Leslie Cheung

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Leslie Cheung
Leslie Cheung.jpg
Cheung performing in 1997
Chinese name 張國榮 (traditional)
Chinese name 张国荣 (simplified)
Pinyin Zhāng Guóróng (Mandarin)
Jyutping zoeng1 gwok3 wing4 (Cantonese)
Birth name Cheung Fat Chung (張發宗)
Origin Hong Kong
Born (1956-09-12)12 September 1956
Kowloon, British Hong Kong
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Central, Hong Kong
Other name(s) Ge Ge (meaning "Older brother") (哥哥)[1][2][3]
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • actor
  • record producer
  • film-maker
Genre(s)
Instrument(s) Vocals
Voice type(s) Baritone
Label(s)
Years active 1977–2003
Ancestry Meizhou, Guangdong, China
Awards

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Cheung.

Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing (12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer, actor and film-maker. He is considered as "one of the founding fathers of Cantopop" by "combining a hugely successful film and music career."[4]

He rose to prominence as a teen heartthrob and pop icon of Hong Kong in the 1980s, receiving numerous music awards including both Most Popular Male Artist Awards at the 1988 and 1989 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards.[5][6] In 1989, Cheung announced his retirement from the music industry as a pop singer. Returning to the music scene after a five-year hiatus, Cheung released his chart-topping comeback album Most Beloved (寵愛) which achieved a huge market success. In 1999, he won the Golden Needle Award for his outstanding achievement as a musician at the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards,[7] and his 1984 hit song Monica was voted as Hong Kong's "Song of the Century".[8] He was honoured as "Asia's Biggest Superstar" at the 2000 CCTV-MTV Music Honours.[9]

Cheung won the 1991 Hong Kong Film Award (Days of Being Wild)[10] and the 1994 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award (Ashes of Time)[11] for best actor. He had also won the 1994 Japan Film Critics Society Award for best actor for his performance in Farewell My Concubine and ten other best actor nominations, five Golden Horse Awards, three Cannes Film Festival Awards,[12][13] a Asia Pacific Film Festival Award, and a Venice Film Festival Award.[14]

Cheung's music and movies not only captured fans in Hong Kong but also other Asian areas including Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan and South Korea. He is the first foreign artist to hold 16 concerts in Japan that has yet to be broken and the record holder as the best-selling C-pop artist in Korea.[15]

Cheung was ranked as the favourite actor in the 100 years of Chinese cinema.[16][17] In 2010, he was voted the third "Most Iconic Musicians of All Time" (after Michael Jackson and The Beatles).[18] CNN considered Cheung as the "Most Beautiful Man from Hong Kong Cinema" and one of "Asia's 25 Greatest Actors of All Time."[19][20]

Cheung committed suicide on April 1, 2003 by jumping off the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong. A suicide note left by Cheung stated that he had been suffering from depression.

Childhood

Cheung was born in Kowloon, Hong Kong, the youngest of ten children in a middle-class Hakka family. Cheung Wut Hoi, his father, was a fairly well known tailor, whose customers included American actors William Holden, Marlon Brando, and Cary Grant.[21][22][23] His parents divorced when he was quite young. While in Hong Kong, Cheung attended Rosaryhill School at Wanchai on Hong Kong Island. At age 12, he was sent to Norwich School in England.[24] He worked as a bartender at his relatives' restaurant in Southend-on-Sea and sang during the weekends. It was around this period that he chose his name, Leslie. According to Cheung, he chose this name because "I love the film Gone with the Wind. And I like Leslie Howard."[24]

In several interviews, Cheung stated he had had a fairly unhappy childhood. "I didn't have a happy childhood. Arguments, fights and we didn't live together; I was brought up by my granny."[24] "What I would say most affected me as a child, was that my parents were not at home with me. As a young kid, one could not always understand why his parents weren't at home. This made me depressed sometimes."[25]

