Maggie Cheung is a well distinguished Hong Kongese actress, beauty queen, singer, and songwriter who made her way into the limelight after attaining runner-up position at the Miss Hong Kong Pageant in 1983. After which, she got her big break in the lead role as May alongside actor Jackie Chan in the film Police Story in 1985. From there on, Maggie had made over 2 dozen silver screen appearances. Some of her most notable appearances were in the films A Fishy Story (1989), Center Stage (1991), Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996), The Soong Sisters (1997), In the Mood for Love (2000), Hero (2002), and Clean (2004). Maggie has also repeatedly won many awards such as the Hong Kong Film Award for “Best Actress” and Golden Horse Award for “Best Leading Actress”. Besides that, she is also the proud receiver of the Berlin International Film Festival “Silver Bear For Best Actress” award.
Furthermore, she is also a highly regarded TV actress who is noted for her appearance in the Police Cadet ’84 (1984) and The Yang’s Saga (1985). However, in spite of having amassed fame globally, in 2013, at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, Maggie announced that she was thinking about retiring from the show biz and moving on to indulge in film editing and music. Since then, she has rarely made public appearances.
Born Name
张曼玉 (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk)
Nick Name
Maggie
Sun Sign
Virgo
Born Place
British Hong Kong, China
Residence
Hong Kong, China
Nationality
Education
Maggie started her primary schooling at St. Paul’s Primary Catholic School, Happy Valley. Later, she went on to study at St. Paul’s Convent School and then at St Edmund’s School, Canterbury.
She is also a proud receiver of an honorary doctorate, which was presented to her by the University of Edinburgh.
Occupation
Actress, Beauty Queen
Manager
Maggie was represented by Willie Chan Chi-Keung.
Genre
Pop
Instruments
Vocals
Labels
Maggie’s music has been released through several record labels including Naïve.
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 6¼ in or 168 cm
Weight
58 kg or 128 lbs
Boyfriend / Spouse
Maggie has dated –
Olivier Assayas (1998-2001) – Cheung met French film director and screenwriter Oliver Assayas for the first time for the shoot of the film Irma Vep, which was released in 1996. Thereafter the two dated for a while before finally tying the knots in 1998. However, the couple’s marriage didn’t last long as a result of Maggie being gone for more than a year to star in films in China. Maggie also stated that Olivier had the divorce papers sent to one of the sets she was working at. Later, the couple finally legally parted ways in 2001.
Ole Scheeren (2007-2011) – In 2007, she started dating German architect Ole Scheeren. However, in spite of being together for almost 4 years, their relationship didn’t quite go as planned which eventually led them to separate in 2011.
Tony Leung (2013) – In the past, Maggie was speculated to have been in a relationship with actor Tony Leung who as of May 2019, was still married to actress Carina Lau. The speculations, however, were put to an end when Carina had uploaded a picture with her at an airport in 2013.
Race / Ethnicity
Asian
She has Chinese ancestry.
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Thin upper lip
Lean physique
Almond eyes
Brand Endorsements
Maggie has done endorsement work for several brands such as –
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Lux
Louis Vuitton
PETA Asia
Qeelin
Religion
Buddhism
Best Known For
Being cast in several films such as A Fishy Story (1989), Center Stage (1991), Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996), The Soong Sisters (1997), In the Mood for Love (2000), Hero (2002), and Clean (2004)
Starring in several TV shows such as Police Cadet ’84 in 1984 and The Yang’s Saga in 1985
Attaining runner-up position during 1983 Miss Hong Kong pageant, winning the Miss Photogenic award, and making it all the way to the semi-finals of Miss World
Being featured on the cover of several magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Marie Claire, Madame Figaro, and Newtide Magazine
Winning multiple Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actress and Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress
Being awarded the Silver Bear for “Best Actress” in 1992 and the Cannes Best Actress award in 2004
Being the first Chinese actress to be nominated for a César Award for “Best Actress” in 2004
As a Singer
Besides acting, Maggie was also an amazing singer, she released several songs such as If You Were Gone (2015). She also contributed her vocals to the release of the soundtrack album for the film Clean (2004). A few of the tracks were, Strawberry Stain, She Can’t Tell You, Wait For Me, and Down In The Light.
