Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (born Cheung Fat-chung; 12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. One of the most influential cultural icons in the Sinophone world, Cheung was known for his debonair demeanour, flamboyant screen characters, and avant-garde, androgynous stage presence. Throughout his 26-year career, he released over 40 music albums and acted in 56 films.

Born in Kowloon, British Hong Kong, Cheung studied in England from the age of 12 until he returned home in 1976. He garnered attention in 1977 when entering RTV's Asian Singing Contest and achieved popularity in 1984 with a hit single "Monica". Cheung is regarded as one of the founding fathers of Cantopop for defining the music genre in the 1980s. He announced his "retirement" from music in 1989 and emigrated to Canada the following year, but he returned to Hong Kong in 1994. His reemergence from the musical retirement in the late 1990s, particularly in his 1996 album Red, was marked by sonic experimentation and daring imagery.

In addition to music, Cheung achieved pan-Asian fame with such films as A Better Tomorrow (1986) and A Chinese Ghost Story (1987). He won the Best Actor at the 1991 Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in Days of Being Wild (1990), and became world-renowned for his performances in Farewell My Concubine (1993) and Happy Together (1997). In April 2003, Cheung died by suicide by jumping off the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong.

One of the best-selling musical acts in Hong Kong history, Cheung's studio albums Summer Romance (1987) and Most Beloved (1995) each sold over 300,000 copies and are among the best-selling albums of all time in the territory. In recognition of his work in the film industry, Cheung was selected as one of the Top 100 Foreign Actors of the 20th Century by Kinema Junpo. In 2010, CNN named him one of the 25 Greatest Asian Actors of All Time.

Cheung was born in Kowloon, British Hong Kong, the youngest of 10 children in a middle-class Hakka family. His father, Cheung Wut-hoi, was a well-known tailor who specialised in suits, whose customers included Western celebrities such as film director Alfred Hitchcock and actors Marlon Brando and Cary Grant. Despite his father's reputation in the fashion industry, Cheung was uninspired by the profession. Cheung told many interviewers that he had an unhappy childhood, feeling emotionally estranged from his father and siblings, and frequently witnessing arguments and fights in the household. He felt "depressed sometimes" and longed for affection from his parents who were absent for most of his childhood. His father's abusive treatment of his mother had a lasting effect on Cheung's perspectives on marriage. When Cheung's father married another woman, his emotional life further deteriorated. Cheung was brought up by his grandmother, to whom he was very close. Cheung summed up his upbringing as a "silent resentment" with "nothing worth remembering," except for the death of his grandmother when he was in primary school, which was the "one thing that I do remember about my childhood."

Cheung attended Rosaryhill School in Hong Kong for secondary education, and at age 12 enrolled at an independent boys boarding school, Eccles Hall School Quidenham, near Norwich in England. During his time at Rosaryhill, Cheung did poorly academically, except that he excelled in the English language. He discovered a newfound interest in Western films and immersed himself in music, studying the original soundtrack of Romeo and Juliet. He recalled that there were "racial problems" when he was in England, but he managed to make friends. During weekends, he worked as a bartender and sometimes did amateur singing at his relatives' restaurant in Southend-on-Sea. He came across the film Gone with the Wind and chose Leslie as his English name, inspired by the actor Leslie Howard, feeling that "the name can be a man's or woman's; it's very unisex."

Cheung attended the University of Leeds, where he studied textile management. After one year of study, he returned to Hong Kong in 1976 when his father became paralysed on one side of his body following a stroke. As his father wanted all of his children to be at home, Cheung abandoned his studies and became a salesman for Levi's to make ends meet. Cheung recalled that during this time, "I had no plans. There I was, feeling like I was hanging in the middle of nowhere."

Upon returning to Hong Kong Cheung went back to high school as a mature student and formed a band, in which he was the lead singer with his classmates. In May 1977, the band members signed up individually for RTV's Asian Singing Contest. Only Cheung remained until the final round of the Hong Kong division, where he finished as the first runner-up with a rendition of "American Pie". He proceeded to the pan-Asian division, finishing fifth. Soon after the competition, RTV offered Cheung a three-year contract as a second-rate actor for RTV. He also signed with Polydor Records with hopes of releasing music albums.