He attended the University of Leeds where he studied textile management. He continued university at the end of his first year when his father fell ill. After his father's recovery, Cheung did not return to England to complete his studies.[22][26]

Career

He donated profits of the 1989 album Salute to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, which was named the Leslie Cheung Memorial Scholarship after his death.[27]

With the popularity of Cheung and Tam, fans of these two stars became increasingly hostile to each other, starting a long-standing conflict that soon put heavy pressure on both singers. In 1988, Alan Tam publicly quit all pop music award ceremonies. In 1989, Cheung announced his intention to retire from his music career as a singer. Cheung then set a record by being the first singer ever in Cantopop history to hold a retirement concert series Final Encounter of the Legend, which ran for 33 consecutive nights (he was 33 at the time) at Hong Kong Coliseum.

The turning point in Cheung's acting career came in 1986 with his starring role in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow,[28] which broke Hong Kong's box office record. In the following years Cheung was praised for his performances in films which found popularity with audiences worldwide, including A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), Rouge (1987) and Wong Kar-Wai's Days of Being Wild (1991).[29]

Although Cheung quit his career as a pop singer from 1989 to 1995, he continued his music career as a composer. He composed more than ten songs during that time. In 1993, he won Best Original Movie Song Award from Golden Horse Film Festival for the theme song Red Cheek, White Hair to the movie The Bride with White Hair (as a composer). In 1995, he composed all three theme songs for the film The Phantom Lover. As a composer, Cheung won four nominations for Best Original Movie Song Award at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards and two nominations for Best Original Film Song at the Hong Kong Film Awards. In 1998, he was a member of the jury at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival.[30]

In 1995 Cheung signed a contract with Rock Records, returning to music as a singer. At the same year, he released his first post-"retirement" album, Beloved. Beloved achieved large market success with the award of IFPI Best Selling Album.[31][32]

Personal life

Though Cheung had never publicly declared his sexual orientation, he once said in an interview with Time magazine: "It's more appropriate to say I'm bisexual. I've had girlfriends. When I was 22 or so, I asked my girlfriend Teresa Mo to marry me."[33]

Cheung and Ngai Sze-Pui (倪詩蓓), a Hong Kong model and actress whom he met on the set of Agency 24, were in a relationship for two years.[34]

In a 1997 concert, Cheung publicly revealed his relationship with Daffy Tong Hok-Tak,[35] who remained his partner until Cheung's death.

Charity work

Cheung was a supporter of several charities concerning children's welfare. He was a patron of the Children's Cancer Foundation, a charity provides caring service for young children with cancer and their families. Cheung donated HK$1 million (US$128,000) in 1996 and launched five sets of RED cards to help raise funds for the Children's Cancer Foundation.[36] He was also a patron of the End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation (ECSAF), founded by veteran actress Josephine Siao. In 1999 and 2000, he appeared in TVB charity shows to help raise funds for ECSAF, in which he was appointed a goodwill ambassador in 2002.[37]

Citizenship

He moved to Vancouver in 1990 and became a Canadian citizen by naturalisation.[38] He held Canadian citizenship.

Death and legacy

File:Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong Exterior.jpg
Leslie Cheung leapt from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel (right) located at the Central district, Hong Kong Island.
"Miss You Much Leslie" exhibition at Times Square (Hong Kong), April 2013

Cheung committed suicide on 1 April 2003 at 6:43 pm (HKT).[39] He leapt from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, located in the Central district of Hong Kong Island.[40] He left a suicide note saying that he had been suffering from depression. He was 46 years old.[41][42][43][44][45][46]

As one of the most popular performers in Asia, Cheung's death broke the hearts of millions of his fans across Asia and shocked the Asian entertainment industry and Chinese community worldwide.[41][47][48][49][50][51] The day after Cheung's death, his family confirmed that Cheung suffered from clinical depression and had been seeing psychiatrists for treatment for almost a year. They also revealed that Cheung had previously attempted suicide in 2002. Later at his funeral, Cheung's niece disclosed that her uncle had severe clinical depression and suffered much over the past year (2003).

