Leslie Cheung

Cheung KwokWing Chinese 張國榮 English name Leslie September 12 1956 April 1 2003 was a Hong Kong Canadian singer and actor Born in Hong Kong Leslie Cheung moved to the United Kingdom in 1971 settling in Leeds where he enrolled at university to study fashion design After completing his studies he returned to Hong Kong and in 1977 took part in an amateur singing competitionthe ATV Asian Music Contestwhere he won second prize The following year he released his first album I Like Dreaming He soon began appearing on television and quickly landed his first film role in Erotic Dreams of the Red Chamber 1978 an erotic production that Cheung himself later described as a shameful disaster Throughout a 26year career from 1977 until his death Cheung released over 40 music albums and acted in 56 films He was one of the most prominent pioneers that shaped the identity of Cantopop during the 1980s His studio albums Summer Romance 1987 and Most Beloved 1995 each sold over 300000 copies and are among the bestselling albums of all time in the territory In addition to music Cheung achieved panAsian fame with such films as A Better Tomorrow 1986 and A Chinese Ghost Story 1987 He won the Best Actor at the 1991 Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in Days of Being Wild 1990 His venture into acting in the 1990s was recognized for his portrayal of queer characters in the thenconservative film industry he was one of the few Hong Kong actors willing to take on gay rolessuch as in Wong Karwais Happy Togetheror to play a crossdressing opera performer in Chen Kaiges Farewell My Concubine which won the Palme dOr at Cannes in 1993 Leslie Cheung died by suicide on April 1 2003 at the age of 46 by jumping from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong In the note he left behind he stated that he had been suffering from depression