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Statistics : 11630 Movies 19215 People 1448 Studios 29 Articles 73 Interviews 12 DVD Reviews 32452 Screenshots 3722 Videos
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Other names : |
哥哥 张国荣 張國榮 Cheung Gwok Wing Leslie Cheung Gor Gor Zhāng Guó Róng Zhang Guo Rong Zhang1 Guo2 Rong2
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Birthdate : |
12/9/1956 |
Date of death : |
1/4/2003 |
Nationality : |
Hong Kong |
Workplace : |
Hong Kong |
Activities : |
Director (1), Producer (1), Writer (1), Singer (9), Actor (57), Brief appearance (3), Cameo (1) |
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Biography |
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His youth Born in Hong Kong on 12th September 1956, Leslie Cheung had 10 brothers and sisters. His father was a tailor, and one of his patrons was William Holden, a famous English actor (Sunset Boulevard). Young Leslie had to face a chaotic family situation that quickly led to the divorce of his parents. In 1971, he was sent to Great Britain, to Leeds to be exact, where he enrolled at the University to study design.
His first steps in the show business As soon as Leslie finished university, he came back to HK and in 1977 and joined a competition for non professionals at the local TV station ATV for the ATV Asian Music Contest. He finished second and the following year he released his first music album ("I Like Dreaming"). In the meantime he had his first experience on TV and landed very quickly a lead role in Erotic Dreams Of Red Chamber (1978), a erotic production that Leslie himself called an indecent disaster.
His two passions: Canto-pop and cinema Between 1980 and 1986, Leslie entirely focused on his singing career, and became as early as 1983 one of the most important stars of the canto-pop scene along with Anita Mui and Alan Tam. For a decade this trio of singers would monopolise the music scene in HK. In the same time, Leslie appeared in only a few Shaw Brothers movies such as the tearjerker Teenage Dreamers or an adaptation for the big screen of a Jing Yong’s novel (Return of the Condor Heroes) called Little Dragon Maiden.
A talented actor Leslie was already an established name in the canto-pop world. He was nevertheless late to prove himself on the big screen as no worthy role was ever offered to him. In 1986, his hard work and patience was rewarded by John Woo who offered him the role of Kit, the young brother of Ti Lung in A Better Tomorrow and A Better Tomorrow II. Since then Leslie would collaborate with the biggest names in the HK film industry. In 1987, he landed one of the most crucial parts in his career, the naïve and romantic tax collector in Ching Siu-tung’s A Chinese Ghost Story.
Again the film was a success. Then Leslie became a sought-after actor and had to put his singing career on hold. What’s more, in 1990, he left HK to Canada, but carried on working in the Brit colony.
This is also around that time that Wong Kar-wai saw in Leslie an actor capable of playing complex characters. Their first collaboration was on Days of Being Wild, the film that helped Leslie to really show off his thespian qualities. He created a touching character from a role which on paper was especially mean to women. Later, Wong would cast Leslie for two more films Ashes of Time and Happy Together.
On top of the world In the 1990s, Leslie would shot 3 or 4 films a year, alternating auteur films with more mainstream fares. The later were varied and in any given genres: fantasy wu xia pian with The Bride with White Hair by Ronny Yu, romantic comedy with He's A Woman, She's A Man by Peter Chan Ho Sun and It’s a Wonderful Life by Clifton Ko, the laugh-out-loud farce with The Eagle Shooting Heroes by Jeff Lau and the culinary comedy with The Chinese Feast by Tsui Hark, to name but a few.
In 1993, looking for more challenges, Leslie took on the lead in a Chinese mainland production, Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine. The film was screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and pocketed the Golden Palm. This is also around that time, while at the height of his popularity, that Leslie hinted about his sexual orientation, he came out, a rare thing in the HK film industry.
Wind of change At the end of the 1990s, Leslie decided to slow down his work pace and chose projects more carefully. He worked for Wong Kar-wai on the above-mentioned films and also on Daniel Lee’s Moonlight Express and Gordon Chan’s Okinawa Rendez-Vous. In 2000 Leslie directed his first film, an anti-smoking campaign spot with Anita Mui and Karen Mok playing themselves. In 2002, Leslie played a tormented and suicidal psychiatrist in his ultimate film, Law Chi-leung’s Inner Senses.