Despite the risk of infection from SARS and the WHO's warning on traveling to Hong Kong, tens of thousands attended Cheung's memorial service, which was held for the public, on 7 April 2003, including celebrities and other fans, many from other parts of the world such as mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, the United States, and Canada. Cheung's funeral was on 8 April 2003. For almost a month, Cheung's death dominated newspaper headlines in Hong Kong and his songs were constantly on the air. His final album, Everything Follows the Wind (一切隨風), was released three months after his death.

Cheung's suicide note (translation):

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

"Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh-mak (Cheung's last psychiatrist). This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Mr. Tong. Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Sister Fei. In my life I have done nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"

In a 2012 interview, Cheung's eldest sister, Ophelia, stated Cheung was diagnosed with clinical depression caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.[52] She said that reporters were frequently found outside of her brother's home which hampered his ability to get to his doctor's facility. Thus, he would come over to her house to consult with his doctor. He would ask his sister, "Why am I depressed? I have money and so many people love me." He was reluctant to take medication for his depression.[53]

In 2013, Cheung's former music agent Florence Chan organised two memorial concerts entitled "Miss You Much Leslie" on 31 March and 1 April for the 10th anniversary of Cheung's death. Big names of the Hong Kong entertainment industry such as Jacky Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Andy Hui, Leo Ku, Chilam Cheung, Vivian Chow, Kelly Chen, Joey Yung, Grasshoppers, and others performed at the concert at Hong Kong Coliseum. In addition, in 2013, Cheung's fans from around the world made 2 million orizuru cranes for the Guinness World Record as a tribute to the anniversary.[54]

Awards and nominations

RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards

Year Category Recipient Result
1984 Top 10 Gold Songs "Monica" Won
1985 Top 10 Gold Songs "Wild Wind" (不羈的風) Won
1986 Top 10 Gold Songs "Past Love" (當年情) Won
1987 Top 10 Gold Songs "Sleepless Night" (無心睡眠) Won
Best CD Summer Romance Won
Sales Award (Best-Selling Album of the Year) Summer Romance Won
1988 Top 10 Gold Songs "Silence is Golden" (沉默是金) Won
Top 10 Gold Songs "Don’t Need Too Much" (無需要太多) Won
IFPI Award Himself Won
1999 Top 10 Gold Songs "Left Right Hand" (左右手) Won
Golden Needle Award Himself Won
2000 Top 10 Gold Songs "Big Heat" (大熱) Won
2002 Silver Jubilee Award Himself Won

Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards

Year Category Recipient Result
1983 Top 10 Gold Songs "Wind Blows On" (風繼續吹) Nominated
1984 Top 10 Gold Songs "Monica" Won
1985 Top 10 Gold Songs "Wild Wind" (不羈的風) Won
1986 Top 10 Gold Songs "Past Love" (當年情) Won
Top 10 Gold Songs "Who Resonates With Me" (有誰共鳴) Won
Gold Song Gold Award (Best Song of the Year) "Who Resonates With Me" Won
1987 Top 10 Gold Songs "Sleepless Night" (無心睡眠) Won
Gold Song Gold Award (Best Song of the Year) "Sleepless Night" Won
1988 Top 10 Gold Songs "Silence is Golden" Won
Top 10 Gold Songs "Closer" (貼身) Won
Most Popular Male Artist Himself Won
1989 Top 10 Gold Songs "Starting from Zero" (由零開始) Won
Most Popular Male Artist Himself Won
1999 Honours Award Himself Won
2000 Four Channel Award (Best Album of the Year) Untitled Won
Honours Award Himself Won

