Global Pop & Folk Legends Codexery

Leslie Cheung

Hong Kong singer-actor who shaped Cantopop and cinema.

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Leslie Cheung

Lajmmoore · CC BY-SA 4.0

Cheung died by suicide on 1 April 2003.[1] Cheung Fat-chung, who later adopted the stage name Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, was a performer born on 12 September 1956 in Hong Kong.[2]

Key facts and history

Cheung was born in Kowloon, British Hong Kong, the youngest of 10 children in a middle-class Hakka family.[3] Cheung attended the University of Leeds, where he studied textile management, but returned to Hong Kong after his father suffered a stroke.[4] Cheung achieved popularity in 1984 with the hit single "Monica"[5] He returned to Hong Kong in 1994.[5]

At age 12, Cheung began his education in England, and he came back to Hong Kong in 1976.[5] In 1989, Cheung declared he was retiring from music, and the next year he moved to Canada.[5] For his performance in Days of Being Wild, Cheung received the Best Actor award at the 1991 Hong Kong Film Awards.[6]

What the cited sources add

A 2020 South China Morning Post article notes that Cheung suffered from depression and took his life on 1 April.[7] A Chinadaily article states that Cheung rose to fame six years after starting his career in 1977, thanks to the song "The Wind Blows On"[8] The same article reports that in the late 1980s he shifted his career focus to the movie industry.[8] A South China Morning Post article from 2022 states that Cheung and Daffy Tong shared a relationship of over 20 years.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Leslie Cheung" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 陳淑芬細說 哥哥最後電話 , Apple Daily, 29 March 2013; Corliss, R. (2003). "That old feeling: Days of being Leslie" Time magazine Asia Edition. Retrieved 17 December 2005.; Stephen Kelly, "WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS?" Leslie Cheung, 1956–2003" , 8 May 2003; "Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing commits suicide." , Hong Kong Entertainment News in Review (2003). Retrieved 17 December 2005; "Actor Leslie Cheung 'found dead'", BBC, 1 April 2003; "Activities to Commemorate Leslie Cheung" , Xinhua, 2 April 2005; Yu Sen-lun, "The Leslie Cheung Legend Lives on" , T en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Leslie Cheung" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leung 2008, p. 85 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Leslie Cheung" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Michel Ciment, Hubert Niogret, "Interview of Leslie Cheung", Positif no. 455/1999, Berlin, conducted on 21 February 1998; Shima 1999; Cheung, "Leslie Cheung Autobiography", Commercial Radio Hong Kong, 1985; Cribb 2003, p. 95 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Leslie Cheung" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thomas, "A Career In Full Plume", Los Angeles Times, 22 June 1997 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Leslie Cheung" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 李雯蕊, "'Elder brother': Leslie Cheung remembered", www.chinadaily.com.cn (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Leslie Cheung" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Encyclopedia of Chinese Film", Routledge, 2002, p. 118; "芦苇：用文字在"胶片"上画画(2)_中国作家网", www.chinawriter.com.cn; "独家对话陈凯歌：唯一的遗憾是张国荣未得影帝", gd.sina.cn, 2017-05-17 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Parke, "Leslie Cheung – 7 things you didn't know about the Canto-pop icon, actor and LGBT pioneer", South China Morning Post, 30 March 2020. facts only, no text reused. scmp.com
  8. 李雯蕊, "'Elder brother': Leslie Cheung remembered", www.chinadaily.com.cn. facts only, no text reused. chinadaily.com.cn
  9. "Hong Kong icon Leslie Cheung and Daffy Tong's epic love story", South China Morning Post, 2022-03-31. facts only, no text reused. scmp.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Leslie Cheung (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year was Leslie Cheung born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1956.

From the source: “Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (born Cheung Fat-chung; 12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor.”

2. In what year did Leslie Cheung die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 2003.

From the source: “In April 2003, Cheung died by suicide by jumping off the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong.”

3. In which place was Leslie Cheung born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Kowloon, British Hong Kong.

From the source: “Born in Kowloon, British Hong Kong, Cheung studied in England from the age of 12 until he returned home in 1976.”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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