Donnie Yen

Also known as Donnie Yen Ji-dan, Yen Chi-Tan

Hong Kong actor, film director and martial artist

OverviewAI-generated

Donnie Yen, born in 1963 in Guangzhou, is a Chinese, American, and British Hong Kong citizen who works as an actor, film producer, film director, and choreographer. He began his work period in 1983 and is active in the 20th and 21st centuries. His notable works include Iron Monkey, Hero, SPL: Sha Po Lang, and Flash Point. Yen has received Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Bauhinia Awards.

He practices Wing Chun, taekwondo, kung fu, and kickboxing, representing the United States in sport. Yen speaks Chinese, Cantonese, and English, with Cantonese as his native language. He is married to Cissy Wang and has a sibling named Chris Yen. His name in his native language is 甄子丹, and he uses the nickname 甄功夫.

Synthesized by Vinony from 25 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, TMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Film & TV

Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

Donnie Yen Chi-tan is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and action director. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Golden Horse Awards and five Hong Kong Film Awards. He is best known for portraying Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the Ip Man film series, namely Ip Man (2008), Ip Man 2 (2010), Ip Man 3 (2015), and Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019). He also served as…

Known for

You are the Best — Alex Yang2025
The Prosecutor — Fok Chi Ho2024
John Wick: Chapter 4 — Caine2023
Sakra — Qiao Feng / Xiao Feng2023
Crush Over2023
New Kung Fu Cult Master — Zhang Sanfeng2022
New Kung Fu Cult Master 2 — Zhang Sanfeng2022
Polar Rescue — A De2022
The Monkey King: The Legend Begins — Sun Wukong / Monkey King2022
Raging Fire — Bong2021

via TMDB

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Donnie
Family name: Zhen
Gender: male
Citizenship: British Hong Kong
Place of birth: Guangzhou
Spouse: Cissy Wang
Sibling: Chris Yen
Occupation: stunt performer
Languages spoken: English language
Native language: Cantonese
Notable work: John Wick: Chapter 4
Sport: kickboxing
Country for sport: United States
Official website: www.donnieyen.asia
Image: Donnie Yen 20250323.jpg
Height: 1.73
Number of children: 3

Show 15 more facts

Commons category: Donnie Yen
date of birth: 1963-07-27
topic's main category: Category:Donnie Yen
filmography: Donnie Yen filmography
start of work period: 1983-00-00
name in native language: Donnie Yen
nickname: 甄功夫
time period: 21st century
writing language: English language
social media followers: 283684
nominated for: Taurus World Stunt Awards
ethnic group: Cantonese people
ancestral home: Taishan
described at URL: www.tatlerasia.com/people/donnie-yen
affiliation string: Bullet Films Asia

Sources (8)

via Wikidata · CC0

~27 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Donnie Yen Chi-tan (Chinese: 甄子丹; Jyutping: jan zi daan; pinyin: Zhēn Zǐdān; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and action director. His accolades include three Golden Horse Awards and five Hong Kong Film Awards. He is best known for portraying Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the Ip Man film series, namely Ip Man (2008), Ip Man 2 (2010), Ip Man 3 (2015), and Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019). He also served as a co-producer of the spin-off Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018).

Born in Guangdong, Yen developed an interest in martial arts at a young age, and began experimenting with various styles, including tai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. At age 18, he auditioned for action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping in Hong Kong. He landed his first starring role in the 1984 Hong Kong martial arts action film Drunken Tai Chi. He made his breakthrough role as the antagonist General Nap-lan in Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), opposite Jet Li's character. He appeared in several other Hong Kong kung fu films, including Iron Monkey (1993) and Wing Chun (1994). In 1997, he starred in his directorial debut film Legend of the Wolf.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Donnie Yen” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.