Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003), born in Hong Kong to a family in the tailoring trade, entered show business in 1977 when he took second place in the Asian Amateur Singing Contest run by RTV/ATV with his rendition of 'American Pie'; he released his first English-language album, Daydreamin', the following year. Early success was slow, but The Wind Blows On in 1983 made his name, and the 1984 hit 'Monica' made him a superstar and fuelled a boom in fast dance music in Cantopop. Through the 1980s he rivalled Alan Tam at the top of the charts and won major popularity awards, including most popular male singer at the Jade Solid Gold awards in 1988. At the height of his singing career he announced his retirement in 1989, playing 33 sold-out farewell concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum and later moving to Canada. He returned in 1995, signing with Rock Records and releasing the album Beloved, while declaring that he would no longer accept competitive awards. On screen he created memorable roles in A Better Tomorrow (1986), A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) and Rouge (1988), having first drawn attention in Patrick Tam's Nomad (1982), and his work came to span drama, martial arts and comedy. He won Best Actor at the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1991 for the restless playboy Yuddy in Days of Being Wild. In 1993 his performance as the Peking-opera diva Cheng Dieyi in Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine — winner of the Palme d'Or at the 46th Cannes Film Festival and the first Chinese-language film to take the prize — earned him a Best Actor nomination at Cannes, the Best Actor award from the Japanese film critics and a special contribution award from the Chinese Film Performing Arts Society. He was named Best Actor again in 1994 by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society for Ashes of Time, and was nominated for Best Actor for his role as Ho Po-wing in Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together (1997). His 1996–97 'Cross 97' concerts saw him performing the title song of Red in red high heels; his 2000–2001 Passion Tour featured gender-fluid costumes designed by Jean Paul Gaultier and provoked wide debate. He also composed songs, including 'Silence Is Golden', and directed the 2000 anti-smoking short film From Ashes to Ashes. On 1 April 2003 he died after falling from the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Central, aged 46, stunning the Chinese-speaking world.
Leslie Cheung brought complex questions of gender and identity into mainstream Chinese-language cinema through films such as Farewell My Concubine and Happy Together. A star in both music and film, he bridged Cantopop and art-house cinema and became a defining figure of Chinese-language pop culture in the 1980s and 1990s. His willingness to challenge gender norms on stage still influences younger performers. His death also prompted wider reflection on the mental health of entertainers across the Chinese-speaking world.
Achievements
- 1977 · Took second place in the ATV Asian Amateur Singing Contest with 'American Pie', launching his career.
- 1991 · Won Best Actor at the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards for Days of Being Wild.
- 1993 · Starred in Farewell My Concubine, which won the Palme d'Or at the 46th Cannes Film Festival.