Leslie Cheung 1956~2003 (2008-04-01)

忘不了的张国荣

残同学在讨论区开英语学习帖，荣光只有 简体和繁体 两个浏览模式。
偶尔发点英文报道。
有兴趣的自己翻译，不用传上来了。谢谢



中文标题： 张国荣 （1956~2003）
发表时间：2008.04.01
来源：TUNGSTAR


Leslie Cheung, 1956 - 2003
1 April 2008
Alison C







[size=0.9em]A young girl takes a photo of flowers laid in tribute to Leslie Cheung (張國榮), 01 April 2008, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hong Kong. The star jumped to his death at the hotel exactly five years ago after he lost his battle with depression. (Photo: Tungstar)



On April Fools' Day 2003, on the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong, Leslie Cheung sipped orange juice while writing a suicide note on hotel stationery.


Cheung Kwok Wing was born in Hong Kong, 12 September 1956, the youngest of ten siblings and eight years younger than his nearest.

He told TIME magazine in 2001: "[I was] the youngest and the loneliest. My brothers would be dating girls and I was left alone in the corner, playing GI Joe or with my Barbie doll. It was miserable. My father couldn't control his emotions, with me or my mother. I used to think, 'And this is what they call marriage.'"

Born into a wealthy family – his grandfather was a landowner in Canton who got killed during the Cultural Revolution for owning too much and his father was a tailor to stars including William Holden and Alfred Hitchcock – he was sent, aged 12, to the prestigious independent Norwich School.

It was while he was in the UK – where, during the week, he studied and, on weekends, he tended the bar and did amateur singing at a restaurant run by relatives in Southend-On-Sea – he chose his English name.

He recalled: "I love the film Gone with the Wind. And I like Leslie Howard. The name can be a man's or woman's. It's very unisex, so I like it."

After a year studying textile management at the University of Leeds, Leslie returned to his hometown and came second in a TV singing contest, with his rendition of "American Pie".

His 1978 film debut, Erotic Dream of the Red Chamber, was notable only for his rear nudity.

It was his roles in TV dramas that made him a household name in Asia.

His music career took off with his 1983 hit, "The Wind Blows On".

His film career took off in 1986 when he starred opposite Chow Yun Fat in John Woo's gangster movie A Better Tomorrow.


However, he won most critical acclaim when he played gay roles.

A gay man in a Chinese society intolerant of gays, Leslie never explicitly acknowledged his sexuality.

He gained international recognition for his portrayal of a Dan (a male actor who plays female roles in Chinese opera) who falls in love with a male colleague in 1993's Farewell My Concubine, which was nominated for an Oscar and won the Palme d'Or.

Leslie told TIME how he had to talk Tony Leung from chickening out of a gay sex scene in 1997's Happy Together: "When we tried to shoot the love scene, it really shocked Tony. He refused to do it. For two days he was miserable, lying on his bed. So I went up to him and said, 'Look at me, Tony. I've gone through so many scenes kissing, touching girls, grabbing breasts; do you think I really enjoyed it? Just treat it as a job, a normal love scene. I'm not going to fall in love with you, and I don't want you to really have sex with me. You're not my type.'"

He said of his sexuality to TIME: "It's more appropriate to say I'm bisexual. I've had girlfriends. When I was 22 or so, I asked my girlfriend Teresa Mo [his frequent co-star in TV serials at the time] to marry me."

But Leslie's most significant relationship was with a man. In 1995, a tabloid published a photo of Leslie with another man, Daffy Tong. In a 1997 concert, Cheung revealed that Daffy was his "most beloved" after his mother.

His last film was 2002's Inner Senses, which was about clinical depression and suicide. In one scene, the character played by Leslie is asked by another character to jump from a high-rise building. It was a cruel irony. Leslie had battled depression for years, and it was revealed after his death that he had attempted suicide at least once before.


Leslie leaped to his death from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, at around 6:45PM, 1 April 2003, after arranging for his ex-manager to meet him below at the taxi-stand.

His suicide note read: "Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh Mak [Leslie's last psychiatrist]. This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Mr Tong. Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Fei Fei [Lydia Sum]. In my life I did nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"

Like Peter Pan, Leslie never seemed to age – "Guess how old he is," Hong Kongers used to ask each other rhetorically. Perhaps, when he jumped, Leslie did not fall, but flew.

残

I'm not going to fall in love with you, and I don't want you to really have sex with me. You're not my type.'"
:emsweatingbullets:

Thanks for sharing....