First Film
She made her debut theatrical film appearance as Kitty in the romedy movie Prince Charming in 1984.
First TV Show
Maggie made her first TV show appearance in Rainbow Round My Shoulder in April 1984.
Maggie Cheung Favorite Things
Footwear – A pair of high-heeled sandals by Yves Saint Laurent
Designers – John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent
She spent the first 7 years of her life in Hong Kong, before moving to the United Kingdom where she partially resided in Bromley, London, England during her tweenager years. Later, Maggie visited Hong Kong when she was 18 years old and decided to stay on after she had obtained several modeling assignments.
As a child, Cheung wanted to grow up to be a hairdresser.
Prior to becoming an actress, Maggie worked as a model and also took up the job of a sales rep job at a Lane Crawford retail outlet.
In 1983, Maggie took part in the Miss Hong Kong pageant and she received the runner-up position as well as the Miss Photogenic award. During the same year, she also entered the Miss World beauty pageant and made it all the way to the semi-finals.
Maggie can fluently speak in English, French, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Shanghainese. This is because she spent 10 years in France and was brought up between Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
Her manager Willie Chan Chi-Keung, was responsible for establishing the careers of several famous actors such as Jacky Chan, Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau and actress Carol Cheng Yu-ling.
Prior to being cast in As Tears Go By in 1988, Maggie mostly found herself playing typecast comedic roles. However, she wanted to break away from it and wanted to play much more serious and romantic roles.
In March 1998, Maggie walked for Hermès as a guest model at the Paris Fashion Week.
Cheung was chosen to be a jury member for several film festivals including the 1997 Berlin Film Festival, 2007 Cannes Film Festival, and the 2010 Marrakech International Film Festival.
Maggie was the first actress to have had a photogenic image printed on the poster Cannes Film Festival during its 59th edition, which was held in 2006.
In 2007, she was listed as one of “22 Great Performers” in 2006 by The New York Times for her important portrayal of Emily in Clean (2004).
Maggie was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in July 2011.
She chose to retire from the show biz after having worked for more than 2 decades. In an interview during the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival in 2013, Maggie spoke about how she wanted to be free from all the flattering and protection that she was getting. Moreover, she wanted to bond with people outside the film industry as well. Maggie also stated that she wanted more control over her decisions and the final outcomes of what was going to happen in a particular film. It was during that time when she mentioned about her dwelling interest in film and music editing.
Prior to retiring from her acting profession, Maggie had started to adopt the teaching of Buddhism.
During August 2005, Cheung was residing at the Upper East Side in New York.
In April 2010, UNICEF had appointed her as a representative from China.
Just before her retirement, Maggie was named as the ambassador for Taiwan’s Golden Horses Film Festival in 2013.
Maggie had replaced actress and television host Barbara Yung for the television series Kings of Ideas (1985). This decision was made after Barbara had passed away due to gas inhalation on May 14, 1985.
Maggie holds the record for winning 5 Hong Kong Film Awards for “Best Actress” from 1990 to 2001 and 4 Golden Horse Awards for “Best Leading Actress” in Taiwan.
In 2004, Cheung became the first actress to win a French César Award for “Best Actress”.
She was the first Chinese actress to have won a Berlin International Film Festival award for “Best Actress” in 1992 and a Cannes Film Festival for “Best Actress” award in 2004.
It is said that Cheung had never given an audition for any film in Hong Kong. She was simply assigned leading roles.
After being chosen for the lead role in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), she declined it because of the racial distinction between the Japanese and the Chinese, due to World War II.
According to sources, Maggie was cast in the hit film Inglourious Basterds (2009). However, after the filming was done her parts were edited out during the final cut.
Maggie once stated that each time she got on a plane she would cry.
She enjoys staying at the Mandarin Oriental.
Maggie doesn’t seem to be an active social media user.
Featured Image World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO / YouTube
