Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for his slapstick acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically performs himself. Chan has been acting since the 1960s, performing in more than 150 films. He is one of the most popular action film stars of all time. Chan is one of the most recognisable and influential film personalities in the world, with a widespread global following in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. He has received fame stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, films, and video games. He is an operatically trained vocalist and is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of music albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred. He is also a globally known philanthropist and has been named one of the top 10 most charitable celebrities by Forbes magazine. In 2004, film scholar Andrew Willis stated that Chan was perhaps the "most recognised film star in the world." In 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $350 million, and as of 2016, he was the second-highest-paid actor in the world. Chan's views on Hong Kong politics have gradually shifted from a pro-democratic stance in the 1990s to a pro-Beijing stance since the 2010s. Since 2013, Chan has been a pro-Communist politician, serving as an invited delegate in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In 2021, he expressed his desire to join the Chinese Communist Party. Chan was born on 7 April 1954 in British Hong Kong as Chan Kong-sang to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. His parents were so poor they had to borrow money from friends to pay the doctor. His parents nicknamed him Pao-pao because the energetic child was always rolling around. His parents worked for the French ambassador in Hong Kong, and Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak district. 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 emigrated 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. Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.  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 (元樓) in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, and the three of them later became known as the Three Brothers or Three Dragons. After entering the film industry, Chan along with Sammo Hung got the opportunity to train in hapkido under the grand master Jin Pal Kim, and Chan eventually attained a black belt. Chan joined his parents in Canberra, Australia in 1971, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker. A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, thus earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack," later shortened to "Jackie", which has stuck with him ever since. In the late 1990s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fang Shilong (房仕龍；Cantonese: Fong Si-lung), since his father's original surname was Fang. They are the descendants of Fang Xuanling, a chancellor of the Tang dynasty.