Leslie Cheung

Today our travels take us to a place in the world we haven't visited yet: Southeast Asia. Our subject today was a genuine superstar: he was ranked as the favorite actor in the 100 years of Chinese cinema. In 2010, he was voted the third "Most Iconic Musician of All Time" (after Michael Jackson and The Beatles). CNN considered him as the "Most Beautiful Man from Hong Kong Cinema" and one of "Asia's 25 Greatest Actors of All Time." His music and movies not only captured fans in Hong Kong but also other Asian areas including Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan and South Korea. For his movies especially, he was known all over the world. He was also the first star of such magnitute from Asia to come out as LGBT. Sadly, he took his own life on April 1, 2003 by jumping off the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong. Here is Leslie Cheung.

Cheung was born on 12 September 1956 in Kowloon, Hong Kong, the youngest of ten children in a middle-class Hakka family. Cheung Wut Hoi, his father, was a fairly well known tailor, whose customers included American actors William Holden, Marlon Brando, and Cary Grant. His parents divorced when he was quite young.

In several interviews, Cheung stated he had had a fairly unhappy childhood. "I didn't have a happy childhood. Arguments, fights and we didn't live together; I was brought up by my granny." "What I would say most affected me as a child, was that my parents were not at home with me. As a young kid, one could not always understand why his parents weren't at home. This made me depressed sometimes."

While in Hong Kong, Cheung attended Rosaryhill School at Wanchai on Hong Kong Island. At age 12, he was sent to Norwich School in England. He worked as a bartender at his relatives' restaurant in Southend-on-Sea and sang during the weekends. It was around this period that he chose his name, Leslie, after the British actor Leslie Howard and because of his love for the American film Gone with the Wind (1939). He liked the fact that the name Leslie could be either a male or female name.

He attended the University of Leeds where he studied textile management. At the end of his first year his father fell ill. After his father's recovery, Cheung did not return to England to complete his studies.

In 1977, Cheung won first runner up by singing Don McLean's American Pie at the Asian Music Contest. Don McLean's classic is one of my favorite songs and Leslie's version is a good one, so this is our first song for today:

His first single (I Like Dreamin') and his first album (Day Dreamin') were also released in 1977. Here's I Like Dreamin' (a cover of Kenny Nolan's hit):

In the same album is a sensitive version of the Boz Scaggs song/Rita Coolidge hit We're All Alone:

His next album, 情人箭 (Lover's Arrow) came out in 1979. Most of the songs were in Chinese, but Thank You was in English:

Meanwhile, his new-found popularity, his looks, and his natural talent made film producers take notice: he was the star in his first movie, a romantic comedy called 紅樓春上春片段 (Erotic Dream of the Red Chamber/1978). Here's a small scene:

His 1983 album, 風繼續吹 (Wind Continues To Blow) was another big hit for him. So was the title track, an exquisite song:

Also in 1983, he was nominated for the first time for Best Actor for the film Nomad in the Hong Kong Film Awards. He would be nominated a total of 13 times for this award, with 2 wins, for the films Days of Being Wild (1991) and He's a Woman, She's a Man (1995).

It was his 1984 hit, Monica, that made the biggest splash. In 1999, it was crowned as "Song of the Century".

His biggest hit for 1985 was不羈的風 (Wild Wind):

A powerful song and a huge hit from 1986 was 當年情 (Past Love). It doesn't hurt that in the video clip he is a total dreamboat:

The turning point in Cheung's acting career also came in 1986 with his starring role in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, which broke Hong Kong's box office record. He also sings the title song:

無心睡眠 (Sleepless Night) was a gold record from 1987. His album of that year, Summer Romance, was the best-selling album of the year.

One of his big hits in 1988 was 沉默是金 (Silence is Golden). Here he is, 4 years later, duetting with Sam Hui:

Another big hit from 1988 was 無需要太多 (Don’t Need Too Much):

In 1989, Cheung announced his intention to retire from his music career as a singer. Cheung then set a record by being the first singer ever in Cantopop history to hold a retirement concert series Final Encounter of the Legend, which ran for 33 consecutive nights (he was 33 at the time) at Hong Kong Coliseum.

As a farewell gesture, Leslie released the album Salute in 1989 and all the proceeds were donated to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Conservatory of music as a scholarship. After 2004, this scholarship changed to the "Leslie Cheung Memorial Scholarship".

He moved to Vancouver in 1990 and became a Canadian citizen by naturalization.

Although Cheung quit his career as a pop singer from 1989 to 1995, he continued his music career as a composer. He composed more than ten songs during that time. In 1993, he won Best Original Movie Song Award from Golden Horse Film Festival for the theme song Red Cheek, White Hair to the movie The Bride with White Hair (as a composer). In 1995, he composed all three theme songs for the film The Phantom Lover. As a composer, Cheung won four nominations for Best Original Movie Song Award at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards and two nominations for Best Original Film Song at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Here's the song for The Bride with White Hair:

In the 90s his acting career became international, mainly because of his starring roles in two queer classics. Once again, he was a pioneer: the first Asian superstar to tackle with a gay role, not once but twice. You should really watch both these films, if you haven't yet. The first came out in 1993, and was called Farewell My Concubine, directed by Kaige Chen. It was nominated for 2 Oscars (Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Language Film) and won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award, the Palme d'Or and FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as many other awards. It's a feast for the eyes and for the soul. Here's a trailer:

