Dicky Cheung

Dicky Cheung Wai-kin (Chinese: 張衛健; born 8 February 1965) is Hong Kong actor and singer.

Dicky Cheung
Cheung in 2018
Born
Cheung Wai-kin

(1965-02-08) 8 February 1965
Hong Kong
OccupationActor, singer
Years active1984–present
Spouse(s)
Jess Zhang Qian
(
m. 2007)
AwardsNew Talent Singing Awards
1984 WinnerTVB Anniversary Awards – All-Time Most Memorable Male Leading Roles
1996 Journey to the West
My Favourite Television Character
2001 The Duke of Mount Deer

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese張衛健
Simplified Chinese张卫健
Musical career
Also known asDicky, WaiKin, Killer, Jianzai, Dicky Zai
GenresPop
InstrumentsVocal
Associated actsBig Four
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Cheung.

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 was not until his brilliant portrayal of the Monkey King character in the 1996 TVB drama Journey to the West, an 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 going to Taiwan. 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.

After a 20-year absence, Dicky Cheung (張衛健) finally made his long-awaited TVB comeback. Dicky starred in TVB's 50th anniversary drama, The Learning Curve of a Warlord <大帥哥>, which was produced by Steven Tsui.

Early childhood

Born to a sadistic father[1], 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 director, actor, and scriptwriter.

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 company wanted to sign a contract with him. So he changed his career path to acting. In 1985, he signed a contract with TVB. However, the following eight years he only acted in small parts until 1991 when he finally got the chance to be the main actor in the TVB drama called "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 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 did not know who originally sang the song nor realize the original singer was in her presence. Their relationship then further developed when Dicky purchased a water bottle for Jess.

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

Prior to his marriage with Jess, he was involved in brief relationships with the actresses Elvina Kong and Jessica Hsuan.[2]

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 most notable roles 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 song 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.

Young Hero Fong Sai Yuk Fong Si Yuk is perhaps one of the best Taiwanese series that has come out this year, aligning itself with another Taiwanese hit, "Princess Pearl" ("Huang Zhi Ge Ge"). Managing to beat TVB brutally, "Fong" has brought for ATV record high ratings and also for Dicky Cheung much renewed fame as he is back into the scope of the Hong Kong audience.

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.

Kung Fu Soccer Cheung played Shun, a young talented soccer player originated from rural Guangdong whose also excels in kungfu yet suffers from short term memory loss. The series was broadcast by TVB from December 2004 to January 2005, with Cheung sang the opening theme of the series.

Filmography

Television

Films
YearEnglish titleChinese titleRoleNotes
1985Crazy Games瘋狂遊戲
Young Cops青春差館Lan Pili
Puppy Love鬥氣小神仙Mi Gao
1988The Good, the Bad & the Beauty鬼馬保鏢賊美人Policeman
1989The Last Duel再起風雲Genghis Khan
福祿雙星
The Mentor變節小人物Zhang Chengming
1991The Dare Devils特技雙雄Wang Guoxing
1992The Thief of Time群星會Xiao Bing
To Miss With Love逃學外傳Zhang Yijian
1993My Hero 2一本漫畫闖天涯2之妙想天開Zhang Jiankang
Last Hero in China黃飛鴻之鐵雞鬥蜈蚣Yacasu
Hero of Hong Kong 1949壹九四九之劫後英雄傳Chang Xiedi
Holy Weapon武俠七公主Wu Tong
Hero – Beyond the Boundary of Time正牌韋小寶之奉旨勾女Ya Chao
Even Mountains Meet情天霹靂之下集大結局
Future Cops超級學校霸王Chen Daxiong
Vampire family壹屋哨牙鬼Di Long
Chez'n Ham芝士火腿Zhi Shi
Prince of Portland Street缽蘭街大少Da Dou
The Black Panther Warriors黑豹天下Computer child prodigy
1994欲霸天下Qiu Zihong
The Kung Fu Scholar倫文敘老點柳先開Lun Man Chui
Shaolin Popey II: Messy Temple笑林小子Ⅱ之新烏龍院Huang Ningmeng
1997The Dicky's Music Love Story音樂愛情故事
知解時空Zhang Haobei
2003Golden Chicken 2金雞2Gao Shuiwen
2008The Winners奪標Zhang Feng
201072 Tenants of Prosperity72家租客Zhi Dashi
2011Summer Love Love夏日戀神馬Paranoid
2012I Love Hong Kong 20122012我愛HK 喜上加囍
2013The Palace宮鎖沈香Eunuch

[3][4]

References
  1. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/03/19/he-hit-me-until-i-almost-died/
  2. Ricky Yap (28 October 2000). "Dicky Cheung back on the road to fame". The Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  3. "Dicky Cheung". imdb.com. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  4. "Dicky Cheung". chinesemov.com. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
Preceded by
Fong Lui 呂方		 New Talent Singing Awards winner
1984		 Succeeded by
Alex To 杜德偉
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