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Leslie Cheung

Acting Born Sep 12, 1956 Hong Kong, British Crown Colony 24 credits

Biography

Cheung Kwok-Wing (Chinese: 張國榮, English name: Leslie, September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) was a Hong Kong Canadian singer and actor. Born in Hong Kong, Leslie Cheung moved to the United Kingdom in 1971, settling in Leeds, where he enrolled at university to study fashion design. After completing his studies, he returned to Hong Kong and, in 1977, took part in an amateur singing competition—the ATV Asian Music Contest—where he won second prize. The following year, he released his first album, I Like Dreaming. He soon began appearing on television and quickly landed his first film role in Erotic Dreams of the Red Chamber (1978), an erotic production that Cheung himself later described as a “shameful disaster.”

Throughout a 26-year career from 1977 until his death, Cheung released over 40 music albums and acted in 56 films. He was one of the most prominent pioneers that shaped the identity of Cantopop during the 1980s. His studio albums Summer Romance (1987) and Most Beloved (1995) each sold over 300,000 copies and are among the best-selling albums of all time in the territory. In addition to music, Cheung achieved pan-Asian fame with such films as A Better Tomorrow (1986) and A Chinese Ghost Story (1987). He won the Best Actor at the 1991 Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in Days of Being Wild (1990). His venture into acting in the 1990s was recognized for his portrayal of queer characters in the then-conservative film industry, he was one of the few Hong Kong actors willing to take on gay roles—such as in Wong Kar-wai’s Happy Together—or to play a cross-dressing opera performer in Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1993. Leslie Cheung died by suicide on April 1, 2003, at the age of 46, by jumping from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. In the note he left behind, he stated that he had been suffering from depression.

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Known for

Film

Farewell My Concubine

as Cheng Dieyi / Xiao Douzi
Film

Rouge

as Chan Chen-Pang

Full filmography

  • Farewell My Concubine (1993) as Cheng Dieyi / Xiao Douzi
  • Celebrity Talk Show (1989) as 张国荣
  • Dynasty (1980)
  • Crocodile Tears (1978)
  • A Better Tomorrow (1986) as Sung Chi Kit
  • A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) as Ling Choi-san
  • 星空下的傾情 (1997)
  • Viva Erotica (1996) as Sing
  • Once a Thief (1991) as James / Jim
  • Gone with the wind (1980)
  • A Better Tomorrow II (1987) as Sung Chi Kit
  • The Fallen Family (1985) as 方浩天
  • The Chinese Feast (1995) as Chiu Kong Sun
  • Rouge (1987) as Chan Chen-Pang
  • Happy Together (1997) as Ho Po-wing
  • Days of Being Wild (1990) as Yuddy
  • Ashes of Time (1994) as Ouyang Feng / Western Venom
  • The Spirit of the Sword (1978) as 方宝玉
  • Moonlight Express (1999) as Tatsuya Misawa / Shek Karbo
  • The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993) as Huang Yaoshi
  • Tai Chi Master (II) (1981)
  • Once Upon An Oridinary Girl (1984)
  • A Chinese Ghost Story II (1990) as Ling Choi-san
  • Agency 24 (1981)