kids Incorporated (1989–1991),^[21] where she was credited as "Love Hewitt". She later appeared in the live action video short Dance! Workout with Barbie (1992), released by Buena Vista.^[22]

Hewitt in 2002

She played Pierce Brosnan's daughter in a pilot for NBC called Running Wilde (1993),^[23] which featured Brosnan as a reporter for Auto World magazine whose stories cover his own wild auto adventures. However, the series was not picked up and the pilot never aired.^[24] Hewitt later had roles in several short-lived television series, such as Fox's Shaky Ground (1992–1993),^[25] ABC's The Byrds of Paradise (1994),^[26] and McKenna (1994–1995),^[27] and finally became a young star after landing the role of Sarah Reeves Merrin on the popular Fox show Party of Five (1995–1999).^[28] She assumed the role of Sarah after joining that show during its second season and continued it on the short-lived Party of Five spin-off, Time of Your Life (1999), which she also co-produced.^[29] The show was cancelled after half a season.^[30]

Hewitt's first feature film role was in the independent film Munchie (1992).^[31] A year later, she achieved her first starring film role in Little Miss Millions (1993).^[32] She appeared as a choir member in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993).^[33] Hewitt became a film star after a lead role in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997),^[34] which enjoyed great box office success ($125,000,000 USD).^[35] Hewitt and her co-stars gained popular exposure from the film. She appeared in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), which, though not as successful as the first film, took in more money on its opening weekend.^[36] She starred in the high-school comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998).^[37]

Hewitt starred in The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000).^[38] That same year, she was the "most popular actress on television" due to her Q-rating (a measurement of a celebrity's popularity) of 37.^[39] Noting her "Q-rating", Nokia chose her to become its spokesperson.^[40]

She starred alongside Sigourney Weaver in the romantic comedy Heartbreakers (2001).^[41] She appeared in The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002) as Madellaine, the main protagonist's love interest.^[42] Hewitt wrote and performed "I'm Gonna Love You" for the film; the song won "Best Original Song" at the DVD Premiere Awards.^[43] She starred alongside Jackie Chan in The Tuxedo (2002),^[44] which received negative reviews from critics but was a box office success.^[45] Hewitt appeared in If Only (2004) and co-wrote and performed "Love Will Show You Everything" and "Take My Heart Back" for the film's soundtrack.^[46] She starred in Garfield (2004),^[47] which became her highest-grossing film to date ($200,804,534 USD).^[48] She reprised her role for the sequel, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006),^[49] which, though not performing as well as its predecessor, achieved a strong box office gross.^[50]

Hewitt starred in the television series Ghost Whisperer (2005–2010),^[51] which ran on CBS for five seasons before being canceled by the network in May, 2010.^[52] She reunited with her I Know What You Did Last Summer co-star, Freddie Prinze Jr., in Delgo (2008).^[53] The film was a massive box office bomb ($694,782 USD domestically).^[54] After a two-year absence from feature films, Hewitt led the independent drama Café (2010) with her then-boyfriend Jamie Kennedy.^[55] She starred in the Lifetime film The Client List (2010),^[56] for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.^[57] The next year, Hewitt starred in the Hallmark Hall of Fame film The Lost Valentine (2011).^[58]

Hewitt will direct the film Wait Till Helen Comes (2012) based on the novel by Mary Downing Hahn.^[59] This will be Hewitt's feature film directorial debut (she previously directed three episodes of Ghost Whisperer).^[60] She is also set star alongside Ivan Sergei and Joel David Moore in the independent comedy Jewtopia (2012)^[61] and will star in the television series The Client List (2012).^[62]

Music[link]

Hewitt was one of the back-up singers in Martika's number-one single, "Toy Soldiers" (1989).

Jennifer Love Hewitt in Gigaset 2012

At the age of 12, Meldac funded the recording of Hewitt's first album, Love Songs (1992).^[63] The album was released exclusively in Japan, where Hewitt became a pop star.^[64] Her explanation for her success in Japan is that the Japanese "love perky music. The poppier the music, the better."^[65]

After she joined the cast of Party of Five, she signed to Atlantic Records, who rushed her second album, Let's Go Bang (1995), out in October.^[63] The album and its three singles failed to chart.^[63] Juggling her music career with her acting career, she recorded and released her follow-up album, Jennifer Love Hewitt (1996).^[66] The album, along with its four singles, failed to chart and Atlantic dropped Hewitt, who did not return to the music scene for three years.^[63]

She recorded the single "How Do I Deal" (1999) for the I Still Know What You Did Last Summer soundtrack.^[67] The song became Hewitt's first charting single, climbing to No. 59 on the Hot 100 and No. 36 on the Top 40 Mainstream.^[1] It reached No. 8 in Australia.^[68] Hewitt also recorded a cover of the Gloria Gaynor song "I Will Survive", which features briefly in the film.^[69]

She appeared in the LFO video for "Girl on TV" (1999),^[70] a song which was written for her by a member of the band.^[71] She also appeared in the music video for the Enrique Iglesias song, "Hero" (2001), as the singer's love interest.^[72]