In 1997, Kar Wai Wong directed Happy Together: while Farewell My Concubine was a period epic, Happy Together was a modern film, both in subject matter as well as in cinematic approach. It's about the highs and lows of the relationship of two gay men from Hong Kong living in Argentina. Here's the trailer:

Famous cinematographer Christopher Doyle was DP for this movie. He also worked with Leslie in other films.He had this to say a decade after Cheung's death:

“I don’t feel Leslie had a career: he was always a star in his way and want and intent,” says Doyle. “I don’t feel Leslie got old and that’s part of why 10 years later, he is there as he wished us to share him, as he is. There was always this innocence of an orphan who needed our love … and the cockiness of the flirt who gets what he wants, and then throws it in your face just to see what it’s really worth.”

Asked to reflect on the times they worked together, Doyle replies, cryptically: “Days of Being Wild – you dance, we dance. Happy Together – we love and question, and lose and try to assert. Temptress Moon – we are so physically close [with my hand holding the camera] that when Leslie asks me, ‘Chris, how was I?’ I am too involved in what we shared that my only reply is always, ‘We were great’.

“You were and are and will always be great, Leslie. And you will always be needing and wanting to be on top and asking such of yourself that we want to return at least as much [if not more] of the same. It’s been worth a lot and means a lot to a lot of us. Thanks Leslie. Eternally. Thanks.”

Cheung was bisexual and claimed so in an interview with Time magazine. He had denied it during the earlier portion of his career but came out in the 1990s after emigrating to Vancouver, Canada. In a 1997 concert Cheung openly revealed his relationship with Daffy Tong Hok-Tak, who remained with him until his death and became the co-executor of Cheung's estate. A full-page obituary on Cheung in a Hong Kong newspaper listed Tong as his surviving spouse.

In 1995 Cheung returned to his career as a singer. His album 寵愛 (Most Beloved) became a best-seller. One of its songs, from the film The Phantom Lover, was 夜半歌聲 (Midnight Singer):

Music producer Clarence Hui Yuen first met Cheung in the 1980s – “at the height of his career” – and would work with the artist in the studio and on the production team which put together series of concerts which would be sold out for weeks on end.

“His Pop idol stage was very different to when he returned from retirement,” says Hui, referring to the period between 1990 and 1995, when Cheung walked away from music – and from Hong Kong.

“He really thought he would never sing again. But after living in Vancouver for a while he realised his passion for music had never died. He had felt tormented by the media and some fans of other artists. But when he came back he had lost that Pop-idol aura and his spirit became more like a true musician. He had a magic in his lower register and in the way he delivered his lines like poetry. He could sing with true emotion. He was like a breath of fresh air,” Hui says.

In 1996 his album 紅 (Red) was released. This album was Cheung's second post-"retirement" album and incorporated smooth Jazz, R&B, Trip Hop, etc., producing a different music style from Cheung's earlier albums. It was a great hit, as was the title track:

In 1999 the song 左右手 (Left Right Hand) was another smash hit for Leslie:

In 2000 he released the album 大熱 (Big Heat), another important album for him. The title track went gold:

The song 发烧 (Fever) won China's Original Music Award (2001):

The song 我 (I) is said to be a song of self-statement for Leslie Cheung:

Cheung was a supporter of several charities concerning children's welfare. He was a patron of the Children's Cancer Foundation, a charity provides caring service for young children with cancer and their families. Cheung donated HK$1 million (US$128,000) in 1996 and launched five sets of RED cards to help raise funds for the Children's Cancer Foundation. He was also a patron of the End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation (ECSAF), founded by veteran actress Josephine Siao. In 1999 and 2000, he appeared in TVB charity shows to help raise funds for ECSAF, in which he was appointed a goodwill ambassador in 2002.

Cheung committed suicide on 1 April 2003 at 6:43 pm (HKT). He leapt from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, located in the Central district of Hong Kong Island. He left a suicide note saying that he had been suffering from depression. He was 46 years old.

Cheung's suicide note (translation):

"Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh-Mak (Cheung's last psychiatrist). This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Mr. Tong (Leslie's partner). Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Sister Fei. In my life I have done nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"

As one of the most popular performers in Asia, Cheung's death broke the hearts of millions of his fans across Asia and shocked the Asian entertainment industry and Chinese community worldwide. The day after Cheung's death, his family confirmed that Cheung suffered from clinical depression and had been seeing psychiatrists for treatment for almost a year. They also revealed that Cheung had previously attempted suicide in 2002.

Despite the risk of infection from SARS and the WHO's warning on traveling to Hong Kong, tens of thousands attended Cheung's memorial service, which was held for the public, on 7 April 2003, including celebrities and other fans, many from other parts of the world such as mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, the United States, and Canada. Cheung's funeral was on 8 April 2003. For almost a month, Cheung's death dominated newspaper headlines in Hong Kong and his songs were constantly on the air. His final album, 一切隨風 (Everything Follows the Wind), was released three months after his death. From this album, I chose 玻璃之情 (Glass Of Love) as our closing song. RIP, Leslie.