Hong Kong Cinemagic - Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing


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		Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing

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

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)

	Biography
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

[ Director - Producer - Writer - Singer - Actor - Brief appearance - Cameo ]

Alternate lists by alpha / genre / year

Title ( HK - All )		Year	Activity ( Year - Title )

Director
	From Ashes To Ashes	2000	Director

Producer
	Phantom Lover, The	1995	Producer

Writer
	From Ashes To Ashes	2000	Writer

Singer
	Temptress Moon	1996	Singer
	Phantom Lover, The	1995	Singer
	He's A Woman, She's A Man	1994	Singer
	Once A Thief	1991	Singer
	Chinese Ghost Story 2, A	1990	Singer
	Better Tomorrow II, A	1987	Singer
	Chinese Ghost Story, A	1987	Singer
	Better Tomorrow, A	1986	Singer
	Duke Of Mount Deer, The	1984	Singer

Actor
	Ashes Of Time Redux	2008	Actor
	Inner Senses	2002	Actor
	Double Tap	2000	Actor
	From Ashes To Ashes	2000	Actor
	Okinawa Rendez-Vous	2000	Actor
	Buenos Aires Zero Degree : The Making Of Happy Together	1999	Actor
	Kid, The	1999	Actor
	Moonlight Express	1999	Actor
	Ninth Happiness	1998	Actor
	Happy Together	1997	Actor
	Shanghai Grand	1996	Actor
	Temptress Moon	1996	Actor
	Tristar	1996	Actor
	Viva Erotica	1996	Actor
	Who's The Woman, Who's The Man	1996	Actor
	Yang ± Ying : Gender In Chinese Cinema	1996	Actor
	Chinese Feast, The	1995	Actor
	Phantom Lover, The	1995	Actor
	Ashes Of Time	1994	Actor
	He's A Woman, She's A Man	1994	Actor
	It’s A Wonderful Life !	1994	Actor
	Long & Winding Road, The	1994	Actor
	All’s Well Ends Well, Too	1993	Actor
	Bride With White Hair 2, The	1993	Actor
	Bride With White Hair, The	1993	Actor
	Eagle Shooting Heroes, The	1993	Actor
	Farewell My Concubine	1993	Actor
	All's Well Ends Well	1992	Actor
	Arrest The Restless	1992	Actor
	Days Of Being Wild	1991	Actor
	Once A Thief	1991	Actor
	Aces Go Places V : The Terracotta Hit	1990	Actor
	Chinese Ghost Story 2, A	1990	Actor
	Fatal Love	1988	Actor
	Rouge	1988	Actor
	Better Tomorrow II, A	1987	Actor
	Chinese Ghost Story, A	1987	Actor
	Better Tomorrow, A	1986	Actor
	Last Song In Paris	1986	Actor
	Crazy Romance	1985	Actor
	For Your Heart Only	1985	Actor
	Intellectual Trio, The	1985	Actor
	Behind The Yellow Line	1984	Actor
	Double Decker	1984	Actor
	Fallen Family, The	1984	Actor
	Drummer, The	1983	Actor
	First Time	1983	Actor
	Little Dragon Maiden	1983	Actor
	Energetic 21	1982	Actor
	Nomad	1982	Actor
	Teenage Dreamers	1982	Actor
	Islander	1981	Actor
	Job Hunter	1981	Actor
	Encore	1980	Actor
	Heritage, The	1980	Actor
	Dog Bites Dog Bone	1978	Actor
	Erotic Dreams Of Red Chamber	1978	Actor

Brief appearance
	Anna Magdalena	1998	Brief appearance
	All's Well, End's Well 97	1997	Brief appearance
	Banquet, The	1991	Brief appearance

Cameo
	Knock Off	1998	Cameo