Other music awards

Year Award Category Recipient Result
1988 Ultimate Song Chart Awards Ultimate Male Artist Gold Award Himself Won
1989 Ultimate Song Chart Awards Ultimate Male Artist Gold Award Himself Won
Ultimate Song Chart Awards IFPI Award Side Face Won
1999 Ultimate Song Chart Awards Ultimate Song Award (No. 1 Song of the Year) "Left Right Hand" Won
Metro Radio Hit Music Awards Metro Radio Hit Song of the Year "Left Right Hand" Won
Metro Radio Hit Music Awards Metro Radio Top 10 Hit Songs "Left Right Hand" Won
2000 CCTV-MTV Music Honours Asia's Biggest Superstar Himself Won
2001 Chinese Pop Music Media Awards Best Male Singer Himself Won

Hong Kong Film Awards

Year Category Film Result
1983 Best Actor Nomad Nominated
1988 Best Actor A Better Tomorrow 2 Nominated
Best Original Film Song A Chinese Ghost Story Nominated
1989 Best Actor Rouge Nominated
1991 Best Actor Days of Being Wild Won
1994 Best Original Film Song The Bride With White Hair Nominated
1995 Best Actor He's a Woman, She's a Man Nominated
Best Original Film Song He's a Woman, She's a Man Won
1996 Best Original Film Song The Phantom Lover Nominated
1997 Best Actor Viva Erotica Nominated
Best Original Film Song Who's the Woman, Who's the Man? Nominated
1998 Best Actor Happy Together Nominated
2003 Best Actor Inner Senses Nominated

Golden Horse Awards

Year Category Film Result
1991 Best Actor Days of Being Wild Nominated
1993 Best Original Song The Bride With White Hair Won
1994 Best Original Song He's a Woman, She's a Man Nominated
1995 Best Original Song The Phantom Lover Nominated
1996 Best Actor Temptress Moon Nominated
Best Original Song Temptress Moon Nominated
Best Original Song Who's the Woman, Who's the Man? Nominated
1997 Best Actor Happy Together Nominated
2000 Best Actor Double Tap Nominated
2002 Best Actor Inner Senses Nominated

Other film awards

Year Award Category Film Result
1991 Asia Pacific Film Festival Best Actor Days of Being Wild Nominated
1993 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Farewell My Concubine Nominated
1994 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best Actor Ashes of Time Won
Japan Film Critics Society Best Actor Farewell My Concubine Won
Venice Film Festival Best Actor Ashes of Time Nominated
1996 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Temptress Moon Nominated
1997 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Happy Together Nominated

Ming Pao Power Academy Awards

Year Category Recipient Result
2000 Honorary Award Himself Won
Outstanding Male Singer Himself Won
2002 Best Actor Inner Senses Won

