Leslie Cheung

Cheung Kwok-Wing (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 competition—the ATV Asian Music Contest—where 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 26-year 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 and became known for his flamboyant, often outrageous stage appearance. His venture into acting in the 1990s was recognized for his portrayal of queer characters in the then-conservative film industry, he was one of the few Hong Kong actors willing to take on gay roles—such as in Wong Kar-wai’s Happy Together—or to play a cross-dressing opera performer in Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1993.

His career was marked with both praise and criticism, with numerous public discussions focusing on his sexual orientation and androgynous persona. 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.

Some, however, have speculated that his suicide was due to heartbreak, while others have claimed he had long been living with HIV and that AIDS had recently developed.