Dicky Cheung

Dicky Cheung
Chinese name 張衛健 (traditional)
Chinese name 张卫健 (simplified)
Pinyin Zhāng Wèijiàn (Mandarin)
Birth name Cheung Wai-kin
Born (1965-02-08) 8 February 1965
Hong Kong
Other name(s) Dicky, WaiKin,Killer,健仔, Dicky仔
Occupation Actor, singer, songwriter
Genre(s) Cantopop, Mandopop
Instrument(s) Vocal
Years active 1980–present
Associated acts Big Four
Spouse(s) Zhang Qian (2007-present)
Ancestry Shanghai, China
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Cheung.

Dicky Cheung Wai-kin (born 8 February 1965) is a Hong Kong actor and singer.

Career

He entered show business in the early 1980s, signing a contract with television station TVB. He won the third annual New Talent Singing Awards in 1984. Up until the mid-90s, Dicky struggled for many years working as a low-paid actor, singer and appeared occasionally in films. It wasn't until his brilliant portrayal of the Monkey King character in the 1996 TVB adaptation of the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West that his popularity began to skyrocket. A sequel to the TV adaptation was planned, but due to a contract dispute with TVB, Cheung left before production began. Benny Chan Ho Man took over the role of the Monkey King in the sequel. Cheung then went abroad to Taiwan to continue his career.

He has appeared in many Taiwanese television productions since then. In 1999, TVB's rival station ATV acquired the Hong Kong broadcasting rights to his Taiwanese television series Young Hero Fong Sai Yuk. Cheung played Fong Sai Yuk, a character also portrayed by Jet Li in his film Fong Sai Yuk. The show was an instant hit in Hong Kong and managed to gain much higher ratings than TVB's own television series. The TVB series showing at that time was Dragon Love, starring Benny Chan Ho Man, who replaced Cheung in the Journey to the West sequel, Journey to the West II.

Early Childhood

Dicky Chueng was educated in St Francis Xavier's College in Hong Kong. He became interested in acting when he was in elementary school, stemming from his interest in analyzing human behaviour. For example, he always loved being in crowded streets or buses, where he could observe people and hear conversations. In plays, he would work as directors, actors, and scriptwriters.

In 1984, he won the TVB International Chinese New Talent Singing Championship. However, it was not a good start of his singing career. No record companies wanted to sign a contract with him. So he changed his career path to acting. In 1985, he signed a contract with TVB. However, in his following eight years, he only had the chance to act in small parts. Until 1991, he finally got chance to be the main actor in a Hong Kong television show named “Laoyou Guigui”（"A Step Beyond"). Later, he gained the lead role in Journey to the West, where he gained many fans and supporters in Hong Kong.

Personal life

At the end of 1997, Dicky Cheung met his current wife Jess Zhang(Zhang Qian), an actress in Mainland China. They were filming in the same location on separate productions. They formally met each other, when Jess was humming the tune of "哎呀哎呀親親你"(Aiya, Aiya, Kissing you) and was unaware of the original singer - Dicky. Their relationship then further developed when Dicky purchased a water bottle for Jess.

In 2007, Dicky Cheung married Zhang Qian in Beijing, and had a separate wedding ceremony in Boracay in 2009.

Prior to his current marriage, he was involved in brief relationships with the actresses Elvina Kong and Jessica Hsuan.[1]

He has said that he would like to eventually leave the acting business and seriously consider doing something more meaningful in life such as volunteering to give back to the society.

Notable roles

Cheung has starred in many Hong Kong-Taiwanese television productions, enjoying both success in Taiwan as well as Hong Kong. The three most notable are:

Journey to the West

Dicky's most notable performance that made him famous was his portrayal of the Monkey King in the 1996 TVB adaptation of the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West. As well as being the lead character, Dicky also sang the theme tune as well as many other songs throughout the series. This series was very popular during its run on TVB Jade, it was even dubbed in English and broadcast on TVB Pearl, the only TVB series to receive this treatment to date. Dicky was also due to play the Monkey King in the sequel. However, due to a dispute regarding the contract, the role was given to Benny Chan Ho Man.

The Duke of Mount Deer

Yet another TV adaptation of Louis Cha's Wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron. Cheung played the anti-hero Wai Siu-Bo, a character previously portrayed by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Stephen Chow and Jordan Chan in many television and film adaptations.

The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra

In 2001, Andy Lau's NMG production company produced another television adaptation of Journey to the West. Cheung was given a chance to once again portray the role that made him a household name. The series was broadcast in 2002 on TVB. Although it received high ratings, many felt it was not as good as the 1996 version.

Filmography

Television

Films

[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ Ricky Yap (28 October 2000). "Dicky Cheung back on the road to fame". The Malay Mail. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  2. ↑ "Dicky Cheung". imdb.com. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  3. ↑ "Dicky Cheung". chinesemov.com. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

External links

Preceded by
Fong Lui 呂方		 New Talent Singing Awards winner
1984 		Succeeded by
Alex To 杜德偉
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