Discography

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: Leslie Cheung discography

Filmography

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: Leslie Cheung filmography

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, "World Music Volume 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific", P54., BBC Radio, ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 張國榮Monica入選世紀金曲[unreliable source?] 1999-11-22
  9. ↑ "Acts Honored at CCTV-MTV Show in China" (1 July 2000) Billboard.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ "Cheung Tops Asia's CCTV-MTV Honors", AllBusiness.com, Inc.
  17. ↑ "'Farewell My Concubine' most appreciated in HK", China Daily
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Hottest Men from HK Cinema CNN
  20. ↑ Asia's 25 Greatest Actors of All Time CNNGo 4 March 2010
  21. ↑ Kevin Thomas, "A Career In Full Plumet", Los Angeles Times, 22 June 1997, page 6
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Michel Ciment, Hubert Niogret, "Interview of Leslie Cheung", Positif no. 455/1999, Berlin, conducted on 21 February 1998
  23. ↑ Chitose Shima, "Leslie Cheung Interview", All About Leslie, pp. 25–40, Saangyo Henshu Center Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 1999, ISBN 4-916199-10-3
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Leslie Cheung, "Leslie Cheung Autobiography", Commercial Radio Hong Kong, 1985, (also collected in Album Collection History-His Story by Capital Artist, 2004), an English translation can be found in here
  26. ↑ Chitose Shima, "Leslie Cheung Interview", All About Leslie, p25-43, Sangyo Henshu Center Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 1999, ISBN 4-916199-10-3
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ "Leslie Cheung's Beloved are sold more than 300,000", Min Pao Weekly, 28 Oct 1995, see
  32. ↑ Achievements of Leslie Cheung Archived 13 February 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  33. ↑ Corliss, R. (2001). "Forever Leslie", Time (Asia Edition). Retrieved 17 December 2005.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ [1]
  36. ↑ 為兒童癌病基金賣卡籌款 張國榮帶頭捐一百萬. 1996.12.12 蘋果日報
  37. ↑ 張國榮「護苗」出錢出力 2002-05-21
  38. ↑ Lisa Odham Stokes, Michael Hoover, City on fire: Hong Kong cinema, p. 363, 1999.
  39. ↑ 陳淑芬細說 哥哥最後電話, Apple Daily, 29 March 2013
  40. ↑ Corliss, R. (2003). "That old feeling: Days of being Leslie" Time magazine Asia Edition. Retrieved 17 December 2005.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Stephen Kelly, "WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS?" Leslie Cheung, 1956–2003", 8 May 2003
  42. ↑ "Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing commits suicide.", Hong Kong Entertainment News in Review (2003). Retrieved 17 December 2005
  43. ↑ "Actor Leslie Cheung 'found dead'", BBC, 1 April 2003
  44. ↑ "Activities to Commemorate Leslie Cheung", Xinhua, 2 April 2005
  45. ↑ Yu Sen-lun, "The Leslie Cheung Legend Lives on", TaiPei Times, 10 April 2003
  46. ↑ Bruce Einhorn, "Hong Kong: A City in Mourning", Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 14 April 2003
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ "Leslie Cheung's Suicide" Gothamist, 3 April 2003
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ "Forty Thousands Fans Farewell Leslie Cheung in the Raining Night", Modern Business News, 4 April 2003
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Leslie Cheung's origami display delayed Yahoo!! Malaysia

Further reading

  • Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, World Music Volume 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, BBC Radio, 2000, ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  • Kei Mori, "夢想之欠片 (Broken pieces of dreams)", Renga Shyobo Shinshya Co Ltd, Tokyo, Japan, 2004, ISBN 4-902603-55-1
  • Chitose Shima, "Leslie Cheung Interview", All About Leslie, p25–40, Sangyo Henshu Center Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 1999, ISBN 4-916199-10-3
  • Chitose Shima, Time of Leslie Cheung, Sangyo Henshu Center Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 2004, ISBN 4-916199-59-6
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • City Entertainment Editor Committee, Leslie Cheung's Movie World 2 (1991–1995), City Entertainment, Hong Kong, 2006, ISBN 962-8114-98-0
  • De Hui, Leslie Cheung's Movie Life I, II, Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, Shanghai, 2006, ISBN 7-80678-557-4.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Awards and achievements
Hong Kong Film Awards
Preceded by Best Actor
1991 for Days of Being Wild		 Succeeded by
Eric Tsang for Alan and Eric Between Hello and Goodbye
Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards
Preceded by
None
 Best Actor
1994		 Succeeded by
Stephen Chow
RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards
Preceded by Golden Needle Award
1999		 Succeeded by
Jacky Cheung
Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards
Preceded by Most Popular Male Artist
1988, 1989		 Succeeded by
Andy Lau
Preceded by
Vacant
 Honours Award
1999, 2000		 Succeeded by
Anita Mui
Ultimate Song Chart Awards
Preceded by
None
 Ultimate Male Artist Gold Award
1988, 1989		 Succeeded by
Anthony Lun
Ming Pao Power Academy Awards
Preceded by
None
 Honorary Award
2000 (& Andy Lau)		 Succeeded by
Stephen Chow
Preceded by
None
 Outstanding Male Singer
2000		 Succeeded by
Eason Chan
Preceded by Outstanding Actor in Film
2002 for Inner Senses		 Succeeded by
Andy Lau for Running on Karma
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Leslie_Cheung&oldid=144014"