Leslie Cheung

Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing ({{zh-ts|t=張國榮|s=张国荣}}; Cantonese {{IPA2|ts??55 kw?k33 w??11}}, Jyutping: zoeng1 kwok3 wing4; Mandarin Pinyin: Zhāng Guóróng, Wades-Giles: Chang Kuo-jung)

Childhood and Beginning of Career

Born in Hong Kong, Cheung was the youngest of 10 children; his father was a fairly well-known tailor, whose customers included William Holden and Cary Grant. His parents divorced when he was quite young. At the age of 13, he went to Great Britain and enrolled as a boarder at Norwich School. He started working as a barman and then singing at the restaurant at weekends. Later he entered Leeds University in northern England, majoring in Textile Design. He quit Leeds University at the end of his first school year and returned to Hong Kong due to a family mishap. In an oral autobiography given by him in 1985 during a radio broadcast program, Cheung admitted that he had a fairly tough childhood.

Related Topics:
Tailor - William Holden - Cary Grant - Leeds University - England

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In 1976, Cheung won the second prize at RTV Asian Music Contest. He signed a contract with the Rediffusion Television Co.(RTV), the foundation of Asian Television Co. (ATV) and started his career in entertainment industry. The early days of his career was not easy. He was once booed off the stage when he started performance in the public. His first ever film, The Erotic Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓春上春) of 1978, was a low-point of his career: Although he acted as a leading role and did not need to be naked, the film itself was full of low level sexual jokes and included explicit sexual scenes, which he did not know when he signed the contract. In a conservative Chinese society like that of Hong Kong, such an appearance would not entail favorable accolades, much less guarantee him a long-standing position to be respected as an international artist. He endured these early dents and other hardships in his prospective career with hard work and charisma. During the time, he appeared in a number of short dramas and RTV serials, such as The Young Concubine(?????), Agency 24(?????), Pairing(???), and The Spirit Of The Sword(?????), which made him known in south east Asia.

Related Topics:
1976 - RTV Asian Music Contest - The Erotic Dream of the Red Chamber - Chinese - Hong Kong - RTV

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