Jackie Chan to receive honorary Oscar

The legend that is Jackie Chan is to be awarded an honorary Oscar for his “extraordinary achievements” in film. The 62 year old will not be alone, as the Academy has also voted to give awards to editor Anne Coates, documentary maker Frederick Wiseman and casting director Lynn Stalmaster. Cheryl Boone Isaacs, President of the Academy, has described them as “true pioneers and legends in their crafts”.

Chan made a name for himself starring in a multitude of martial arts movies in his native Hong Kong. Choreographing and performing wonderfully imaginative fight scenes and pulling off some extremely dangerous stunts.

Rumble in the Bronx brought him into the American mainstream, which was cemented when he starred alongside Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour trilogy and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Noon – another soon to be trilogy including sequels Shanghai Knights and Shanghai Dawn. His vocal talents have also been lent to the mega-successful Kung Fu Panda series, in which he portrays Monkey.

Anne Coates won an Oscar for her work on Lawrence of Arabia and has been a movie editor for over 60 years, Frederick Wiseman has made a film almost annually since 1967, and Lynn Stalmaster has worked on over 200 feature films, including The Graduate and Deliverance.

They will receive their awards at the Governors Awards ceremony in November.