Jet Li
About Jet Li
Jet Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963) is a martial artist, actor, and philanthropist. With a career spanning more than forty years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential martial artists in cinema history. Li's early work in mainland China during the 1980s is credited with introducing the Shaolin Temple to a global audience. During the 1990s, his collaborations with filmmaker Tsui Hark spearheaded wushu representation in Hong Kong action cinema, establishing him as its most prominent practitioner. He simultaneously popularised the wuxia genre before transitioning to Hollywood in the late 1990s. His crossover success brought global recognition, solidifying his place alongside Jackie Chan as one of the two biggest names in contemporary martial arts cinema. Li began his career as a competitive martial artist. Trained as a wushu athlete at the Beijing Shichahai Sports School, he won multiple national championships with the Beijing Wushu Team from 1974 to 1979 under the guidance of coach Wu Bin. After retiring from competitive wushu in 1979, he made his feature film debut in Shaolin Temple (1982), a runaway success followed by two sequels (1984 and 1986). Li established himself as a leading Asian action star by portraying folk hero Wong Fei-hung in director Tsui Hark's critically acclaimed Once Upon a Time in China series (1991–1993).