Leslie Cheung

Hong Kong singer and actor (1956–2003)

Born

12 September 1956, British Hong Kong

Died

1 April 2003

Citizenship

People's Republic of China, Canada

Occupation

singer, composer, film director, actor, songwriter

Films here

4

Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (born Cheung Fat-chung; 12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. One of the most influential cultural icons in the Sinophone world, Cheung was known for his debonair demeanour, flamboyant screen characters, and avant-garde, androgynous stage presence. Throughout his 26-year career, he released over 40 music albums and acted in 56 films.

Born in Kowloon, British Hong Kong, Cheung studied in England from the age of 12 until he returned home in 1976. He garnered attention in 1977 when entering RTV's Asian Singing Contest and achieved popularity in 1984 with a hit single "Monica". Cheung is regarded as one of the founding fathers of Cantopop for defining the music genre in the 1980s. He announced his "retirement" from music in 1989 and emigrated to Canada the following year, but he returned to Hong Kong in 1994. His reemergence from the musical retirement in the late 1990s, particularly in his 1996 album Red, was marked by sonic experimentation and daring imagery.

Filmography (martial arts films)

Frequent collaborators

• John Woo
• Brigitte Lin
• Tony Leung
• Carina Lau
• Jacky Cheung
• Maggie Cheung
• Tony Leung Ka-fai
• Joey Wong

External links

• Wikipedia
• IMDb
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q313596 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.