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Leslie Cheung
From Outcyclopedia, the free and queer encyclopedia. Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing (Pinyin: Zhāng Guóróng, Wade-Giles: Chang Kuo-jung) (September 12, 1956 - April 1, 2003) was a Cantopop singer and the star of several Hong Kong movies. His fans passionately called him Gor-gor ("elder brother" in Cantonese), a nickname started by co-star Joey Wong in their 1987 film, A Chinese Ghost Story. He was born the youngest of 10 children. His parents when he was young. He studied at Leeds University in northern England. In 1976 he took second prize at the ATV Asian Music Contest. In a self-confessed statement made in an autobiographical radio broadcast made in 1985 he admitted that he had a reasonably tough childhood. Even during the early days of his career, he was first booed off the stage when he first appeared in public and his first ever film was a low-point of his career as his role in that film, The Erotic Dream of the Red Chamber (1978), was one associated with "yellow-culture", or degenerate behavior. As an international artist long-associated with hard-work and charisma, he did not take long to recapture the fame that had previously evaded him. The turning point of his career was when he left Capital Artists and signed with Cinepoly Records Hong Kong in 1986. The new trend in Hong Kong in the mid 1980s demanded fast and energetic Cantopop songs that would be suitable for both dancing and listening, as well as for karaoke enthusiasts. Cheung did not disappoint his fans at that point, blending some of his own compositions as well as Japanese hits of the day to create an embodiment of his own personal style. His musical success could only be equalled by the talented Alan Tam and his close friend Anita Mui. It was even reported that his fans had a long-standing conflict with fans of Alan Tam over the issue of bragging rights in Hong Kong due to the phenomenal success of both these artists. His successful albums include The Wind Blows On (1983) Monica (1984) Summer Romance (1987) Hot Summer (1988) Virgin Snow (1988) Leslie '89 (1989) Final Encounter (1989) Most Beloved (1995) Red (1996) Printemps (1997) and Heat (2000). He often teamed up with Anita Mui in a number of movies as well as an earlier duet, Destiny. Together with Chow Yun-Fat, he starred in John Woo's action movie A Better Tomorrow (1986) and made his mark as Kit Sung, a righteous young cop tortured by his brother's crime boss background. In Stanley Kwan's Rouge (1987), he played an opium-smoking playboy opposite Anita Mui's courtesan Fleur. The film supposedly cemented his life-long friendship with his fellow pop star. Leslie teamed up with Woo and Chow Yun-Fat again in Once a Thief (1990) as Jim, a "brother" of Chow's Joe. In the 1991 Hong Kong Film Awards, he won a Best Actor Award for his performance as Yuddy in the Wong Kar-wai-directed >Days of Being Wild (1990). He left the music business in 1990 and immigrated to British Columbia, Canada at the peak of his career after he had reached superstar status in Hong Kong. He was the first one ever in Cantopop history to have a retirement concert, and these concerts ran for 33 consecutive nights at the famed Hong Kong Coliseum. In 1992, he gained Canadian citizenship and soon returned to Hong Kong and his film career after the long hiatus. After much deliberation, he recorded his first album after his retirement concert and "Most Beloved" was released in 1995. A number of Cantopop celebrities disputed his return and many fans overseas felt betrayed that he had reneged on his retirement vow as they had wholeheartedly spent much money to witness his farewell concert years earlier. Cheung was one of few Hong Kong actors who dared to take on openly gay roles. He was well known for his movie, Farewell, My Concubine (1993). In it, he portrayed a Dan player (one who plays female roles in Chinese opera), who falls in love with his fellow male performer. Farewell, My Concubine shared the Palme d'Or with The Piano in 1993 in the Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. In Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together (1997), Leslie played another gay role, Ho Po-wing, which got him nominations for Best Actor in both the Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards. Some of his films seldom appealed to the general Chinese entertainment world as they are unconventional as well as characteristically daring in terms of flamboyance. Films like Temptress Moon were also severely criticised by film enthusiasts. Leslie Cheung committed suicide in Hong Kong on April 1, 2003 by jumping from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. He was 46 years old. He left a note saying he had been suffering from depression, the causes of which are unknown. In that note, he began by stating that he was depressed, then expressed his gratitude to his friends as well as thanking his fans. The note ended on a plaintive mood, stating that he had done no wrong in this lifetime, and that he was disappointed that his life should end like this. Despite the fear of SARS, many of Cheung's fans from around the world flew to Hong Kong to attend his memorial service on April 5. Cheung's family urged the tabloids to let Cheung rest in peace. During Cheung's twenty-six year career, the tabloids had reported numerous rumors about Cheung's sexual orientation and his relationship with Mr. Tong Hok-Kak, later to be his partner for 20 years. Cheung finally affirmed these rumors in 1997, after a tabloid caught a snapshot taken in in 1995 of him and Mr. Tong holding hands together. In 2001, he admitted his bisexual orientation during an interview with TIMEasia magazine. Achievements
Filmography
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Entry added 22 November, 2004. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License . It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Leslie Cheung." All text is available for use under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (see Copyrights for details).
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