Leslie Cheung – 7 things you didn’t know about the Canto-pop icon, actor and LGBT pioneer
The youngest of 10 children from a modest family, he overcame early setbacks to become one of Hong Kong’s most-loved sons, only to succumb to depression 17 years ago
On the anniversary of his passing, April 1, it is fitting to pay tribute to this incredible Hongkonger. Whether you’re a diehard fan who knows every word to every song or someone who only recognises him from Wong Kar-wai’s Days of Being Wild, here are some facts you may not have known about “Gor Gor”.
He initially had no interest in show business
Cheung grew up in a large family, the youngest of 10 children. His father, Cheung Wut-hoi, was a tailor in Central of some renown, who had made suits for the likes of Marlon Brando, Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock. As a result, at university Cheung studied textile management. Cheung admitted all this in an interview with RTHK, saying, “Fate played a very important role. If you look at all the courses I was studying, they had nothing to do with show business. If I really had an interest in show business, I would have studied music when I was overseas, but that was not the case. In the end, there was no way of escaping my destiny to be in show business.”
His local idols were Cantonese opera actors
Cheung had many “overseas idols” that he confessed to admiring. The likes of Jane Fonda, Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand were among those he name-checked in his youth. Movies more than music were where he found his idols.
Closer to home, the performers he liked best were Cantonese opera actors, specifically Yam Kim-fai and Pak Suet-sin, since his nanny frequently took him to watch operas when he was growing up.
He began his musical career singing American Pie
