Cecilia Cheung

Cheung was born on 24 May 1980 at Man Wah Sun Chuen, Jordan, Hong Kong to Davies Shally, who is of half Chinese and half British descent, and Cheung Yan-yung, a triad member who is also known as Bearded Bravery or Bearded Yung. Her parents divorced when she was nine years old. She was sent to Melbourne to live with her aunt at the age of fourteen and then attended Camberwell Girls Grammar School.^[5] She has an elder half-sister, two younger brothers, and a younger half-brother from her father's side.^{[citation needed]}

In 1998, Cheung was cast in a television commercial advertising lemon tea, which caught the attention of Stephen Chow. Cheung made her film debut as a call girl in Chow's King of Comedy (1999), which became the highest grossing local film of the year and shot Cheung to fame.^[7] She then starred in Fly Me to Polaris (1999), for which she sang the theme song. She was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards for both King of Comedy and Fly Me to Polaris, and won for the latter.^[7][8] In the same year, Cheung released her first album Any Weather (1999).^[5]

Cheung made inroads into the Korean market with Failan (2001) co-starring Choi Min-shik. The film earned her a nomination at the Grand Bell Awards for Best Actress. She then starred opposite Louis Koo in the comedy film The Lion Roars (2002), for which she won the Most Popular Actress award at the Chinese Film Media Awards.^[9]

Cheung reunited with Louis Koo in Derek Yee's film Lost in Time (2003), for which she won the Best Actress award at the Hong Kong Film Awards. She followed with crime thriller One Nite in Mongkok (2004) by Derek Yee, where she played a prostitute who crosses paths with an assassin (played by Daniel Wu). She was nominated for the Best Actress award at the Hong Kong Film Awards for the third time.^[10]

Cheung played old Shanghai diva Zhou Xuan in TV series The Wandering Songstress (2008),^[11] after which she took a break from acting and gave birth to two sons. She made a comeback in 2010, but her films were commercially and critically unsuccessful.^{[9][12][13][14]}

In 2013, she announced a one-year break from acting and relocated to Singapore. Since then, Cheung mainly appeared in variety shows in mainland China. She has earned 70 million HKD in 2014, ranking number nine in the top ten list of Hong Kong's highest celebrity incomes in 2014.^[15] In 2021, Cheung joined the second season of Chinese reality series Sisters Who Make Waves.^[16]

Cheung dated Hong Kong star Daniel Chan from 1999 to 2001, after which she was romantically linked to Jordan Chan and Edison Chen.^[17] Cheung married Hong Kong star Nicholas Tse in the Philippines in September 2006.^[18] She gave birth to their first son in August 2007^[19] and second son in May 2010.^[20] The couple divorced in 2011. They agreed to hold joint custody of their two sons.^[21] On 18 November 2018, Cheung announced that she had given birth to a third son, but the father of her son remains unknown.^[22][23] In March 2020, Cheung voiced her support for Xinjiang cotton after several international companies announced that they will no longer purchase cotton from the region due to concerns over Uyghur human rights.^[24]

Disputes with Stanley Chu

In 1998, Cheung signed a contract with her first manager Stanley Chu Wing-lung, who took 30 percent of her earnings. After King of Comedy (1999), she sought to terminate the deal, leading to a public dispute and lawsuit, during which Chu was attacked by three assailants and hospitalized while Cheung declined to comment over the incident. They reached a settlement in February 2004.^[25]

Triad threat

In 1999, Cheung, then a newcomer actress, was threatened with rape by triad members due to her father's massive debts.^[26][27] The threat was quelled with the help of Tiffany Chen, wife of Charles Heung, after which Cheung joined the couple's China Star Entertainment.

Edison Chen Photo scandal

Main article: Edison Chen photo scandal

In January and February 2008, many explicit photos were found online involving Cheung and Edison Chen. The scandal also involved Gillian Chung and Bobo Chan.^[28]

Disputes with the Heungs

In 2006, Cheung's manager Tiffany Chen sought to terminate Cheung's contract with China Star Entertainment in order to urge her to end her relationship with Nicholas Tse; instead, Cheung secretly married Tse in the Philippines. In 2007, Cheung attempted to dissolve her contract and pursued a claim of over HK$15.8 million, but the dispute was settled within a month. In 2015, Charles Heung criticized Cheung's behavior on the set of League of Gods and announced he would no longer work with her, while Chen suggested Cheung seek treatment over her mental issues.^[29] In 2016, Chen alleged that Andy Lau had complained about Cheung's unprofessional behavior during the filming of Running on Karma, and further claimed that Cheung prevented Tse's family from seeing their children.^[30] In 2019, Chen accused Cheung of pathological lying, suggesting it was a result of her divorce.^[31]

Disputes with Samuel Yu

On 1 June 2024, Cheung's former manager Samuel Yu released the song "In the Name of a Dog", alleging that she had likened herself to a dog to obtain a HK$40 million signing bonus and later failed to fulfill her contract. Cheung's studio denied the claims, stating that Yu had signed contracts without her authorization.^[32][33]