HONG KONG - Jackie Chan is in mourning after his father, Fang Daolong, died on Tuesday at the age of 93. The actor was filming in China when his Dad, who had prostate cancer, died in a Hong Kong hospital.
Chan's wife, former actress Lin Feng-chiao, his singer-actor son Jaycee Chan, and his former manager Willie Chan were by Fang's side.
China-born Fang was a former Kuomintang secret agent who fled to Hong Kong from communist China in 1951. He changed his name to Chan Chi Ping to hide from the communists and was also known as Charles Chan.
Jackie Chan was reportedly calm when he heard of his father's death and did not request for filming to be stopped.
Sing Tao Daily said the actor was due to fly to Australia where the funeral will be held and where his father will be buried with his mother, Lily Chan, who died in 2002.
Fang had two sons with his first wife, whom he married in 1940 but who died in 1947. When the communists came to power in 1949, he fled China, leaving his two young sons behind.
In Hong Kong, he worked as a cook for the French Embassy and his son Jackie was born to him and his second wife Lily in 1954.
He later went to Australia to be a chef at an embassy while his wife worked as a maid.
They left Chan, then a little boy, to board at a Peking Opera school. In 1985, Fang reunited with his two older sons in China.
He was known in the Hong Kong entertainment circle and had been photographed at gatherings with celebrities such as Deborah Li, Patrick Tse and Lydia Sum.
In 2004, Chan flew him and 100 guests to Kuala Lumpur for a surprise 90th birthday celebration costing HK$2 million.
Source: The Straits Times Feb. 28, 2008