The martial arts expert and popular actor Jet Li celebrates his birthday today. The actor was born on 26 April 1963 as Li Lianjie in Beijing. Li was eight when his talent for ‘wushu’ was noticed at a summer course at school, and he began his practice there. The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong.  

He received his screen name in the year 1982 when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce. He made his debut as an actor in the same year with the movie Shaolin Temple. In 1998, he made his American film debut in Lethal Weapon 4 which also marked the first time he had ever played a villain in a film.  

After doing several successful films in Hollywood like Romeo Must Die, The One, Kiss of the Dragon and Hero, he returned to China in 2007 to participate in the China/Hong Kong co-production of the period war film The Warlords with Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. This film with its focus on dramatics rather than martial arts netted Li the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. 

After a one-year hiatus from filmmaking, Jet Li returned to acting in 2009, portraying a mercenary in the film The Expendables, teaming up with action stars Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture.

In 2009 the actor took up Singaporean citizenship for the education of his two daughters.

FM wishes Jet Li a Very Happy Birthday!!!