A bitter end On 1st April 2003, depressed and desperate, Leslie Cheung jumped for the roof-top of the HK Mandarin Hotel. His legacy comprises of many exceptional films and songs, the image of a young man who will never grow old and the sound of his suave voice.
Stéphane Jaunin - April 2003, translated by Thomas Podvin, April 2010 See our tribute page to Leslie on HKCinemagic 1 |
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Filmography |
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Alternate lists by alpha / genre / year |
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Title
( HK - All )
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Year |
Activity |
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Yang ± Ying : Gender In Chinese Cinema |
1996 |
Actor |
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Who's The Woman, Who's The Man |
1996 |
Actor |
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Viva Erotica |
1996 |
Actor |
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Tristar |
1996 |
Actor |
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Temptress Moon |
1996 |
Singer, Actor |
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Teenage Dreamers |
1982 |
Actor |
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Shanghai Grand |
1996 |
Actor |
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Rouge |
1988 |
Actor |
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Phantom Lover, The |
1995 |
Producer, Singer, Actor |
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Once A Thief |
1991 |
Singer, Actor |
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Okinawa Rendez-Vous |
2000 |
Actor |
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Nomad |
1982 |
Actor |
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Ninth Happiness |
1998 |
Actor |
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Moonlight Express |
1999 |
Actor |
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Long & Winding Road, The |
1994 |
Actor |
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Little Dragon Maiden |
1983 |
Actor |
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Last Song In Paris |
1986 |
Actor |
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Knock Off |
1998 |
Cameo |
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Kid, The |
1999 |
Actor |
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Job Hunter |
1981 |
Actor |
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It’s A Wonderful Life ! |
1994 |
Actor |
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Islander |
1981 |
Actor |
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Intellectual Trio, The |
1985 |
Actor |
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Inner Senses |
2002 |
Actor |
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He's A Woman, She's A Man |
1994 |
Singer, Actor |
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Heritage, The |
1980 |
Actor |
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Happy Together |
1997 |
Actor |
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From Ashes To Ashes |
2000 |
Director, Writer, Actor |
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For Your Heart Only |
1985 |
Actor |
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First Time |
1983 |
Actor |
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Fatal Love |
1988 |
Actor |
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Farewell My Concubine |
1993 |
Actor |
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Fallen Family, The |
1984 |
Actor |
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Erotic Dreams Of Red Chamber |
1978 |
Actor |
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Energetic 21 |
1982 |
Actor |
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Encore |
1980 |
Actor |
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Eagle Shooting Heroes, The |
1993 |
Actor |
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Duke Of Mount Deer, The |
1984 |
Singer |
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Drummer, The |
1983 |
Actor |
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Double Tap |
2000 |
Actor |
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Double Decker |
1984 |
Actor |
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Dog Bites Dog Bone |
1978 |
Actor |
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Days Of Being Wild |
1991 |
Actor |
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Crazy Romance |
1985 |
Actor |
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Chinese Ghost Story, A |
1987 |
Singer, Actor |
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Chinese Ghost Story 2, A |
1990 |
Singer, Actor |
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Chinese Feast, The |
1995 |
Actor |
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Buenos Aires Zero Degree : The Making Of Happy Together |
1999 |
Actor |
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Bride With White Hair, The |
1993 |
Actor |
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Bride With White Hair 2, The |
1993 |
Actor |
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Better Tomorrow, A |
1986 |
Singer, Actor |
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Better Tomorrow II, A |
1987 |
Singer, Actor |
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Behind The Yellow Line |
1984 |
Actor |
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Banquet, The |
1991 |
Brief appearance |
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Ashes Of Time Redux |
2008 |
Actor |
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Ashes Of Time |
1994 |
Actor |
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Arrest The Restless |
1992 |
Actor |
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Anna Magdalena |
1998 |
Brief appearance |
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All's Well, End's Well 97 |
1997 |
Brief appearance |
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All's Well Ends Well |
1992 |
Actor |
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All’s Well Ends Well, Too |
1993 |
Actor |
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Aces Go Places V : The Terracotta Hit |
1990 |
Actor |
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Review
Poster/Gallery
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Article Links |
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Article Links (French only) |
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Interview Links (Hide) |
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Interview Links (French only) |
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